What Is Branding & how it is work?

Welcome to the lesson on branding strategy in this lesson we will look at what the brand strategy fundamentals are and what distinguishes companies who approaches branding as an asset versus those who consider branding as a product since we’re focused on digital we will explore how it. Revolutionized some aspects of branding and lastly we will spend some time looking at building brands for startups small businesses or multi-brand global organizations by the end of this lesson you’ll be able to describe the role of the values vision mission objectives and promises in defining your brand explain how defining your brand as an asset or as a product will impact everything afterward discuss how digital is impacting brands and the role of the brand manager analyze.

How branding marketing might differ from various types of organization brand values first let’s demystify what a brand strategy is and isn’t your brand is not your product logo website or name in fact your brand is much more than that it’s more intangible it’s the hard to pin down feeling that separates powerhouses and mediocre brands from each other we can present the concept of branding as a hierarchy first the values of your organization are the ultimate aspirational principles you stand for from a brand marketing perspective it is the starting point on which you perform this work the fundamental motivation for your decisions even if the world keeps changing around you your brand core values tend to remain very constant Seth god and the best-selling author wrote a brand’s value is merely the sum total of how much extra people will pay or how often they choose the expectations memories stories and relationships of one run over the alternatives.

The opposite would be a commodity an item with little or no perceived branding value and you probably don’t want that because it would mean people are not seeking it out if people relate to your brand values they might be willing to pay a premium next comes. The vision what do you ask for to achieve where do you want to go it represents the hopes and ambitions.

When did Microsoft revise?

When Microsoft revisited its global image in 1994 its tagline was where do you want to go today the branding campaign had Microsoft spending 100 million through July 1995 of which 25 million was spent during the holiday shopping season the values and the vision leads to your mission at this point things becomes achievable this is what you want to do and who you want to do it with be it employees or partners maybe now you have a motivation and a purpose then it’s time to get strategic and define good objectives that everyone can rally around those objectives paves the way for how you are going to make things happen good objectives will help you plan prioritize and most importantly communicate what you want to do the last.

And lowest level of the pyramid becomes very specific and tangible it describes specifically what you have to do and the key performance indicators Kpis for short will let you know how you are progressing toward defined objectives while the winning condition of the previous point was communication this one is all about typical project management tasks actions who will own them when they will be done what kind of resources are required and what should you expect once the tasks are and actions are completed brand vision behind every successful business is one important ingredient an effective brand and behind every brand is a story built upon a strong vision to create a brand you’ll need two important elements a brand mission and a brand vision while a mission tells your investors team and audience.

Your company is focusing on said.

Where your company is focusing today a vision tells the most important people around you where you’re going tomorrow it highlights where you hope to find yourself in the future mark Lipton the author of guiding growth how vision keeps companies on course doesn’t believe in a vision statement he argues that management inevitably gets too dependent on a piece of paper hung up on conference room walls it is far more important that all managers talk to people about the vision in their own way using. Their own language you don’t want to have a vision statement that is too constrained it should describe why the organization is doing what it does it should be a challenging and far-reaching purpose the vision needs to address three interdependent.

Core topics a mission statement presenting the organization’s purpose the reasons for being and a claim to be able to solve something for its customers a strategy explaining how the mission will be achieved and values the beliefs attitudes assumptions embraced on a daily basis through all the activities necessary to move the needle through the strategy closer to the mission and ultimately the vision brand mission a vision statement describes where the company aspires to be a mission.

Statement is more tangible and a more action-oriented version of the vision statement it states clearly the purpose the organization serves for its audience a good mission statement is inspiring transformational and often as a touch of surprise of course you’ll want your mission statement to be closely aligned with your corporate values and culture and serves as an anchor to guide actions now and into the future tesla is a good example we all associate the name with.

Fancy electric cars and you might not even know where the name originated from Nikola tesla is the engineer and scientist known for designing the alternating current electric system but tesla’s mission isn’t just about creating cool self-driving cars the whole company is about putting the environment first by creating innovative solutions using electricity so this includes cars of course but also solar panels and clean energy storage brand objectives the objectives describes a set of decisions to reach short to mid-term goals a strategy is put into practice by splitting it up into specific actions and tasks to be carried out and those should be measurable through key performance indicators the metrics which can convey progress toward those goals.

What are the limitless possibilities of brand objectives?

Since there are as many visions and missions as there are strategies conversely there are infinite possibilities of branding objectives nevertheless we can identify some common objectives for brand marketers establish an identity for the brand especially for small businesses and startups measured with surveys to understand if the brand is viewed by your target audience increased branding recognition of its unique attributes such as visual symbols logo packaging colors or even a unique audio signature like the Tata of Dolby for example again this can be measured through brand recognition surveys we often joke that a campaign without a goal is merely an awareness campaign by default but seriously speaking increasing branding awareness is a legitimate objective it represents the percentage of customers.

Who can recall your branding and being top of mind being the first branding that comes to mind for your target audience as its value engagement is also an important objective and just like engagement in a real relationship can mean very different things what constitutes engagement is your prerogative so don’t forget to clearly define it oftentimes engagement on a website is defined in terms of number of page views or time spent on the website while on social media engagement might be the number of comments likes and shares.

Increasing the number of customers who regularly purchase your brand means increasing loyalty and when you know that acquiring new customers is a factor more expensive than keeping existing ones this counts for a lot in your profitability in this age of social media and influencers increasing advocacy can ultimately lower your marketing costs brand equity the value of your brand is another way to measure how successful your brand is your objective as a brand marketer might be to increase brand equity over time what’s unique about brand equity is the commercial value that derives from consumer perception of the brand rather than the revenue derived from the product or service itself that is the brand equity is from the customer perspective speaking of financial value we can avoid market share the percentage.

Of your target market that are customers and ultimately all of the above will impact your revenue margins brand promise your brand promise is a distilled version of your company vision and mission statement meant to inspire your current and potential customers instead of describing how you do what you do your brand promise describes the experience you deliver to your customers it’s what sets you apart and is a way your customers can hold you accountable for if your brand doesn’t deliver what you promised in time customers will hold you accountable and eventually they will make you pay the price in today’s social media world vetting out broken brand promises immediately impacts credibility and your brand’s perceived value and this is true regardless of the type of industry brand promises are constantly being demonstrated.

What are some key characteristics of good brand promises?

Through your actions and tactics great brands also convey great promises and expectations there are a couple of key attributes of good brand promises they are indicate specific experience you can expect for example Revlon says feel like a woman make it obvious why you are different m m’s melt in your mouth not in your hands is a great example make your brand promise quantifiable the entrance company Geiko says 15 minutes or less can save you 15 percent or more on car entrance use actionable language be more than descriptive or aspirational what’s the end game for example Disney says creating happiness through magical experiences keep it short and easy to understand save money live better is Wal-Mart be bold be honest don’t over promise something you can’t live for which brings the next one speak to what matters most to your core customers and most loyal advocates the brand experience needs to closely match the brand promise you certainly don’t have to encompass every single element of your brand experience in everything you do but you want to be consistently promoting what makes you stand out Nike does an excellent job at conveying its brand promise consistently be it a full page advertisement in a magazine or a banner ad.

On a website with such a strong brand they can simply use their iconic black and white logo to state a simple but powerful message Nike’s brand promise is so strong that people don’t wear shoes they wear Nike brand as a product or an asset the perception of a brand is defined by what consumers see when they think about your company and its products this perception is influenced in two ways by what you show people and by what they experience if we contrast and compare products and brands we can uncover some universal truth companies make products consumers build brands products can be copied and replaced by competitors but brands are unique and cannot be duplicated products will eventually become obsolete but brands can renew themselves innovate and be timeless products are useful but brands are significant how digital.

Is revolutionizing branding consumer customers and employee behavior continues to evolve along with technology while marketing remains in a crosshairs of disruption the revolution started with the internet but quickly accelerated due to social mobile internet of things and the promise of automation and artificial intelligence take those three areas of transformation as the internet and the web evolved organizations migrated their service and product online while updating their technical infrastructure what we call the martech stack those technologies and services used by digital marketers followed suit frictions were removed and organizations had to stick their claim on the web and social media marketers were used to push their message on tv radio newspapers and magazines but consumers had a new voice and they share their likes and dislike about.

Brands sometimes harshly brands couldn’t ignore the true voice of their customers anymore one of the most powerful shift in our time is the mainstreaming of mobile technologies and how it transformed our behavior it’s anytime anywhere nature broke down the classic linear sales. Funnel into a consumer journey influenced by micro moments brand experiences transformation and primitives consumers now expect image that responds to customer service requests on social media and they would rather engage digitally or as opposed to pick up the phone up spot the popular inbound marketing and sales service provider. Reveals that 80 of customers expect companies to respond to their social media posts within 24 hours even more 50 of customers claim they would cease doing business with a company that fails to respond to a negative social media post those negative comments are enough to influence 62 percent of customers to cease doing business with those brands another study this time from Forbes reveals that 59 of customers said being treated as an individual was more important than how fast the issue was resolved.

That is customers expect a personalized response tailored to their needs and issues and finally in another survey of 690 people who attempted to contact a company through social media for customer support 57 percent of them expect the same response time at night and on weekends as during noble. Business hours digital transformation roadmap McKiney and company puts it simply and elegantly no rule book will solve all of this a transformation is not a science the only way forward for companies to learn as it goes and figure out how to apply lessons as scale is built along. The way there will be important markers for success the term digital transformation puts the emphasis on technological change but it becomes clear to anyone who understands digital technology’s potential that what is afoot is less of a digital transformation and more of a fundamental rethink of the corporate model.

For which digital technology is a catalyst for some this transformation will be rapid for others it will be much more gradual and there will be numerous roadblocks and challenges but in every case it is inevitable it is a matter of long-term survival and sustainability contrary to other challenges the organization have faced over the years digital transformation is a never-ending journey mirroring the fast-paced digital landscape changes how to build a brand from scratch.

What would it be like to start a brand from scratch?

Starting a brand from scratch or not much isn’t easy this is commonly the case for startups small businesses or when creating a new product what should it look like how should it make people feel would it resonate with my target audience those questions inevitably come up when you start thinking about how to connect dots between what you’re selling and the audience you’re trying to reach when faced with a writer’s block follow these 7 steps research your target audience and your competitors identify your core values choose your business name define your branding attributes write a slogan align with your mission design your logo apply your branding across your business and evolve as you grow let’s explore each of them one by one research your target audience first you need to figure out.

Your place in the market and try to answer those three questions find out who your lowest hanging fruit customers are which competitors names come to mind when thinking about your product or service category what your customers talk about and especially how they talk about you or your competitors what is the lingua franca of your customers for example if I’m going to launch a new brand of luxury fashion apparel i might identify Louis Vuitton as a competitor and using social listening tool i can uncover what comes up when people talk about the brand identify your core values next define your brand’s core values focus and personality which words are associated with your brand if your brain was a person a car an animal which qualities would describe him or her.

It sounds funny but it works is there a metaphor or a concept which can describe your brand easily what’s your positioning statement can you fill out the proposed statement something like we offer water bottles for hikers to stay hydrated while reducing their carbon footprint unlike other water bottles. Brands we plant a tree for every bottle you buy this is pretty much what the Canadian company 103.ca sells choose your business name choosing a business name is difficult and there are many ways to do it you can make up a completely new word like Kodak. You can reframe a totally unrelated word into something else like apple for computers use a metaphor or a suggestive word in line with your business like buffer you can literally describe what you do like the shoe company i thought they can be easily imitated add or remove letters like tumbler or use Latin root to alter a word like activia you could use an abbreviation like hbo for own box office combine three words Pinterest or Facebook & Myaseolinks or turn several.

Association that different colors generally evoke write a slogan that aligns with your mission a catchy slogan isn’t necessary but if you can think of something brief and descriptive that you can put in your twitter bio website headlines business cards and anywhere else where you’ve.

Got a few words to make a big impact it definitely helps your branding efforts a good slogan is short catchy and makes a strong impression here are some ways to approach writing a slogan of your own you could stake your claim death wish coffee use the world’s strongest coffee make a metaphor like red bull gives your wing embrace your customers feeling loyal because you’re worth it leverage labels cards against humanity a party game for horrible people write a rhyme folger’s coffee the best part of waking up is Folgers in your cup or describe it literally ariza use women’s fashion boutique design your logo a logo is probably one of the first thing that comes to mind when people think about branding of course it’s the face of your company after all and could potentially be everywhere you’ll want a logo that’s unique identifiable and that’s scalable to work on all size and across all mediums consider all the places where your brand logo could be shown from your website to your Facebook page profile picture to even the little five icons you see in your browser tab there are various ways to think about.

What does a logo look like?

A logo is it going to be abstract a mascot or emblem maybe it will simply use letters or words or a combination of an icon and a few words apply and evolve your branding your role as a brand marketer will be to consistently use it across every possible. Scenario your role is to nudge customers in the right direction make a great first impression and manage your reputation but remember you will never have 100 control over how people perceive your brand initially you should focus on three points build customer trust and develop good audiences rather.

Than trying to beat competitors at all costs welcome ideas in foster a culture where changes are welcome brands remain relevant when they adapt to their changing environment the classic build and they will come rarely works watch listen and learn before you move branding kpis once you have done all of this there are three key performance indicator that you want to track brand awareness the percentage of customers who can recall your brand loyalty or retention rate the percentage of customers the company has retained over a given time period and its opposite metric churn rate or attrition advocacy can be measured in different ways net promoter score is one method measuring the frequency and quality of brand mentions could be another brands within a brand building and nurturing brands within.

A multi-brand organization is somewhat similar to what we’ve just seen for startups and small businesses but it poses its own set of challenges a multi-brand strategy does exactly what it says it approaches multiple similar and competitive brands of the same company. Under the disguise of different brand names the idea behind a multi-brand strategy is often to restrict and interfere with the competition and in doing so capture a larger share of the overall market types of multi-brand strategies we can distinguish three broad scenarios of multi.

Brand companies first case is when the only thing that differentiates products from competitors is the brand image or identity for example FedEx has various services like FedEx premium FedEx cargo FedEx light FedEx office etc. here the differentiation is with respect to the function of the brand identity and the brand name is kept the same if the main idea of the corporation is shared among every product the organizations offer. Then having multiple products under a single brand is a wise approach and an efficient decision the second scenario is when the distinction is made through different brand names but under a strong parent company name products and services offered by numerous virgin group limited distinct brands are always proud that they were bred from a worldwide brand but this strategy carries certain.

Risks for example if any of the underlying products fail it might reflect on the whole organization of course proper management and supervision can significantly minimize this risk and our last example is where brand names are kept distinct and the audience has no clue as to which brand belongs to the parent company larger corporations run multi-brand strategy as a way to differentiate individual brands running in the same market at the same time sometimes there is even internal competition amongst different products sharing the same parent.

company or in some cases the same product might be branded differently in different cultures and geographies for example soccer produced by marc is a drug used along with exercise diet and weight loss to decrease elevated lipid levels the exact same drug is known as lipex in Australia new Zealand Croatia and a few other countries geographies you might have noticed some products brands or stores have different names in different countries there are several possibilities some global companies come up with new brand name in different countries because theirs is already taken while expanding in Australia burger king had to come up with another name as burger king was already trademarked by a takeaway restaurant so they called it hungry jax in other cases the brand needs to adapt.

To the local language mr clean is known as don limpio in Spain mastro lindo in Italy mr proper in Germany pan proper in Poland or mr prop in Belgium and France and yet they all share the same bald-headed swan guy who will help you clean sometimes. It’s preferable to keep a well-established local brand even after an acquisition potato shapes brand lays is called smiths in Australia and lastly companies have to be careful about their brand names because the meaning can be different in foreign languages initially Mercedes Benz entered the Chinese market. Under the brand name Benzie which means rush to die or this other time when Pepsi slogan Pepsi brings you back to life debuted in china as Pepsi brings you back from the grave okay we have covered a lot of ground in thinking about your brand strategy.

Here’s a summary of what you should take away from this lesson thinking of your brand values vision mission objectives and action as a pyramid will help you go from your aspirations to specific and tangible outcomes over time the value of a brand can surpass the value of the individual products it represents a brand is an important asset digital already transformed the brand customer relationship and it’s not over so the term transformation should become a way of life for your organization revisiting. Your brand as if it were a startup can shed a new light and help drive changes while other factors like geographies and culture can significantly alter its perception hi there.