Cattle branding is a practice in the livestock industry that has been around for so long. Ranchers do this to their cows to give them an easier way to identify whose cattle is which. And then eventually, buyers of cattle started paying attention a little more to these markings than usual. They all looked for the same marking that gave them the overall great experience and then they tend buy some more of it; Or, on the contrary, watch out for the same marking that gave them an overall unsatisfactory experience and avoid it at all cost.

What started off as a marking system that helped people identify the provider of the cattle, suddenly meant something else. It then became a symbol that reminded them of how good or bad an experience was with the product that held that sign. A symbol that reflected how well or how bad a ranch does business and handles livestock. And just like that these markings have become emblems that carry with them the PERCEIVED OVERALL EXPERIENCE of the buyer with a service or product provider.

BRANDING has since then been also about a specific emotion associated with your logo or your name. It IDENTIFIES with the CONSUMER’S SUBJECTIVE PERCEPTION about their entire encounter with you. It unleashes memories and feelings that they had from that very first time they interacted with your BRAND up to that time that they KNEW THEY’VE FALLEN IN LOVE – OR OUT OF LOVE – WITH IT.

You might be asking yourself, how can MY BRAND come to this? The simple answer – CONSISTENCY. The complex answer – CONSISTENCY.

BRANDS have come and gone either because they were CONSISTENTLY BAD or CONSISTENTLY GOOD. And in the world of branding, CONSISTENCY IS EVERYTHING. It probably is one of the toughest challenges a BUSINESS could ever face. It entails asking yourself: what message or imagery or experience should a company be consistent with? And, equally important, how long can a company stay consistent with the message they want to send across?

This thought process could make or break a brand. ASKING yourselves those questions in building your BRAND is critical as your answers will determine how your business will be driven. When you’ve got that down, think of the methods available to you to deliver or channel that experience to the consumer.

You might think it ends there. But that’s not even half of it. The other half involves giving your whole COMPANY a good look and see to it that the culture of work or operations you instill within it are in line with your brand. Doing so would help you become consistent from the internal workings of your company all the way to the delivery of that service you want to live up to. Have a solid list of the things that you’d want to be defined by or, better yet, LOVED BY, then deliver the promise and STAY CONSISTENT. This is BRANDING.

It used to be just about putting identity marks on some livestock on a ranch or a cool logo on a product, but it had evolved into something more than that. And just like that, BRANDING wasn’t about putting marks on cattle anymore, but about leaving an indelible mark in the LIVES and EXPERIENCES of the consumer.