10 Types of Branding Strategies + How To Choose One With Example

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10 Types of Branding Strategies + How To Choose One With Example

Every business requires a unique branding strategy specifically ideal for their business. here are some ways to design the best one for you!

A brand strategy is something around which a business idea works. It is how you impact the target audience, get the desired results and plan your brand’s success amidst the competition. In a business brand strategy, there is information about your business values, mission and vision you have in mind.

A strong brand strategy is important because it helps shape the business campaigns and impacts how a customer perceives your business. brand strategy plays a vital role in brand awareness too.

However, many people confuse brand strategy with brand identity, but the truth is both are different from each other. Brand identity includes the visual elements of a company. This includes the brand’s name, logo, visuals, font style, colour palettes, marketing content, and all the infographics that you see on a website. On the other hand, brand strategy is how you design and implement these elements to catch the user’s attention for your benefit.

Thus, knowing the utmost importance a brand strategy holds in the business world, it is important to design strategies that are well-researched and carefully planned. In this article, we will discover the top 10 types of branding strategies and how to discover the right one for your business.

What is a Brand Strategy?

An action plan, or a map route as one would say, that directs to the company’s success. A brand strategy entails everything a company must follow to reach their target goal of awareness and growth with the desired customers. A brand strategy includes communicating the brand’s personal goals and how these personal goals will benefit the customers.

In the business world, there are many types of branding strategies and knowing the right type for your business can help with a successful strategy mapping for your business.

10 Types of Branding Strategies for a Strong Company Reputation

10 Types of Branding Strategies for a Strong Company Reputation

Here are different types of branding strategies brands adapt to, according to varying business situations.

Personal Branding

Commonly used by SaaS or service provider companies.

One of the most common types of branding in current times. This type of branding is highly popular amongst social media influencers. But other participants of these types of campaigns include athletes, politicians, film and TV celebrities too. Personal branding drives the idea of marketing yourself as a person, cashing in your unique talents and success level. Here the business leader builds their reputation firs which in turn increases the company’s authority. Many brands use personal branding as a part of growing their fame amongst the target audience. Also, personal branding works in many ways.

Examples

A popular example is Elon Musk.

His popularity isn’t because of his products initially, (which are amazing in unique ways) but he has become a brand by remaining popular and engaging with his customers in many ways. He directly manages his social media presence by communicating about his business. he is also known for an upfront straightforward personality and an attitude that is too strict with work ethics.

Even if many of his business strategies don’t fit well with lots of people, he has made a popular name in the business world because of his unique ways.

Another popular example of personal branding is Neil Patel. The king of SEO, rather than marketing any of his services directly, promotes his services directly via his name. He hasn’t built a separate brand for his SEO tools but uses his name to brand and sell his products.

Product Branding

Commonly used by retailers, business-to-business marketing, and health niche.

Product branding is when a company uses one of its products to brand its business in front of the world. This specific product is the most recognized production of the company and plays a vital role in developing a strong brand image.

Examples

A very popular example of product branding is Apple. The company deals with and sells several products, but its central product is the iPhone. iPhone is responsible for generating half of the company revenue, while the rest of the products are also marketed around the iPhone in one way or another.

Next, Coca-Cola also falls into a similar category of product branding. The company deals in several beverages and other products, but the black drink Coca-Cola is what rules the brand’s image.

Service Branding Strategy

Commonly used by insurance and consultation companies, airlines, telecommunication and banks.

Service branding, just as the name suggests is a method of branding that is used by companies which deal in services rather than products. They work on highlighting the benefits of their service products for the end consumer. Here the goal works differently. The brand shows how a service will help them rather than praising their service directly.

  •         How service branding differs from product branding:
  •         There is no tangible product to show evident benefits
  •         You are marketing based on guarantees and promised
  •         Customer experience is the real asset of marketing
  •         Sale cycles are longer as compared to product branding.

Examples

Chick-fil-A, marketing their polite customer service as their main asset rather than their products is a genuine example of service branding. Here they use the term ‘polite’ to highlight their customer service.

Corporate Branding Strategy

Corporate branding is like personal branding in a way that here an entire corporation builds a strong reputation in front of the audience. Rather than highlighting a product, service or a person, the corporation’s values and missions become the central of this strategy.

The branding strategy works by praising the company’s code of ethics with the customers and even within the organization. The brand speaks about its work culture, its social work, and the role it plays in making society better for everyone. Here they represent themselves as a respectable part of a community. Also, a corporate brand strategy doesn’t directly focus on its gains but rather on the gains its customers will enjoy.

Examples

A perfect example of a corporate branding strategy is Apple. Not only do they earn a great reputation through their products, but their code of ethics is highly admired amongst the people. For instance, in their recent campaign where they launched a feature for people who are unable to use voice commands. By doing so, they have catered to a wide range of audiences that probably not most brands care about. This shows the brand’s concern to work towards the betterment of society rather than personal gains. Apple here represents itself to serve the true purpose of using technology for the benefit of people.

Retail Branding Strategy

Commonly used by supermarkets, e-commerce stores, department stores and wholesale.

You must have heard the phrase ‘shopping experience’. That is retail branding. Whether online or digital retail branding provides a customer-friendly and comfortable shopping experience to the user. This type of branding strategy ideally works for retailers who have both physical and digital storefronts.

But e-commerce stores can perfectly cash in the retail branding too.

Examples

The biggest example of a retail branding strategy is Amazon. The world’s biggest digital market is known first for its products but has lots of other features to offer. It has diversity, great prices, exceptional customer service, an easy-to-use interface and a platform where every business (small to big) can sell their products.

A second example of a retail branding strategy is Walmart. The company has both a digital and physical presence that focuses on providing unmatched customer experience. Also, one major reason behind their unmatched success is strategizing according to the changing customer needs.

Therefore, a crucial part of the retail branding strategy is to compete with own brand’s image from the past years more than the competition. Finding out ways which appeal to the customers and implementing them in your business strategy, is what helps with successful retail branding.

Geographical Branding

Commonly used by hotels, tourist attractions, restaurants and local businesses.

Just as the name suggests, this type of branding focuses on the location rather than the product or service. Here you localized your service in a certain location and speak about its benefits henceforth. The branding strategy focuses on serving the customers in a particular area rather than dealing with a wide range of audience. Hence the strategies planned are also to appeal to a group of people rather than a diverse audience.

Examples

Despite being widespread all around the world, McDonald’s uses a very smart approach to branding its products based on the different interests of people in different regions. All of their products vary from region to region, culture and weather as well. For instance, in hotter regions, they market and launch a new selection of ice-cold beverages. Whereas in colder climates they introduce their hot drinks and market them more than the rest. This geographical branding includes a wide array of customer groups serving everyone what they need.

Cultural Branding Strategy

Commonly used by tourism companies, B2B dealings and different brands.

This type of branding strategy can work and serve multiple niches. Here, the brand works on building an emotional connection with a target group of people by emphasizing cultural and traditional values. In this type of marketing, a brand would stick true to a cultural heritage, emphasize products that a group of people have a history with and hence market it amongst the desired crowd.

Examples

Harley Davidson, an American motorcycle manufacturer has centred its idea of production around the passionate bike riders. Following the inspiration of adventure, freedom and open roads they are known to manufacture heavy-duty bikes. However, the brand has included more diversity in its product line but hasn’t changed its origin of bike riders with heavy style and rugged biking style.

Co-Branding Strategy

Co-branding works when two or more brands join hands on a marketing campaign. In this type of branding, two products from different niches join their services to give a combined experience to the user. Though niche apart, the brand’s service fits well in some ways. The result could be anything from a new product to a new service or a package of purchasing both things from a similar brand.

The purpose of co-branding is to highlight the importance of a particular product or a service amongst a group of people. In this case, two birds with one stone. Sometimes, a popular brand might pair with a mid-sized brand and give a maximized exposure as a result.

Examples

An unforgettable example is the association between Uber and Spotify in 2015. Both brands formed a campaign ‘a soundtrack for your ride’ where people riding in Uber could use Spotify to stream music. Though the campaign was location-centric, it remained a huge success among many people.

Activist Branding

Next, Activist branding is when a company uses a method of branding to show their care and concern for society. Like corporate branding, but here by joining a movement or a campaign, a brand might work on building a stronger brand image amongst the audience. This type of branding isn’t a permanent branding method as it comes and goes with an ongoing revolutionary movement going on.

Examples

A huge example of activist branding is when Nike took part in launching their campaign based on an anti-racism approach. They dared to change their very famous slogan ‘Just do it’, into ‘For Once, don’t do it’. This powerful message became a hashtag on Twitter with over 100K tweets and 7 million views.

Ingredient Branding

Ingredient branding works by highlighting the speciality of a product rather than a product or service directly. For instance, a new product could offer a quality ingredient that solves the issue many people face. This could be a leading edge amongst the competitors. By marketing that ingredient of their product, the brand would gain recognition and customers will feel a sense of understanding from the business.

Examples

The Dupont’s Teflon is a well-fit example of ingredient branding. Here the brand works on marketing their product by the word ‘Teflon’ which is a non-toxic chemical as opposed to toxic non-stick coating on frying pans and cooking pots. The whole range of Teflon gained popularity and is a multi-million brand today.

How to Choose the Perfect Branding Strategy for Your Business?

As seen above, there is no specific strategy befitting a particular brand. But the branding strategy depends on the business situation, the market trends and the ongoing movements in the society. Therefore, a brand must grow and evolve amongst these different types of branding strategies so your business can cater to a wide range of audiences and develop a higher level of customer trust. However, to make sure you choose the right type of branding strategy at the right time, here are some key points:

Brand’s Objective

No matter what goes around, smart brands stick to their objectives all the way. They don’t forget their ultimate purpose, business intention and social responsibility. Also, sticking to your brand’s objectives ensures that all your marketing strategies have that element of specificity which makes your brand unique from the rest.

Target Audience

Don’t forget the customer group you are planning to impress with your branding strategy. This helps further shape your brand’s objective in the right direction. Whether you adapt personal branding, ingredient method or activist branding, knowing in depth about the target audience helps remain relevant in the desired market.

Brand Identity

At any time, when devising a campaign, there will be multiple strategies that suit your business needs. Make sure you stick to the one that is true to the brand identity. This includes the purpose and ideation of your brand, the tone and style of your business and the reputation your business holds.

Industry

A well-researched analysis of the competition is what helps in creating the right branding strategy for your business. always understand the ongoing trends in the business world to judge the success and response level of any campaign.

The Right Branding Strategy – A Key to Business Success

Selecting the right type of branding strategy for your business is only possible when you understand your business goals properly. This includes a clear alignment of your business objectives with the marketing strategy. By doing so, you will ensure that no strategy for your business steers you away from the goal your brand is based upon.

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