A brand does not say what it is. According to Marty Neumeier, the truth is that within the current market scene, people are who define the subjective meaning, and even, the future of a brand. Branding, as strategic brand management, helps create and manage theses meanings in a way that portray the competitive advantages of a product, service, company or even a person. Thus, it helps build and transform brands so that they become unique and relevant, creating long lasting relationships.

It is necessary, at first, to comprehend what brands are within this new concept to be able to understand how branding works. Luc Speisser, from Landor — one of the most prominent branding consultants in the world —, defines brand as “what a company, an institution or a group of products and services represents in the hearts and minds of people”, making it clear the intangibility of the concept. It is not products, logotypes or names, but associations, perceptions and generated expectations.

But, how does one make a brand that an audience desires to relate to?

Branding emerges as the process that will make that the brand’s purpose and the competitive advantages, such as positioning, gets noticed as memorable and unique. With that in mind, it becomes easy to realize how the brands are the determinant criteria in the buying process. With little time and various options to choose from, it is through emotional connection that people find clarity, simplicity, that people feel safe and acknowledge the consistency of a brand and that helps them guide their buying choices.

The brand represents the identity of an enterprise. You can’t create an identity, you can only reveal it. That is how the process begins: understanding the environment of a company, its values and how their leaders think. By crossing these pieces of information with thorough researches (such as market, trends, customers, stakeholders, competitors, etc.) the brand’s authenticity is communicated strategically.

The brand presents itself in the shape of a promise — a truthful promise that must be effectively delivered. It needs to be believable and relevant to all: both to its partners and collaborators. This way, they’ll know that what they do is authentic and genuine to its audience. They can feel safe and become more than faithful customers, but also true brand ambassadors. Thus, branding creates a strategic planning that connects operational processes and strengthens the brand’s image to deliver on this promise.

Within its whole concept, branding is a highly flexible subject that fits a number of contexts and situations, such as:

» Creation of new businesses;

» Repositioning of brands that are already in the market;

» Identification and creation of new opportunities;

» Creation and launch of products or services;

» Market share increase;

» Internal culture alignment;

» Buy, sale or merger of companies.

It is important to understand that branding is not marketing, public relations or design alone. Branding comes before it all and its strategies guide these areas, so that the entire company speaks one language and the customer hears a single and consistent message. They will understand “who” that brand is and will put their faith in it. In an excellent analogy, Eduardo Tomiya — director of Kantar Consulting — talks about brand management as an iceberg. He explains that the part that is outside the water represents communication actions, logotypes, packages, names and whatever else is “visible”, but that the largest part of this iceberg is underwater, representing all internal processes. And that is the part that will hold the brand promise.