Providing a Solution to your Prospects Problem with Brand Marketing

by Sally Howarth Team Leader, Media Production

What is Branding?

Brand marketing is the method and the means by which you propel your business into the public consciousness. While the world of business has changed by leaps and bounds, the basic principles of brand marketing have remained the same. Fortunately for us, brand marketing is nothing more than a formula.

Exploring brand marketing concepts is a great way to fine-tune your business model and business practices, but what is branding and why is it important? A strong brand is invaluable as the battle for customers intensifies day to day. It is important to spend time investing in researching, defining, and building your brand. After all your brand is the source of a promise.

A brand is a 'name, term, sign, symbol or design, or a combination of them intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of other sellers.

Therefore it makes sense to understand that branding is not about getting your target market to choose you over the competition, but it is about getting your prospects to see you as the only one that provides a solution to their problem.

The objectives that a good brand will achieve include:

Delivers the message clearly
Confirms your credibility
Connects your target prospects emotionally
Motivates the buyer
Concretes User Loyalty

To succeed in branding you must understand the needs and wants of your customers and prospects. You do this by integrating your brand strategies through your company at every point of public contact.

Your brand resides within the hearts and minds of customers, clients, and prospects. It is the sum total of their experiences and perceptions, some of which you can influence, and some that you cannot.

A strong brand is invaluable as the battle for customers intensifies day by day. It is important to spend time investing in researching, defining and building your brand. After all your brand is the source of a promise to your customers. It is a foundational piece in your marketing communication and one you do not want to be without.

Defining your brand is the first step in the process of developing your brand strategy. By defining who your brand is you create the foundation for all other components to build on. Your brand definition will serve as your measuring stick in evaluating any and all marketing materials and strategies. To begin the process you will need to answer the following questions:

Here is How:

What products and/or services do you offer? Define the qualities of these services and/or products?
What are the core values of your products and services? What are the core values of your company?
What is the mission of your company?
What does your company specialise in?
Who is your target market? Who do your products and services attract?
What is the tagline of your company? What message does your tagline send to your prospects?
Using the information above create a personality or character for your company that represents your products or services. What is the character like? What qualities stand out? Is the personality of your company innovative, creative, energetic or sophisticated?
Use the personality that you created in the above step and build a relationship with your target market that you defined in No. 5. How does that personality react to target audience? What characteristics stand out? Which characteristics and qualities get the attention of your prospects?
Review the answers to the questions above and create a profile of your brand. Describe the personality or character with words just as if you were writing a biography or personal ad. Be creative.

Critical to effective brand management is the clear definition of the brand's audience and the objectives that the brand needs to achieve.

What are the objectives that you hope to achieve with your brand?

Your brand should be comprised of the company personality, image, core competencies and characteristics. The impressions that you make as well as the words people will use to describe your company to others, are the basic framework of your brand.

With a strong brand you build credibility, have more influence on your market, and motivate customers and clients to purchase from you. If done correctly your company will be looked at as a leader not a follower.

Despite what many believe, brand is not about your logo, tagline and glossy brochure. Instead, a strong brand integrates multiple components, all of them necessary, including customer interactions, employee communications, corporate philosophy and advertising/marketing efforts. Your brand extends to your employees, customers, the media and even the general public. If these components don't consistently reinforce your brand, customers will become dissatisfied. The negative impact of their perception, should they voice their opinions to other potential customers or even the media, could have a ripple effect on your business. This can erode your brand equity and create misperceptions about your company in the market, that in turn could lead prospective customers, employees and investors to pass on your organisation