Branding is a way of clearly highlighting what makes your product or service different to, and more attractive than, your competitors'.

A brand goes much deeper than just your company logo. You could define a brand as a set of associations that an existing or potential customer has of a company, product, service or individual. These associations can be the result of your own efforts, actively promoted through marketing and corporate identity. Branding also reflects your customers experience of your business and affects every interaction you have with your customers and suppliers.

The intelligent use of design, advertising, marketing, service proposition, and corporate culture can all help to generate associations in people's minds that will benefit your business.

Branding is your attempt to harness these associations to help your business perform better. Any business or organisation can benefit enormously by creating an accurate brand, ie one that represents their true values. Therefore, it is important to always be clear about what your business stands for.

Successful branding is about promoting your strengths. You need to be sure that you can always deliver your promises using these strengths, sometimes referred to as 'brand values'. You can start by thinking about what your business is good at and what you believe in as a business. For example:

the particular skills your business has
your high-quality customer service
the best value for money you provide in your marketplace
your innovative approach

Every business wants to be a customer's first choice. Building and managing a brand can play a significant part in making that happen.