Quick: What do you think of when you hear the word “Starbucks?” How about “Mac?” What about “Star Trek” or “New York Yankees” or “Steven Spielberg?”

Chances are, each of those words or phrases brought up certain associations in your mind. Starbucks and Mac may have made you think of youth and ubiquitousness; Star Trek probably made you think of one of the many entertaining series or films in the science-fiction franchise.

Why do you make these associations? It’s simple: For better or for worse, intentionally or unintentionally, each of these entities – whether they’re corporations, individuals, franchises or baseball teams – have successfully branded their names. They’ve managed to communicate a specific image, a combination of their attributes, using only their names. Starbucks is quick, tasty Seattle-style coffee with friendly service. Mac is the ingenuity and smooth design of the Silicon Valley, right on your desktop. They’ve successfully engaged in strategic branding.

But implementing a branding strategy doesn’t just mean increasing the name recognition of your product, though that’s certainly part of it. A good branding strategy is a complex blend of art and science that attempts to manage your audience’s memory of and associations with your product. In the end, your branding strategy’s aim is to increase the value of your brand – to promise your customers that your product will deliver.

A winning team of brand consultants can help you in your quest for a winning branding strategy. They can provide the organizational framework for you to manage your customers’ perception of your company. They’ll help you focus your resources on specific attributes of your product, with the goal of positively differentiating your brand from others in the marketplace. To do it, they’ll likely utilize a complex combination of intense customer feedback and market research to determine what steps to take when advertising and improving your products.

Of course, the silver cloud of a quality branding strategy can have a dark lining if your brand becomes too successful. For every Mac fanatic loves their MacBook’s graphics and design capability, there’s a Windows user or Linux devotee who hates Steve Jobs. For every ten fans of Schindler’s List and Jurassic Park, there’s a film snob who finds Spielberg’s work cloying and pedestrian. And for every cheering Yankees fan, there’s a jeering Red Soxer.

Certainly, every company that becomes popular enough to amass a brand-loyal base will experience some backlash; many of the most experienced consumer and industrial product brand consultants will agree that this is an unavoidable consequence of nationwide consumer branding. The best way to thwart the backlash is to make sure your product or service is of the absolute best quality you can muster. Brand consultants can assist you here as well, by helping to solicit customer feedback.

It’s also important to remember that strategic branding can sometimes take quite a long time – but often, the investment is worth it. Coca-Cola, which is arguably the most recognized brand in the world, began its mass marketing campaign before 1900! But don’t let that worry you – there’s no reason you can’t begin a successful campaign today in branding for profitable growth, and begin to see quick initial results.

With the right plan and a good team of marketing specialists, any firm can develop a winning branding strategy.