Read the extracts from a text about branding.

Having a good brand identity is critical. It can not only position a company above its competitors, but it also communicates to your customers the reason why they should choose you instead of your competitors. But developing a strong brand image takes time, money and effort, and it involves much more than redesigning a logo or developing a new tagline. Your new brand identity should evolve from your previous identity. Be careful not to start from scratch and come up with something completely new, as you may end up losing loyal customers who have forged emotion ties with your product.

It’s important to understand that changing the visual aspects of your company, your logo, your packaging and so forth, you are not actually changing your brand identity. Your brand identity is the promise a company makes to its customers – its features, quality, values and service support. Just modernising visual image does not entail a change in brand values. Many companies, sadly, are led to believe by branding agencies that visual changes will alter customer’s perception of their products. But such changes only inform consumers that a company is concerned about how it looks. At best, they will assume the company is modern; at worst they will accuse the company of unnecessary extravagance.

Successful branding may not be actually connected with the product at all, but may represent a greater sense of purpose or a more satisfying experience. They may affirm that drinking a cup of coffee can really make a difference, or that exercising may bring about a sense of challenge and personal achievement. Many successful brands study emerging societal ideals and trends, so that they can take advantage of how customers wish they could be. Then they push forward the message that by using their product, their dreams can be fulfilled, and the customer can gain the lifestyle he or she is looking for, be it a sense of glamour, freedom, popularity or self-satisfaction.

Lack of consistency is probably the most common pitfall when it comes to designing an image for your brand. You need to provide a consistent message in your proposals and presentations so that your company develops credibility and gets noticed and remembered. To ensure that your branding ins consistent, gather all the information that leaves your company, be it faxes, emails, advertisements, invoices or packages. Examine them for discrepancies in your company’s image. Doing so will also give you the chance to evaluate the image you are trying portray.