You may have heard a lot about brand building and the power of Brands, but did you know that you could build a brand from scratch. Even if you are a nobody, you could still build a strong brand with a little thought and some hard work.
Now let us see what factors affect brands and then we will see how you can build a brand.
Connection
Brands can become brands only if they can stay in the minds of their customers. Having said that, brands will have to cater to the right audience, at the right place and at the right time. To make this happen, one needs to know who the audience is, where can we find them and what are their needs. If this understanding is set right before building a brand, then the brand can sustain itself.
Consistency
Humans have a tendency to start and then lose motivation gradually, this nearly transfers to your brands as well. It is not enough to start big and then fade out in the process. Brand building is a marathon, you will have to prepare for the process and stay relevant along the journey. This can only be made possible if you are consistent.
Longevity
While designing a brand you need to know where your brand has to reach in a given time span. Say you have an ice cream shop in Florida, in the next five years you may want to expand to nearby cities or may only want to stay a single shop expanding on revenue. Without this clarity, it is difficult to sustain, in the longer run. There are several brands that make it big initially but cannot live with competition over the years.
Management
Budget and Time are two crucial items for a brand to exist and continue. One who knows to manage these will know to keep the brand alive. For all the above tactics to work efficiently, one needs to know to manage cost and time well.
Strategy
In order to manage a brand and keep it going, you need to have a strategy in place. This can be done by asking questions and setting up a plan.
Questions can be like
What target to achieve?
What budget to set?
How long should it take?
While answering these questions, you will know which strategic plan will fit your brand journey. A strategic plan will be successful when rough numbers are set to evaluate against the parameters.
After having seen the factors that affect the brand, now let us see how a brand is built.
Research your Audience and Competition
Some effort needs to be made in identifying your customer needs. Also, you need to see what your competitor is doing differently in meeting the customer demands. This can give direction to set a brand roadmap.
Be the voice and face of your brand
Your brand can remain relevant only if it is real. When your values and vision meet your brand criteria, it will survive the test of time. You cannot fake it for long. Customers usually identify the brand through its brand value. If you can stick to the brand value which could be anything like trust, growth, optimism, reliability, or something related.
Invest in your brand
When we say invest it not only means money but also requires investing time and effort. The right match between the brand and its assets can help make the brand stay relevant with time. The right logo, right slogan, and right channel all require vesting your personal interest and care.
Check if your brand relates to your values and vision
You may have heard the brand resembles its brand ambassador. Companies invest millions in bringing the right face of the brand on board. The reason is, that the brand reflects the values its ambassador holds. When Patanjali launched its denim wear, it failed as this product did not reflect the values its ambassador stood for. Also, the vision of the brand is of utmost importance, if you are unsure of what you want to achieve then you will certainly lose the essence of your brand in due course. It is similar to beginning a journey without knowing the destination, at least you must know the initial milestones to stay on track for which a clear vision for the brand is of priority.
See if your brand serves a purpose
There is no meaning to anything without a purpose, having said that the brand also requires a purpose. Say I have started a new restaurant, then, my purpose is to serve good food, similarly every project or business initiated must have a purpose to keep going. This is required to keep the brand focused.
Now that you have learned a few necessities to build a brand from scratch, we wish you can build one with much integrity. Brand building and management have been easier with the boom of the digital medium. With digital marketing, the spread of brand awareness has higher scope since the audience is larger and more targeted in terms of demographics and other factors.
To know more about digital marketing, please read Digi Marketer Online.
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