Welcome to part two (2) of our series on Why Your Business Needs a Brand: 21 reasons why you need a Brand Strategy, let’s look at 7 more insightful reasons to take your branding seriously. Let’s go!
8. PERFORMANCE
A Brand boosts PERFORMANCE. Branding your business ensures that Performance will drastically improve in your business in many areas, especially delivering on its promise. Why? With Clarity comes focus, and energy is channeled in the right direction. Your team will have a clear overarching guide to follow in the strategically crafted Core Values, and everyone will know how to say what needs to be said, when to say it, and where. Things like Marketing Messages, Sales Scripts, will no longer be guesswork, neither will they be hit-or-miss because they follow a Brand Messaging framework. A properly built brand makes for a great morale and performance booster.
9. DIRECTION
This one is another no-brainer. With clarity comes Direction. When you know who you are, you instinctively know who you are NOT, and the options greatly reduce until your path is clear. You know exactly where you want to be in measured time periods. You know what you are committed to executing on daily, to see your projected and future goals become a reality. A properly developed Brand puts a Map in your hands, literally, and hands you a compass as well, and you and your teams will rarely be lost.
10. PREFERENCE
A Brand is usually the basis for a customer’s CHOICE or PREFERENCE (above Price). A choice is basically the outcome of a decision. However, research has shown that people make their choices, especially with respect to brands, emotionally first, and then they rationalize why they chose right. This emotional choosing is triggered by the “primitive brain” which is the part of the brain that is saddled with the job of keeping you safe. Hence, 99.9% of the time, people will choose a branded product over an unbranded one, and will pick a brand they know over one they do not. That’s also why some brands can charge a premium, and still have teeming fans (hello, Nike and Apple) even though there are cheaper competitors. Price and logic have ceased to be the primary basis for choosing a brand. This is why it is critical to invest in building your brand from the ground up.
11. COMMUNITY
A Brand inspires Connection and builds Relationships. In the last article (part 1), we looked at how building a brand drives Customer Loyalty. Today we’re talking about Connection and building Relationships that grow into communities. A Brand builds COMMUNITY, which is invaluable for growth, engagement and insights. A community of loyal followers can mean any of the following things: Empowerment of customers. New customers will rarely be lost because established customers help them resolve basic issues, and act as guides. Apple is a good example. Also, there is a great opportunity for feedback and insights coming directly from your consumers! How amazing can that be? The limits of such engagement are endless! A community such as this also amps up your customer loyalty, as well as creates connections between your customers. The Harley Davidson owners’ Group (or HOGs for short) is a great example.
Did you know that Consumers will pay 12% more for a brand that has strong, higher purpose beliefs that they resonate with? Purposes such as saving the environment, preserving animal rights, recycling, and human rights all spur greater conversations for brands and help build their communities.
12. EXTENDS REACH
A Brand Strengthens and EXTENDS REACH across multiple channels, products or services, and time (future). With consistent branding, your business can transcend any singular channel to reach people where they are. You can reach your customers on their way to work through social media, a mobile website, or an app. You can engage with them at a mall through pop-up advertising, speak to them at the bus stop through bus and location branding, talk to them on radio, TV, or on their favourite print or online magazine. That consistency creates a strong sense of presence that means you are constantly having a conversation with your target audience. In return, your audience will regularly interact and familiarize themselves with you. Your brand even reaches across time to products and services yet to be created, touching them with the unique personality and values you have taken the time to build today.
13. SOLID SHIELD
A Brand is a SOLID SHIELD; a Protector. It’s difficult for competition to just jump and copy you (though most will still do it! Lol) when you’ve taken the time to build a solid brand and define a clear Brand Strategy, without looking like a me-too copycat. It usually will be clear to everyone. At best, they’ll be another [insert your brand here]. Having your brand properly developed ensures you get covering and protection from this kind of attack, because these copycats do not have the internal workings that you have, nor your strategy, which all together, make you stand out. They do not realize that you are much more than the product or service you offer.
14. FLEXIBILITY
A Brand gives you the gift of FLEXIBILITY. A brand will survive a downturn more easily than a mere product or service. Even if a product suffers severely and goes out of production, the brand still remains and is able to metamorphose and keep going. A product or service without the covering of a Brand and Brand Strategy would be wiped out. Imagine a gym instructor who loses clients due to the lockdown. She begins to produce online courses, or diet packages, or an eCommerce store with gym gear. The Brand stays the same and is able to retain clients while the delivery becomes adaptable. A strong brand creates the flexibility to be able to do this, versus simply jumping from product to product or service.
Recent Comments