Brand Marketing is a way of promoting your products or service in a way that uplift the value of overall brand among the public. It helps customers in identifying the product from others in a market. The Company introduces a product depending upon the needs or trends of a consumer. The Companies primary purpose is to earn profits, they come from the sale of its products. For the sale to happen, there should be customers to buy it. To start the process, the general public should know that a product from a particular brand has arrived in the market. Marketing helps in reaching the products from the manufacturing plant to the customer’s home. Product’s reach when a particular product is marketed through a popular brand and a company that have been started recently started is different.
Identifying Brands
Different drivers are attracting public customer to a brand. The Keys drivers are How, When and Why. These can be defined according to the situation. According to a survey conducted by CBI, it has found what influences a customer. They are mainly Brand-Self similarity when there is a similarity between personal traits of a customer and characteristics of the brand, Brand Distinctiveness is mostly understood how the product and brand are unique from other competitive products, Brand Social Benefits, in this digital era a brand should understand the market sentiments and work accordingly by not harming the social and cultural benefits of the market, Brand Warmth is often expressed as to how a product’s packaging influences a customer, Some colours are said to influence a customer in different ways. Red colour means active, exciting, bold in a product packaging. Memorable Brand Experiences is often understood as the experience a customer acquires when using or a time of purchasing the product. It is mainly how the customer was treated during the purchase. These Key Drivers are expressed in form of Name, Logo, Tagline, Graphics, Shapes, Colours, Sounds Scents, Tastes, Movements.
Branding vs Marketing
Branding and Marketing are similar in reality. But Marketing is more of Offering given to satisfy a need of a consumer where the products are introduced to customers. Whenever a product is introduced in the Market, Potential Customers are not aware of it. The company needs to make them aware of it by advertising, free trials, sales, Word of Mouth by customers. The Company should give a push the product to reach customers. It is an offering from a known source. It is often associated with certain ideas in the consumer’s mind. Branding means a product does not need any push to reach the customers, usually customers wait to buy them after they are announced. Usually, the customers follow the brand, for example in case of Apple after the latest iPhone 7 was introduced there was a rush to buy the iPhone, leaving the phone out of stock. Also, when a Sale starts the branded products are first to go out of stock. They go usually run out within a short time. This because the brand has created a fan following among the public by its products. Some people buy only from a particular brand.
Building a Brand
It is not easy to build a brand in a customer’s mind. A Branded product will last for the long term, Non-Branded Product will last for only a short term. It takes years to transform to a brand. To establish a company should have:
- A Company Vision
There should be a vision to drive a company long term. It usually means where the company mostly hopes to be and achieve the position in the long term. What the company wants to be identified as and known for.
- Recognize a Strategic Audience
There be a target audience for a brand to focus on. Instead of targeting the whole consumer group, they should have a plan and strategy to focus on them.
- Consistency
The Company should be consistent in developing a product to a brand, they should continually improve the product by feedback from customers and also make changes according to the market needs and trends.
- Draw Emotion
The Organisation should focus on building a connection with its consumers. It is very vital to success because it will speed up the process of products reaching customers. Customers usually buy the products which have to connect the customer’s personality traits with the product. For Example, In an Advertisement, Cadbury positioned its products by making people use them during any celebrations or any joyful moments. Coco-Cola also showed similar in an advertisement by sharing a coke with your loved one or drinking the coke during any outdoor activity.
Brand marketing has evolved over the years by introducing new ways of communicating and building the image of a brand both in offline and online with customers. Through social media, brands have a new channel to engage with their followers, get insights and broadcast their values and personality. Google has interacted with its followers during the introduction of a Latest android version, where they were given a chance to suggest the name for an android version.
Written by – Cyriac Jose (Intern)