A really interesting question that has different answers but this is one of the many big questions that runs in the mind of an entrepreneur.

The question the entrepreneur needs to ask himself is:

When I think I need to do branding do I mean I need to start advertising.

So is branding = advertising? No advertising is not equal to branding.

Advertising is an activity that the brand undertakes towards a business objective

Branding is something you have started the day you cracked the idea for your business.

Lets dive into the details of this statement, you did not start by saying I will name my business XXXX.

You started with an “idea” of what you wanted to do as a business lets call this as the “Brand Idea”.
You then go into the details of all the actions you want to do make this business work, lets call these “Brand Actions” and when you execute each of these brand actions you create experiences and these are called “Brand Experiences”.

So Brand Idea to Brand Action to Brand Experience

The toughest part is not really cracking the idea but to figure out the actions and therefore the experience.

A number of variables start influencing decisions and a variety of opinions start flowing through at this stage.

So the ability to filter and execute the right actions  and create thereby creating a great brand experience for your customer will define success for the business.

So the next time lets not think – When do I start branding? Branding started right along with the birth of the idea.