Strong brands withstand the test of time and are trusted by customers. Brand building is a systematic process that aims to build a good reputation, enhance credibility, and foster an emotional connection with customers. It is now a proven fact that the more the customers trust the brand, the more likely they are to make purchases, recommend it to their friends and acquaintances and leave positive reviews for the brand.
The benefits of a strong brand are multifold: building trust, aiding purchases and repeat purchases, boosting revenues and increasing the customer base. A strong brand has become a necessity in today’s era of stiff competition.
This blog details eight steps which are intrinsic to the brand-building process.
Define Business Goals and Values
Defining business goals and objectives is the foremost step for building the brand. Business goals should be SMART (Specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound) as they help us understand the clear objective of what the company wants to achieve within a definite timeframe.
Similarly, values connote what your company stands for and define its purpose.
Although there is no prescribed framework for defining these attributes, the company’s business goals are generally split into these attributes
- Vision
- Mission
- Core Philosophy
Know your Target Audience
It is imperative for a brand to understand its target audience. The target audience implies existing and potential customers for the brand. Understanding consumer attributes such as demography, purchase patterns, behaviour, and income helps tailor marketing strategies and products aligned with customers’ requirements.
Map the Competition
It is imperative to map the peers in your segment to understand the industry better, stay abreast of recent developments, learn from their successes and failures and make informed decisions on improving your services and offerings. A simple Google search and free tools like SimilarWeb are an excellent start to this task. Analyse their products and services, pricing points, location and marketing strategies. Next, conduct a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis. Use this learning to improve your brand-building process.
Identify Unique Value Proposition
Identifying a unique value proposition helps you understand your brand’s key differentiators, given that several brands offer similar products. Start by figuring out attributes that your competitor brands lack. For instance, the unique value propositions can be affordable pricing, superior customer experience, good after-sales service, and premium products. A unique value proposition helps the brand to stand out from the clutter and aids customers in making better decisions regarding purchase preferences.
Develop Strong Visual Identity
Create a strong visual identity for your brand, such as logo, colour palettes, schemes, and font. The logo is a powerful element in building brand recall. Identify a suitable colour scheme for your brand based on your knowledge of colour psychology and your stakeholders’ preferences. The bottom line is that all these attributes must be derived from brand personality.
Invest in Brand Storytelling
A prominent characteristic of a strong brand is its ability to tell a story. Do not shy away from exploring innovative content formats such as infographics, podcasts, and short videos to demonstrate the pain points customers face daily and how a brand can help overcome them.
Ensure Consistent Brand Messaging
Consistent brand messaging helps enhance brand recall. A brand message should be crisp, clear and communicated consistently across all platforms.
Be Open to Feedback and Improvisations
Lastly, keep an eye on the perception of your brand in the market. This can be gauged through customer reviews, surveys and social media comments. Be prompt in addressing customer queries and grievances and incorporate their feedback to better inform the product development and marketing processes.
Successful Brands
All the above factors are key to building a strong brand. One such example of a successful brand is Smartworks. Founded by Neetish Sarda, it is now listed on the NSE India as well. It focuses on leasing large, bare-shell properties in prime locations from landlords and transforms them into fully managed, aesthetically pleasing and tech-enabled Campuses with aspirational amenities. A salient feature of Smartworks‘ centres is a modern, attractive, and pleasing work environment to boost employee productivity.
Another successful brand is Ola, founded in 2010 by Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati, which has grown into one of India’s most successful homegrown brands by revolutionising urban mobility. With a customer-first approach, Ola made commuting easy and accessible through its user-friendly app, offering a range of ride options including cabs, autos, bikes, and even electric vehicles. Its success lies in empowering drivers with flexible working conditions and incentives while leveraging technology for real-time tracking, dynamic pricing, and enhanced safety features. The brand expanded aggressively across 250+ Indian cities. Diversifying into areas like Ola Electric, Ola Money, the company tapped into broader consumer needs.
Brand building is a time-consuming process which involves a series of steps to build a successful business. The above steps can play an instrumental role in building credibility, improving reputation, and increasing sales and customer base for the brand.
