SOCIAL MEDIA AND BRANDING: WHAT ARE THE 8 FUNCTIONS OF A BRAND

          IDENTIFICATION.  A brand  makes a product clearly seen. It helps a consumer make sense of an offer. Simply, the brand will identify a product for a consumer. A brand will act as a lighthouse for a consumer, shining a beacon in their eyes, in order that they will know what products to select in a flooded marketplace.

          PRACTICALITY.  To allow  savings of time and energy. People know that this is the product they want at this time.

          GUARANTEE.  To be sure of  buying  the best product in its category, the best performer for its category.

          BADGE. To create an image for the marketplace that clearly identifies this product in relation to others.

          CONTINUITY.  Brands create a sense  of satisfaction and trust. They create friendship with customers in the social media age. This creates a relationship. It is relationships that motivate a customer to buy.

          HEDONISTIC.  This relationship and friendship creates enchantment and attractiveness of the product that develops loyalty. To create this enchantment, logos, theme songs, and phrases are created that communicate the experiential rewards.

          ETHICAL. The satisfaction that the product brings is linked to responsible behavior. This responsibility solidifies the relationship between the product and consumer and creates the long term relationship that leads to brand. 

          Some brands have succeeded in proving with their slogans that they know and understand what their fundamental task is: to transform the product category.  A brand not only acts on the market. It organizes the market, drives a vision, creates a calling, and develops a clear idea of what the category is all about. Too many brands wish only to identify with the product category.   In social media, products and consumers create a two way friendship.

Dean Hambleton

dnhambleton@gmail.com