Nothing more important than branding for a business
I assume there is no need to explain again and again what business branding is; everyone understands that. However, not everyone realizes that thinking in a branding manner is crucial from the very moments you establish your business. Every step you take or don’t take, and every detail that shapes the business has a branding impact.
For example, even in the stages when you want to choose a name for your business, you need to think about business branding. In the past, a few decades ago, when there was less importance given to branding issues, we encountered businesses with names like ‘Cohen and Sons’ or ‘Schwartzman and Shulman.’ Those days have passed; today, we understand that the business name is an essential part of branding and stems from the nature of the business. A name that might be excellent for a business in the baby clothing industry is probably not going to be suitable as the name for an air conditioning installation company.
Choosing a business name is part of the branding process, and there is no room here for spontaneity or random selection. There needs to be alignment between the service or product and the business name. Ideally, the business name should already imply the nature of its products and services. For instance, we see restaurants where just by hearing the name, you can understand the type of food they offer. If, for example, you see a restaurant named ‘Bombay,’ you would likely not think it serves Italian food. Such a name already suggests that it is an Indian cuisine restaurant. While this example is straightforward, sometimes there is a bit more subtlety involved. Another example is a company like ‘Cellcom,’ a combination of ‘cellular’ and ‘communication’ in English, implying its involvement in cellular communication.
The name can also express the values that the business represents. For instance, ‘Tikun Olam’ is one of the well-known companies in the medical cannabis field. The name they chose doesn’t directly indicate their involvement in cannabis, but it makes a significant statement about their mission and goals.
There are plenty of examples of businesses where just the name gives insight into their field of operation, but it’s essential to note that this is not the sole consideration. A company can express its field of activity through its name, but should it be in Hebrew, English, or another language? These are important questions when it comes to business branding.
In the past, it was very common to use family names as brand names, and many prominent brands in the world still carry the names of their founders. However, market dynamics have changed, and what worked a few decades ago may not necessarily work today. Today, it requires a significant investment to make consumers associate a family name with a brand.
This teaches us that branding has principles rather than rules. It’s not a precise science, but understanding its principles is crucial to brand a business correctly. Branding must always be in tune with the times in which it operates. For example, 20 years ago, the digital realm wasn’t considered crucial for branding, but today, a business cannot do without a landing page, warm hands, and website promotion.
Choosing a business name is not the only focus here; it’s about how business branding is conducted. We are talking about several important principles:
1. From the early stages – Don’t wait until you’ve set up a business and then start thinking about branding. From the early stages of business planning, the concept, and all the details, you must take business branding into account. That’s why working with an advertising agency from the beginning is crucial.
2. Alignment with the business’s nature – Business branding requires close collaboration between a professional creative team and business owners. The creative team needs to understand the nature of the business, its core values, and the type of audience it targets. Only then can they start building the business’s brand.
3. Expressing the business’s uniqueness – Branding pertains to business differentiation, one of the most critical aspects today due to intense market competition. To succeed, a business must build its uniqueness that sets it apart from competitors. Just providing value in a product or solving a consumer problem is not enough today; investment in branding is a must.
4. Working with professional advertisers – Today, there is a strong emphasis on digital advertising. You need to establish a website, engage in SEO, run campaigns on social networks, design logos, and more. We didn’t include these in the list because these are not branding principles; they are business principles. If you don’t do this through an appropriate media company, it will be a business mistake.
