SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY AND BRANDING; WHAT IS BRAND IMAGE AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?

Social Media Strategy and Branding: What is Brand Image and Why Is it Important?



The brand image is the complete impression that a consumer has of a product. It is important because a brand cannot be created unless it has an acceptable image. It involves the integration and the entirety of all the attributes and benefits of a product. Image involves the functional and mental connections that a consumer has with the product. It is important because brand image creates a how consumer "sees" the product. Image is a critical part of branding a product because if products are not seen in a good way, they will not be purchased. The subject of branding can be explained if we think in human terms.

In social media, a brand is a conversation between two friends. To have a friendship with someone, you must feel comfortable with them. There are many sides to people. There is a crazy side. There is a serious side. There is a physical side. There is an emotional side. To form a friendship with someone all four sides, which are separate, have to be integrated with one another. We decide if the different sides create a comfort zone. We decide if we want a friendship. It is the same way when a brand is created. We see the different sides of the brand and we have to decide whether or not we accept it.

In our social media age, branding is critical because there has been an explosion in products. The only way that consumers will pick one product out of millions is that if a product is branded. To succeed in social media marketing, a marketer must be well versed in marketing theory. Sometimes the theory of marketing is very technical. It is hard to understand. To brand, the social media marketer must understand the theory.

A brand is created through 4 tiers. The tiers are image, identity, positioning, and differentiation. In the old media system, many marketing practioners feel that these concepts are the same, or at least so similar that a marketer can use the terms interchangeably. I feel that in a new, social media era, the terms are separate in important ways. The scale of social media demands more intense branding than in old media. The four tiers of branding are separate. They also integrate with each other. A marketer cannot have one without the other, but each tier also stands by itself, just as they do when we create our human friendships.

An example of this is the branding revolution that is now taking place in Major League Baseball. The identify of Major League Baseball is that it is a very competitive league----only the best players can compete. Some players began to use performance enhancing drugs to compete. The use of these drugs was simply unacceptable to most baseball fans. This has created a major image problem for the League that the League cannot tolerate. Major League baseball adjusted its attitudes toward competition. The identity of Major League baseball is that only the best can compete, but the best have to comply with rules. The image of Major League baseball is that rules have to be followed, and its identity is that only the best players are allowed to compete. For Major League Baseball to be branded the players have to be seen as competing fairly. Image and identity are separate, but without the integration of both, there can be neither.



Dean Hambleton

dnhambleton@gmail.com