| Strategic Brand
Management:
Creating an Identity for Your Company
Brand 101 -- A Crash Course in Brand Management
Brand management is consciously providing a product with an identity that is understood
on all levels. This means both internally and externally and includes customers,
employees, suppliers, and vendors. Understanding the niche in which the product resides
gives it a relevant differentiated benefit (RDB). This translates into the purchase of
that product over that of a competitor.
As a brand, the game is one of being defined or being self-defined. Good examples of
this are eBay with its reputation for system failures/outages and Amazon.com with its
reputation for being the bookseller of choice online. On the one hand, eBay is being
defined by its inability to guarantee 24-7 performance to its users. Rather than basking
in the celebrity status as the first online auction site, it is blinded by the limelight
of adverse publicity for system failures. On the other hand, Amazon.com took its first
mover web site advantage and leveraged its presence to include selling additional goods
besides books. Each represents a very different branding story.
Good branding begins with knowing what makes the product special and exploiting its
advantages. Branding may be for a specific product or could cover an entire corporate
image. As an example, Bavarian Motor Works (BMW) is known as the "ultimate driving
machine." This rallying cry applies to all its products to include automobiles,
motorcycles, and sport utility vehicles. BMW's communication strategy and brand equity
comes with its message about speed, driving, and handling. Similarly at General Motors
(GM), products do not merely have a single brand identity. GM has multiple products and
uses multiple venues for their individual products. Its automobile selection ranges from
Corvettes to Cadillacs. As an example, Cadillac's branding message extols the virtues of
art and science. Cadillac showcases proactive safety features; precision all weather
controls; and infotainment luxuries such as Onstar, the in-vehicle safety, security and
information service that uses Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite technology and
wireless communication to link the driver and vehicle to 24-hour real-time,
person-to-person help. However, GM stands for one thing and has an identifiable rallying
cry.
Branding is a cyclic process with three elements. First, there is the brand reality.
This consists of the product's identity, its differentiating features, and its niche. It
is the "What I am" about the product. Second, the brand reality gets exposure
from communications. This comes in many venues to include the media, advertising, public
relations, and training. Every communications outlet/forum should consistently communicate
the same message about the product. Third, product development follows and considers the
future. Product development is built upon year after year and is predicated on brand
identity. It is difficult to alter what the public perception of a product is, so changing
image can happen only incrementally with smart communications.
Solid ideas equal progress. Be a constant advocate for defining and reinforcing brand
management (image). Select and communicate no more than three messages. Then prove them,
teach them, reward them and love them. Most importantly, make certain the message is the
"right" thing and goes into all the communication about the product or company.
Brand management is the philosophy and core behind all business development. The
rallying cry defines and makes for both an internal and external image/presence.
Constantly refining the rallying cry is part of brand management. Branding is the arena
that puts the "big picture" perspective into focus and determines where the
company takes and makes its future.
Brand Identity in Web Context
The Web is becoming the primary vehicle for marketing, sales, fulfillment, and support.
It presents new and unique marketing challenges for companies. It impacts corporate
identity and brand even if the company is not a "dot.com." Web sites add real
value when they solve customer problems and do it better than anything else does.
The Web is becoming the principal way customers experience your company. The importance
of the Web as an alternative to a physical presence can not be overemphasized since 80% of
customer retention relies on such access. Web site loyalty is growing to where 55% of
users have established a preference for certain web sites. Web sites allow for comparison
shopping, convenience, and pricing alternatives. They are becoming the battleground where
brand loyalty gets won or loss.
Establishing loyalty and preference is the reason for branding. Timing is everything on
the Web. Those companies that are first with their web sites lock in a market position and
loyalty that is often difficult to unseat. The Web is different from traditional branding
challenges because:
No one controls who visits it or when.
It facilitates sophisticated and extensive comparison shopping.
It bears the burden of creating an experience that pulls visitors through the
consumption cycle.
It becomes crucial if it is the only opportunity or preferred methodology for
establishing brand and company identity.
Some observations about branding on the Web are:
Building brand takes money.
Your company's value proposition must deliver the brand promise.
Brand continuity requires peaceful, productive co-existence among business strategies.
Brand loyalty comes from developing trusted relationships with vendors and customers.
The Web experience is becoming the message and the brand. Today customers expect and
want the whole experience. After interaction with the Web, the feeling the customer comes
away with is directly related to how well the company understands what the customer wants
and how responsive its web site is in fulfilling the customer's needs.
Dot.com Companies
The mantra for the Internet is "Speed is life." Dot.com companies offer free
products and sticky applications. Characteristics of the Internet environment include a
3-month long product cycle, instantaneous feedback, word-of-mouth notoriety, and the
business limelight. As a revolution, the Internet is underhyped given its relatively short
5-year timeframe for reaching 50 million users.
The Internet creates an awareness, provides information, gives imagery, and provides
for direct trial experiences. Users have a fascination for it that competes with
traditional advertising on radio, television, and special events.
Page views are the key measure. Focus should be on increasing page views on your site.
This presents new advertising and commerce opportunities with each page viewed by showing
viewers products they like. Web site viewer retention can be enhanced by adding more
services users want such as searching modalities, maps, and restaurant information. There
is also a tradeoff between giving advertisers a spot on your homepage thereby
"paying" for traffic or being powered by your own reputation through effective
branding that eliminates the need for banner ads. Brand building may be a simple matter of
acquiring other sites and their associated viewers for increasing audience reach.
The search engine Lycos took its brand icon of a Labrador retriever dog and made it
into a recognizable hero that locates whatever the user wants. In redefining its brand,
Lycos traded its offline image for an online presence that simultaneously defines its
offline branding. Additionally, it translated its branding online to mean being fast and
easy. The small dog icon on its homepage coupled with its rallying cry "Go Get
It!" embodies what Lycos is all about and wants to communicate both online and
offline.
The Dot.com world is pervasive and becoming a crowded field. Early mover advantage can
not be overemphasized or overlooked. Differentiation among sites is difficult.
Distribution and bartering to gain audience reach are important methodologies for growing
exposure and communications. Integrating campaigns with traditional advertising and public
relations media will play an ever increasingly vital role in getting the company's brand
and message out.
The Branding Mindset
Brand management is moving from being pure image to being reputation based on facts.
The game plan now becomes understanding the components of the brand's core assets and
selecting what will be communicated. This means taking the time to identify what those
core assets are and then making a branding campaign based on optimizing allocated budget.
Time to market and speed to branding are now more important than dollar comparisons.
Currently, there is a shift in the popularity of various mass communications vehicles.
There is a consumer preference for data that supports product claims. Consumers are
increasingly relying on the Web for product information. This is changing what marketing
must do when branding.
The Web is a dynamic, interactive medium that is creating new standards in
communications.
Its speed, imagery, and precision are redefining visual communications as a very
powerful experience. Viewing a web site is no longer just a matter of numbers and letters
on a computer screen.
The Web is an imperative in the branding game. Marketing's growing dependency on the
Web means learning to be savvy on it. Compelling web sites project a sense of community
where customer relations is the emphasis during any transaction or interaction. Visuals
become all important when making product and service promotions.
Some essentials of public relations are:
Building brand from inside out/internal values and communications
Having third party entities resonate with your message
Getting involvement from the grassroots level
Possessing "street smarts"
The secret weapon for the renaissance of a brand is using technology to communicate
your message. Creating the experience of a revitalized brand means building a category and
leadership position and getting to market as quickly as possible. When going public with
your message, it is important to do it first, simply, and cost effectively. Web technology
provides the medium and forum for fast feedback about effectiveness. It can be used
to leverage existing equity in branding. Consumer expectation about E-business is
that it provides complete solutions and that the tools involved are irrelevant. The
branding mindset knows better.
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