Companies with the best branding strategies and what your business can learn from them

Your branding can’t be a carbon copy of another company’s branding. Yet, creative blocks and lack of experience may prevent you from sculpting a unique identity. That’s why it is worth getting inspired by companies with the best branding and strategic tools that have secured their places in the market.

You can learn from their successful examples when defining or revamping your own strategy. The biggest names can inspire you to explore different ways of acquiring a reputation as a compelling, customer-centered, and memorable brand.

Why look at the best-at branding companies in various industries?

It doesn’t matter if you are a cannabis brand or are engaged in consumer goods. You can still take cues from different businesses that have some factors in common to account for their success. Then, you can use these as:

• Strategic approaches to position your brand effectively
• Inspiration for building engagement and personalized emotional connections
• A blueprint for differentiating your business from the competition
• Actionable advice on guiding your marketing efforts and touchpoints with customers

These essentials can serve as the foundation for the best branding for companies. A well-crafted strategy starts with the “why” – and sticks to it – regardless of the challenges and market shifts it may adapt to. The most successful brands define it as their mission statement that outlines their reason for existence and the driving force behind a company.

Here’s what makes the heart of the strategy for some of the well-known behemoths out there:

• Microsoft: To empower everyone to achieve more and realize their full potential
• Google: To make information universally accessible, organized, and useful
• Coca-Cola: To inspire moments of happiness
• Red Bull: To give wings to people and ideas
• Disney: To entertain, inform, and inspire through the power of storytelling
• Duolingo: To make education universally available

Such a statement is a framework for the company’s values, providing its customers and employees something to focus on and align with. The top brands are known for clarity on their values and staying true to their “why” for years and even decades.

Emotional appeal

Companies with the best branding approaches to creating an emotional connection with their customers are often referred to as “happy brands.” By authentically incorporating enjoyment, positivity, and happiness into their messaging, they boost their visibility and recognition. The most important thing is that by encouraging self-expression and making people feel good about themselves, such brands have higher chances of winning a place in consumers’ hearts.

The brands that consistently build happiness into their audience include:

• Coca-Cola
• Lego
• M&M’s
• Campbell’s

With their joy-inspiring campaigns and storytelling that tap into the audience’s dreams or best memories, happy brands succeed at establishing themselves as pathways to experiencing positive emotions. The best branding for companies built around joy and kindness works wonders to bring smiles with its elements and ensure memorability.

Plus, it is trend-proof and crisis-proof. Brands and products that help us regain our sense of confidence and happiness will be just as relevant in the future as they are now. 

That said, today’s consumers are increasingly turning to fun, entertaining, and disruptive brands that challenge the traditional ways and staples. This brings us to the next point.

Disruptive marketing

Some of the world’s best brands are renowned for prioritizing affordability and fitting with everyone over standing out (read IKEA, Walmart, Target, Lidl). However, exclusivity and accessible price points don’t have to be mutually exclusive. This has been proven by many brands that are considered disruptive for revolutionizing industries, services, lifestyles, or ways of using specific products. The names that instantly come to mind are Airbnb, Google, Tesla, Facebook, and Netflix. 

However, numerous other examples are so integral to our modern lifestyles that we hardly ever trace their success back to when they started out as disruptive brands (think Visa, General Electric, Ford, or FedEx). Some of these innovators have spawned entire markets and new sectors, with the cannabis industry being one of the most notable examples. That’s where Trulieve, Cresco Labs, STIIIZY, and Wyld appear as leaders with enviable branding power.

Best online branding for companies today: Focus on the user experience

Improved customer experience has often been a buzzword or a concept that didn’t extend beyond buying a product or getting it delivered. Nowadays, the focus of marketing strategies shifts to the use of the product and customers as users rather than one-time buyers. 

In other words, while many traditional companies are centering their marketing efforts around what comes before buying, it pays to pave their way to success by highlighting the moments that happen after buying. So, the best online branding for companies relies on customer relationships, engagement, and user-generated content. 

Even though brand strategies might seem complex, they are just a combination of the tried-and-true and innovative ways of fostering trust. Take this for example:

• GoPro. GoPro has become a tech giant by pioneering the transformation of customers into storytellers. Their brand strategy is based on adventure sharing in a growing community of explorers to celebrate the most meaningful experiences captured with action cameras.

• Starbucks. Starbucks is unmatched at personalizing the brand story and creating a sense of community. They keep customers in by incentivizing the sharing of their experiences with a competitive purpose.

• Airbnb. No list of companies with the best branding strategies would be complete without a mention of Airbnb. It has evolved from a platform to connect hosts and guests into a service that offers a unique solution to make travel special, personalized, and affordable. The Airbnb Magazine is all about sharing experiences to convey the message of “belonging anywhere” and encourage more people to explore the world.

Branding through storytelling is no longer centered around pre-purchase promotion. It has never been as efficient and engaging as when based on inviting your customers to create their own stories.

These are just a few examples to borrow from the success stories of other companies. But there are many more to learn from as you start your branding journey with MYLARMEN.