Creative logo, a catchy tagline, and awesome creative advertisements are what builds a strong brand. Right?
Wrong. The brand is a reflection of the quality of the product or service being offered, not how the product or service appears from the outside. The essence of a brand is the emotion it strikes within the user. Nike shoes remind me of treks to the sporting goods department with my mother as a child and the taste of victory after a long day’s battle. I don’t think of the swoosh and the Just Do It. Brand elements are in place to remind and resurrect those emotions. The Nike symbol draws that emotion out from me.
Branding has a constant rate of value on the market. Think of it as a stock symbol. When your brand adds positive products and service into the marketplace, your stock rises. When your brand implements negative service or receives poor feedback, your stock dives. The value of your brand is never fixed and is constantly volatile. So make sure every operational procedure is executed properly, and the products and services remain strong.
In the end, the strength of your brand is dependent on the quality of your products. The ability to use brand elements to draw emotions from consumers will sell your product. Nothing sells better than good memories, period.