What is the recipe for creating a brand?

How long does it take to build one? How much does it cost? Where do you start and where do you end? What are the key ingredients? What can you do without, and what can’t you? These are just a few of the questions that an entrepreneur at the beginning of their journey asks and to which we will try to find answers.

“The essential ingredients of a brand are: (1) an entrepreneur with a vision for the brand, (2) a team that behaves and delivers in line with its values, (3) a product or service that clearly promises something to the customer – both functionally and emotionally – and (4) a relatively loyal community to the brand, looking for differentiators and willing to pay more than for a relatively similar product,” says Dochita Zenoveiov, founder of the branding agency INOVEO.

She adds that there are two major stages in building/creating a brand, each with sub-stages. It’s about defining it and developing it. Defining involves understanding the context, shaping the identity (visual, verbal, and experiential), segmenting the market, targeting consumers, and positioning the brand, followed by defining the touchpoints and the customer journey.

“After this, comes implementation in all its complexity. Only here does the brand become practical, start to exist, relate to the customer, have an impact on them, and become necessary, even indispensable,” adds Dochita.

Excerpt from Ziarul Financiar.