What is a branding? What role does it play in the success of a product or a service? How does one build a brand? To get answers to these and many other related questions, we met Mr. Subhashish Tripathy, Managing Director Sanket Communications, a leading Advertising & PR Agency with roots in Odisha .
How important is branding for a product or a company?
Branding is more a part of successful marketing today than ever before. Everywhere you look, there are marketing experts telling you that in order to succeed, you simply must create a recognizable brand. They’re not wrong either. Think of Nestle, Coca-Cola, Starbucks and other household names you know. They all got there by creating a brand that people love.
Most companies realize the value of branding, but they might not be sure how to go about creating a strong brand.
What should one keep in mind, before starting a branding exercise?
When developing a corporate brand, it’s important that your corporate communications have a uniform style and tone. Try to develop the right tone for your target market, and ensure it is carried across all communications.
How can customer experience be used to emphasize one’s brand?
Big companies spend millions on customer experience. Think of IKEA and their warehouse experience, Scandinavian esthetic and calling their staff members “co-workers”, or the chilly whiteness and tangible cool of the Apple Store. This experience about the brand stays etched in your mind.
Please advise important steps to focus on in order to build a strong brand?
Your brand is much more than a creative logo and a catchy slogan. It’s the very essence of who you are, what you stand for, and what customers can expect when you engage. Your logo and slogan definitely play an important role as do the images you use, the messages you deliver, the way your employees interact with your customers, and every single thing you do. Building a strong brand takes effort, and these five steps can help.
- Establish Your Purpose
The underlying purpose of every business is to make money. But strong brands go much deeper than that. Think about the reason your company was started, and why it continues to exist. Ponder what makes you get up in the morning and head to work.
What are you aiming to achieve? Are you out to make people laugh? Bring beauty to the mundane? Make everyone’s lives easier?
- Determine What Makes You Stand Out
Figure out why customers should buy from your company instead of your competitors. What do you have and do that they don’t? Here you can review the intangible qualities of your product or services. Your goal is to position your brand in people’s mind so they think about you differently than they do about your competitors.
Knowing your competitors can help you differentiate yourself from them, and being aware of their actions can help you enhance your own brand.
- Know Your Target Consumer
Gather demographic data on your target customers. Think what do these people ultimately want from your product or service? What problems are you solving? What do they need from you?
Start by listing both the features and benefits of your offerings.
Once you have a list of benefits, determine which are emotional. Review all the emotional benefits and pinpoint the one thing customers should think of when they think of your company. That one thing is what your overall brand should represent to the consumer.
- Perfect Your Personality
Think of your brand as a person with an unmistakable personality.
A brand’s personality needs to be apparent in the colors, images and designs you choose, your tone and messages, and even in the way your employees engage with your customers. If something doesn’t support your brand’s personality, change it to keep the personality alive.
- Be Consistent (Yet Flexible)
Strong brands are recognizable because they’re consistent with everything they do. All colors, fonts, styles, images, and actions align with the core of their brand. Consider a style guide for employees to help retain that consistency. Also make sure everything you do, say or release supports the heart of your brand.
While consistency is a must to strengthen your identity, it’s also important to have enough flexibility to remain fresh and relevant.
To put it simply, if you have a good product you must brand it well. According to a Nielson Survey, 59% of consumers prefer to buy new products from brands familiar to them. As a small business, you may be competing against big brands with devoted customers and unlimited marketing budgets. That’s why you have to find innovative ways to differentiate and capture the imagination of your target.
Sanket Communications along with industry associations of Odisha is organising a Webinar on 10th Oct, at 5.00 pm to focus on: “MSME: Overcoming the Challenges of Branding“. Login ID-89948907550/Password-123456. The Webinar will also be broadcast live on company’s facebook page.
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