At a meeting the other day, Tracy and I were asked a question we had never really been asked before.

"So, when can we stop 'branding'?" the client asked.

This particular client had really stepped out of its comfort zone and ramped up branding efforts in order to make its public persona match the incredible level of its service. For companies that have never done a true branding exercise, this takes a great amount of trust in their marketing partner, not to mention a bit of money from their accounting department. So kudos to them!

When a company launches its first major branding campaign there is always a honeymoon phase—the time when the company, its employees, and the public is interested in this new look, attitude or personality. The "branding high" I like to call it. As this phase slows, the client is left wondering "what's next."

Tracy and I both looked at each other knowing he was was expecting us to give him a date—or at least a vague time frame—but we knew that he really knew the answer. And we almost simultaneously said:

"Never."

That is the whole point of branding. You want to establish a consistent look and message—a personality, a promise that your customers can come to know. It describes you so perfectly that you can't imagine presenting another side. Hence the definition of "brand": to "indelibly mark something -- meaning it never goes away."

With further prodding we realized that what was really at the heart of the concern was making any future branding accountable to the number crunchers. While most branding work is measurable to a degree, it is not like a price and item direct mail piece for a widget that you can easily justify by the widget sales. But you can tell over time by pre and post research studies if your branding is working. And for this client, it has been.

I'll segue for just a minute.  The purpose of branding is to create an emotional connection, establish a memorable and desirable image so when the time comes for a consumer to consider your product, they will have strong feelings about it.  Price and item advertising with NO brand, is meant to merely solicit a response and does NOT have any emotional connection.

Knowing the client was concerned about justifying further costs to the accounting team we explained that once a brand is established, (or well on its way) and especially in these economic times, there are ways to make your advertising vehicles work a little harder for you. For example, I'm sure all of these land developers would love to just have big ads touting the beauty of their development. But right now, they have got to leverage those ads with some strong call to action offers to get potential buyers in the door. Or you might see companies that previously ran beautiful TV spots now putting offers at the end. That's okay — as long as the brand stays intact.

Part of the problem is the various definitions of branding. Branding is not the vehicle (ie. TV, national ads, radio, etc) — it's the message and personality. A good marketing partner will always consider your needs, budget and goals while developing a marketing plan that doesn't have to sacrifice your brand.

by Trish McCabe Rawls