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Fundamentals of Brand Building

2+How it started

200 to 300 years ago, Branding came from the word Old Norse Brandr meaning to ‘burn’

owners stamped their cows to distinguish

+How it started cont’d

19th and 20th Industrial revolution gave the concept a radical push

Since WWII, there has been an explosion of brands which has come to symbolize the convergence of the world economies on the demand-led model rather than the command-led model

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What is a brand

A singular idea or concept that you own inside the mind of the

prospect

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A brand is the differentiator of a product or service from similar offerings

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Market share is not based on merit, but on the power of the brand in the mind.

- Al Ries

It involves leveraging on the functional and emotional attributes of a brand in other to build brand equity

7+So why the hype?

Value association

Pride

Differentiated from competition

Command premium price

Sell more (Substantiate market price)

Attract and retain stronger employees

Higher consumer followership

A practical example: BMW which has the tag line ‘the ultimate driving machine’ as this is one thing everyone experiences

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What a brand is not

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a trade mark – these are legal properties

a mission statement – this is a reminder

a logo or a slogan – these are your signatures

a product or a service – these are just the tangibles

advertising – they deliver your messages

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What a brand is

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Point of view – branding is a strategic point of view, not a select set of marketing activities

Customer value – branding is central to creating customer value, not just sound bites and images

Competitive advantage – branding is a key tool for creating and sustaining competitive advantage

Engineered – brand strategies must be “engineered” into the strategic planning process

Meaning – brands get their identity from meanings. Products and services are the blood of a brand. Your organizational culture and standards for action are the heartbeat.

Logic and emotion – branding is part science and part art

+Types of brands Product Brands

Service Brands

E-brands

Cause Brands

Nation Brands

Government Brands

Global Brands

Corporate Brands

+Types of branding cont’d

Corporate brand (umbrella brand ) is the practice of using a company's name as a

product brand name. It is an attempt to use corporate brand equity to create product

brand recognition. Dangote, for example, the word "Dangote" is included on all products.

Product brand involves giving each product in a portfolio its own unique brand name.

This contrasts with corporate branding in which the products in a product line are given a

single overarching brand name. The advantage of individual branding is that each

product has an image and identity that is unique. This facilitates the positioning of each

product, by allowing a firm to position its brands differently.

+Cont’d

Service Brands- Involves delivering service which involves personal contact. E.g.

hotels, banks, travel agents, advertising agencies

Government brands-Governments and political parties often have strong brands as

they are centered on passionately held core values, Branding is important in both

securing votes and in international diplomacy.

Cause Brands – Attempting to attract customers by associating the company with a

cause or purpose that potential customers would find beneficial to their personal goals

or in line with their values. This might be a percentage contribution of company sales

to charitable organizations or donations to nature and wildlife preservation councils.

+Types of branding

Global Brands – uses single corporate brand name. These brands think

global but act local to have relevance

E-Brands -.These are brands that are online based. The Internet is a

medium that presents new challenges for brand owners. E.g. Amazon.com

Nation brands - New ways of thinking lead to countries being positioned as

tourist destinations, enhancing status of goods and services produced, and

aiding under-developed countries.

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A 5 Step Brand Building Process

+Brand Assessment

Internal and external assessment

Consumer insight to determine the building blocks by the brand

Identity points of differentiation

+Brand Promise

Crafting the brand essence, brand story and brand promise drawing on insight from the brand assessment

+Brand Blueprint

Creating visual representations (look and feel of the brand)

Creating the physical and visual expressions, logo, colours, by-line i.e. the brand identities

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Brand Culturalization

Internal immersion

Creating a corporate culture around the brand by aligning all members of staff with the Brand vision and Essence

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Brand AdvantageLeveraging the brand

Creating communication strategies and channels to engage the Brand’s audience and build and maintain and grow affinity, salience and brand equity

+Types of branding

Corporate branding is the practice of using a company's name as a product brand name. It is an attempt to use corporate brand equity to create product brand recognition. It is a type of family branding or umbrella brand. Dangote, for example, includes the word "Dangote" in the name of many of its products. This strategy contrasts with individual product branding, where each product has a unique brand name and the corporate name is not promoted to the consumer.

Individual branding, is the marketing strategy of giving each product in a portfolio its own unique brand name. This contrasts with family branding, corporate branding, and umbrella branding in which the products in a product line are given a single overarching brand name. The advantage of individual branding is that each product has an image and identity that is unique. This facilitates the positioning of each product, by allowing a firm to position its brands differently.

Examples of individual product branding include Procter & Gamble, which markets multiple brands such as Pampers, and Unilever, which markets individual brands such as Dove.

Cause Branding – Attempting to attract customers by associating the company with a cause or purpose that potential customers would find beneficial to their personal goals or in line with their values. This might be a percentage contribution of company sales to charitable organizations or donations to nature and wildlife preservation councils.

+Types of branding

Co-Branding – Becoming more familiar to the consumer all the time. These include, for example, mini-marts attached to gas stations, banking facilities within grocery stores, and Laundromats attached to anything from bowling alleys to family entertainment centers. This branding falls in the “one-stop shopping” category.

Rebranding is the creation of a new name, term, symbol, design, or a combination of them for an established brand with the intention of developing a differentiated (new) position in the mind of stakeholders and competitors.

Personal branding is, for some people, a description of the process whereby people and their careers are marked as brands. It has been noted that while previous self-help management techniques were about self-improvement, the personal branding concept suggests instead that success comes from self-packaging. Further defined as the creation of an asset that pertains to a particular person or individual; this includes but is not limited to the body, clothing, appearance and knowledge contained within, leading to an indelible impression that is uniquely distinguishable

Faith branding is the concept of branding religious organizations, leaders, or media programming, in the hope of penetrating a media-driven, consumer-oriented culture more effectively. Essentially, faith branding treats faith as a product and attempts to apply the principles of marketing in order to "sell" the product. Faith branding is a response to the challenge that religious organizations and leaders face today regarding how to express their faith in a media-dominated culture.

Khawaja Muhammad Nasir