Brands are all around us today, and there are many companies who do nothing else apart from taking your product and business and creating an image in customers minds that is associated with the product or service. But how will you get branding to work for you?

First of all, let's have a look at the history of brands. Like most things, real mass-marketed brands originated in the UK. Industrialisation was pioneered in Britain in the 19th Century. Until then, most products were very localised and were mostly produced in small cottage industries.

After industrialisation blossomed, mass produced products were made available to a wider audience, but something was needed to make customers want to buy these new products that came from many miles away.

That something was marketing of brands. The word 'brand' is, as you have guessed it, the same thing as the mark that shows to whom a cow belongs. A bar of soap would be stamped or branded with the company logo. This meaning was then extended to include any show of company identity with a product.


The Bass brewery in Britain has a distinctive red triangle that they branded onto sides of their barrels. This is claimed as the world's oldest brand.

The role of a brand is to associate in the minds of your customer the idea or image of your product, company or service. People need to want the thing you are selling, and unless your thing is truly unique then you're going to have to do a good job of associating an image with your product to make customers want it.

Common images that are used for marketing are luxury, youthfulness, fun, or sexiness. Once a product is associated with one of these, it quickly becomes more than the sum of its parts, and people start to buy the brand rather than the actual product.

What this means to you is that your business or product needs to stand for something, and that something has to be fundamental to human nature. People want to be liked, respected, they want to be found sexy, they want to smell nice. Your business or product should appeal to one of these. Try to find a niche, and then stick to it. It takes a long time for people to associate the brand with you so don't keep changing it.

Once you've found your image, ensure that you are telling the truth. If your image is 'cheap' why are you charging 3 times as much as the next guy? Your reputation is 80% of the brand image. Your marketing can be excellent but if you don't deliver, be sure that the word will spread.

If you have a business established, and are looking to brand it, maybe you don't need to think of a new brand, just listen to what your existing customers have to say. How do they see you?

Think: how is your business or product better than the next one? If you know, then tell the world.