Most important factors in successful branding strategy

Every shampoo is used for washing hair. However, when you go to a shopping centre and see a branded shampoo on the shelf, it attracts your more than another shampoo which is not produced by a well-known company.

What does a brand do?

In very simple words, branding enables businesses to create enhanced values for their products that distinguish it from the rest.

The best way of creating a brand is to compliment the core product with other supporting features that the competitors may not be able to provide.

As per digital agency Sydney, brand management involves a two-pronged approach, including the functional aspect as well as the emotional value. Both of these factors play a vital role when a person is seeking to buy any product.

In the article below, we will discuss some of the most important factors for a successful branding strategy.

The Quality of the Product

So many companies are selling shampoos. But the one thing that makes your product stand out among the rest is its quality. If the product does not fulfil its functions, it will have no chance of survivala in the market.

A high-quality product already commands a much bigger share of the market. Its profitability is also far better than its rivals that lag behind in quality.

Here, a very important concept needs to be understood and accounted for: the customer’s perception of quality.

Most people do not carry out a detailed and in-depth analysis of the functionality offered by any product while they are making a decision to make a purchase.

Rather, if any product confirms to their own pre-determined quality standards, it is automatically deemed to be high quality. Or, if a product fulfills all the requirements that are important to them, they will think that it’s a great product.

Customers cannot analyze the ingredients of each product and then determine which one is the best for use. That is why they must rely on certain attributes of the product, which allow them to make their judgement.

The business should enhance those attributes related to the product so that customers can identify them easily, and make their buying decision then and there.

Create a Unique Market Position

There are two important factors for the creation of a unique market for any of your products: the identification of its niche market, and positive customer perception of the product.

While the niche market is identified mostly before the launching of the products, a positive perception can be created through several things including the packaging of the product, the ease of delivery, after-sales service, guarantees and warranties. Only a combination of all these factors offers a unique position to your product within the marketplace in which you are operating.

If a business is positioned in a better way as compared to its rivals within the same market, it is able to inform its customers what it can do for them, and how it can solve their problems. A better-positioned company also has more chances of portraying how it can fulfil both the functional as well as the emotional needs of the customer through its products.

These needs may vary from customer to customer, which is why market positioning should be carried out on a wide scale so that it can cater to the diverse needs of its niche base. If the company become specific, it will not be attractive to a very small segment even within the niche market.

Establish Communication

 

Like in every other area, communication is very important when it comes to forming a brand strategy.

A brand has established its position in the niche market, but it also needs to communicate this to the customers. Moreover, there is a whole lot of work that follows successful market positioning. You need to create awareness of the brand and build a strong and favorable perception of it. There needs to be constant re-enforcement of the established theme through aggressive ad campaigns, PR campaigns and promotions.

In the past, communication with customers was usually carried out through mass media channels. The utility of this medium is still evident because it allows the business to grab the attention of the niche. But the downside of mass media is that it seems very generic and impersonal. This cannot build lasting relationships with customers because he is not able to feel any kind of personal attachment with the brand.

The purpose of branding is to render it as an integral part of the customer’s daily life and a part of his personality. In order to achieve this objective, the customer must be able to become involved in the brand itself.

The business needs to offer opportunities for this kind of customer involvement. There should also be joint activates with customers. Social issues must be taken up, and community development projects are undertaken. All these things enhance brand visibility and customer involvement.

There should be continues and unrelenting communication with the niche customers that relay the fundamental values of the brand. Customers should be made aware of the brand’s core values and how it coincides with their own.

Establishing and Maintaining a Long Term Perspective

It takes serval years to create brand awareness and establish it as a successful name among the customer base. However, simply establishing a brand is not enough. It is an on-going process that needs frequent nourishing through investment.

If the brand stops striving for better engagement, there is likely to be a decline in its sales. The association between the brand and the customers that have been built over the years will simply erode. This will result in further erosion of the brand’s emotional equity.

When you have successfully created fond memories of your brand in the minds of the customers, it will pay you off in the long term.

That is why one of the most important factors in branding is to always work with a long term perspective rather than a short term.

In fact, the very idea of branding is a long term concept. It takes a long time to build a brand. Consistency is what keeps it going.

The Final Word

It is obvious that the strength of any brand – big or small – is actually dependent on its strong ties with its customers.

Such a strong association is not built in a day. It would take years to become a credible brand in the eyes of its customers.

The brand must ensure that it continues to offer the level of performance and functionality that established it as a house-hold name. It must always continue to strive to keep that trust.