Effective branding requires empathy and understanding

An effective branding exercise tries to identify the unique characteristics of a product and present it in the most effective and consistent manner to its various audiences. Effectively raising it above the crowd, using all the means necessary to get attention. Perhaps the above frieze at Taq-e Bustan of Ardashir II receiving the diadem from Shapur II, with Mithra’s blessing is a very overt and in your face example of effective branding.

Branding is often misconstrued as being a beauty exercise to please egos or blindly follow trends. Crafting pretty pictures that pleases key stakeholders may pay the bills in the short term but creates problems in a business relationship. Branding isn’t new, as seen above, it’s a very old craft that has been around since the first cities were built. A time when the power and wealth of the local king where carved in friezes on mountainsides – or spread in epic tales of heroism and derring-do by itinerant bards. Today we still celebrate some of the best that survive in myth and legend.

Branding is after all about story telling – how our stuff is better for business than that of others. It’s myth-making, it’s about capturing hearts and minds. It is a continuous exercise that is shaped and moulded by evolving perceptions and mores. That said, a properly researched and well crafted branding exercise is cheaper and more effective than ad hoc, piece-meal jobs piling up over the years. It requires consistency and skill. With good planning, these benefits are accessible even to SMBs.

There are many ways of slicing and dicing the key requirements for a web project. The biggest requirement that needs to be answered is the life-span of the project. A landing page for a marketing campaign is short lived and has few concerns beyond reaching an audience and getting conversions. At the other end of the scale, a client-facing portal that provides easy access to specialist information is a long-term project that should be addressed with the same concern as other infrastructure.