Marketing at its best is a matter of informing. It is the act of making those who will benefit from a service or product aware of that service or product. It is the utilization of abstract or intangible strengths to meet concrete and tangible needs. Like any other helpful entity, the extent to which it is helpful is sadly the depth of harm to which its abuse will sojourn.

IKEA could very well have become a furniture company who catered to that select percentage of people in the world who redo the furniture in their homes every couple years by walking into the place with the most attention-getting reputation and order all new everything. IKEA is a brand with integrity, and that’s ultimately what Branding comes down to.

By telling the story of their nation’s most decorated soccer star, Zlatan Ibrahimović, Volvo said a lot about themselves. Instead of hearing the same old jargon about how this car will cure that God-shaped hole in your soul, they demonstrated the similarities between Zlatan’s difficult but successful journey and their own. By displaying only subtle glances at the Volvo V60, the rest of the 3 minute-long spot connects the audience not with a sense of materialism, but one of conquering impossible odds to accomplish worthwhile tasks.

A recent study done by the American Marketing Association (AMA) shows that while annoying ads may make a company small amounts initially, the long run spreadsheets don’t show the process of annoying your internet users with pitiful ads to be a very rewarding idea. The result, as George Nimeh puts it, has been to see an annual 41% increase in the use of ad blocker software.

Are you having difficulty in defining or establishing your company’s voice? Your problem may stem from ineffective brand communication. To create effective brand communication, you must first understand what branding actually is. The following elements are all forms of brand expressions but do not singularly define a brand.