Media Cultures - Relevancy - Successful Branding

This post will look into a possibly relevant question. What is a successful branding?

Lightly touched upon in the previous post, the question here can bring forth a deeper understanding of the use of various media in the context of branding.

From a number of articles, a few points seem to stand across all of them. Here are those elements to a successful branding:

1. Uniqueness
   Fairly obvious but a brand needs to stick/stand out like a sore thumb, not the best choice of words but the message is clear. A brand needs be different from their competitors. "What makes them different from this other brand?". Differentiation provides needed contrast and helps people make choices. It’s what makes a successful brand unique. A quote by Marty Neumeier, author of The Brand Gap and Zag, “An over-abundance of look-alike products and me-too services is forcing customers to search for something, anything, to help them separate the winners from the clutter.”
   
2. Consistency
   Consistency can come in many ways, for example, the design of one's brand should be done by one designer. Having more than one will possibly result in too many designs making the brand unrecognizable. A perfect example of this is restaurants. Customers expect the same level of quality each time they come back for more. Consistency builds trust and solidifies the brand.
   
3. Audience
   As mentioned in the previous post, knowing your audience is a key element to successful branding. Knowing what they dislike about your competitors, knowing about what they want from the brand these are all important for a successful brand. All of this helps in standing above your competitors and holding on to the loyalty of your customers.

With many more points or elements, these few seem to stand out across all of them. With all that being said, it seems fairly clear that a successful brand needs to be unique, consistent and understand their audience. Using my previous post, did Doritos manage to do so? Yes.
Knowing their target audience, gamers, they were consistent with the expectation of their audience, making a game for a snack stereotypically recognized as a gamer's food. And the result of that? An immersive horror website that one could say was unique at its time.

References:

1. Conran, J. (2015). The Secret Ingredients to a Successful Branding Strategy. [online] Entrepreneur. Available at: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/247883 [Accessed 30 Jun. 2017].
2. Davis, R. (n.d.). 7 Keys to Building a Successful Brand | BusinessCollective. [online] Businesscollective.com. Available at: https://businesscollective.com/7-keys-to-building-a-successful-brand/ [Accessed 30 Jun. 2017].
3. DeMers, J. (2013). Forbes Welcome. [online] Forbes.com. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jaysondemers/2013/11/12/the-top-7-characteristics-of-successful-brands/#3c5c722c42f9 [Accessed 31 Jun. 2017].
4. Forbes.com. (2016). Forbes Welcome. [online] Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2016/08/31/13-key-ways-of-building-a-successful-brand-in-todays-economy/#7afedaf51e55 [Accessed 30 Jun. 2017].
5. Fredericksen, L. (2017). Elements of a Successful Brand 1: Brand Positioning | Hinge Marketing. [online] Hinge Marketing. Available at: https://hingemarketing.com/blog/story/elements-of-a-successful-brand-1-brand-positioning [Accessed 30 Jun. 2017].
6. Neumeier, M. (2005). The Brand Gap. Berkeley: New Riders.