Brand changes are related to the expertise of management, the firm’s strategic goals and market targeting activities, the branding activities of other firms, the sophistication of consumers, the level of involvement in the product category, the stage of the product life cycle and the development of branding in the relevant product category.
The Star online’s article comes up with 6 Stages of branding: Continue reading
Today, branding is one of most discussed topics in the business press, right up there after manufacturing going to China. Business leaders are beginning to recognize that innovation and branding are two knowledge-based areas of expertise that North America can still own, at least for now. Yet, with all the talk that a strong brand can make a big difference, there continues to be an almost universal misunderstanding of what a brand is. Continue reading
Interesting article by Clyde Fessler, former vice president, business development, Harley-Davidson Motor Company.
In today’s international business world, it is becoming more difficult to compete successfully and, ultimately, provide a return to investors.
The proliferation of competitors, short term objectives, and opportunities to place investment dollars elsewhere also make it difficult to invest in building brands
Building a brand takes commitment, focus, and three to five years of complimentary programmes. It is not just an advertising programme. It is a company-wide effort that unifies everyone’s energies, toward the same common objective.
It takes dedication and a focus of limited resources to execute the various strategies in the different functions of the company. Each department had to take its turn, develop its plans and execute a defined strategy.
But first, there are three strategic questions to ask yourself when building a brand:
Who are we?
Is your company a house of several brands, or is your company a branded house with sub-brands? What does your company do? Provide a service, promote a cause, build a product, or create a lifestyle? Whatever it is, your statement of who you are should differentiate yourself from your competitors. Continue reading
John Hagel, co-author of The Only Sustainable Edge: Why Business Strategy Depends on Productive Friction and Dynamic Specialization
In broad strokes, we are moving from product-centric brands to customer-centric brands. Product-centric brands represent promises about products (or retailers) – “buy this product from us because you can trust that it will be a quality product at good value.”
Customer-centric brands offer a radically different promise – “buy from us because we know and understand you as an individual customer and we can tailor an appropriate bundle of products and services to meet your individual needs better than anyone else.” In other words, customer-centric brands promise that, if you give them their attention, they will give you a better return on attention than anyone else.
Innovation has become important first, to the perpetuation of businesses (a process of renewal): without regular innovation, brands lose their salt and are eventually overtaken by market events.
Secondly, innovation is a major driver of growth and profitability, though it may work against the brand if it does not align with the core tenets of the brand.
Thirdly, innovation is a core brand strategy and must be an integral part of the brand concept.
Studies have shown that the new forms of innovation driving today’s companies are based on an intimate understanding of consumer culture. Unquestionably a deep understanding of consumers and a broader awareness of trends fuel inspiration and creativity – and better position companies to balance innovation risk and opportunity. Continue reading
Building a strong brand takes time, commitment, and hard work, but the result is one of the most valuable assets a company can own. Instant identification in the mind of the customer, a reputation for competence and quality, the knowledge that the promises of the brand are genuine and not just slogans…the list of benefits goes on.
A strong, mature brand isn’t a static asset. It must be cared for and nurtured, kept fresh, dynamic, relevant, and at top of mind while retaining its unmistakable identity and heritage.
Revitalizing a mature brand is to a degree the classic meeting of irresistible force and immovable object. One side of the argument is “change or die,” while the other is “tradition is paramount.”
An interesting article in KioskMarketplace on the importance of branding in self-service:
Most consumers are unaware of the careful planning that goes into the design, packaging and marketing of the products and services they enjoy. Most of them don’t know why they feel comfortable when they walk into a Starbucks; they just know that they do.
This non-tangible, hard-to-quantify relationship between consumers and the products and services they buy is at the core of a successful business.
“(A brand is) primarily an emotional process of engagement. Branding is about 95 percent emotional, and a large part of that 95 percent is at an unconscious level.”
That’s a tough pill to swallow for those who would like to believe it is their product, or their hard work, that should get the credit for success.
I was tempted to agree with the 95/5 percentage, but on a second thought, I don’t think that a bad product/service will make it on a long run just based on its emotional affiliates unless emotion is the need the product adresses. I would rather say the 95% “emotional choice” is rather affecting the choice between two extremely similar products, say Coke vs. Pepsi for example, or as Ms.Janelle Barlow, Ph.D put it in the artlcle mentioned before:
The functionality of your devices — pretty similar, right? So the question is, what’s different? That’s really your strength. Inside an industry, functionality is really not going to be that different.
Branson, Gates, Jobs and the examples of CEOs that are part of their corporate brand equity can go on and on. Business Times has an insight on this:
A study by global communications company Burson Marsteller showed that the CEO’s reputation is responsible for approximately 50 per cent of a company’s reputation, which translates into achieving key business objectives and increasing sales.Like it or not, CEOs are part of a company’s brand equity. In other words, the leaders inevitably reflect on the company.
Today, consumers expect a consistency between a company’s brand message and the behaviour and image of its key executives. Brand validity can only be fully achieved if the CEO embodies the brand and its values to meet the new challenges of an increasingly critical and demanding marketplace.
The CEO is often said to be the brand leader or guardian of the company’s brand. Consequently, all CEOs need to clearly understand the value and importance of the powerful, clearly defined corporate and personal brands. They need to ensure that there should be a clear brand strategy in place and that all stakeholders in the organisation understand and embrace it to deliver the brand promise.
Martin Lindstrom, author of several best-selling branding books including his latest, including Brand Sense : Build Powerful Brands through Touch, Taste, Smell, Sight, and Sound
Read more here
Branding systems, or architectures, can take various forms that emphasize the corporate name and image, de-emphasize the corporate name, create new brands apart from the company brand, or combine these approaches. Here is a list of the most common branding systems:
Corporate brand
Strong corporate image is synonymous with product class. Not that common in shelf goods, becoming more popular with technology companies.
Licensed brand
Used commonly in the fashion industry. Manufacturers license the name for clothing goods and brand extend into areas such as sunglasses and umbrellas.
House brand
Includes several product classes. Used by diversified companies allowing each subsidiary to operate as its own entity and target specific market segments Also used when two product lines are incompatible (i.e. Honda and Acura — economy and luxury).
Dual brands
Combining the corporate brand with strong subbrand. Subbrands can help differentiate and boost corporate brand and drive brand preference. Subbrands can become umbrella names for a family of products extensions (there are now several versions of Cheerios and almost 40 Herbal Essence product choices). Nestle added its corporate name to Kit Kat.
Co-brands
Aims to benefit both brands by raising the perceived quality of each brand. Follows rational that the very act of branding can raise familiarity and perceived quality of a product. Allows a brand exposure in product class that it could not enter on its own.
Mono brands
Strong single product brand identity without use of corporate brand. Each product identifies specific customer need. Used by large conglomerates in diversified lines such as P&G, UniLever, Beatrice. Useful when extending product line vertically to gain shelf space/market share.