Thursday, August 2, 2007

brand New World

What is a brand? We all, as experienced consumers, know instinctively about brands. We live them. We see them every day. But for most consumers, as it should be, the intricacy that makes up a brand is not known. A brand is what remains in the mind once the advertisement goes away. It is the mental image of a product. The most successful brands provide strong emotions towards that product. To be successful, a brand needs to have an identity, a set of characteristics the marketer then addresses through advertisements to the ultimate user. If the marketer cannot adequately describe what the brand is suppose to convey to the user, how can the user be expected to? Any branding effort must also be consistent with the product and the company else its credibility is in doubt. (For example, Yugo branding its cars as highest quality vehicles would not be successful in the eyes of the consumer).

Why should marketers attempt to create a brand for their products? Branding, despite media reports to the contrary, has been on the upswing in recent years. It is the ‘in’ thing to do. In this age of media clutter, of thousands of images, of rows of products to choose from, an established brand provides a significant advantage. Having an existing brand allows you to charge a premium price over unbranded items. The brand is a promise between the producer of the product or service and the user: If you continue to provide me the product or service as displayed in the brand, then I will continue to use it. Those users loyal to you will pay a premium for your product because you are a known entity. They have tried and liked your product. Essentially, brand loyalty exists due to risk avoidance: I know your brand but I do not know theirs, I trust your brand but do not know theirs, therefore the safest and most prudent course of action is to continue using your brand. In this age of time shortages, consumers are more apt to find a brand they like and continue using it because they don’t have to invest time and money in exploring the alternatives, time they are in short supply of and could better use in other endeavors.

By establishing a brand with a clearly differentiated set of characteristics from your competition, you set yourself apart from all others. As a competitor, you need to find a hilltop that you and only you occupy. For example, one brand could claim the “quality” hilltop, another the “fastest-acting,” hilltop, a third the “flavor, tasty” hilltop. If you wish to compete and these are already existing brands, the wisest choice would be to secure an unoccupied hilltop, such as “specially formulated with xxx ingredient, the only product that has xxx,” or become the product for “children” or “seniors.” By doing so you have differentiated yourself from the competition.

Called either a “tag line,’ a “theme,” or a “memory enhancer,” this is a critical part of any brand. Some examples are: “You Deserve a Break Today.” “”Think Different” “Like a Good Neighbor, State Farm is There.” “Quality is Job One.” To be effective, the tag line must answer 3 questions: 1) Who am I? 2) What do I do?, and 3) Why the heck should you care? Unless it satisfactorily answers those 3 questions it does not fulfill its main function of enhancing the brand. Most tag lines fail on the third point; it might be a fun rhyme or a catchy slogan but unless it provides the user a reason for pursuing the product further, it fails to add to the brand.

Even small businesspersons can brand themselves, their stores, their products. It is worth the investment to set yourself apart from all of the competition, to stand for something, to be known as something special to your customers. Your customers in return will offer brand loyalty to you. One caveat: you must fulfill the promise you made to your customers. If for any reason, you decide to shortchange it, you have changed the brand and nullified the agreement with your loyal users. They may very well decide to go elsewhere.

Successful Marketers create a brand, a promise, and fulfill that promise.

The benefits of creating a strong brand also extends to increased profits. Companies with strong brands can command 5-7% higher stock prices than others, have customers who are willing to pay up to 25% more than other similar products, and have up to 289% higher earning growth over low-relevance brands.

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