Branding is the process of giving meaning to specific organizations, companies, products, or services by creating and shaping an idea in customers’ minds, both in a practical (the shoe is lightweight) and emotional way (the shoe makes me feel powerful). Fundamentally, the objective is to attract and retain loyal customers and other stakeholders by delivering a solution that is always aligned with what the brand promises.
It’s not just physical features that create a brand, but also the feelings that customers develop toward the company and what it delivers. Those emotional cues get triggered when customers are exposed to the name, logo, visual identity, or even the message communicated. While it may spill over into softer organizational elements, such as language or terminology (venti instead of large at Starbucks), or public gestures (donations or community-oriented support), this is where branding unfortunately often stops.
Historically, A/E/C companies have developed a methodology for “the way we work.” This approach is often leveraged as a selling point—deemed as a battle-tested, proprietary method for delivering outstanding results. Yet, this process is consistently designed around the internal workings of the company—how information flows within it—rather than shaping around the experiential needs of the customer to enhance and reinforce the brand.
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Article, written by Andrea Belk Olson, first appeared in the December 2021 issue of Marketer journal.
