Brand Building: Key Elements and Strategies
Product vs. Brand
Product: Anything that can be offered to a market to satisfy a want or need, including physical goods, services, experiences, events, persons, places, information, etc.
Brand: Is the idea or image people have in mind when thinking about specific products, services and actions of a company, both in a practical and emotional way. A product can be easily copied, but a brand will always be UNIQUE. If you want to create a strong brand, identify what makes you special.
The Essence of a Great Brand
Three components: 1. The story 2. The symbols 3. The Strategy
1. The Story
Tell a story about how the product or service can help your customer realize their potential self. To tell your story, you first need to understand who you are and what you’re trying to achieve (your “core identity”)—this includes your vision: what your company stands for/mission: “ “ does?/values: how you do what you do.
How to Tell Your Story
- Name: What you want people to call your brand.
- Positioning Statement: How you want people to view your brand in comparison to competitors.
- Promise: Your promises of what you will deliver to your target customers.
- Personality: The 6 words that best describe the brand’s personality.
Step 1: Brand Name
Should be: a) Simple and easy to pronounce, to recognize and remember b) Original c) Positive
- List names of your competitors.
- Brainstorm: List of words that represent the most important things your brand stands for.
- Try a word/words combination that could best convey what your product does (Founder, Descriptive: name that describes what you do, Invented/Abstract, Metaphor, Acronym, Misspelled).
- Of those names, which is the most original or recognizable?
- Of those, which can be trademarked?
Positioning Statement
It should include: For (target market), who are dissatisfied with (current alternatives), our product/service is a (new product category), that provides (key problem-solving capability), unlike (alternative), we have assembled (key whole product benefits).
Consists of: Slogan – is a catchphrase that represents a product or company and communicates the key benefits you want consumers to associate with your business. Effective if it’s: 1. Memorable, 2. Short & Simple, 3. Friendly tone and creates a positive image, 4. Main benefits.
2. The Symbols
Includes: 1. Typography, 2. Color Palette, 3. Logo.
Steps:
- Select your brand’s typography: Choose the typography that best conveys the values of your brand.
- Select your brand’s color palette: Choose the right color palette, as it has a substantial impact on the emotional response to your brand. Consider the colors that have an association with your product, that help your brand personality, and comply with modern color theory.
- Create your brand’s logo: Create a logo that is an image that depicts the name and purpose of a business. An effective logo is: 1. Relevant and appropriate, 2. Simple (less is more), 3. Memorable and recognizable, 4. Timeless (you can’t change it), 5. Functional and versatile (functions in colors and in black and white).
3. Brand Strategy
Explains how you will build, shape, and share your brand. Key areas: 1. Awareness – It’s the way you plan your brand is going to get noticed. 2. Sale and delivery: How you plan to communicate your brand in the sale and delivery process, you must skillfully attract and build genuine relationships with your customers. 3. Post-delivery: Are the ongoing moments when your customers will use or enjoy the benefits of your product. Has to do with your customer loyalty strategy.
Customer Loyalty Program Advantages
- Customer retention
- Increased customer satisfaction
- Garnering insights
- Increased revenue
Advertising
Any paid form of nonpersonal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods, or services by an identified sponsor in newspapers or magazines, over radio, TV, billboards, etc.
Informative Advertising
It is used to introduce a new product category. The objective is to get new customers.
Purpose:
- Communicate customer value
- Building a brand and company image
- Telling the market about a new product
- Explaining how it works
- Correcting false impressions
Persuasive Advertising
It’s used extensively as competition increases. The objective is to build selective demand.
Purposes:
- Building brand preference
- Encouraging to switch to a brand
- Changing customers’ perceptions of product value
- Persuading customers to purchase now
- Convincing customers to tell others about the brand
Some persuasive advertising has become comparative advertising in which a company directly or indirectly compares its brand with one or more (You can’t present the name of the brand).
Reminder Advertising
It’s used mainly as a reminder for mature products. The objective is to maintain customer relationships and keep consumers thinking about the products.
Purpose:
- Maintain customer relationships
- Reminding customers that the products may be needed in the near future
- Keeping the products in a customer’s mind during the off-season