Know-How Exchange : Branding

The choice between making an incremental and radical brand change should be based on where the company wants the brand, and what the actual perception of the brand is in the marketplace. To know this requires market research.

To me, branding is more than just the visual clues the company puts out (logo, packaging, etc.). It is all of the pieces which the customer sees/hears about the product, and the impression of the product which it forms in their mind. What you have experience when you bought it last time, what someone else told you about the product, what you hear about the company in the news, what happens when the customer calls for service or support, advertising, etc. Given this, just changing the logo or package to me often does little. Yet all too often when someone says they want to upgrade the brand, these are the steps usually talked about.