We live in a world full of multiple varieties of brands but, something we don’t realize is that these brands, no matter how different they are, seem to follow certain branding practices that can be broadly categorized into 9 different types.
After understanding the origins of branding as well as the importance of branding, it’s essential for us to observe and analyze the different types of branding. This knowledge would definitely be as helpful to entrepreneurs or business owners as it would be to brand consultants, strategists, and designers.
In this article, let’s dive a little deeper into understanding what are the 9 types of branding that you should know about.
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1. Co-branding
Co-branding is a branding process that involves partnering with another brand to achieve a greater reach and build a more significant awareness. Co-branding is popularly known as Brand Partnership, wherein the success of one brand brings success to the other brand as well.
The partnership between Spotify and Starbucks became quite popular where Spotify offered discounts on Starbucks products and Starbucks offered premium subscriptions and custom playlists on Spotify through the Starbucks app.
Related article: Why Does Everyone Love Starbucks? | Starbucks Branding Case Study
Another example is the collaboration between Taco Bell and Doritos to create Dorito-flavored tacos.
Similarly, two adventure-loving brands, GoPro and Red Bull teamed up for a mutual benefit in sales and equity value.
This could also be seen in the fact that while McDonald’s sells Coca-Cola as their beverage add-on, KFC sells Pepsi.
2. Product branding
Product branding is a strategy where the sole focus is placed on introducing and promoting a particular product. This is made possible by crafting a unique, visually appealing identity for the product. In the context of product branding, the product itself becomes a brand on its own.
The goal of product branding is to successfully attract the target customers by creating the intended perception in their minds. This may be achieved through typeface/font choice, colors, patterns, promotional material, and the look of their website (online business) or retail outlet (offline business).
In the case of BMW, the target customers for their luxurious cars are elite-class people. Through the use of blacks, grays, and whites in every single touchpoint, right from their website to every single advertisement, BMW follows the same visual style that’s classy, stylish, and modern.
On the other side, if we look at Harley Davidson, people love the rebellious attitude and bold tone that they showcase in their headlines throughout their website and their ad campaigns. These pair wonderfully well with the strong and earthy-colored, retro-modern motorcycles that they are known for.
3. Retail branding
Retail branding takes product branding to the next level. This type of branding is particularly evident in stores, storefronts, window displays, or any spaces that are specific to a particular brand and its products.
This type of strategy defines the look and feel of the retail outlet or store to be in line with the perception that the brand and the products aim for. In simpler words, retail branding is the deliberate thought that’s put into designing the store layout, the prominent colors and patterns, the wall posters, light fixtures, the background music, and the flooring as well. This is what makes a person, not just look at the product but, experience the brand as a whole.
Personally, I love how Apple has mastered its retail branding. If we take a look at the outside, Apple storefronts generally have floor-to-ceiling glasses throughout which helps attract people as they give the people a small teaser into what products are on display. And, once you enter the store you’re greeted with completely white interiors with individual products displayed so perfectly that it feels like you’re in a museum looking at something extremely valuable.
This type of branding is very evident in restaurants and cafes as well where their aim is to make their customers feel a strong vibe, be it friendly or professional, be it calm or crazy, be it fine dining or casual dining.
Related article: How Did IKEA Become an Iconic Brand? | IKEA’s Branding Case Study
4. Service branding
Unlike products, services don’t really have a physical form where visible metrics could be adjusted as part of product branding. Service branding is relatively a bit more challenging in that sense.
Therefore, in cases where the brands primarily sell services and not products, a service branding strategy is to be applied wherein the emphasis is placed mostly on creating trust toward the brand through a memorable and impactful customer experience. It’s also advisable for such brands to invest in the welfare and development of their own employees to ensure that trust and love are built internally first.
Rather than relying on the visual aspects, it would be much more beneficial for service-based firms to rely heavily on the strategic and verbal aspects of the business like brand personality, consumer study, competitor analysis, tone of voice, and brand positioning, to name a few. These are applicable to businesses that provide services where a certain skill or expertise is involved like management consultancies, banks, hotels, etc.
One such brand that quickly comes to mind is Airbnb. Right from their minimalistic logo, pastel color palette, and breathable website design, to their brand values, customer care facilities, and exclusive Superhost appreciation party, both the visual and verbal identity of Airbnb maintain consistent brand personality and values.
5. Personal branding
Personal branding is the procedure through which an individual builds up their reputation and successfully achieves a unique identity for themselves. It is an intentional effort to create and influence public perception of an individual by positioning them as an authority in their industry.
Strong personal brands could also help significantly increase the sales of businesses owned by these influential individuals. This is also why you see a lot of celebrities start opening up a business of their own once they become popular. In recent times, the world’s biggest YouTuber, MrBeast, opened up a fast-food restaurant chain called Beast Burgers, and also a chocolate brand called Feastibles.
Some of the most famous names who have very strong personal brands in various other industries are Elon Musk (one of the top technology and innovation leaders), Gary Vaynerchuk (the king of hustling and entrepreneurship), and Oprah Winfrey (the most committed billionaire philanthropist), to name a few.
6. Corporate branding
Corporate branding goes way beyond the visual and verbal aspects of product and service branding. This strategic process is about giving the company a strong personality that people can relate to. While most of the brand strategy and brand identity outcomes are generally targeted toward customers, corporate branding is aimed at employees.
The brand becomes much stronger when employees themselves become brand ambassadors. And this is built through actions that lead to a great company culture like the events and workshops hosted by the company, the benefits provided to the employees, the company facilities, corporate partnerships with charities, etc.
One such example is Google. The corporate giant provides employees with free lunch, on-site medical care, free shuttles to and from work, and a generous amount of paid parental leave, to name a few. This makes the employees look at it as an opportunity and an experience rather than just a job. This makes Google the perfect example of strong corporate branding.
7. Cause branding
The cause branding process is followed when any particular brand is aligned with a charitable cause or a social responsibility. Many for-profit brands partner with non-profit businesses over a certain cause and the idea is to raise awareness and money for a social issue. The end result of the cause branding is that the non-profit business receives a donation boost and the for-profit business receives a branding boost.
The most famous example of cause branding is the brand partnership between The Coca-Cola Company and World Wildlife Fund. The two have partnered a number of times to create awareness about saving the environment, protecting the Arctic, and many more.
Related article: Is Coca-Cola The World’s No.1 Brand? | Coca-Cola Branding Case Study
8. Cultural branding
Cultural branding, which is also similar to geographical branding, is when additional deliberate efforts are made to highlight and promote a region or a culture unique to that region with the intent of attracting tourists and businesses from the outside.
This would be beneficial for the tourism industry and some other relevant businesses like taxis, airports, and hotels. In general, cultural branding is applicable to any brand whose products or services are focused on the fact that they originate from a certain region (village, city, state, country, etc.) and/or they represent a specific culture.
If we observe closely, a lot of Australian tourism or travel agencies have their branding include either an abstract or a literal representation of a Kangaroo, which is a result of their cultural branding.
Similarly, most of the businesses related to the Indian government or are extremely specific to the Indian public, generally, incorporate the brand colors observed in the Indian flag namely, saffron, green, white, and navy blue.
9. Emotional branding
Emotional branding is an amalgamation of anthropology, imagination, sensory experiences, and a visionary approach to change. In simple terms, emotional branding is when brands try to appeal to their audience’s emotions. Such brands cater to either the needs or the aspirations of the audience and manage to turn them into customers.
Even in general, to ensure long-term business with the customer, it is very important to build trust and connection. And this connection is the strongest when made at an emotional level. Emotional branding makes the brand relatable and credible and helps it stand out from the competition. This process can create loyal, life-long customers.
To understand what emotional cues could be triggered it’s important to study various consumer profiles, study how competitors carry themselves on social media, and do thorough market research about the industry.
Nike is a brand that invests a lot in emotional branding. Most of their ads, either print or television commercials, are unique, memorable, and very inspirational.
Another interesting and consistent example of an emotional brand is Coca-Cola. Their ads always exhibit positivity and happiness. The company’s ad campaigns often have slogans like “ Open Happiness ”,” Taste the Feeling ”, and ” Share Happiness. Share a Coke. ”
Conclusion
There’s no rule set in stone that a particular brand needs to use only one of the previously mentioned branding processes. Brands these days have to understand and respect the fact that customer experience and relatability is the key to building brand trust and memorability, which are ultimately crucial for the long-term success of the brand. For this reason, most famous brands tend to deploy multiple branding methodologies as per their requirement.
For example, Uber has a mix of service branding and corporate branding for the most part along with cultural branding, occasionally, as they have to adapt according to the country and region they’re operating in.
In a similar way, Kylie Cosmetics uses the power of celebrity Kylie Jenner’s personal branding in combination with product branding. Periodically, when setting up physical pop-up stores, the brand makes the most out of retail branding.
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