Brand image explained in a nutshell
A brand image in simple terms is how people see and feel about your brand. With a good brand image, customers will have trust and credibility in you. (Think of big household names) Now, a sustainable brand image means people perceive your brand as sustainable, environmentally friendly and similar terms.
Let’s see the benefits of having a sustainable brand and building up the image for it.
1. Reinforced Brand Identity
A strong, sustainable brand identity gives you a real competitive advantage – helping you stand out from competitors. With clear brand messaging, you will establish trustworthiness, thus, attracting more customers.
Incorporating sustainability into your brand essence builds greater brand significance, leading to stronger emotional connections with consumers and developing more favourable attitudes towards your company.
2. Becoming Meaningful
Brands and companies that have a purpose are more likely to get investment. Data has shown that investors are more and more interested in supporting sustainable causes that align with their values– after all, they are also doing good for the world.
3. Sense of Fulfillment
The sense of purpose also impacts employees leading to a greater retention rate. Staff will feel more fulfilled and will be more committed to staying with the company. So when you’re building the brand image, you need to do this both internally and externally.
4. Finding New Ways
Sustainable brands drive innovation, whether it’s new sorts of packaging or products. Because to reach sustainable goals, they always need to look for ways to reduce waste, energy usage or resources throughout their operation and supply chain.
5. Save and Reinvest
Innovation drives efficiency. And the more efficient your company is, the more it can save on costs. Then, these savings can be reinvested for further research and development, supporting good causes and more.
Think of the great PR opportunities and feel-good stories you could share with your audience – the perfect way of generating positive media coverage.
Now that you know the whys, you can think of starting out how to build your sustainable brand image. Here’s our other blog to help you get rolling: How to build a sustainable brand image.
So let’s summarise. You will need a strong brand image so consumers will recognise and trust your company – this is how they see your brand and what they think of it, so you need to convince them through various means, like Public Relations. Remember to research your target audience and their preferences; it is not enough to just stick on the sustainable label or simply being sustainable, eco-friendly, green etc. – you name it, as your main selling point. People also want functioning, stylish products that fit their needs. For example, when buying a car, it is one thing that’s electric. But how efficient is it, what’s the range of the full charge, what does it look like?
There are also many ways to be sustainable, and you will need a holistic vision and approach. Last but not least, most importantly, be transparent both internally and externally.
