If Purchasing Decisions are Led by Feelings, Branding Closes the Sale, Experts Say
If You Market Podcast hosts, Sky Cassidy and cohost Karla Jo Helms, interview Rani Sweis, branding expert of AtticSalt, on how a marketable brand can take a company from nonexistence to the forefront of their targeted audience's hearts and minds. Strategic branding has the power to increase market share, boost sales and create strong customer relationships.
CANOGA PARK, Calif., July 24, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- 95 percent of the purchasing decision-making process is subconscious—this means that most B2B consumer's decisions boil down to how they feel or think about a product, rather than logical processes. (1) Emotions, feelings and aesthetics—all the basis of successful branding—have the power to dictate whether sales reach new heights, or plummet miserably. "A good brand asks 'how can I most effectively communicate the values of an organization so that it instantly connects with its audience and creates an inseparable bond?'" said Rani Sweis, Chief Strategist of award-winning branding agency AtticSalt, on the latest episode of B2B If You Market Podcast.
Sweis' brand pick: Nike. Releasing a Colin Kaepernick advertisement—controversial or not—felt authentic to their brand identity for a large group of consumers. Online sales increased 31 percent immediately after the advertisement was released.(2) Nike stood by the ad, in spite of outrage, and spawned a crop of intensely loyal customers. Sweis elaborated on the tangible ROI produced by effective branding on Episode 48 of the If You Market podcast "Brand Identity with Rani Sweis," hosted by MountainTop Data CEO Sky Cassidy and JOTO PR CEO Karla Jo Helms.(3)
Sweis witnessed companies offering similar services through almost identical means of advertising. While some made millions—others failed and saw a meager ROI, regardless of how much money was poured into the advertising budget. He soon realized that it came down to this simple fact: branding and marketing must coexist to launch a successful campaign.
"Branding must be infused in every message of the company—from advertising and social media to company announcements. It should be what drives every internal and external-facing decision," Sweis said. "Perception is everything when it comes to consumers."
To the contrary, startups that have invested in establishing a brand saw great success—despite the rate of failure sitting at 44 percent at the five-year mark.(4) Startups like Warby Parker, Harry's, Casper and more have all demonstrated a steep ROI, evident in millions of dollars in funding. (5)
Glossier, a cosmetics company turned fully-fledged brand, has forged itself as a powerhouse in the market with its unique-to-millennial marketing and coined term, "Glossier Pink." Glossier proved that branding was an essential element of the business model when they raised $100 million is Series D funding in March 2019. This ultimately resulted in a company valuation of $1.2 billion.(6)
Sweis' Four Questions to Ask When Creating a Brand
1. Why are we here?
2. What do we believe in?
3. What is our business' purpose for existing?
4. What do we want our business to look like in the future?
When to Rebrand, According to Sweis
1. Acquisitions and mergers
2. Noticeable failure in targeting the right audience
3. Shedding a past image
4. The need to attract new internal talent
"Many startups don't feel they need to invest in branding as they are developing their products and business model. The truth is, branding should be a jumping point. It can be pointed to for every single business decision. This is crucial when just starting out on the market," said Cassidy. "Executives forget that," Helms agreed. "Branding is the heartbeat and mission of a business. A brand, or lack thereof, can absolutely make or break a company."
Brand identity is an essential approach to the creation of a celebrated company. To listen to the podcast episode on Brand Identity with Rani Sweis, visit https://ifyoumarkettheywillcome.com/2019/06/18/48-brand-identity-impact-with-rani-sweis/?PRS
The If You Market podcast is a 45-minute conversation about B2B marketing—new trends, best practices and pitfalls to avoid. Each episode features a conversation with one expert guest discussing topics like: content marketing, account-based marketing, social media, marketing automation, PR, etc.
The podcast airs on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play and TuneIn Radio.
About Rani Sweis
From acting on set with Will Ferrell, Jamie Foxx, and Rebecca Hall to working with hundreds of brands at some of the world's leading tech companies, Rani Sweis has spent the last ten years obsessed with consumer behavior and how to design brands around it.
During his career at Google, Sweis discovered the power of branding and how it can make or break a company. It became his personal mission to bring better branding to Arizona and started AtticSalt in 2014. On a daily basis, the team at AtticSalt works with innovative products and organizations to define and design disruptive brands that cut through the digital noise of the modern world.
About AtticSalt
AtticSalt is a creative brand consultancy that is hyper-focused in crafting exceptional brand identities and campaigns for visionary products and organizations. Their international team has a knack for disruption, creating human experiences and building brands with a cult-like following. They work with organizations large and small as long as they're are backed by passion. Some of the most notable clients they have serviced include Google, The Joint Chiropractic, and Enterprise Rent A Car.
About the If You Market Podcast
Meet If You Market podcast host, Sky Cassidy—an accomplished B2B marketer. And his co-host, disruptive PR evangelist Karla Jo Helms. Together they talk with industry experts to analyze B2B marketing tactics in a cocktail hour atmosphere.
Sky Cassidy is also the CEO of MountainTop Data. MountainTop Data, based in Los Angeles, CA, provides data and data services for B2B marketing. Karla Jo Helms is the CEO and Anti-PR Strategist of PR agency, JOTO PR DisruptorsTM, based in Tampa, FL. Visit them via http://ifyoumarkettheywillcome.com/category/if-you-market-podcast/?PRS
1. Chierotti, Logan. "Harvard Professor Says 95% of Purchasing Decisions Are Subconscious," Inc.; March 26, 2018.
2. Martinez, Gina. "Despite Outrage, Nike Sales Increased 31% After Kaepernick Ad," Time; September 10, 2018.
3. Cassidy, Sky. "Content Repurposing with Alex Navarro," If You Market podcast; March 12, 2019.
4. Mansfield, Matt. "STARTUP STATISTICS – The Numbers You Need to Know," Small Business Trends; March 28, 2019.
5. "This Startup Cracked a $2.4 Billion Market with Branding — Here's Their Formula," First Round Review
6. Berger, Sarah. "Glossier: How this 33-year-old turned her beauty blog to a $1 billion brand,"CNBC; March 20, 2019.
SOURCE Rani Sweis
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