Effective branding and value
creation
Introduction
Understanding the importance
of brand equity
Delivering a total customer
service experience
Well defined strategic
planning process
Conclusion
By FRED BURKE, FCGA
Introduction
There are many similarities in the way large and small entrepreneurial organizations
achieve success. All require a well established “brand name” in order to create incremental
value and effectively market their products or services. The process for establishing a
strong brand name is fundamental to any small business in order that it may compete and
grow. To fully understand the relationship and importance of effective branding and value
creation we must explore:
• How Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) create brand dominance through new
innovative services which ultimately generate strong brand equity.
• How businesses effectively compete on a consistent basis against their larger, better
resourced competition.
Because of their size, SMEs tend to relate better, and understand the needs of their valued
customers or clients. How important is customer service, how is it generated, how can it
be measured, and how can it be used by an SME to effectively create a competitive
advantage? And how is the brand effectively and efficiently managed throughout the
entire organization?
Successful SMEs traditionally display a strong entrepreneurial spirit, and leverage that
spirit through a defined culture in order to provide innovative services and products.
However, only a select few are able to fully understand how to consistently develop these
innovative products and services and create a value proposition over time.
The goal of this article is to explain some of the major factors which allow SMEs to create
and sustain brand equity. Understanding the need for effective brand management and
customer service is critical to create incremental value and integrate this need with the
ongoing development of a strategic plan, vision, values, and culture.
The following specific areas are addressed:
• Understanding the importance of developing strong, innovative, and sustainable Brand
Equity over time — a Total Brand Management Approach.
• The key elements of driving business performance throughout the entire organization.
What does delivering “a total customer service experience” really mean to the client?
• Understanding the importance of a well defined and executed strategic planning process
in order to develop strong brand presence and how this effectively aligns with values,
vision, and organizational culture.
Understanding the importance of brand equity
A well established brand name and position is critical in determining longer term success and
shareholder value. Although financial position, strategic vision, strength of management, and
operations are important criteria, ultimately strength of the brand name will sustain long-term
growth and create opportunity for continued success.

The following are seven key factors which a business requires in order to implement a Total
Brand Management Approach:
1. Deliver a consistent “message” to the end user which builds client brand loyalty.
2. Create and effectively leverage a “point of difference” versus competitive products
or services while first ensuring that all critical “points of parity” are delivered.
3. Deliver on promise; that is, make sure that the brand gives the client what he or she
expects either from the product or service itself.
4. Make sure that the client perceives ‘value’ from the brand, be it in pricing, quality,
scope, timeframe, etc.
5. Emphasize and consistently deliver total customer service based on a well defined
culture and mutually understood values for success.
6. Continuously invest in the brand, supporting current services while meeting the
changing needs of the client.
7. Maintain a consumer/client-driven approach; invest to ensure best-in-class client
insight — both intimacy and empathy.

Each one of these seven primary factors is an equally important element of a successful Total
Brand Management Approach; however, this article focuses predominantly on one element
— delivering a total customer service experience.

Developing a successful Total Brand Management Approach within any business requires a
combination of some fundamental ingredients, which include:
• solid methods, research, and scientific approach;
• proprietary positioning in the marketplace;
• getting to market first with an innovative service concept; and
• supporting the brand with carefully planned communication, marketing, and selling
strategies.

Developing a strong brand must include ongoing new and improved services which satisfy
client needs. Launching new services contributes heavily to total revenue growth, and there is
a strong connection between successful development of new services, increased client base,
and business valuation. Employing solid methods, research, and a scientific approach when
developing these new services is critical in order to sustain growth and competitive position
over time. Successful businesses improve these odds; having an innovative climate and
culture for ongoing innovation and new service development is a key factor behind this
success. Research has shown that businesses surveyed with a positive climate for innovation
tend to be significantly more entrepreneurial, recognize and reward product champions,
develop well understood processes and procedures, and create an environment which is not
risk adverse (i.e., punishing failure). In fact, failure is seen as a positive learning experience
which is necessary to be successful. SMEs understand that innovation, entrepreneurial spirit,
and passion are necessary in order to compete with larger competitors. They also appreciate
how important the correlation between brand equity and increasing business value are.

History has proven that being first to market with a product or service which satisfies a
consumer’s or client’s need and develops consumer loyalty is critical. This tends to be a
SME’s greatest advantage. Reducing lead times and tighter critical implementation schedules
allow smaller companies to get new services to market much more quickly than their larger,

Effective branding and value creation • 2

 more bureaucratic competitors. Being able to sustain a number one market position over time
is based on how effectively the brand is positioned and managed.

Managing growth and innovation is a distinct and separate process within the organization.
Growth is itself a change process, and is subject to the disciplines and a skill-set applied to
change management. Brand management and service development are two separate things
— and brand development is separate from both of these.

Delivering a total customer service experience

Over delivering customer service tends to be a high priority core value for successful
companies — especially in conjunction with increasing brand performance. In order to fully
understand how total customer service impacts on brand performance, one must first consider
the important elements which include:
• empathy — ongoing caring and individual attention given to customers;
• responsiveness — willingness to assist customers and provide prompt consistent service;
• reliability — ability to actually deliver what is promised, on time, and to get it right the
first time;
• assurance — highest level of technical and business knowledge about the brand; and
• image and leadership — professional personal impression, appearance which exceeds
client expectations.

Total customer service involves all of these elements, delivered both externally and internally
by every employee in the organization, regardless of their level of contact with the external
client. There is a strong connection between a well defined, understood, and accepted culture
and the values and elements of total customer service. This is especially true in times of
change that demand extraordinary efforts and the ability to quickly adjust to new conditions
— at the same time delivering the key elements of total brand management. The difference
between success and failure of the brand can be attributed to a set of shared values and
behaviors that can combine to create a high performance culture — a culture where all
employees are excited about their work and tend to give more of themselves. High
performance culture can be a tremendous competitive advantage. Owners of smaller
successful companies have a passion for their products and services and that passion affects
staff performance and culture.

Organizational culture refers to the personality of the organization and the shared beliefs that
determine how its people behave and solve business problems. The defined culture provides
the foundation for all the work and objectives of the strategic planning process; unless there is
a corporate culture that supports the company’s vision and goals, the existence of total
customer service, and ultimately effective brand management, is very limited.

Well defined strategic planning process

The need for a formal strategic planning process and for implementing a Total Brand
Management Approach are integrated business activities. Formalizing a mission statement is
a key first step in order for management to clearly articulate and communicate the vision,
culture, and values desired throughout the organization. Completing this task ultimately
commits the entire organization, including external parties connected with the organization, to
accept and implement that vision. In the end, the strength of the strategic planning process has
a direct impact on the success of the company’s brand management strategy. Accepting
ownership of the business plan is extremely important as this reduces the risk of differences
arising as to what direction or implementation the business strategy should go.

The value of the strategic planning process lies in its systematic approach in dealing with
future uncertainties in developing brand strategy. It requires management to focus efforts and
resources on long-term brand objectives, and yet provides a foundation for short-term

Effective branding and value creation • 3

 activities. It is a process that enables management to reach a consensus on the major strategic
direction of its brand while integrating development of consistent objectives, goals, strategies,
policies, and functions throughout the entire organization (i.e., solid methods, research, and a
scientific approach).

Conclusion
Effective branding and value creation continue to represent the cornerstone of every
successful company. In today’s increasingly competitive marketplace for services, retaining a
customer’s loyalty is critical. This puts more emphasis on the need for effective total brand
management.

Brand image must be consistently delivered and supported by the organization’s values and
culture. A well structured strategic planning process requires management’s consensus on
brand strategy and develops integrative sales and marketing promotion programs which must
align with the overall business strategy and create brand value. Successful SMEs who are able
to leverage their competitive advantages and sustain a total, integrative brand management
strategy are able to expand their client base.

The following are keys to creating value through brand building:

• Know your clients needs better than anyone else, and demonstrate through the
communication process and customer service that you care most about the client. These,
together, define the consumer experience that defines their expectation and it sets the
standard by which they assign you “equity.”
• Convert that insight into business advantage two ways:
{
capture and demonstrate this skill in all brand and communication development
activities, and
{
make this proprietary knowledge a core construct in positioning with clients.
• Make tough choices and decisions. Plan your strategy, prioritize, and stick to your plan.
• Fuel the strategy with a culture that reflects your brand position and encourages ideas to
flow into and strengthen brand equity.

Fred Burke, FCGA, is the Chief Operating Officer of Intercorp Excelle Foods Incorporated,
a medium-sized family-run business that manufactures, markets, and distributes over 300
food products, under such brand names as Renee’s Gourmet and A1 Steak Sauces,
throughout Canada and the United States. Fred currently serves as an executive member of
the Board of CGA Ontario and has served as governor since 1994.

Effective branding and value creation • 4