What is a brand?
What does a brand do for you?
Why do you need a brand; or do you need a brand?
How can a brand help drive business your way?
Is all of this talk of brand overblown?
Think of your company, what is its brand, how do customers know you? What do you stand for? How can you improve your company’s perception?
A brand is the cornerstone or anchor point of your customer experience, it seasons all dialogue about your organization, and it focuses your advertising efforts and promotional activity. The positioning and strength of your marketing framework flows from your brand. A strong brand is about truth and it must tie into your company’s strengths. A brand creates a distinctive and durable perception in the minds of consumers. It’s a unique business identity intertwined with associations of personality, quality, and desire.
Think of a brand as a structure that holds your customer’s goodwill and your reputation. It’s your company’s identity and for what you stand. A brand can change the positioning of your product or service from a commodity, to a premium product or service so instead of appealing to low-price shoppers you attract buyers willing to pay more for your goods than for those of competitors. Ask yourself this, why do people willingly pay $3.00 bottle for water when they can get it free from the tap? That’s what a brand can do for you.
People particularly like brands they know; they feel comfortable buying a brand named product. Cadillac and Mercedes Benz have been fighting for the number one spot in the luxury car market for years, and then along came Lexus a few years ago and it has slowly chiseled away at their market. A few years ago, you might not have considered buying a Lexus but now, it has become a recognized luxury brand.
Branding your business works. Visit a local supermarket and look at the generic labels. If you check the generic brand of canned corn, compared to Green Giant brand, you will see the black and white label priced much lower. If you look at the nutritional label, you will find out that there is no difference what so ever. However, the brand name sells equal to or better than the generic one because people will pay a premium price for a known brand because consumers perceive it as better.
It takes time, money, and effort to build a brand name from scratch. Franchising is big business; people will pay large fees to purchase brand named businesses. Think of McDonalds, 7-11 stores, True Value, Do-It-Best, HobbyTown USA, and many others, people buy into these franchises, because they are a known brand with a business plan that all but guarantees success.