The foundations of a strong brand

2021-04-19

Why a prestigious brand is a key advantage

A great brand can take years to build, but the benefits that will result from it will amply reward all efforts deployed to achieve it.

Your brand’s image is everything, and whether it is by investors, suppliers or potential customers, your services and products are initially judged by their appearance.

The name, image and design influence not only the evaluation of the promise made by the brand, but also the company’s ability to raise money, get better service from suppliers or find high caliber employees, not to mention the added value when selling or merging the company. It is therefore crucial for business leaders to recognize the importance of the image and message the brand projects to clients, investors, employees, government agencies, media and suppliers, and of lining them up with the company’s business goals.

Go for quality first

Today’s customers are better informed and more selective in their buying process and they want to be sure they get the best value and quality for their money. In the past, it was possible to derive short-term profit from an inferior product or service but this is almost impossible in the era of the internet. This means that if you want your brand to become prestigious you need to provide the best product or service available. Word of mouth being the most effective kind of marketing, if you consistently provide top quality service, people will eventually talk about it and your reputation will grow. With a good communication plan, the brand’s message will eventually establish itself in the mind of your prospect and ultimately increase your visibility and influence through references generated by your own customers.

Quality service means that every contact with consumers must be consistent and appropriate. If a customer calls and the staff is unprofessional, it is the impression that the consumer will retain and how he or she will define the brand. If your site is not user friendly, it will suggest that you do not care about your customers, whatever the other qualities your brand may have. There is no point in spending for online strategy if you do not answer questions or provide feedback to your customers and prospects’ comments.

Ultimately, the benefits of offering a product and service of the highest quality will be immense for the company because it will increase loyalty and sales plus add perceived value to the brand and itself.

Find a niche that you can call your own

In this era of digital Darwinism, technology and society seem to evolve faster than our ability to adapt but we can choose to follow or lead and innovative companies have an edge in this technological natural selection. However it can be difficult for small businesses to break into established markets. If you are a new business that faces strong competitors well established, the best way forward is to find a niche that nobody else exploits innovatively. It is little things that ultimately trigger significant discoveries and significant changes. The past can reveal our accomplishments and confirm our knowledge but we can’t look back and move forward. It is better to choose the path of differentiation, distinct value and significant improvements, with the knowledge that if it were easy everyone would do it.

Another way to find a niche is to analyze the market, see what is already available and add a new dimension to something that already exists. It could be that you are faster, cheaper, more effective than your competitors or that your customer service is superior. You must communicate what sets you apart from your competitors and adds value to your offer and then make it the foundation and the message of the brand that you are building.

Be creative and innovate

The most important attribute of any brand remains innovation rather than function or performance. Radical innovation, something unexpected that people would be happy to have, can be hard to find but new ideas and innovative solutions are the best way to develop a unique brand. That is why most successful companies are invested heavily in innovation through research and development of new products and services for traditional markets. Start with an idea on how to improve an already existing process. The secret of innovation is that it is only revealed by creative acumen. Only optimism and hope stimulate it and it is inaccessible using the same old ideas. It is a transformation process often led by people who believe in multiple solutions, in change and that are able to think differently.

The best brands are those that manage to make the clients feel that they are buying a superior product. Customers commit to these brands, invest emotionally in them and become their most fervent ambassadors.