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Start Branding In 10 Minutes
"The art of marketing..." so Kotler writes, "...is largely the art of
brand building. When something is not a brand, it will probably be
viewed as a commodity. Then price is what counts, the only winner is
the low-cost producer."
For a significant number of years Dell dominated the Windows PC
computer market. Before Dell arrived 'brand' was seldom high on must
have list when choosing a computer, except when considering IBM or HP for critical business use, and instead a
Pentium 3 with 128MB of RAM
with specific components was the regular approach. Computers were seen
as a commodity. Dell arrived on the low cost market with a strong brand
standing for good value at a reasonable price. They were still not the
cheapest - cheap and unbranded was still available. They are a good
example of the next logical step - the well branded, correct quality
product, efficient business.
Only well branded specialists providing signifficantly differentiated,
quality products compete effectively.
The moral of the story - avoid being percieved as a commodity provider by developing a strong brand - or else!
Why do people buy?
People buy benefits and these can be broadly catagorised as in to four main areas:
- sector
- product
- experience
- brand
Generally I recommend a combination of all of these with brand as the goal unless you business has particular strength in one
particular area - in which case possibly this can be used to lead and
build brand along side, but try not to forget the others.
Lets take them one by one...
Sector Leadership
Does your company have a unique strength in the sector in which you
work. Can it claim to offer something signifficantly better to
potential customers in the the sector in which you specialise. Are you
one of the only companies in the world to make design and build
specialist widgets, build them, run and support them and decomission
them when they are finished with and you've been doing this since the
stone age? You know this sector inside out and that's a benefit to
customers. Another company might start making
copies of your widgets, but is your position so intertwined with the
sector that all they can really offer is a commodity product?
Quality Products
Do your products shine so much more brightly when compared to the
dullards on the market? "Wait a minute, just like much of the UK
economy today, we don't offer products, we provide services." Agreed,
well, go with me for a minute when I say that you offer 'Service
Products' and equally it avoids me having to type Services/Products
through out this article. So, if you are the enviable positioning of
having products like this then possibly lead with this - afterall the benefits are to customers are there - but (and it's
a biggy) - ask yourself, will you always guarantee to be a few lengths
ahead of the competition - or might they, or possibly a new bright
spark arrive from this global market that we operate in and nip at your
heels? Might they weaken your position?
Customer Experience
What about a reputation for delivering excellent service. Just saying
you do is not good enough - and lets face it, we've had it drummed in
to us enough that we do need to deliver excellent customer services
that we all strive for it. But, do you? And what's more, do you have a
reputation for it above and beyond everything else? If you do it's a
big benefit to customers - ask anyone - it's just what they want.
The Powerful Brand
My favourite. Do people instinctively trust your strong brand. Would
they choose your product over a competitors product because they know
exactly what you stand for, it connects with their desires, before they
speak to your team - and they want it, not need it, they want
it? Take Volvo for example. A Brand recognised the world over.
What's the benefit that they've decided to build their brand on?
"Safest". Volvo buyers want safety for their families. They have a
secondary benefit of "durability" for global positioning reasons and
more recently they've recognised that safest doesn't have to mean dull
(or "boxey but good" which always makes me chuckle) with the
introduction of beautifully smooth lines and the option of pretty darn
nippy performance - but they're careful to hold on to their "safest"
brand position - even with the massive populairy of utlity 4x4s which
will demolish even top of the range luxury familiy saloons in a tete a
tete.
The starting point of establishing and building a brand is to decide
which combination of some or all of these, and in what balance is right
for you company and to establish which of the many brand benefit
positions is right for you. The rest is communication.
Get the receipe correct, establish a marketing mix and every piece
of communication material will either build your brand, or weaken it.
Source :: © Philip Owen - Sticky New Media
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