Entrepreneurial Branding: 5 Top Tips For Brand Success

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Entrepreneurs typically face an array of challenges with a failure rate which is dauntingly high. Estimates range from 75 to 90 percent of startups failing within the first few years – those numbers are enough to give even the most stoically resilient and determined entrepreneur pause for thought.

 

The good news is that a strong brand strategy can vastly improve your chances for entrepreneurial success. If over 80% of the Fortune 500 Company CEOs, rate ‘their brand’ as their company’s number one asset, then maybe you should be giving the planning and thought around your brand a lot more consideration than merely tokenism. When building a brand, it’s vital for entrepreneurs to realize that brands are not solely visual. The most common misperception is that many think their brand is just their logo and not much else! A logo is not a brand. This one of the most prevalent mistakes business owners, and designers alike make – much to their detriment.

  

A brand is what your product or service ‘stands for in peoples minds, what it means to them’ and ‘branding is the process of executing and managing things that make people feel the way they do about your brand’. What your brand stands for, its values, promise, customer experience and those associated feelings your brand provokes through its story, and so forth, are what determine the creative design brief for what you logo, and all your other visual materials, actually look like. Your logo is merely the visual idnetifier for your brand, assuming it is well designed enough to appropriately convey your brand meaning in a very distilled visual representation. In short you need to build your brand profile first, before you start designing your logo.

 

If you define what your brand is all about from day one, through your brand profile, it will provide you with absolute clarity on the direction of your brand strategy in parrallel with your business strategy and overall business plan. It will provide you with the right direction for all the different choices you will need to make such as suppliers, communications, online interactions and marketing activities etc.

  

The question here is what’s different, really different about what you’re offering? Slightly different is not good enough. If you want to stand out, you’ve got to be brave and think bigger – dare to be different with your brand in a way that is really relevant to your primary customer. This is what gives your brand substance and potential sustainability – not a logo. You can have the most beautifully designed logo but that still won’t make it into a brand.  

 

    Jeff Bezos Amazon

 Image via www.financialpost.com and Patrick Fallon/Bloomberg

  

One entrepreneur that has defined a brand very succinctly is Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, when he said: “Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room.” Successful branding is about winning and keeping customers, about influencing choice, and ultimately about finding and dominating your place in the market.

 

 

Checkout these top five branding tips to help you achieve a stronger start and give your budding business a better chance of success.

 

5 Foundational Branding Tips to Support Your Brands Success

 

1. Start Early, Brand Consistently and Congruently

For any entrepreneur or startup, it’s never too early to begin building the foundations of your brand. In fact, you should have your brand well developed and thought through so you can put it to work for your business long before you interact with your first customer. This can be summed up in Simon Sinek’s quote ‘People don’t buy what you do, they buy ‘why’ you do it, and what you do simply ‘proves what you believe’.

 

  

Understanding is the first step to building a successful brand. You must know, as a company, exactly who you are, what you stand for, why you do what you do, and what you have to offer your prospective customers that they can’t experience or get anywhere else. Your brand must emotionally and intellectually have the power to engage, motivate and inspire both your prospective customers and your people internally.

 

Dedicate committed time and effort to determining your brand vision. Challenge your thinking, don’t settle for second rate ‘me tooism’ or hybrids of what’s already out there. The greatest sin is to be bland, obvious and ordinary. You must be different, distinctive and memorable for the right reasons if you want success. Be rigorous and thoroughly challenge yourself. Be able to answer questions such as:

  • What is your company’s mission? What will you deliver to your customers—not just in terms of products or services, but emotionally and as an overall customer experience?
  • What benefits and features of your company’s products and services are unique to your business?
  • How will your brand enhance your customers lives and/or solve their problems?
  • What qualities do you want your consumers to equate with your company?
  • What should your business be synonymous with in one year, five years, ten years?
  • Will it still be relevant and powerful in one year, five years, ten years or twenty years plus?
  • Would you fight to protect what your brand stands for? Do you believe in it so strongly that you simply won’t compromise on it? Is it fundamental to your core belief system?

 

Once you have fully fleshed out your business brand vision and values, you can begin distilling your core message into a powerful and captivating brand communications strategy that puts your brand to work effectively.

 

However this can only be done authoritatively when you have a very clear picture of who your ideal core target audience is. Do you know what their needs, wants, loves, hates and aspirations are? How and where do they live, what age and gender are they?

 

You need to build your customer persona or avatar because its only when you have absolute clarity on what this is, that you can create a brand that will truly resonate with your core target audience. You need to create a brand that meets their emotional needs because when people buy, be that a product or service or into your ideas, they buy with emotion – not rational. Think about it, you can’t build something of substance and compelling meaning if you don’t know or understand who you core customer is and what matters most to them.

 

  

  

2. Create the Right Visuals

While a brand isn’t just about visuals, your brand collateral or visual materials are far more important than most entrepreneurs often realise. Think about all the brands you know that are instantly recognizable: the BP flower, the Nike swoosh, the red Coca-Cola can, McDonald’s golden arches, and Apple’s…apple.

 

 Apple Logo

Image via www.apple.com 

 

For any entrepreneur or startup, a well-designed logo can become a powerful hook for your brand. It’s your brands identifier and like a tattoo, not something you easily or readily change once you start establishing it – so it needs to given some serious thought and investment from day one. In short it needs to be invested in properly as does all the rest of your brand collateral be that your website, brochures, PowerPoint or Keynote Presentations, packaging, direct mail, advertising, social media presence and videos etc. Your brand collateral is the tangible evidence of your brand and it must be designed to congruently reflect and tell your brand story, its values and personality properly. Every single touch point or piece relating to your brand must be consistent and properly designed. They are the tactile materials of your brand, an extension of your reputation and part of your branding strategy.

 

3. Dare to be Different

Every business has competition, and as an entrepreneur, your startup must stand out from not only the established companies in your industry, but also the thousands of other startups launched every year. This means that having absolute clarity on what your brand stands for, what your ‘big why is’, and how you’re going  to communicate your message and that distinction to your customers, is crucial to your brands’ potential success.

 

Distilling your brand values, what it stands for, its personality, the do’s and don’ts of how it will behave and the experience it will create for your customers through all the various ‘touch points’ of its interaction with them is critical to its potential success.

  

It can be challenging to properly and fully develop your ‘brands’ profile’, but once done becomes vital to the fundamental success of your business and part of your ongoing business strategy and plan. It’s integral to your business model.

  

As an example, many entrepreneurs around the world have built their success through a brand profile that has been strongly rooted in the provenance of their unique geographic location. The hospitality and restaurant industry is particularly crowded, but with enough differentiation from other restaurants in the same locality and an authentically lived and experienced brand story, you can attract a loyal customer following.

 

The world you create around your brand must be authentic with an almost theatrical piece of escapism, from a customer experience perspective. From the moment they stand outside your door, metaphorically speaking, to consider a purchase from you, your brand must offer them something they can’t get or experience anywhere else. It must richly express its own personality in a way that’s truly relevant and compelling to your target audience.

 

L'etoile Restaurant Usa 

 Image via www.letoile-restaurant.com

 

One restaurant owner in Madison, Wisconsin, USA, not only created success with her brand proposition, but also used it to elevate her status from entrepreneur to icon. Odessa Piper’s vision led her to launch a fine-dining establishment, L’Etoile, in the middle of a large farming community, which became successful due in large part to her brand vision and commitment to serving only the highest quality, locally sourced food. While sustainable dining may be nothing new today, it’s important to note that Piper opened L’Etoile in 1976, making her a pioneer of the farm-to-table movement and earning her the title of “First Lady of Cuisine” in Wisconsin.

 

4. Brand Promises: Make Them and Never Break Them

Every successful brand comes with an unshakeable promise—in fact, your brand promise is a core part of your brand. You don’t have a meaningful brand without a brand promise. Having a brand means that your customers can and should expect certain rewards whenever they interact with your company. Whether that promise is incredibly great quality ingredients “using only the really good stuff”, exceptional customer service that “goes beyond just the good to an exceptional and unforgettable experience” or “social distinction in a class of its own”, the key to sustaining your entrepreneurial business is to deliver on your brand promise – every time congruently and consistently without question. Your brand promise must be non-negotiable in its delivery and fulfillment all the time.

 

 Ruby Hammer Recommends Lip Gloss

 Image via www.rubyhammer.com and www.debenhams.com

  

International makeup artist and successful entrepreneur Ruby Hammer understands and capitalizes on her brand promise. Hammer co-created and launched the now-discontinued Ruby & Millie makeup brand in partnership with Boots—but she’s also responsible for the launch of other successful brands in the UK, including Aveda, L’Occitane and Tweezerman. She was awarded an MBE in 2007 by the Queen, and she’s recently launched a new line called Ruby Hammer Recommends.

 

In an interview with the Female Entrepreneur Association, Hammer states that promising and delivering quality is vital to the success of a brand. “The key to developing a successful brand is first, you’ve got to have something worthy of success,” she says. “You can’t do it with a bad product.”

 

Successful brands not only give customers the expectation of a unique perspective and a valued experience, they deliver on that promise to provide something undeniably and irresistibly desirable.

 

 

5. Branding: A Solid Foundation for Startups

The majority of new businesses may fail, but yours doesn’t have to be one of those sorry statistics. Strategic branding with a clear message that communicates the unique experience and attributes of your offering can help you win and sustain your business from day one. Commit to building a strong brand foundation to attract and underpin a loyal customer base. This will in turn inspire your brand advocates who in turn will help you spread your brand name and reach much further, and most importantly, help you build an ongoing profitable empire.

 

What do you think?

 

 • Does your business have a strong brand profile? If not, how can you create one?

 

• Do you understand what your target audience wants, and exactly how you can meet their desires?

 

• Does your logo really stand out in its uniqueness and distinction, capturing the essence of your brands’ mission, vision, and qualities of your business at a glance? If not, how can you improve it?

 

• How can you measure the effectiveness of your startup’s brand?

 

• What channels are you using to spread your brand, both visually and conversationally?

 

Drop us a line and share your thoughts in the comments, we’d love to hear from you!

 

 

Private Label: Branding Tips for Own Label Brands

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Private labels used to be seen as the second rate offering in the retail world with a majority of consumers shying away from these alternatives to major brand products. They were viewed as knockoffs, cheap substitutes or poor quality ploys only purchased if you were trying to make your weekly shopping budget stretch a bit further. However the market view on private label brands has shifted considerably, especially with the recent economic downturn, and more consumers are willing to forgo the big brands in favour of lower-priced private labels—as long as the quality is maintained.

 

 

 

Time Magazine reported that since the latest recession, 93 percent of grocery store shoppers have changed their buying habits and now stock up on own label, also often referred to as private label store brands. Major chains stores have seen significant increases in consumer purchases of private label brands according to Bloomberg. In the USA, Safeway’s store brand has shown a 3-to-1 growth margin over major brands, and Kroger’s store brand sales accounts for 27 percent of total grocery sales.

 

 Kroger Logo

 

Image via www.kroger.com

 

Of course, in order to sell private label brands successfully, retailers must promote their own label brands to their customers and make them just as appealing compared to major brand names. It’s not enough to simply stock them high and sell them cheap, as in the early days of own label branding.

  

Brand positioning, the brand promise, brand values, the brand story and category segmentation together with consumer mindset and so forth, must all be very carefully developed and fully integrated into the brand strategy for private label items to be most successful, with the same level of intricacy as major brands, and perhaps more so, because they’re competing with the automatic perceived quality of big, familiar brands.

 

In fact it would be fair to say that private label branding has become extremely sophisticated in some of the retail groups with their ‘private label’ brands carrying significant weight and authority amongst their target audience consumers.

 

 

The Importance of Superb Private Label Packaging

As every marketer knows, presentation is key to selling products. In fact people’s willingness to buy, recommend, refer, work for and invest in an organization is driven 60% by their perceptions of the brand and only 40% by their perceptions of the product or services (source: Kasper Ulf Nielsen).

  

Perhaps one of the primary reasons for the underperforming sales of private label brands in the early days was the bland, generic packaging and questionable quality. Many retailers felt that a lower price would sell these own label brands so few bothered to give any significant thought to packaging. In fact private label products were noticeable, for the wrong reasons, with their generic and non-descriptive packaging that looked completely underwhelming next to the carefully designed major brands. Also plagiarism of major brands was a notorious problem in the early days until legal channels flexed their muscles accordingly.

 

Today’s successful private label brands incorporate appealing packaging design into their branding with a very clear focus on who their target audience is and how they’re going to grab attention and engage with them effectively, through their packaging design. Gone are the stark, single or two-color boxes that simply state the name of the product inside.

 

Waitrose Love Life Range

Image via www.waitrose.com

 

Many retailers are creating entire lines of own branded products carefully segmented and tied to their “brand name” such as UK grocery retailer Waitrose’s impressive portfolio of store brands including Seriously, Heston, Menu, Duchy Originals, Love Life, Good to Go and Essentials, each with its own specific brand strategy and distinct look or brand style.

  

Waitrose Seriously Range

Image via www.waitrose.com

 

These proprietary Waitrose brands are not always directly comparable to any other ‘brands’, be they national or private label, thereby making them unique all of which helps support growing consumer Waitrose brand loyalty and increased wallet share. Some don’t even mention the proprietary store owner, such as department store chain Target’s Simply Balanced health foods and beverages.

  

Duchy Originals From Waitrose 

 Image via www.waitrose.com

These private label brands and their relevant product lines feature distinctive packaging styles and well defined brand propositions with clear target audiences that are competing with major brands on the shelves. In fact, many are indistinguishable from standalone major brands as they’ve become ‘brands’ in their own rights, with the exception of the lower price segments.

 

The best private label brands are blurring the lines of ‘major brand’ or ‘own label’ brand distinction through ensuring superb product quality, creative brand packaging and compelling brand offerings all of which attracts consumers to choose the own brand product without compromises on quality or price. Many are now brands in their own rights without any of the old stigmas of the early days.

  

 

Embracing Environmental Causes and Sustainability

Sustainability and environmental consciousness in both food sourcing and packaging is another major brand selling point that some private label brands are adopting. For example Waitrose has made several changes to its private label products that reduce packaging waste significantly.

 

Recent changes to the packaging of a number of Waitrose’s private label brand lines is estimate to have saved the company almost 100 tonnes of packaging annually. Among other changes, the company’s line of prepared meals, Menu from Waitrose, now features a reduced-width package sleeve and a recyclable, lacquered aluminum tray that allows consumers to cook and serve the meal right from the packaging.

 

Waitrose Menu Beef Goulash 

 Image via www.waitrose.com

 

It’s effectively a ‘win win’ for all concerned, rubbish is kept out of the landfills, the packaging changes make life easier for the consumer – who now has less waste to deal with and less space used in their refridgerator. Waitrose has also raised consumer awareness of their rebranded, environmentally conscious private label packaging through a marketing campaign in which they pledge to reduce packaging by half, by 2016, all of which helps generate a very positive engagement with the Waitrose brand.

 

 

Encouraging Consumer Interaction

Just as with any form of branding, interaction and a personal touch can help to promote private label brands. Several companies have launched innovative campaigns that aim to introduce consumers to their brands, and give them the opportunity to experience high quality at a lower price—therefore earning repeat business and private label brand loyalty.

 

Co Op Tweet4a Table 

Image via www.co-operativefood.co.uk

 

As an example, business group The Co-operative in the UK recently launched a Twitter campaign called “Tweet for a table,” which offered a grand prize of a free, gastro-style meal for up to 4 people, served in one of the company’s pop-up restaurants. The winning meal was created entirely with private label products from The Co-op, introducing potential shoppers to a number of brand lines during a fun and memorable experience.

 

 Dm Foto Paradies

Image via www.produktdesigner.fotoparadies.de 

 

German drugstore DM uses an innovative way to personalize the shopping experience with private label brands. The company teamed with a product designer to create a website called “Foto Paradies” where customers can create their own custom labels for a range of private label items—choosing their own text, and even including photos.

 

 

Broadening Private Label Brand Distribution

Recognition and visibility is an essential component of branding, and some retailers are branching out by offering their private labels for distribution in other markets. Once again, Waitrose UK is demonstrating private label innovation in this area, offering several of its lines through international grocery corporation Dairy Farm’s retail locations in Singapore.

 

French mass retailer Groupe Casino is expanding its private label brands to the Asian market. The company works with Rustan in the Philippines, and A.S. Watson in Hong Kong, to distribute and sell several store brand lines through the retail chains Shopwise and Taste.

 

 

Expanding Your Private Label Brand Revenue

Consumers are no longer ignoring private label brands, they’re actually seeking them out, and often preferring them over major brands. In fact, shoppers are willing to pay more for store brands than they had previously. The Wall Street Journal (via Time Magazine) reported that average prices for private label brands have increased by 12 percent, compared to an 8 percent increase for major brands in the same time period—yet store brands still cost an average of 29 percent less than major national brands. If you’re a independant brand owner maybe supplying ‘private label’ along side your ‘branded’ product could also be a significant part of your growth strategy.

 

Its the combination of erasing the perceived quality gaps between private and major brands together with solid brand strategies underpinning ‘eye popping’ great packaging design, excellent customer experiences and consistently engaging customer campaigns, alongside maybe broadening distribution through strategic partnerships, that can collectively help increase sales of own brand for more profitable long term growth and increased customer loyalty.

 

What do you think?

  

• Is your private label brand packaging comparable in quality to major brands? Is it time for a redesign?

 

• What kind of consumer experience are you offering for your private label brand?

 

• Are your private label brands developed with the capability of range extensions, or are they simply single-shot offerings?

 

• Are there any markets you could investigate to broaden your private brand distribution?

Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below, we’d love to hear from you!

 

 

Brand Promises: Are You Consistently Delivering Yours?

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A brand promise is what your company or brand commits to delivering for everyone who interacts with you. Your brand promise is a pledge, an assurance, or a guarantee that identifies what your customers can expect each and every time they connect with your company—whether it’s through your people, your marketing materials, or your products or services.

 

What makes a brand promise compelling? An effective brand promise must create distinction for your company’s offerings, and connect your purpose, positioning, and strategy. It must describe what customers can expect to receive beyond your product or service. It is more than a purchase—it is an experience, engaging your customers emotionally and allowing you to differentiate from your competitors. When working with our clients to help them develop their brand promise successfully we use our ‘Personality Profile Performer System™’.

 

Your brand promise presents a compelling reason for customers to buy from you, to return for repeat business—and most importantly, to become brand ambassadors, spreading the word about your company organically and enthusiastically. 

 

 Virgin Logo 600px

Image via www.virgin.com

  

 

What Your Brand Promise Should (and Should Not) Be

Organizations often make the mistake of conflating brand promise with marketing. At one end, they may trot out clinically dry descriptions of products or services, on the premise that a brand “speaks for itself.” And on the other, they might make grand and ultimately meaningless statements, replete with abused superlatives such as “best practice”, “world class”, and “market leader.”

 

However, what truly works as a brand promise is not something in the middle, but rather a presentation that takes an entirely different approach to your offerings. A strong brand promise describes how people should feel when they interact with your brand, how your company delivers its products or services, and what sort of character your company embodies.

 Nfl Logo 600px 

Image via www.nfl.com

 

To illustrate this idea in action, here are some powerful brand promises from highly successful brands:

  • The NFL: ‘To be the premier sports and entertainment brand that brings people together, connecting them socially and emotionally like no other’

 

  • Virgin: ‘To be the consumer champion while being genuine, fun, contemporary and different in everything we do at a reasonable price’

 

  • Apple: ‘To make insanely great, imaginative, cool, easy-to-use, cutting edge products that enrich peoples lives’

 

  • Coca-Cola: ‘To inspire moments of optimism and happiness’

   

 

 

  

Typically, a strong brand promise will achieve three key objectives:

  • It must convey a compelling benefit and emotionally resonate
  • It must be authentic and credible
  • The promise must be kept…every time

 

Any brand can create a compelling brand promise. However, the best and most successful brands will also demonstrate a proven track record of delivering on those promises. A powerful brand does not simply “talk the talk” — it “walks the walk,” consistently and reliably.

 

 

The Brand Promise At Work

McDonalds is the brand heard ’round the world. With over 33,000 restaurants in 119 countries, the company has to be doing something right—and the core of their success is their brand promise. They are the first job for many, involved with local communities and always seeking new ways to improve what they do best. When customers see the Golden Arches, they know what they can expect: simple, easy enjoyment with great service, cleanliness and value.

 

This is the brand promise McDonalds stands behind. Their more recent slogan, “I’m lovin’ it,” is a simple phrase in itself, one that can be translated easily within every international market the company serves. The McDonalds brand promise is effective, because the company consistently delivers uncomplicated fun with value and service to customer after customer.

 

Mcdonalds Im Lovin It 600px

Image via www.mcdonalds.com 

 

Effective brand promises aren’t limited to the inexpensive and widely available, either. Successful luxury brands are also making a promise—that customers are paying a higher price, and in return receiving exceptional quality, value, and prestige.

 

European hotelier Kempinski has a stated purpose of “serving guests who expect excellence and value individuality.” As Europe’s oldest luxury hotel group and a five star prestigious brand, Kempinski promises more than lodgings—the company delivers an unforgettable experience for each and every customer by providing “luxurious hospitality in the grand European style.” They believe life should be lived with style!

 

  

 

Start Where You Want To End Up, and Watch Your Brand Take Off

If your brand is already successful, chances are you’re already clear on what you promise your customers—and you’ve managed to consistently keep your brand promise.

On the other hand, if…

…then its time to conduct a brand audit, do a little research, and or re-evaluate your branding strategy.

 

It’s essential to define exactly what your brand promises to your customers. This process begins with research into your market, your target audience, competitors, and business environment. What do your customers really want? How are they getting it now—and how can your offering add even more value to those desires?

 

Your brand promise should deliver something your target audience really wants, but can’t get elsewhere. Remember, you’re creating an experience for your customers. When you define a unique brand promise first, and then consistently deliver, you’re making it easier for your business to keep that promise and realize branding success.

 

Earning Your Brand Promise

Once you’ve defined your brand promise, you need to focus on ensuring that you’re delivering on that promise—every time. Every aspect of your business should reflect what you stand for in your brand, from marketing to employee-customer interaction.

 

A brand that keeps its promises is virtually unbreakable. This is what kept Microsoft from knocking Google off the search engine throne with its “Bing It On” campaign, which attempted to convince consumers that real people choose Bing’s search results over Google.

 

 

 

The campaign failed to make a dent in the search engine giant’s market share—because Google’s brand promise is too strong. Their search engine consistently delivers what people want.

 

 

You Don’t Have to be Huge

Many smaller businesses make the mistake of thinking that only large corporations have the resources to consistently keep brand promises. The truth is, great branding is powerful enough to carry any business model successfully—when it’s done right.

 

Take, for example, The Ginger Pig. This London artisan butchery uses the brand promise of quality meats that taste great due to the care and effort they put forth in raising farm animals. The company emphasizes this brand promise through The Ginger Pig website, which opens with a brief and intriguing story about how they came to be—and their philosophy that well looked-after livestock simply tastes better.

 

Ginger Pig 600px 

Image via www.thegingerpig.co.uk

 

Is your company still looking for that perfect branding strategy? Prepare for success by taking the time to really think about your brand promise—and to ensure that you can, and do, deliver. Whether you’re a brand new start-up, a local supplier, or a national or global business, decide what will make your brand distinctive and memorable—something that’s worth talking about—and focus on delivering every time.

 

When you deliver on your brand promise, you build customer trust. This translates into brand loyalty that markets itself. Word-of-mouth, particularly through social media, will carry your brand promise to an ever-widening audience. As new customers realize they’re actually getting what they were promised, you’ll find more brand ambassadors out there recommending your offerings, all of which will help increase your profitability.

 

The earlier you establish and maintain your brand promise,

the more successful your branding will be.

  

What do you think?

How is your brand walking the talk?

Can a brand exist without brand promise?

Is your brand promising something you can’t deliver?

How can you communicate your brand promise to your customers?

 

Share your thoughts in the comments below, we’d love to hear from you.

 

Brand Traction : How to Make Your Brand Memorable – For The Right Reasons!

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When we talk about brand traction we mean ‘sticking power’ in the sense that customers really understand what a company’s brand is all about, what it stands for, its reputation overall and how relevant it is to their own lives. But we also mean ‘force’ in terms of being able to pull ahead of its competitors.

 

Brand traction is something that has to be cumulatively built up over time, be it service or product, through the relationships it has with its suppliers, staff, customers and the media.

  

Mcdonalds Im Lovin It

 

Relationships with the media are extremely important in terms of brand traction too, and not just in the promotional sense. Walmart and McDonald’s, for instance, are currently being ostracised in the States over their failure to pay what is perceived as a minimum wage. Starbucks and Amazon meanwhile are facing criticism over their failure to pay UK taxes.

 

Both of these issues will adversely affect the reputation of these multi-national companies to some degree, generate negative brand traction and compromise sales because certain consumers will boycott them on principle alone. No company wants to be known as the organisation that doesn’t pay its staff a living wage or reneges on its tax obligations.

 

Then there are the brands that have positive brand traction, who are memorable for all the right reasons. A major study recently by US research firm Added Value looked at the cultural traction of a number of the world’s largest brands, 160 brands over 15 sectors to be exact. They measured them in terms of four major metrics – how visionary they were, inspiring, bold and exciting.

 

Top10 Global Brands

 

This infographic shows the results in terms of the Top 10 Global Brands. The most rapid-changing and innovative sector in society at this moment in time, computing and technology, not surprisingly claims the top three positions.

 

Casualties were Facebook (remember its recent rows over privacy?) and alcohol brands which all suffered in terms of popularity due to what the study described as ‘a fall in cultural relevance.’ Absolut Vodka was the highest alcohol brand in the study.

  

Dove Models Real Beauty

 

In contrast, Dove with its 10 year long ‘real beauty’ campaign, where it dispelled media representations of idealized female beauty, was described as responsible and its brand traction positively increased as a result. It was also noted for its creativity.

 

  

In terms of the list then it’s clear to see that the brands which ranked highest were innovative, forward-thinkers and leaders in their field – they ‘dared to be different’ – none of them could ever be accused of being bland. All are distinctive, and we don’t mean this in terms of their logo or advertising jingle, but largely through the way in which they ‘see the world’, engage with it and endeavour to change it.

 

Amazon Logo 

 

Amazon is a brand which has gained huge traction in the field of cloud computing. The US Central Intelligence Agency recently considered dropping IBM (whom they’ve been with for years) in favour of the global company which initially made its name in the world of e-commerce as a global powerhouse. 

 

Meanwhile, in a desperate effort to achieve better brand traction last year PepsiCo engaged in an intense bout of brand building via a huge advertising and marketing spend (5.7 per cent of revenue). In North America they flooded stores with in-house displays and globally launched the Pepsi campaign ‘Live for Now’. With it came a new positioning statement involving the idea of ‘Now’, ‘as in the present moment’. Early figures indicate the campaign has been successful.

 

 

Runner and Olympic silver medallist Yohan Blake attempted to up his brand traction by emulating his fellow team mate Usain Bolt, known for his famous lightning pose, by creating a pose for his own personal brand. Unfortunately in his case the results weren’t quite so successful. In order to achieve ‘brand’ success Blake needs to develop his own distinct brand personality, different positioning, memorable message and authentic promise instead of trying to be a boring copy of something that’s already been successfully done, in effect ‘owned’ by another entity.

  

 Yohan Blake

  

At present Blake is endeavouring to grow his brand traction by imitating Bolt, through adopting a pose after a race, when really he should be trying to differentiate himself and show his own unique qualities. His ‘brand message’ should also be unique to make his brand credible. After all it’s what he stands for and the associations that come with the pose that will ultimately lead to stronger branding for Blake.

 

  • How much traction do you think your brand currently has?

  

  • Are there areas in which you perhaps, need to do a bit more work, in order to achieve more brand cohesiveness?

  

  • Where would your brand stand in the Added Value survey in terms of visionary, inspiring, bold and exciting?

 

Branding for Women: 80% Plus of FMCG Buying Decisions Are Made by Women

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At least 80 per cent of household buying decisions today are typically controlled by women, especially in the areas of fast moving consumer goods. The question is, are you developing and marketing your brand effectively to this dominant ‘wallet controlling’ audience? Is your brand positioning, story, values and offering resonating with their needs? Are you capturing and holding their attention or have you overlooked their buying power?

 

And just in case you were breathing a sigh of relief because your brand isn’t in the FMCG category, don’t get too comfortable or complacent either. US marketing expert Marti Barletta points to an old report by the Automotive Service Councils of California way back in 1999 which showed that even then, females influenced 80 per cent of all car purchases and in 95 of 100 cases had the final say when purchasing decisions were being made where couples were involved. In addition, an article in Business Week (2004) showed women bought two thirds of all cars sold and influenced 80 per cent of sales. I mention these old stats for my more sceptical readers because female purchasing power has continued to grow year on year, and even more so relative to this older research.

 

Surveys into consumer electronics have likewise shown that women spend just as much as men on ‘gadgets.’ However females tend to buy at a later stage in the process with the early adopters of technology being men. Women tend to buy once ‘the problems have been straightened out,’ said Barletta.

 

 Nokia Lumia 1020

 

Multi-national electronics brand Nokia started marketing to women after realising more females than men were buying smartphones. The brand’s senior consumer insights manager Elizabeth Southwood told Marketing Week last month: “We were aware of technology brands alienating women with their tone and messaging but also of the fact that increasing numbers of ladies were adopting smartphones which has now overtaken men, 58 per cent to 42 per cent, as well as other tech.” 

 

As a result the phone giant ran a female focused promotional campaign named Remarkable Women in which they gave a community of career types – and generally busy women who’d overcome a whole series of obstacles in their lives – a Nokia Lumia. The inference was how much having a phone would help make their lives so much easier. A whole community was set up around the promotion, launched earlier this year in the UK, and is continuing to gain momentum.

 

Remarkable Women

 

Image via Remarkable Women (Facebook)

 

Research has also shown that not only do women tend to make most of the spending decisions in the household, for both everyday and larger items such as furniture, their decision-making process as a rule tends to differ from their male counterparts. That’s because women prefer to go into secondary considerations such as other brand options as well as features, benefits and price. Men, on the other hand tend to be more focused and judge whether or not it satisfies their primary consideration i.e it plays music and looks good.

 

 Office Max Logo

 

US stationary company Office Max earned themselves a precious CNN news spot when they decided (like Nokia and its smartphones) that their target market was the wrong gender emphasis. They changed from a more male to female marketing focus and stocked up on ‘prettier’ products such as coloured folders – while at the same ensuring there was more variety in most ranges (remember, women like to ‘weigh up’ the choices).

 

Unilever’s anti-perspirant Axe initially marketed a limited edition fragrance to young men until it discovered around one quarter (500,000) of its social media followers (Facebook and Twitter) were female. There followed a marketing push towards the fairer sex (along with a ‘refined’ product). The following are adverts for the same brand but marketed at different genders.

 

 

The brand’s target market however was still young men – they had simply expanded it to include young women. Axe’s head of strategy Jonathan Bottomley explains: “You can’t be a successful youth brand today if you’re not co-ed in your approach, this is a generation where guys and girls are friends and like to hang out in groups.”

 

 

 

The world-renowned brand regarded as the so-called bastion of male toughness Harley-Davidson did an ‘about turn’ several years ago when they introduced the SuperLow – a lighter bike suitable for women – in an effort to capture the market for females and first-time riders. They also held ‘women only’ in-store safety nights twice a week in 650 Harley dealerships. Today women make up around 12 per cent of sales for the Harley-Davidson company (in the past it totalled two per cent).

 

Harley Super Low 2011

 

The above examples demonstrate that it’s essential for the majority of brands today to include women in their marketing and overall brand strategies. Not only do women make up 50 per cent of the population but, in most cases, they are also the gender with the greatest influence in consumer purchasing decisions.

 

Brands need to ensure they are gender balanced at the very least, and not alienating women, at the expense of men and vice versa.

 

  • Do you know the percentage ratio of male to female consumers for your brand and have those figures altered over time?

  

  • Do you market more towards women or men and if you were to do a ‘gender switch’ what different messages would you use to engage that particular group?

  

  • If you currently only sell to the one sector could your product or service be adapted to appeal to both?

 

 

Brand Heart: Are You Bringing Your Brand To Life In Your Work Space?

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Hearing someone say they work at Google seems to have the same effect on every listener regardless of their industry background…Wow!

 

Google Green Dublin

 

It’s a true testament to the Google leaders that they have created a reputation of being such a desirable place to work, but lets face it, it’s not just because of the type of work carried out there. With unique, fun, quirky, often bizarre office interiors, which include slides, video games and ski-gondolas, Google lead the way in a trend to change the traditional view of what a corporate office should look and feel like. There is method to the supposed madness.

 

 Google Office Slide

 

Google, Facebook, Airbnb and so many of the newer global companies, along with a few of the longer established, understand that the culture and physical experience of your company is a huge part of your company brand. They understand that it is the people and living experience internally behind the brands that help to dictate how the brand is perceived externally.

 

 Google Ski Lifts

 

An office is far more than walls, desks and computers. It’s a recruitment tool, a second home and a place to inspire those who work within. If a leader’s job is to get the best from their employees then part of that responsibility is creating a space that motivates people to make the most of shaping and growing their brand.

 

 Facebook Office Pan

 

If you care about company culture and authentic brand experience then the office space matters. It is an important part of how the employee views their work. But flashy spaces, open plan offices and bean bags are not for everyone. A place without quite spaces can be just as ineffective as grey cardboard cubicles. There are certain elements however that will provide triggers to employees and customers alike about the company culture that may need to be addressed.

 

 Facebook Office Photo

 

• Collaborative Space

You don’t have to be a creative company to have a need for a collaborative space. If people arrive into the office, go to their desk and stay there until the end of the day then the company is not maximizing the benefits that come from employee interactions between the company thinkers and innovators. A dedicated collaborative space that can be used for informal interactions can make employees more comfortable to contribute, to share opinions and develop new ideas.

 

 Google Hq Zurich

 

• Brand Ambassadors

Employees are your brand ambassadors. Creating an office space that reminds them each day of what they and the brand are trying to achieve can be a powerful motivator.

 

Mindvalley Kuala Lumpur Malaysia

 

• Reflect Your Core Brand Values

If sustainability is an important ‘value’ underpinning your brand, then this should be communicated using internal triggers as well as external communication. Using and promoting recyclable materials within the office for example ensures that those working to build the brand understand that the company genuinely believes and lives by the values they promote. You are authentically living that brand value and reinforcing it everyday in what you do.

 

Education First Lucerne Switzerland

 

• Recruit The Best

Google and Facebook offices are designed not only to serve current employees, but to attract the best talent. They use their office space to communicate the type of culture they promote internally and to attract ‘like minded’ people who can fit within that culture and become part of the brand family. Both understand the needs of the people that work for them and have been hugely beneficial to the organisation, as employees reciprocate with high levels or productivity and efficiency.

 

 Vocus Beltsville Maryland

 

• Create Customer Cues

PR and advertising can support a strategy that communicates a brand’s vision and values, but that can be destroyed at the workplace if the office space doesn’t align with the promise of your brand message. If your brand communicates a sense of community or creativity, but your offices are comprised of people working separately behind closed doors what kind of message does this send to your customers? Internal triggers and experiences can make a significant external impact. Even reception rooms and meeting room names can tell a story that reflects the brand. Think about your customer’s brand journey. How would your offices influence the customer’s perspective and experience of your brand?

 

 Airbnb Conference Room Mushroom Cabin In Aptos California

 

Company culture is not something that can be created from blueprints. It is something that is shaped by the people working within. Leaders can influence it, they can coax and enable the desired type of brand culture but even the well intentioned leader can inadvertently establish dysfunctional workplaces by creating a workspace that is at odds with the brand values and messages the employees are working to shape.

 

Google may have developed a reputation of a fun, goofy place to work, but what it really signifies is a deep understanding by its leaders, that the environment can play a significant role in creating the balance needed to promote problem solving and creativity in an industry that demands both.

 

If you can’t glean clues about the brand or the people behind it from walking in the door of the office you could be in trouble. Get your office ‘on brand’, and it could play a valuable part in supporting your innovation, productivity levels, marketing mix and consequently profitability coupled with long term success.

• What do you think of some of the world’s ‘coolest’ offices?

  

• How does yours compare? Is it ‘on brand’ or congruent with what your brand stands for?

 

• Does your office space encourage collaboration, innovation and creativity?

   

• Does your office space reflect your brand culture?

 

 

Sub-Branding: How Many Brands Do You Need To Get A Profitable Return?

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What happens when a successful brand fails to impact within a new market or market segment? When despite best efforts, the brand cannot make itself relevant to a new market? Is introducing a sub-brand the answer?

 

There are instances when sub-brands hold the key to expanding market share and broadening profit opportunities. However, sub-branding also runs the risk of jeopardizing the strength of the parent brand if implemented without due diligence and careful analysis.

 

Air Canada Rouge

 

   

Effective Sub-Branding Strategies

 

1. Entering Markets That Are Closed To The Parent Brand

Air Canada recently launched Rouge, a low-cost sub-brand airline created as a means to serve new market destinations that the existing model could not serve on a competitive basis. Air Canada’s original brand value structure would be compromised if the parent brand cut their prices and changed the quality of their value proposition. Rouge aims to be a proactive manoeuvre by the brand against new low cost carriers operating within Canada.

 

 

 

Disney releases Certified 18 movies under their Touchstone brand as doing so under the Disney name would be incongruent with the Disney brand identity and what it stands for; magic, fun, wholesome family experiences full of happy memories and happy endings!

 

2. Satisfying Segmented Customer Needs

Hoteliers segment their market by brand type and frequently introduce meaningful sub brands to serve new customer needs and enter new markets. By separating the hotels into sub-brands, Hoteliers can highlight the different value bundles offered under each brand. It provides clear distinction for the customers on the level of service to be expected from each sub-brand, providing an obvious choice for the business or luxury customer versus the family on a budget.

 

 Marriott Hotel Brands

 

3. Industry Norms

Sub-brands are part of the culture of some industries. Car manufacturers frequently release cars under sub-brands. This is particularly effective when each sub-brand has a particular focus and value proposition that does not overlap with other sub-brands within the family. Toyota’s Prius has a very definite brand identity and serves a focused target market. It allowed Toyota to create a leading position within the environmentally conscious market segment and made the Toyota brand more relevant with that customer group.

 

 Toyota Prius

 

 

Sub-Branding Risks

Sub-brands have been known to help companies thrive, capturing new market segments and introducing a parent brand to a wider audience. However sub-branding can come at a cost too.

 

1. Reduced Impact of Parent Brand

Establishing and marketing a sub-brand demands a considerable investment of capital and resources. In most cases sub-brands move resources away from the core brand, risking potential sales of the parent brand itself. The success of the Coors Light beer came at the expense of a loss in market share of the parent Coors brand due to the reduced marketing budget available to advertise Coors.

 

 Coors And Coors Light

 

2. Create Competition

Sometimes sub-brands can invite competition within a sector, creating obstacles that previously did not exist. American Express had established itself as the premium brand within the credit card market. Then it decided to introduce sub-brands: the American Express Gold Card and American Express Platinum. Suddenly it opened up the opportunity for competitors to launch their own products aimed at the high-end customer, forcing American Express to fight for its premium position.

 

 American Express Cards

 

3. Over Stretch Marketing Resources

As with any strategy, introducing a sub brand offers both pros and cons. The general consensus is that companies should operate with as few brands as possible to maximize the impact of limited marketing resources.

 

Marketing will appear weak and ineffective if it is spread too thinly. Economies of brand, strategic focus and clear efficient internal operations can often give the parent brand the support it needs rather than employing a sub-brand strategy.

 

While sub-brands can help to upscale or downscale a brand offering, without clear differentiation a sub-brand can cause real confusion with customers as to the value proposition and unique offering of each sub-brand.

 

Remember, if your core brand is failing to make an impact within a market there are other strategies that may serve your corporate goals. Identifying the possibilities at hand such as expanding core values, evolving the brand structure or reinterpreting existing brand values could have the desired effect and impact with your target customers. 

 

Before you explore developing sub-brands ask yourself this: how many brands do you need to get the job done?

Is Your Price Right? Does It Strengthen Your Profitability or Undermine It?

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For some companies, the pricing policy for goods and services is based purely on a combination of covering costs and making a reasonable profit. Smart management however, understands that pricing is one of the most obvious indicators of a brand’s competitive strategy.

 Brand Pricing

  

Pricing policies determine where your offering is positioned in the market. It is a reflection of your brand’s core values and helps shape customer quality expectations of your product or service. With this in mind, ask yourself, what is your pricing policy telling your market about your brand?

 

 

Top 3 Most Common Pricing Mistakes to Avoid

 

1. Lowest Price Does Not Always Mean Best Value

Most customers care about value for money rather than lowest price.  In tough economic times people still have to spend money and so their tendency to focus on the value of their ROI is even more pronounced. Customers are far more than one-dimensional money savers. They want brands that will serve their needs and offer value for money.

 

 Brand Price Matching

 

2. Cost Cutting

The current economic situation has come companies cost cutting and lowering prices in an effort to survive until things improve. Brands need to accept the current economy as the new normal. Look at it not as a bad economy but as the economy. Companies should implement a pricing structure that best reflects the core value of the brand, rather than clutching at the lower end of the market. 

 

 Slashing Prices

 

Companies need revenue more than ever. Cost cutting can position your brand as the low cost provider and that is a risky place to be in.  Brands that focus on being the low cost provider are left with little to offer the market if suddenly undercut by competitors.

  

3. Inconsistent Pricing Strategies

Frequently changing pricing strategies makes it difficult for customers to calculate the value received with each purchase. It can lead to consumer confusion and can trigger a lack of confidence or mistrust in what appears to be disorganized management. Identifying your most appropriate pricing strategy and keep it consistent.

 

 

Top 5 Strategies That Can Strengthen Your Brand Positioning

 

1. Emphasize Benefits

Lowest price doesn’t always win. Customers develop feelings through their brand experience that impacts on their judgment of value. Customers care about value. By remaining consistent in your pricing strategy and focusing on communicating the value proposition of your brand you will provide your customer with the confidence they need when making a purchase and help them feel more positive about the way they spend their money.

 

 Brand Value

 

2. Focus on Core Values

Core values are the foundations on which brand identity is shaped. Re-examining your brand’s core values can help refocus your pricing strategy and provide the guidelines to strengthen your relationship with your customers. If your brand’s core value was to provide greater quality at a fair price then moving to a low price strategy will damage the very nature of your brand. Customers tend to be more willing to spend a little more money for better value. 

 

3. Bundle Costs

Customers feel a loss when they spend money. Separately listing all the elements they are paying for highlights the extent of the loss in the transaction. Bundling the items into one price is easier to change the customer’s perspective, encourages purchasing and can provide a sense of increased value for money.

 

4. Stagger Price Increases

Webers Law is a strategy adopted by Starbucks in their pricing strategy. It states that customers do not register price increases until they become highly significant. By raising their prices by only a few cents at a time Starbucks did not deter their customers and managed to rise prices without consumer backlash.

  

5. Make Your Offering Incomparable

You don’t want to be forced to lower prices, but how do you deal with low price anchors set by your competition? The easiest way to make your offering incomparable to your competitors is by changing the way you present your offer. 

 

For example, if you are in the B2B software industry, rather than a generic  offering; “software solutions for business”, try “software solutions for business that maximize productivity”. That one small change can make sure that your solution is incomparable and will make it harder for customers to reference the low price anchor.

 

Do not compromise your brand integrity by slashing prices. Focus on your brand’s value proposition and articulate it clearly to your employees and customers alike. Make sure the pricing strategy you employ supports a sustainable and profitable future for your brand.

 

• Do you need to reposition your brand to increase your profitability?

 

• Are you undermining your brand with unsustainable discounting?

 

• Could re-evaluating your core brand values help you increase your profitability? 

  

  

Brand Commoditization : How Safe is Your Brand?

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A question to ponder this week… What would your customer’s identify as the number one reason for buying your brand?

 

If the answer is ‘low price’ or ‘convenience’ your brand could be at major risk of becoming just another commodity brand; a very risky position for any brand to be in.

 

When it comes to commoditization, no industry is safe.  Whether you produce consumer products or supply professional services, when your customers can no longer differentiate your offering from that of your competitors it puts the company’s success and profitability in jeopardy.

 

Commoditization is a never ending reality in business today. No matter how hard a successful brand works to be different, their competitors are working equally hard to replicate it.

 

Markets are awash with ‘me too’ products. Customer choice has never been greater online and offline. Brands need to be very proactive in reinforcing their differentiating factors to their customers i.e. the reasons why their customers should choose them. But without a truly unique product or service that process is becoming more and more difficult.

 

 

Is Your Brand At Risk?

How easily can you quantify the differences between your products and services from those of your competitors? Think then about how easily your customers and prospective clients can make the same distinction? What’s your big why for your brand? What does it stand for?

 

When the tangible differences between competing brands diminish, the danger of commoditization grows. But all is not lost. Many brands enjoy a sustainable longevity in their market, despite aggressive copycatting, and do so by identifying the broader value offered by their brands.

 

Articulating the extended intangible values of your brand creates a tougher opposition for competitors. Replicating a product is easy, replicating a brand identity is not.

 

 

5 Ways To Safeguard Your Brand Against Commoditization

 

1. Brand Values

The first step for any company in safeguarding against commoditization is to use internal knowledge to identify the company’s broader value. Take time to consider the intangible benefits of your brand, the perceived benefits to customers, and the desired emotive response when someone experiences the brand. Think back to the very beginning and refocus on the brand identity. What were the core values that established the brand?   

 

 Steve Jobs Apple

 

Apple’s strength lies not just in innovation but on a dedication to producing a high quality product. Their product prices are amongst the highest on the market but their willingness to lose a portion of market on price reaffirms their dedication to their core value of quality and establishes their brand identity in the mind of the consumer.

 Customer Experience

  

2. Relationships

Tangible elements are easy to replicate. Strong brands succeed in developing strong relationships with their customers. Leverage face-to-face interactions and social media to learn more about your customer and start a dialogue that fosters a meaningful relationship that extends beyond the brand experience. 

 

3. Leverage the Corporate Brand

The corporate brand often has sustainable equity. Leveraging the corporate reputation and trust can deliver broader value to product brands and help shape a comprehensive offering to customers that extends beyond the product service attributes.

 

 O Egg White Eggs Icograda

 

4. Package Design

Innovative packaging that creates an aesthetic beyond function can help increase perceived value to the customer and enhance market share. The O’Egg brand focused on package differentiation to turn a commodity product into the pre-eminent egg brand in Ireland. 

 

5. Brand Experience

When a product or service is easily replicated, innovating brand intangibles can strengthen the position of the brand and protect it from the threat of commoditization.

 

 Apple Customers Queue Ny

 

Think differently about your business. Change how its’ perceived. A unique service area, outstanding customer support, or special loyalty rewards can set your brand apart.

 

Starbucks’ strength grew from creating a brand experience around a commodity product. What set the brand apart were the various elements that nurtured the customer’s experience of the brand; from the service setting, to the coffee ordering system, to the interactions with staff. They changed the way the world ordered coffee.

 Starbucks Commoditization

  

Global giant that it is, Starbucks is now under threat because the brand experience has become the commodity and the Starbucks focus has drifted to profit margins and market growth rather than extending customer value. The brand is currently in the process of returning their focus to their core value, putting the customer’s coffee experience at the heart of their operations again.

 

 

One of the biggest problems that lead to a weakening of brand equity is a lack of awareness in the company of the causes of commoditization. 

 

Businesses end up spending valuable resources on updating products and expanding product lines without having a real understanding as to what their customer’s really need and value.

 

 Customer Service

 

• When was the last time you surveyed your customers or researched your market properly?

 

• Do you really know what’s happening at grass roots level in your market?

  

• Do you need a brand audit?

  

In short, how safe is your brand?

Can You Streamline and Simplify to Increase Your Brand Profitability?

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Tea or Coffee? When restricted to two options, choosing your preference is simple. However, standing at a supermarket shelf faced with several brands and multiple varieties the choice can be overwhelming.

 

Supermarket Shelf Overwhelm

 Supermarket shelf choice overwhelm!

 

When it comes to building a strong profitable brand sometimes less is more. If your brand aims to deliver then it must make the decision making process as easy as possible for the consumer.

 

Is it Time for Your Brand to Streamline and Simplify?

Sometimes you might feel you are offering the market everything you can: offering multiple products to multiple market segments, and communicating through all the marketing touch points at your disposal.  However, if you are not seeing the returns to match this level of offering perhaps it is time to simplify your marketing strategy.

 

Ford Any Colour As Long As Its Black

Ford: Any colour as long as it’s black!

 

4 Ways to Streamline Your Brand Strategy and Strengthen Your Brand Equity

 

1. Focus

Offering everything to everyone rarely works. Different markets have different needs.  Reassessing and refocusing your brand marketing strategy can help your company identify who your consumers really are, what that market wants, and how best to target them. A highly targeted brand experience offers greater value to the consumer which in turn can lead to greater brand affinity and a more lasting profitable relationship between the brand and consumer.

 

2. Be Selective

Just because you can use multiple channels to communicate with your market doesn’t mean you should. Using multiple channels can lead to noise and increased consumer confusion rather than creating a strong brand message. Being selective with your touch points makes it easier to monitor the consumer’s reaction and responses to your brand, thereby making it easier to structure your brand message to best influence your target market.

 

Being selective should also extend to the marketing message itself. Keep the message clear and concise. You should be able to communicate your brand message in a few short sentences.

 

3. Streamline Product Offering

Streamlining your brand offering can actually lead to increased sales. Eliminating certain brand offerings can also eliminate consumer confusion. A simpler more focused brand strategy can be more appealing to consumers and makes their decision to purchase an easier one. If 30% of your products generate 70% of your sales then reducing your product offering can actually boost sales.

 

Ronseal Wood Stain

 

4. Simplify Who You Are & What You Do

A focused brand strategy starts from the inside. If you cannot articulate who you are and what you sell as a company in a few short minutes then you need to look at streamlining your internal strategy. Analyze why you ‘do what you do’, outline core values, set goals, and perhaps redefine your product offering. Reassessing your original corporate strategy can help focus your brand strategy moving forward. When you started in business what were you selling? Who was your target market? What was your original brand identity?

 

Why it Can Work – The Jam Effect

Columbia University conducted a consumer study offering an array of brands of jam and chocolate for consumers to choose from. Consumers who were given a choice of 6 brands were 30% more likely to make a purchase than those given a choice of 24-30 brands.

 

Toothpast Choice Paralysis

Toothpaste choice paralysis!

 

Decision Simplicity in the purchase process is the number 1 reason why consumers 
are likely to buy your brand, do so repeatedly, and recommend it to others.

 

One of the fundamental roles of a brand is to positively influence purchase behavior. Having a focused streamlined brand offering with a clear brand message that simplifies the decision making process at the point of purchase can be a winning strategy.

 

Consumers faced with multiple brand variations can be overwhelmed. Offering consumers a refined selection can give your brand a point of differentiation within your market.

 

A brand that tries to offer everything to everyone will satisfy some but wow few. Being selective and focused with your product offering, your marketing channels, and your brand message can lead to expanding profits. It’s that simple.

 

 

• Is your level of commercial returns relative to the size of your brand offering?

 

• Do you need to refocus your brand positioning?

 

• Is your brand strategy in need of simplification?

 

• Do you need to eliminate consumer brand confusion?

 

What’s your view on implementing a simpler decision making process for your customer through a streamlined brand offering? 

 

TLTR: Why streamlining your brand strategy can strengthen your brand profitability. Decision simplicity in the purchase process is the number 1 reason why consumer s
are likely to buy your brand, do so repeatedly, and recommend it to others. Sometimes the brand with the smallest market offering presents the greatest brand value to the consumer.