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See a bottle with red and white, you know its coke, 2 minute noodles, you know what’s cooking, lots of colours in a “G” here’s the know-it-all Google, see a swoosh tick on a product, Nike is the name. Brands so iconic that they stand apart. Branding is what takes these companies to the zenith of popularity.

How popular brands exercise branding
Most impactful brand strategies used by Successful Brands
Conclusion

It also provides the customer an idea about why you are the better choice among the various options. A brand can be built using advertising, logo, customer service, reputation and promotional merchandise. All of these elements work together to create one unique and catchy professional profile.

How popular brands exercise branding

Branding is an absolutely critical step, as it creates an image for the company. The logos, punchlines speak volumes about the working ethics of a company. For example, the 30 minute delivery tag line used by Dominos, tells the customer about their efficiency and punctuality. Branding changes people’s perception of the brand, it is what makes new businesses fly and increase brand awareness.

Branding also represents brand loyalty. For instance,Apple with its iconic logo and design has started a new cult of customers who wouldn’t settle for anything less than the Apple standard and quality.

Amazon’s founder, Jeff Bezos, says,“Your brand is what other people say about you when you’re not in the room.” A brand is equal to your reputation, therefore just like a reputation is built in due time, there are steps to build a brand.

Positive image + eccentricity = brand success.

Nowadays digital marketing can be effectively used for branding:
-Website Experience
-SEO & Content Marketing
-Social Media Marketing
-Email Marketing
-Paid Advertising (PPC)

A number of factors are kept in mind for brand building:

Purpose of your brand – To identify the purpose of your brand, answer the three  golden questions:
What – the products or services you offer to your customers
How – the things that make you unique
Why – the reason you are passionate

“People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it.”

Know your competitors – It is very important that you know what your competitors are doing to advertise their brands, the same old tactics would not work for a new brand.

“Go unique or go home”

Focus on your target audience – Direct your tactics to the target audience, find out how your brand makes their life easier, address their problems, make your brand look like an escape from the ordinary.

Let your brand personality shine – Customers aren’t looking another usual company, they are looking for an experience that tailors to their needs, backed by genuine personal interaction.

For example Apple, from stand-out packaging to their grand announcement events, Apple always reminds customers that its products can be used right out of the box.
Do you remember Apple’s slogan back in 1997-2002? It was “Think Different”. This notion continues to exist, today.

Another brand that has touched every individual’s life is Nike, we all know the Nike tagline: Just Do It. Nike’s mission is: “To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world”. They narrow down to  all types of athletes using Nike products to be their best selves.

Nike takes this forward by saying: “If you have a body, you are an athlete”. Think about how wide their target audience becomes with a disclaimer like that!

Most impactful brand strategies used by Successful Brands

A brand strategy is how you would maintain your brand in the long-run, it involves the feelings and expectations that you want your customers to associate with your brand.
Now that we know and understand the branding essentials, let’s look into the  branding strategies of some of the greatest brands of all times.

1. Coca-Cola: Consistency is the key

Coca-Cola is hands down one of the most well known brands in the world. The red and white logo is recognised in countries all over the world and it represents the idea of staying refreshed. So how did Coca-Cola succeed? The secret is consistency, they have kept their brand identity, product, logo consistent for over 130 years and continue to promote the same message.

It holds a major share of the beverage market and owns various products under different names and brands, however their most popular product, the infamous, iconic can of Coke, has remained relatively untouched.

Coca-Cola invests an estimated $4.3 billion on advertising and marketing every year. It has all the means to market the product in any way they wish, but they still prefer the good old ideas that have paid off.

2. Apple: Driving a Movement

Apple did not succeed overnight, it had its own share of peaks and valleys, but the brand never gave up. The one thing that helped Apple was their ability to create a movement. The brand  created a cult like following which has stood the test of time.
Apple has created an image of visionary and life changing products using its marketing schemes.

Sure they have developed some amazingly advanced technologies, however to get average people involved in this, they have created sleek, aesthetically pleasing gadgets that are not just for tech geeks.

Their marketing has also helped to convey this by making people feel as if they need their products in order to enhance their quality of living.

With innovation and amazing product quality, Apple has created a name that is synonymous for standard.

3. Colgate: Building Trust

Colgate refused to just be identified as a toothpaste brand, rather it chose to give the name an image of trust. This is proved by the advertising of the company, in which they interview real life mothers who answer why their choice has been Colgate for years.

This is another way it connects with the audience and uses the motherly instinct to prove its worth.

Colgate may have a multi-million dollar marketing budget to make hefty videos and content, however all you really need to do is go into the minds of your consumers and deliver to them what they really want.

4. Nike – Weave a Story

On their main homepage, Nike tells a story about some of their famous shoes and the journey they have taken from idea to conception. Nike sells the story, which in turn helps to sell their products.

Nike also maintains a strong presences on Instagram and they use the platform in a very clever way.

They promote strength and fitness, they promote health, they promote things that are so much bigger than just a pair of runners.
This indirect marketing is what gets consumers interested in a brand and it is also what keeps them following along with the story.

Conclusion

Branding should be considered as an ongoing process instead of a “one-and-for all” situation. A brand evolves as it grows and understands what the audience likes and dislikes about it.
The most successful brands don’t find what works and stick to their guns no matter what. Instead, the best companies adapt and continue to hone their brands to find the right balance and integrate the insights.

Startups are dynamic, and flexible, and this makes them ideal for rapidly changing landscapes like the drone space.

If you are wondering how to get your piece of the pie that is the drone industry, and are looking to raise funds for a potential unicorn-valuation startup, here are 5 potential startups you could build:

Drone Shows and Performances

There is a growing interest in using drones as an attraction in and of themselves, rather than as accessories. Drone displays are a budding entertainment niche that has attracted interest and investment from some of the biggest stakeholders including Disney and local governments.

Drone displays make use of multiple drones, flying in a coordinated or programmed manner to entertain and amaze the watching public.

With advances in lighting and camera technology, drones have evolved beyond being mere props for entertainment into being entertainment media themselves.

And if you have the capital or know how to raise it, you can enter this niche as a startup.

A major player in this niche is Disney, who already has a number of drone patents concerning drone performance. They continue to add to their expertise and reputation with the growing number of shows they convene every year which feature drone puppeteers, light shows, and drone projection screens.

Tech companies are not missing a beat. For example, Intel have already produced an entertainment drone dubbed Shooting Star which is specifically meant for light shows. Shooting Star has already been deployed during American Independence Day celebrations and Super Bowl breaks.

As a drone startup, you could quickly make a name for yourself either as a producer of the tech needed for creating drone entertainment shows, or by actually producing the shows yourself.

In other words, you could go either the Intel or the Disney route. Or you could find a third option that works.

Drone Taxis

What better space to establish a startup than in one that seeks to alter the our way of life and possibly our future as a species?

Passenger drones are garnering a lot of attention, from heavy hitters and fledgling startups alike. This is one of those spaces that are still wide open, without a dominant player that holds all the cards.

Up until now, the general public conjures up images of small-sized flying objects whenever drones are mentioned.

But a lot of aviation manufacturers and drone startups have begun to think bigger, putting in efforts to create viable passenger drones or drone taxis.

Not only will these drone taxis be able to carry human beings from one spot to another, the will be able to do so autonomously.

For now, a Jetsons-like future with autonomous taxis flying over our heads eludes us. But that might not remain the case for long as some of the best and brightest minds, as well the deepest pockets, try to make this dream a reality.

Major players in this space include Boeing, Intel Volocopter, Ehang, Airbus, and Uber. And many large cities around the world that are struggling with crippling traffic jams are queuing up to test out any solutions that come from these companies and startups.

Drone Deliveries

Because they are small, programmable, and versatile in the air, drones have massive potential as a means of delivery. And many businesses and startups are wising up to this fact.

Several companies and startups are gathering resources and putting efforts towards redefining the entire delivery chain in order to increase the efficiency of drone delivery services.

And this is happening in many unrelated fields like health and medicine, food and leisure, postal services, entertainment, among others.

Businesses that have shown interest in drone deliveries, have either been creating their own proprietary technology or partnering with drone delivery startups to have their needs met.

The fact is that some locations are simply too difficult and too costly for humans to deliver to, and drones make for a nice alternative. As a startup you could take advantage of this fact and offer drone delivery services to businesses and organizations that need them.

Top players in this field include Amazon, Zipline, Flytrex, Flirtey, Domino’s Pizza, Uber, and UPS.

Drone Security and Surveillance

There has never been a better time for drones to be incorporated into security solutions. The cost, safety, and time advantages that are acquired with autonomous fleets can add significant value to anyone willing to establish a drone security startup.

Drone patrols augment the capabilities of human guards, security agencies, security directors, risk managers, and other security stakeholders.

Drones can help in a more robust security solution offering better, faster, decision making, more efficient disaster response and management, and remote security operations and capabilities.

Many startups and businesses have recognized these opportunities that drones bring into the security space, and they have mobilized themselves to meet the needs of those who would benefit from these services.

The technology is already available to support a drone security startup, and these include:

• The availability of cloud-based, hardware agnostic software
• The development of reliable, over-the-counter hardware

And these lead to quicker returns because of low capital expenditure and seamless integration between hardware and software.

Drone Insurance

As the demand for drones keeps climbing, so does the demand for drone insurance. In some areas, this need for drone insurance is even mandated by the aviation authorities.

So, not only is the idea of a drone startup a viable one, it is a necessary one.

The average drone costs a few hundred dollars, while professional devices cost up to a few thousand dollars. Add the cost of accessories and it is not difficult to see why most drone operators see drone insurance providers as indispensable partners.

This need for reliable drone insurance is even more dire for professional drone operators whose services will be hampered if not outright forbidden without it.

Many startups are now offering bespoke insurance solutions to fill the need. Sometimes, these services cost just a few dollars and cover just a single flight, but they are in high demand.

Ever heard of the phrase “privacy is dead?”

Every time you use the internet, you leave behind a digital footprint, which can be used to profile you. Whether you are sending an email, sharing photos, searching on Google, shopping online, etc., all that data adds to your digital footprint.

Your ISP also collects your data. They can see the searches you make on Google, the websites you visit, and generally anything you do on the internet. They then store this data, and they can even sell it to third parties for profit.

All these, combined with the ever-growing government surveillance, have led to the need for more privacy. This is where VPNs come in.

What is a VPN?

A VPN is an online tool that encrypts user traffic and sends it through a secure tunnel to a VPN server of choice. This new server spoofs your real IP address and comes between your ISP and the internet, such that you no longer connect to the internet through your ISP server.

The encryption of your data ensures that your ISP can’t see the type of traffic passing through as it all appears as gibberish. All they can tell is that you are connected to a VPN. The end result is that your ISP, government, companies, hackers, or other third-parties can’t get access to your data, and the websites you visit can’t see your real IP address.

However, VPNs do not offer privacy by default.

Different products are made different, and so the first and most important step is to choose the right VPN. This means that you need to evaluate the various options available. Below are the most important factors to consider:

The VPN’s Privacy Policy

When you connect to a VPN, what you are basically doing is transferring your trust from the ISP to the VPN provider. If they wish, they can also log your activities and sell your data to third parties. A good example is Facebook’s Onavo VPN, which was marketed as a product to protect users before it was discontinued. On the contrary, it was spyware that would track user activities through their session.

This means that you need to check the VPN’s privacy policy carefully. There are VPNs that are dedicated to offering maximum privacy by keeping zero logs, and so these are the products to consider. Note that most free VPNs can’t be trusted with your privacy, as some of them log and sell your data for profit. After all, they are not running the service out of the goodness of their hearts.

The Country of Registration

Some VPN’s try to offer as much privacy as possible, but this is hindered by the laws in the countries they are registered in. For example, various EU nations have mandatory data retention laws that directly apply to ISPs as well as VPNs. Other countries that do not have mandatory data retention laws like the US often enforce “gag orders.” These orders can stop a firm from exposing to the public that they are now collecting logs (on behalf of the government).

As a standard, avoid VPNs based in privacy-invasive countries.

The VPN’s Security

Security goes along with privacy when it comes to VPNs. This is because poor security leads to exposure. Various VPNs use outdated or weak encryption standards, which can be easily intercepted and data exposed. The current standard for encryption is AES 256-bit, an encryption standard that hasn’t been cracked yet.

Apart from the encryption, it’s also important to consider other features such as a kill switch and DNS/ IPv6 leak protection. These two provide a safety net against accidental exposure.

Privacy Benefits of Connecting to a VPN

After choosing a VPN, you now need to:

• Create an account
• Download a copy of the VPN app
• Install the app on your device
• Log in using your credentials
• Connect to a VPN server.

From there, you will get to:

Stop ISP & Government surveillance

Once your traffic is encrypted, your ISP won’t be able to monitor and log your activities. This also means that your traffic won’t be meaningful to the government. If you chose a VPN that doesn’t keep any logs, even a court-order wouldn’t be able to force your VPN provider to submit your records. After all, they do not have them!

Safe torrenting

Torrenting exposes your IP address to every peer with whom you are sharing a file. Apart from that, there’s an even more significant threat in that copyright trolls are tracking these IP addresses. In 2019, Swedish ISP Banhof revealed that copyright trolls targeted more than 100,000 IP addresses. This threat can be combated by hiding your real IP address with a VPN.

Anonymous browsing

Apart from hiding your real IP address with a VPN, you will also get to use one that is used by hundreds of other users. This means that your activities can’t be traced back to you since, after all, many users have that identity.

Wrap up

In a world where internet privacy is dwindling by the day, a VPN has become a vital privacy tool. You can regain your privacy by encrypting your activities and spoofing your IP address with one such product. However, you need to ensure that you choose a VPN carefully, and the above guide should help you achieve that desired level of privacy.