Fostering a Branding Perspective

Fostering a Branding Perspective
byJeff Hilton

Businessis all about strategy and execution: thinking through a plan and then making ithappen. Marketing is much the same, but the everpresent temptation is to focusprimarily on execution because its more fun and because its easier thanthinking. That can sometimes cause one to lose the vision regarding branding andwhat it can accomplish, and get overly focused on the details of day-to-daytasks. That becomes a problem because simply executing marketing activities inisolation brings short-term and immediate results, while branding buildslong-term customer loyalty and equity, but requires a broader horizon orperspective. Effective marketing programs require both.

What Is Branding?

Branding isnt the specific tasks or activities; its thestrategy or approach one brings to the marketing tasks. Its a businessphilosophy. It must be built into the marketing plan from the start. Branding isthe consistent and creative use of all available corporate communicationsvehicles to create a focused product position and identity in the mind of thecustomer or consumer. It involves the advertising, public relations and salespromotion disciplines, along with customer service, sales and Internetmarketing. Your customers perception of your product or service is constantlyin flux, changing and evolving with every competitive move and shifting trend. Astrong branding effort must be focused and persuasive, but most of allconsistent over time. The goal of branding philosophy is to have all of theelements in a marketing plan speak with one voice.

While marketing as a business tool must perform and be acontributing factor on the profit and loss statement, manufacturers andsuppliers often assume branding activities will take the place of the salesforce, which is an unreasonable expectation certain to result in disappointment.

Marketing activities must be accountable, but they must alsobe evaluated relative to the other elements of the mix and be given time todevelop and mature. Great brands are not born; they arebuilt. Ad by ad. Package by package.

Press release by press release. That doesnt mean giving upon short-term sales efforts.

Thats why we have sales promotion tools like coupons andrebates and samples and pointof- purchase (POP) materials. But ultimately, to besuccessful you need to move consumers through the brand equity-building processby generating awareness, stimulating interest, encouraging trial, facilitatingre-purchase and rewarding loyalty. That is what branding is all about, and itseldom happens overnight.

What Does Effective Branding Accomplish?

Consistent, effective branding accomplishes several importantobjectives First, it will generate increased sales over time. The key words hereare over time.

Manufacturers and suppliers get tired of their marketingmessages much sooner than the consumer. Thats an important but dangerousinsight, because it causes marketers to change their approach every time theyget bored or the competitive wind shifts. Usually they are not asking theconsumer how they feel about changing the message. The best advice is to staythe course.

Branding also helps to improve and focus the creative product.If your message is clearly defined, the packaging, advertising and brochures youcreate will naturally be more powerful and compelling to your customers.

Further, it helps build internal team morale, communicationand output.

Basically, effective branding puts everyone in the company onthe same page.

Branding clarifies and reinforces consumer awareness andattitudes, moving customers through the brand equity-building process. Also, itbuilds long-term brand preference and loyalty for your products.

Finally, it adds value to your product positioning. Thisbecomes particularly important for above-parity priced products where theconsumer requires additional incentive to pay a little more.

The Key to Successful Re-Branding

The brand-building process is a dynamic one. A brand shouldevolve over time and the key selling message should become more refined andfocused as the brand matures. Course corrections will undoubtedly becomenecessary. That is not an adverse event, nor should it be viewed as a mistake ora failure. It is often just part of the product life cycle.

For example, lets consider the most fundamental of brandingshifts a change in graphic design direction for your packaging. Since yourpackage is your face to the consumer, launching a re-design is an importantstep. Here are some guidelines to follow in successfully managing this importanttransition.

Assess your risk. Just because salesare down doesnt mean the packaging is to blame. Or the logo. Or theadvertising campaign.

Thereis risk in moving away from an established image or direction. Which doesnt mean its not the right thing to do. It justmeans that you should think through what is at risk and assess the downsidebefore proceeding.

Understand why you are making the change. Ifyou are completely changing the positioning of the product in the marketplace,it may be easier and more productive to create an entirely new brand. Oldattitudes die hard and convincing the consumer that what once was A is now B is generally an uphill battle, unless you have alot of money to drive home the message. We learned that lesson at Natures Waywhen we introduced vitamins under the Natures Way leaf. If you are simplytrying to update your look, refresh existing graphics or even move to anentirely new design, it is best to keep your product positioning and key sellingmessage constant to avoid confusing the consumer.

Understand where your existing consumer equity lies, andprotect it. Ideally, you have a bank of qualitativedata gathered through focus groups or customer surveys that tells you howconsumers perceive the brand generally and the current packaging specifically.

Unless there is some compelling reason not to, it is usuallywise to maintain some graphic ties to the past look and image. Those tiescan take the form of a logo, color scheme, central visual or even perhaps an arttreatment or dominant typeface. Assuming you have built some consumer loyaltyover the years, you want the consumer to readily recognize the brand on theshelf. This is a critical and sensitive issue, because most manufacturers andsuppliers tend to underestimate the awareness and loyalty they have built withcustomers. How often do we walk into a retail outlet looking for a product whosename we cannot remember exactly, but whose packaging we immediately recognize?Think through the consumers past and current relationship with yourpackaging, and proceed accordingly. The same goes for a re-design of your logoor even an established advertising campaign.

Phase in the new look gradually. Assoon as you announce the new design on an existing product, retailers, brokersand distributors will want to send back the old to get the new. It is usuallywiser to phase in the new approach and then hype it once you reach critical massat the point of purchase. If its a new brand to the market, then fire away.The more noise the better.

A couple of relevant examples illustrate the point. WhenWeider Nutrition successfully changed the name of its top-selling SKU from PainFree to Move Free, Integrated Marketing Group (IMG) assisted the company withthe transition, including extensive consumer and retailer focus groups onalternative names and POP merchandising concepts to minimize confusion.

And when Lily of the Desert needed a new face for its flavoredaloe vera juices, IMG created a more natural and organic package design approachthat better reflected the companys evolving brand personality.

Whether you are a manufacturer or a supplier, branding youringredients and finished goods effectively will reap many long-term benefits.The average U.S. company loses half of its customer base every five years. Brandloyalty overall is declining at a record pace. You can stand by and watch yourmarket share slip away, or you can start today to brand your products moreaggressively. It starts with a sound strategy and plan. Good execution is onlyvaluable if you are doing the right things. Start from the beginning and infusea branding perspective into your marketing efforts.

Jeff Hilton is president of Integrated Marketing Group (IMG).He can be contacted at (801) 538-0777, or visit www.imgbranding.com.