Branding 360 view

Economic slowdown, recession, depression call it what you will. A bad economy affects everyone. When times are tight, the bottom-line is dictated by the sense of value consumers place in your brand; or more precisely, how much they are willing to pay for that value.

Both the value perceived by consumers and actual shareholder value are strongly influenced by brand.

Brand can drive growth in an up-market or protect the companys value in a down-market. One of the most important, but often overlooked, aspects of a recession is the insecurity consumers experience. As consumers feel the pinch, they begin to search for change. Companies need to focus on actions that take advantage of the opportunities that change brings.

Unfortunately in todays increasing global market competition, many people in the quest to define branding frequently misuse the term brand by interchanging it with advertising, marketing, naming or design.

These improper applications have caused much confusion as to what branding is and how it works. Business consultancies, marketing companies, advertising agencies, public relations firms and graphic/web design studios each define brand within their own frame of reference and expertise.

As such, branding has become a bit of a buzz word. But what does it really mean, and how does it work? Where did it all start and how can it create value? To benefit from effects of branding, a common understanding of brand must first be established.

Academics and marketers unanimously agree that the origin and evolution of branding moved from a commodity-driven model to a value-driven model. Rice, sugar, cotton and steel were all strictly commodities at one point.

Consumers used the identification system designed to show ownership as a tool to navigate their way through vast offerings of these common goods. This allowed them not only to identify the best products available in their market, but empowered them to repeat a favorable purchase.

The nineteenth-century definition of branding is similar with all marketers, but the commonly used definition is the one by American Marketing Association (AMA) which states that 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.

However, with the increasing dynamics in the buying behavior of consumers, it has become critical to look beyond AMAs definition of branding. There has been over-concentration on just name, logo, sign and symbol without considering the implications of all marketing activities to the organisation.

Every brand needs to have core values, and those core values should synchronise with the firms mission-statement and objectives.

If this is achieved, it will set the organisation up to effectively imbibe all her brand values in all its activities. Your brand values will inform which marketing activity should be considered. The question is: what is your companys brand positioning strategy?

This article seeks to address the 360-degree approach to branding. To achieve a 360-degree brand-turn, the following need to be considered:

Build the brand out of your product

What does your product communicate in the market? The product you are offering needs to communicate your brand effectively. For instance, when people see your product what kind of city comes to mind and what personality do they identify with it? Branding therefore needs to be factored from the very beginning of conceiving and developing your product.

This helps provide content in packaging and product design, and defines the target market for the product. In many cases the brand values of the organisation are disconnected from the service or products they are offering. However, it is important to build the brand out of your product.

Always have your brand attributes embodied in the product development process. It will be expensive recalling products on shelves for poor performance or safety.

For instance, Johnson & Johnsons manufacturing problems which have resulted in Consumer confidence dipping in recent years as the company recalled dozens of products, including childrens Tylenol (The New York Times).

A brand that believes in quality and consistency should make sure it invests in research and development to remain truthful to its brand for it to be competitive.

Toyota Ghana is a true example of a brand that has been consistent in living up to its brand promise of providing durable vehicles that conform to our environment.

It is the only way the brand can attract loyal customers. The value of your brand has a bearing on the product and service of the firm.

But avoid over-stretching your brand

Back in the 90s, Sony was one of the preferred choices when it came to electronics. But today Sony has been left behind by the "tech parade" and hasn't turned a profit since 2008, according to a recent report by Hiroko Tabuchi at the New York Times.

This resulted because the company hasn't had a hit product in years. Yet while the lack of innovation is a serious problem for Sony, there's one other glaring issue: The Brand.

"Sony is an example of what happens when a company falls blindly in love with its brand," writes Tim Calkins, a marketing professor at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management, at Building Strong Brands. "Sony uses its brand on all sorts of products: televisions, cameras, computers, music players, digital book-readers and toys.

In a remarkable move, several years back, Sony decided to use the brand on a movie studio and on a music label. Sonys high-end products carry the Sony brand. The low-end products carry the Sony brand, too."

What Price is on your product?

Pricing is key when designing a product. There are three factors that are considered in pricing and they are: Cost, Customer and Competition.

The organisations pricing strategy should consider its core brand values. Customers will form opinions about your organisation just by knowing your price. So it is imperative for an organisation to consider its brand-positioning strategy in the market.

The value of any pricing strategy is questionable if it is not congruent with the overall strategy of the firm. Pricing strategies which do not reflect organisational goals can detrimentally affect performance outcomes.

Determining the benefit of specific strategies calls for adapted models to effectively measure the congruence between pricing strategies and venture strategies, and the influence of that congruence on the appropriate measure of venture performance.

In consumer perspective, generally a positive relationship between perceived price and quality is expected; probably because consumers attribute a reason for a high price such as advance performance, design, prestige etc. That is how consumers perceive price as a cue to product quality (Yoo, Donthu and Lee 2000.Perceived price affects brand equity).

Create an accessible business (Place)

The most overlooked skill in branding is Supply Chain Management (SCM). The advertising or PR or even the prettiest logo is going to mean little if you cannot deliver your offering as promised. Technological advancement has given a way for consumers to have a wide range of choice informing their buying behavior.

It is common industry knowledge that for any organisation to be competitive and also get returns on investment it needs to define its market properly. Study the consumers buying behavior and what informs it -- considering when, how, what, which and why.

Brand equity is boosted by the form of distribution channel the firm decides to use. Firms need to research the background of organisations they want to partner with to avoid diluting their brands. For instance, Apple Corporations partnership with Core group Africa to distribute its products in subSaharan Africa is a great corporate strategy to avoid brand dilution.

Let your staff showcase your brand

Are your staffs aware and understanding of the organisations brand values? The attitude of the staff should be able to tell whether they are truly walking the brand of the organisation or not.

Because brands are intangible, it needs to be communicated strongly by employees. It is also important to note that in the staff recruitment process companies should look out for individuals that show keen interest in the organisation and share in its values.

This can be done by examining the candidates values and analysing whether they are in line with the organisational brand values. This means employee-loyalty will become almost as great a competitive advantage as customer loyalty.

What are you doing to ensure employee-loyalty? Continuous training and staff motivation is good, but remember to get it right from the start: the recruitment and selection process. Adhering to international labour codes is a strong stance to take to avoid pressures groups diluting your brand in the press.

For instance, the labour dealings of Wal-Mart in Asia -- where in the last two years, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled against them six times for activities related to union-busting. www.nlcnet.org.

Be in charge of your brand communications

Does the statement brand association matter to your organisation? Promotion is considered as a powerful means of creating strong favourable and unique brand association and eliciting positive judgment and feelings.

There is empirical evidence that proves customers are more often exposed to promotional messages which create brand association.

To create a strong brand value, the first thing in promoting a business is to identify which league you want your organisation be play in.

The finding will reveal the when, how, what, which and why needed in structuring your communication campaigns. It is ten times more expensive redeeming the image of your brand than building and sustaining it.

The example is British Petroleum (BP), which has to redeem its image of a terrible reputation for safety. It is known for cutting costs on safety and maintenance to increase profits: the company has suffered several disasters over the past few years.

The spill in the Gulf was just the latest and the largest (Laura - Fox Business). Remember to consider the values of your brand when venturing into event sponsorships or celebrity placement strategy to promote your brand. Also check the background of the organisation or the individuals and establish how much value that relationship will be adding to your brand.

Prince Kofi Amoabengs partnership with Johnnie Walker, and Nike with Michael Jordan, are enviable and valuable examples of brand associations.

Manage Brand association well to avoid scandals diluting your brand -- like the case of Tiger Woods relationship with the luxury watch Tag Heuer, which ended after it expired on the 4th August 2012 because it became public knowledge he had cheated on his wife. According to BusinessInsider.com this is a typical example. Beware of the kind of brand relationship you go for.

Make sure aside from process you have good content

Is your delivery process on the same page with promotion? Or is the promotional campaign ahead of operation of the organisation? Imagine you walk into KFC and order a burger, and you get it delivered within 2 minutes. What was the process that allowed you to obtain an efficient service delivery?

Or banks that send out Credit Cards automatically when their customers old one has expired, again, require an efficient process to identify expiry dates and renewal.

It is imperative for organisations to manage their communication to boost timely delivery. Continuous training and cost-efficient methods of managing process is also paramount to remain competitive.

An efficient service that replaces old credit cards will foster consumer loyalty and confidence in the company.

IBM is a valid example of a firm that uses effective and efficient process flow to deliver on its brand promise. It was considered in the 80s to have the best process. Brand equity or value is enhanced by the level of efficient and effective delivery chain of an organisation.

Physical Evidence

Where is the service being delivered? If you walk into a restaurant, your expectations are of a clean, friendly environment. On an aircraft, if you travel first-class, you expect enough room to be able to lie down!

Physical evidence is an essential ingredient of the service mix; consumers will make perceptions based on their sight of the service provision, which will have an impact on the organisations perceptual plan of

the service. The cheaper way to communicate your brand is to invest in physical evidence. Golden Tulip Hotels makes sure they are consistent with experiences they provide at all their hotels in the world.

Conclusion

Consumers respond to strong brands, especially in this age when technology has made it possible for consumers to exercise choice. This makes it a matter of concern for organisations to understand the market dynamics and look beyond its local market to tap into the opportunities generated by the turbulence in different regions.

In most cases, in the quest to operate lean profit-making ventures, they fail to adhere to laid-down codes governing the operation in a particular market. The major areas are labour and taxes when some multinationals find themselves in third-world countries.

Though a brand cannot guarantee its position in this ever-growing, turbulent global market, the call is on decision-makers in the organisation to continuously fashion strategies that mitigate against the tides.

This article explored the 360-degree dimensions of a brand by addressing the strategies of creating a successful brand that can connect to the minds and hearts of people in every community it finds itself.