Why will someone drive across town to shop at Target, pay extra for a Tidal subscription, or exclusively wear Nike shoes? Brand loyalty has a formidable influence while in a check-out line. A logo as small and simple as Nike’s swoosh can evoke strong feelings and get consumers to pull out their credit cards quickly. That’s the power of a brand – and why branding, now more than ever, should be intentional.
“Branding is the foundation of any successful business because it defines who you are, what you stand for, and why you matter,” said Paula Yakubik, founding partner of MassMedia. “It shapes every interaction a customer has with your company—from the messaging to the overall experience.”
The weightiness of a brand’s impact should be met with extensive planning.
“The best brands are authentic,” said Mike Draper, a partner at Argentum Partners. “If your team doesn’t buy into your brand or your values, customers can see right through that. They’re savvier than ever, and when your company is saying one thing and doing another, they’ll know.”
Identifying the ‘Why’
“Always start with the ‘why,’” said Holly Silvestri, partner and co-owner of the Ferraro Group. “What does the brand aim to achieve, what is the vision, what is the promise [and why]?”
Silvestri recommends a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis to dig deeper into the company’s ‘why.’ For Draper, every branding meeting begins with a sheet of paper.
“Write down who you are and what you do as a company, and what values are associated with those actions,” he said. “Your brand is the output, the end result of your company’s goals, values, strengths, weaknesses: it’s who you are.”
Even the biggest names struggle at what is a deceptively “simple” ask.
“We go around the room and ask for their responses to these questions,” Draper said. “We get a bunch of different answers. Sometimes they’re all similar enough, just with a variation in language or emphasis. But often, they’ll be opposite points of view – I’ve seen this from company executives who have worked there for years, with just totally opposing ideas of what the company is and what it’s meant to do.”
The solution for many companies is either a change of values or change of culture. “Your internal teams can block buy-in,” Draper said. “Your brand is only as strong as your team believes it to be.”
When Is It Time to Rebrand?
In his nearly two decades of experience, Draper said more companies are launching rebranding campaigns than ever before. “We’ve seen a heck of a lot more internal conversations and reflection,” Draper said, “as well as a lot more rebranding.”
The process for establishing a brand initially – asking ‘why’ and ‘how’ until all stakeholders sign-on – should also be how a rebrand is approached. “Too many companies think a rebrand is just a logo change,” Draper said. “A rebrand is a realignment – or establishment – of core values. If you have a name or logo change, that’s the output of all the behind-the-scenes work. It’s the packaging.”
Draper said a brand change has never been so simple. “We do crisis communications, and never have we ever looked at a company and said, ‘You need to change your name,’” he said. What we have said is, ‘What are your processes? What are your services? What is your company doing? What do your people believe? And then, [we] outline what must be changed to make this all align.”
While social media’s facilitation of instant feedback is part of the increase in rebranding, Draper said it’s not all due to social internet.
“It’s been exacerbated,” he said of social media. “But companies have always faced this problem – companies morph over time, and at some point, that may cause a need for a holistic brand change. I also think there are a lot of companies where they made a mistake or had an issue come up and say, ‘Well, we’re just going to change our name.’ But we live in a society where people see right through that. We have access to the internet and rapid communication, where we can tell if someone is being real.”
Regardless of what motivated a rebrand, Draper said he always asks the same question: “Are you still doing the same thing?”
“Maybe you now offer different services or pricing or have a new delivery process and that’s why you needed the new rebrand, to match,” he said. “But unless you’re actually doing things differently, if there really is a new purpose or set of values that you’re following, there was no point – you’d have to rebrand all over again.”
It’s not just companies that do this, but individuals, too. Draper said thinking about a rebrand from a personal lens can help companies take the right steps.
“We all have a brand – companies, individuals – we all have one,” Draper said. “This brand is not just defined by us, but also by how the people around us see us. As an individual person, we must carry ourselves in accordance with what we want our brand to be, guided by our values, and what we’re associated with. It’s the same with a company brand – it comes from authentic values.”
Earning External Brand Buy-In
Once the entire internal team is on the same page, it’s time to look externally.
“A business can help identify its correct image by delving into research to discover more about its audiences, their views of your business, and their perceptions of your industry as a whole,” Silvestri said.
There are a variety of ways to hear what the public thinks about a brand campaign.
“Research – whether it’s surveys or focus groups or online polls or a combination of all three – allows a company to understand customers’ thought processes and biases and what is viscerally important to them, rather than just relying on what the business thinks of itself,” she said.
Once all stakeholders have a clear understanding of and are in agreement with the company’s purpose and values, crafting a narrative around the mission is foundational for developing brand loyalty.
“Consumers comfortably choose brands that they trust and that are transparent,” Silvestri said. “They want to connect emotionally and support businesses that are true to their mission and vision and show they care about their customers as well as community causes.”
A strong brand is a strong storyteller.
“People connect with stories, not logos,” Yakubik said. “Share your brand’s journey, values, and purpose in a way that emotionally connects and resonates with the audience [while] staying true to their identity,” she said.
Despite not being the main point of connection, a logo still has to be relevant.
“A logo is the reflection of your core values, your philosophy and goals,” Draper said. “Once you have all of that pinned down, the logo becomes relatively easy – it’s a symbol. But if you don’t understand what your brand is, the logo isn’t effective.”
Even if a company’s interviews, posts and face-to-face interactions all align with the determined messaging, a disparate logo can halt marketing progress.
“A modern, cutting-edge logo looks cool at first glance,” Draper said. “But if the brand is very traditional, it just doesn’t match up. It won’t make sense.”
Keeping the Cohesion
Once the branding is right, the company must stick to it.
“Align messaging, visuals, and customer experiences across all platforms to build trust and recognition,” Yakubik said.
Successful brand strategies hit multiple marketing avenues simultaneously to achieve that recognition, she said.
“Combine several [mediums] to create a cohesive and impactful approach,” Yakubik said. “Digital marketing has become a dominant force, encompassing search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click advertising, content marketing, email campaigns, and social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok. Traditional marketing, including television, radio, print, billboards, and direct mail, remains a powerful way to reach broad audiences, especially in local or mass-market campaigns.”
This consistency isn’t just on Instagram, LinkedIn, or the local newspaper, though – it should be in everything a company and its employees do.
“Ensure your messaging, visual identity, and tone of voice are consistent across all channels—whether it’s digital, print, or in-person interactions,” Yakubik said.
Each expert agreed that trustworthiness is a branding best practice. If a company says one thing on LinkedIn, another in a print magazine, and something else at a board meeting, that reputation is soiled.
“It all boils down to trustworthiness,” Silvestri said. “Virtually any business or organization needs clients and customers to thrive. Customers want to trust a company and connect with it. By developing a strong brand, a business can build up credibility, recognition, a loyal customer base, and be perceived positively among the public.”
A Decade of Changes
The experts say the core tenets of branding have remained the same: trustworthiness, relatability and consistency. What’s changed, though, is how that looks in practice.
“Over the last decade, branding has undergone a dramatic transformation driven by technology, shifting consumer expectations and the rise of digital platforms. Brands are now expected to create immersive, digital-first experiences across websites, social media, and apps.”
Although storytelling has always been an important piece for a brand, Yakubik said it’s now the keystone. “Storytelling [is] central to branding, with businesses using authentic, emotionally resonant content to connect with audiences,” she said.
However, with the social internet bigger and more diverse than ever, the line between storyteller and audience is murky. Now, anyone with a profile can switch roles, narrating what a brand is or is not.
Out of the numerous marketing avenues that exist, Silvestri said the chief is establishing corporate social responsibility standards – or CSR. “[Doing so] communicates the brand promise and secures trust so the brand stands for something,” she said.
While celebrity endorsements have been a go-to for brands to quickly develop public trust, TikTok and other social media platforms have loosened the definition of “famous.” Now, a random woman in a tiny Pennsylvania town may have more sway in what kind of blush you purchase than what Beyonce or Miley Cyrus are wearing.
“Influencer and affiliate marketing have grown tremendously, leveraging trusted voices to amplify brand messages, particularly on social media,” Yakubik said. “Experiential marketing — through events, activations, and interactive experiences — helps brands build memorable, real-world connections with their audience.”
That’s a big change from ten years ago, Silvestri said. People have always wanted to know what others are thinking, but now, they can.
“More people seek out online recommendations for businesses and rely on the digital space during the decision-making process,” Silvestri said. “Cutting through the clutter and being faced with a plethora of both information and misinformation online makes branding and reputation building a bit more challenging.”
