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Branding
October 20, 2026 Branding is everything a company deliberately does so customers remember it in a way it chose in advance: setting a position, designing an identity, then repeating both consistently at every touchpoint. If a brand is the impression in a customer’s head, branding is the process of creating and maintaining that impression.
What are the steps in branding?
In Designing Brand Identity (Wiley, 5th edition, 2017), Alina Wheeler splits a branding project into five phases. The table below summarizes her framework, along with the outputs you usually see on projects in Vietnam.
| Phase | Main work | Typical outputs |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Research | Interview leadership, survey customers, review competitors | Insight report, competitor map |
| 2. Clarify strategy | Settle the target customer, positioning and brand promise | Brand platform, brand strategy |
| 3. Design the identity | Logo, color palette, typefaces, tone of voice | Identity system |
| 4. Create touchpoints | Apply the identity to packaging, website, stores and ads | New packaging, website, printed materials |
| 5. Manage assets | Issue guidelines, train the team, measure on a regular schedule | Brand guidelines, measurement calendar |
When money is tight, phases 1 and 2 tend to get squeezed so the logo arrives sooner. What usually follows is a nice-looking logo that nobody in the company can explain, and by the tenth piece of printed material, everyone is applying it their own way.
Why branding takes years
Customers do not sit down and memorize logos. They come to recognize a brand after running into it again and again, mostly while scrolling on their phones or walking past a shelf. So branding depends more on consistency than on one big campaign: the same colors, the same way of speaking and the same promise, kept up for a long time.
Changing the identity every time a new marketing director arrives is the fastest way to wipe out what customers already remember.
Example: Vinamilk’s 2023 rebrand
On July 6, 2023, the Vietnamese dairy brand Vinamilk announced a new brand strategy and identity, its first complete overhaul in 47 years. According to Viet Nam News, the identity was rolled out across physical and digital touchpoints, including packaging, the website, retail stores and corporate assets, with more than 55 people from a range of disciplines in 10 countries involved. CEO Mai Kiều Liên called it the first step toward modernizing the Vinamilk experience.
The part worth learning from is the order of the announcement. The strategy came out together with the identity, and the scope of the rollout was stated from day one. It is a textbook rebranding case for a long-established brand that wants to reach younger customers without giving up its heritage. A project that delivers only a new logo, without the other two pieces, easily ends up as a change of clothes.
Branding vs. marketing vs. advertising
| Main question | Time frame | Measured by | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Branding | What should customers remember about us? | Years | Awareness, associations, willingness to pay a higher price |
| Marketing | What do we sell, to whom, at what price, through which channels? | By year, by quarter | Sales, market share |
| Advertising | What do we say this round, and on which channel? | By campaign | Reach, CTR, CPA |
The three overlap. A Facebook ad can sell and build the brand at once if it uses the brand’s own colors, voice and promise. With AI in the picture, that principle matters even more.
Frequently asked questions
How long does a branding project take?
Research and design can be done in a few months, depending on the scale. Getting customers to actually remember the brand is measured in years.
Is branding only for big companies?
No. Small companies have less to spend on ads, so they need every appearance to be recognizably theirs even more.
If your company is preparing a branding project or wants to review how its identity is being applied, Adtek’s Brand Strategy team can work with you starting from the research phase. Contact Adtek.
