Branding comes before marketing. Without a well-thought-out brand, marketing becomes just a tactical tool for achieving business goals. A lack of branding – let alone a lack of a meaningful story – doesn’t necessarily prevent sales success. We know this from several analyses I’ve conducted. But such efforts are, by nature, focused on short-term results. And to sustain them, you must keep going, continuously intensifying your efforts just to maintain current sales levels (because, after all, the competition isn’t sleeping). If you turn off marketing for a brand without a meaningful story, it will quickly fade from the customer’s radar and be easily replaced by another. These brands are simply expendable – easy to replace or simply discard from a shopping cart.
On the other hand, if you invest in building a meaningful brand and then translate your distinct, relevant story into concrete actions across all key touchpoints (a strong brand experience), you will create long-term value. More importantly, you’ll amplify the impact of your other marketing efforts. If you communicate your story effectively – not just to customers but also to employees (who will become its active ambassadors) – your brand will become meaningful in people’s minds. You will evoke emotions and build a bond with your customers. And when you ask someone why they chose Brand X, you won’t just hear functional reasons. You’ll hear a story about how this brand aligns with their beliefs or lifestyle. You’ll hear that this brand simply fits – that it makes them feel good when buying, using, and, most importantly, recommending it to others.
Investing in a meaningful brand pays off immensely when your customers naturally talk about you, becoming your walking advertisements. Expendable brands, on the other hand, won’t be talked about – because they hold no real place in customers’ minds. They simply don’t matter…
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