How important is it brand name match when selling a product or service?

My mom taught me branding and customer service way back in Nsawam when I was like 12 years, we used to have this little foods stuff store where she sold gari and other stuff, I noticed that the people in our neighborhood were always buying from her and some could even wait for her to restock the store till they buy what they want when we were outta stock, an evidence that her business was booming since she had loyal customers, I asked her about her secret and she said "Just treat them nice, give them the best service and product and they will come back because you have a good name in town" she said this and smiled at me. That is where I learnt the relationship between brands and service/product.

I grew up tinkering with tech stuff so I know a little about tech brands.

Think about Google. I remember when I first heard it and I was like, “what the heck is that?” For years now, Google is a well known definition and verb. Who was the 5th president? “I don’t know,” Google it! Right?

Granted, this is about the best example to use, but other companies (especially tech) have been successful. Apple, LinkedIn, Microsoft, and countless others.

The one common thing all of these companies have is success. I don’t think you can reach that level of success without proper branding. These companies built loyal customers. Think Apple, customers for years. I’m a loyal Apple guy.

While there’s a level of importance there, the deciding factor is going to be that service or product. If the service and product are great, people remember and reflect on the brand. They remember the brand, they talk about the brand, they talk about the great experience and it can put a brand on the map.

A lot of the companies that fail often do so because they don’t have a great product/service. There’s still a level of branding that matters.

I know you have to be smart with branding and naming products, you have to. There’s some science behind it for sure. But ultimately, it will be the product/service that decides the fate of the brand. Nobody remembers 2nd place.