Brand

In this video we're going to discuss branding to start things off let's discuss

what a brand is a brand is a one of the most widely used but

often misunderstood words.

People often confuse brand name with a brand.

A brand name is a unique symbol word or

sign used to differentiate a product or service from that of
its competitors a brand on the other hand lives in the mind of the customer .
It's a representation of the bundle of benefits that the customer perceives is

offered by a particular company with that brand name.

The process of creating this perception in the mind of a customer is

called branding it's the job of the marketer to build a compelling

bundle of benefits in this branding process,

The bundle of benefits must be relevant and important to the target customer.

If there's an element that is not adding value for the customer then you must

question whether it is worth offering the bundle of benefits chosen needs to be

distinctive from competitors and ideally unique in the market.

The more distinctive your bundle of benefits the greater

your competitive advantage and the stronger your brand.

The value proposition should be easy to communicate and

explain to prospective customers a brand must ideally connect emotionally

with customers just as in any relationship customers prefer to do business

with brands that they feel are trustworthy responsible authentic transparent and

have similar values and personality successful marketers ensure that their

company is clear in what it stands for and communicates this clearly to customers.

A brand should reflect the supplier's values

values of the things that we believe are important in the way we live and

the way we work we all have values that we stand for

things that we believe in they define us and brands are no different.

Successful brands have very clear values that hopefully resonate with customers and
these values need to be authentic and consistent as an example consumer

goods company Unilever believes in sustainable practices wherever possible.

Sustainability runs a clear theme all the way through their operations their
products and how they deal with suppliers and customers.

A brand should also have a personality in normal relationships we'll find that there
are personalities we can relate to get on with and enjoy the company and

there are also personalities that we do not get on with it's the same with

brands depending on how a brand behaves we may be attracted to it or

deterred by it successful marketers try to build a strong personality for
their brand to encourage consumers to want to build a relationship.
Let's look at an example to make sense of what we've been talking about so

far the Mercedes brand is a strong brand the company's value

proposition promises customers the best or nothing.
They offer pioneering Well engineer driver luxury vehicles this

value proposition is further enhanced by the association with German culture and

manufacturing reputation that adds perceived benefits in terms of high

performance efficiency high quality and detailed attention.

The brand personality is considered stylish luxurious and exclusive.

The brand's values include a no compromise and

quality a commitment to honoring the most of these brands legacy a commitment to

detail a commitment to responsibility and a desire to outperform expectations.

All these elements over the years have contributed to Mercedes

becoming a strong brand in the minds of customers.

So why do we have brands having a strong brand is good for the customer.
It's also good for the enterprise.
There are a number of benefits to both sides.

Let's look at the customer benefits first so brands and their associated
brand logos or symbols help to distinguish one enterprise from another.

Second a clear and strong brand reassures customers what they're getting in effect.
It reduces the perceived risk for them.

If a customer recognizes the brand the symbol they know what benefits

they will receive when you see the golden arches of McDonald's for

example you know exactly what type of service you will expect and

what you are seeing McDonald's has worked very hard for

many years to offer a specific and very consistent level of service and

we've come to expect the same wherever we see that brand sign.

Brands also help customers express who they are customers often buy brands to
reflect who they are or who they aspire to be or what they believe in.

So what are the benefits to an enterprise?

A clear and

strong brand helps an enterprise stand out in a crowded and competitive marketplace.
A brand defines the positioning of the enterprise in the market a strong

brand can also attract a price premium and loyal customers particularly

if customers gain reassurance from their association with that specific brand.

If a company has a strong brand reputation

it can also launch new products and services into new markets much more easily

the existing brand qualities will transfer to the new products.

And enhance the likelihood of success and

Virgin eases their brand reputation very successfully in this way and
it successfully launched a wide variety of new services under the Virgin brand.
A strong brand can also deliver significant value to its owner in terms of

enhancing the value of its business.

A strong brand can be a guarantee of future business if it has functional and

emotional meaning for its customers should the Enterprise be valued for

investment for sale a strong brand can enhance the company's value far beyond

the income stream alone based on into brand valuations in 2015 the most

valuable brands in the world were Apple Google Coca-Cola Microsoft Apple was worth

one hundred seventy billion reflecting global awareness clarity authenticity and

consistency in brand delivery.

Although the benefits of brands and branding are apparent managing brands in

practice requires real skill and expertise on the part of marketeers

because there are many challenges to successfully managing a brand.

First the brand experience received by a customer is not just about the product or
service the brand experience is influenced by all

of the ways in which an enterprise touches a customer.

It includes how your employees engage with customers.

The responseiveness of your website your technical support the quality of your

brochures and business cards and even the affiliates or

agencies you help sell your product a famous professor of marketing Leslie Dutch

anatomy once said consumers build brands like birds build nests for

bits and pieces successful marketers ensure that all of

the customer touch points are consistent with the brand message.

Everything the company does should reinforce the desired image of the brand.
Whilst an enterprise will have clear ideas on how it wishes
its brand to be presented to customers customer perceptions of a brand or

difficult to control brand image is formed in the customer's mind based

on their experiences of your brand but also their experiences of other brands.

Brand Image is also formed by how your customers talk about your brand.

If a customer has a bad experience it's very easy for

them to jump on to social media and spread their dissatisfaction potentially

globally brand image does not take care of itself.

Of the enterprise is not the only voice successful marketers

understand that managing a brand is like having a constant conversation with

customers to promote a positive image but also listening and responding to customer

concerns taking this two way conversation further successful marketers

also recognize that brands can be co-created with their customers.

If you involve your customers in the development or

testing of new products for example they would develop a strong association.

They will feel part of your brand community Proctor and Gamble Lego Dove and

I.B.M. are great examples of companies who co-create new products or

new marketing campaigns with rather than for their customers.

Successful marketers are those who build a strong brand enjoy a two

way conversation with their customers.

Listen and respond to this conversation and endeavor to build a community of

brand advocates customers who rave about their association with the enterprise.