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Your Brand is Your Future
What is a brand? It can be a symbol, a word, a name, or
trademark. In essence, it's a promise. A guarantee to your
prospects and customers that they are buying the quality,
reliability, worth and reputation for which your company or
organization stands. It's the label consumers use to recognize
your products and services day in and day out.
Over time, a brand becomes one of your most valuable assets.
Perceived value and brand loyalty often justify a higher price
which in turn can lead to higher profits. In other words,
the premium paid by the consumer is a direct result of the
perceived goodwill the product or service has.
How can you enhance the value of your brand?
1. Enter the market early with a sustained presence. Early
market involvement provides a time advantage over competition.
Originators are usually seen as innovators and leaders in
a field. However, long-term success usually means not only
the development of competitive products and services, but
also continuous improvements and creation of extended lines.
2. Create high customer involvement. Consumers buy products
and services that express who they are, what they do and what
they like. They're also more likely to buy when they're familiar
with the product, its qualities and the needs it fulfills.
3. Maintain a consistent standard of quality. Consumers purchase
products because they have certain expectations. They buy
again and again because the product meets their expectations
each time. If variations in quality occur, consumers lose
confidence, stop buying and often tell others of their dissatisfaction.
They transform from brand “loyalists” into brand “terrorists.”
Without repeat purchases, no product can survive long term.
4. Develop brand personality. Giving your brand a distinct
identity strengthens consumer awareness and recollection of
your brand.
5. Engage in coordinated marketing, including effective brand
positioning advertising. It's critical that you differentiate
yourself from your competitors. Your unique selling proposition
or basic competitive advantage separates you and creates a
position for your products in the marketplace. To be effective,
these messages must be communicated consistently over time.
It's also important for a business to build brand awareness
through corporate advertising. Looking at even the most elite
brands, significant resources are devoted to corporate advertising,
as well. This strengthens trust consumers have for a brand.
Studies show that brand building activities such as trade
shows, demonstrations, product literature, public relations
and product advertising influence consumers four times longer
than sales promotion techniques such as coupons, sweepstakes,
rebates, refunds, etc.
Remember it costs much more to win over new customers than
to keep current ones. Strengthening your brand and creating
brand loyalty insures customer retention. Your brand is your
future!
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