“A brand’s value is merely the sum total of how much extra people will pay, or how often they choose, the expectations, memories, stories, and relationships of one brand over the alternatives”
-Seth Godin
Brand management is a marketing function where the primary goal is to increase the “perceived value” of a company’s product or service over time. Effective brand management enables the market valuation to go up, and builds customer loyalty through positive brand associations and images and a strong awareness of the brand. Developing a strategic plan to build and grow brand equity and value requires a comprehensive understanding of the brand, its target market, and the company’s overall vision.
It’s All About the Brand
This is what is needed to make your idea, product, or service stand out from the pack. Creating name recognition for your idea will put you on the path to success. As other successful companies will also follow a similar approach to brand building, the key here is to differentiate your idea, communicate it to the right market, and deliver your idea in a way that will promote further brand awareness and identity. Insuring your message and idea is communicated correctly, to the right target audience, will maximize the chance for success.
Brand Identity
Brand identity is different than brand image, which is what consumers actually think. It is constructed by the business itself. A negative gap between brand identity and brand image means a company is out of touch with market sentiment, which will make selling its products more difficult. The brand image held by consumers can reach a point at which a business or product has to rebrand itself or risk not bringing in sales.
Brand Consistency
Brand consistency plays a critical role in establishing your presence both on and offline. In today’s marketplace, there are more platforms to convey your brand message than ever before – making it even more difficult to remain consistent. From smartphones, apps and mobile websites to social networks like Facebook and Twitter, the face of marketing has changed drastically. To give consumers a clear depiction of your brand, you must deliver a cohesive message across all advertising channels.
Personal Branding
Branding has reached a new level of imperative because of the rise of the Internet. The growth of the virtual world created the necessity of managing online identities. Despite being expressly virtual, social media and online identity has the ability to affect the real world. Because Individuals want to portray themselves a certain way to their social circle, they may work to maintain a certain image on their social media sites. As a result, social media enables the creation of an online identity that may not be completely true to the real self.
Today, added emphasis is placed on personal branding, especially in the online world. Employers are now increasingly using social media tools in order to vet applicants before offering them interviews. Such techniques range from searching the applicants Facebook or Twitter feed to conducting large background checks using search engines and other tools.
Amongst job-seekers, this is leading to a shift away from the practice of submitting a resume as part of their job application process to providing potential employers with access to a number of personal brand assets. Such assets are likely to include a resume, links to a carefully managed LinkedIn profile and a personal blog, evidence of articles which disseminate original ideas on industry blogs and evidence of having an online following. Such efforts give job-seekers better odds of being noticed by potential employers.
Let me help you turn your ideas into brands and your brands into success stories.