This starts with understanding what 'brand' really means and it all begins with the leaders of the company who define their brands and control its management. It also reaches all the way down the company and especially to the people who interface with customers or who create the products which customers use.
Brand management performed to its full extent means starting and ending the management of the whole company through the brand. It is simply far too important to leave to the marketing department. The CEO should be (and, in fact, always is) the brand leader of the company.
A good brand is one which is memorable and desirable. It cannot be effective if nobody remembers it, and is no good either if nobody wants it!
A good brand evokes feelings, and because feelings drive actions, brands like Sprite which offers to “quench your thirst”, makes you desire it, when you’re thirsty.
A good brand must be unique and stand out. Within an industry, a brand can be very close, but if you want any hope of success, you must stake out the unique strength of your brand over its players or competitors in its category.
The right brand is not just something you make up on a Friday afternoon. It comes through a deep understanding of your marketplace and your customers. It also comes from a deep understanding of the capabilities and motivations of the people in your company.
Once you have created your brand, the next step is to somehow inject it into the minds of your customers, your staff and everyone who comes in contact with your brand.
This is where marketers, agents and the advertising company come in. Although it is still not their sole preserve, a large part of marketing, which includes advertising and PR, is about positioning the company and its products in the minds of customers and against your competitors.
This brings us to the next step. Creating and making the right brand is one thing, but then you have to keep it. If you do not, you brand will still exist, but now the uniqueness will be of sloppy products and conflicting delivery. Thus advertising can take your product very far in the minds of the people, but if the product does not deliver its promise, the product will have popularity with low patronage.
Keeping promises means managing capability. It means consistent processes that are capable of delivering what is required. It means technology and systems which are reliable and usable. It means motivated people who are willing and able to deliver the goods.
Brand management performed to its full extent means starting and ending the management of the whole company through the brand. It is simply far too important to leave to the marketing department. The CEO should be (and, in fact, always is) the brand leader of the company.
A good brand is one which is memorable and desirable. It cannot be effective if nobody remembers it, and is no good either if nobody wants it!
A good brand evokes feelings, and because feelings drive actions, brands like Sprite which offers to “quench your thirst”, makes you desire it, when you’re thirsty.
A good brand must be unique and stand out. Within an industry, a brand can be very close, but if you want any hope of success, you must stake out the unique strength of your brand over its players or competitors in its category.
The right brand is not just something you make up on a Friday afternoon. It comes through a deep understanding of your marketplace and your customers. It also comes from a deep understanding of the capabilities and motivations of the people in your company.
Once you have created your brand, the next step is to somehow inject it into the minds of your customers, your staff and everyone who comes in contact with your brand.
This is where marketers, agents and the advertising company come in. Although it is still not their sole preserve, a large part of marketing, which includes advertising and PR, is about positioning the company and its products in the minds of customers and against your competitors.
This brings us to the next step. Creating and making the right brand is one thing, but then you have to keep it. If you do not, you brand will still exist, but now the uniqueness will be of sloppy products and conflicting delivery. Thus advertising can take your product very far in the minds of the people, but if the product does not deliver its promise, the product will have popularity with low patronage.
Keeping promises means managing capability. It means consistent processes that are capable of delivering what is required. It means technology and systems which are reliable and usable. It means motivated people who are willing and able to deliver the goods.
