For the obvious reason of being obvious, branding is often reduced to its visual elements, but this limited view obscures its abilities to generate value for businesses. While aesthetics matter, a more complete perspective of branding is as an intentional, continuing mission to influence the opinions people hold of a business in a way that increases the value they ascribe to it. If we can increase the value ascribed better than our competitors can, we gain an advantage. But first, let’s consider how really volatile value can be.

Nothing is worth anything, thinking makes it so

No one has ever paid the right amount for anything, because intrinsic value is a myth. Beyond apparent production costs and utility, people willingly pay what they perceive something is worth—not what it's objectively "worth”.

This perception is formed by emotional judgement, and validated by the emotional judgement of others around them, because no one wants to be cheated. There's (almost) nothing truly rational about this process—nor can there be. Imagine how much time and brainwork it would take to always try to calculate actual value every time we are about to make a buying decision. Signals are easier and they function as psychological shortcuts that make our lives less complicated. We must judge books by their covers (and reviews), or else we would have to read every book first.

But how does all of this affect the bottomline?

Increasing perception vs cutting cost

Beyond the several critical business priorities like increasing product quality, or the strategies McKinsey might draw up to help you plug holes and cut costs, consider a powerful alternative: increasing profits by enhancing the psychological value customers ascribe to your offerings — and doing this better than competitors. This isn't about more marketing spend or additional ads. It's about subtle, effective influence.

While enhancing perceived value may sound abstract, remember how your brain has reacted to fear from dreams or virtual reality—no objective danger exists, yet we respond as if it's real. Buying decisions follow the same principle. And having a good product isn't enough. Just as we might ignore real danger when something makes us feel safe, customers can underestimate your ‘high quality’ if your signals don’t suggest it.

There are a few suggestions to reflect on, as we think about these signals and how they can impact what customers will pay and how loyal they will remain.

1. Clarify your core truths

Before branding can be an advantage, you need to know what you truly stand for. Take a step back and reexamine your motivations, mission, values, strengths, and unique advantages. What would your business fight for, even if it weren’t profitable? This internal clarity helps create a brand that is not just coherent but magnetic—because people are drawn to businesses with a clear sense of self. Without this, branding becomes a hollow exercise in aesthetics.

2. Know your market & competitors intimately

Branding is not just about how you see yourself—it’s about how the market sees you in relation to others. Study your competitors to understand how they position themselves, how customers are responding, and why. This isn’t about copying tactics; it’s about identifying the opportunities to shape perception in your favor when people compare you, as they will, consciously or subconsciously.

3. Stand for something bigger than your product

If your brand is only about what you sell, you will always compete on price, features, or convenience. Instead, attach your brand to a bigger belief, movement, or cultural tension that makes you more meaningful in people’s lives. When a brand stands for something, it becomes easier for customers to form an emotional connection—whether that’s MTN with possibilities, Nike with human potential, or Apple with creative rebellion. Consumers justify their spending by finding objective reasons, but deep down, they’re also buying into how the brand makes them feel—exclusive, refined, or part of something special. Or bigger.

4. Choose the claim you can own

There are many good claims you can make as you communicate your brand. And that’s exactly what most businesses do. Yes your overall content may indeed touch on different things but it needs to be clear what you emphasize most. This is because the customer needs to be able to put a label on you in comparison with your competitors. Scott Lerman highlights five possible positioning territories to choose from — assets, offer, approach, skills and mission. It’s best to choose a territory not already owned by a competitor, one that you can strongly deliver on, and one that can influence your target audience, these being insights you will already have if you obsess with point #2 above.

5. Be selectively distinct

Branding is a balance between familiarity and distinctiveness. You don’t have to be different in everything—but you have to be in a few things that matter. You need to think hard on what elements of your brand have to feel familiar enough to be trusted, but also where can you deliberately break expectations? Seth Godin’s Purple Cow idea applies here: being remarkably different in a way that naturally generates attention and word-of-mouth is essential for survival, given how overwhelmed consumers are these days.

5. Obsess over craft & presentation

Excellence is a branding strategy in itself. Every detail—how your product is made, packaged, presented, and communicated—signals how much you care. Customers intuitively perceive effort, and the more craftsmanship they sense, the more they ascribe value. When a brand presents itself with care, uniqueness, and excellence, people subconsciously assume it costs more money and time to produce, and it could as well ‘rightly’ take some more of their money and time.

6. Build up with aligned consistency

Beyond getting clear about who you are (brand strategy), and carefully crafting the identifiers that bring you to mind (visual identity and the likes), the next difficult, endless but critical work lies in what people experience repeatedly. You earn a powerful brand advantage by ensuring that everything — your actions, stories, policies, releases, as well as website, social media presentations, associations and more — all reinforce the same big idea, both inside the company and outside. When compelling narratives tell of your mission, consistent signals build recognition, and authentic actions fulfill your promises, you will start to see the advantage come to life in economic value over time, in a way more sustainable than randomly throwing money at marketing.

It’s perhaps a long list of reflections but one to go over from time to time, to consider how you are making the most of these (or how you can), as you deploy branding not only as a look-good endeavor but as an actual point of competitive advantage. Ultimately, even a small 1% advantage in perception can significantly impact a business's success.. If you want to think out loud while evaluating yourself on some of these ideas, you can book a call with us at FourthCanvas.

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