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Brand development is a very important driver of value in a business and can determine the future and impact a business in a highly competitive market. If you want to have a successful brand marketing strategy, you need to master project management as well.
A good brand understands its value proposition to clients, retailers, suppliers and distribution partners.
There are various strategies a company can employ, but the most accurate is by learning to use data to grow business. Generally, a brand belongs to either the legal owner of the business or a group of people who make up the entity. However, the baton is often passed to employees and embodied in company culture.
This means that employees, in one way or another, the employee embodies the brand in their work ethic and output. Your employees are often the first point of interaction and convincing into believing in your vision.
Once it is embedded in company culture, operations become comparatively easier as people within the company become brand champions.
Defining a branding strategy
The core value of a brand lies in an organization truly owning the brand and creating a unified front to provide the best service to its clients. Good brands that employ innovative strategies also see the client becoming an extension of the brand and championing its success.
Here, we will delve into branding strategies that use to grow your business and find innovative ways to engage the marketplace. A branding strategy can be defined as a way to establish a product or service within a market to ensure that the brand grows with its consumers and audience. Here are five strategies you can employ:
1. Branded house strategy
Also known as a ‘House Brand,’ this type of branding entails using the company name to market its range of products. The focus of this type of branding is aimed at growing in the mind of the consumer as an all-encompassing brand that accommodates a range of needs. This approach also proves to be cost-effective for the company and can easily be aligned with a wider corporate strategy.
Examples of House Brand strategies can be seen with products like Cadbury, Mercedes Benz, and Kool-Aid. Known as the ‘house of brands’ strategy in marketing, it is characterized by developing a range of product-level brands.
Much like Coca-Cola, the brands may have different names but are all associated with the same corporation.
In fact, some of the products may even compete with one another in the marketplace. House Branding does not fit every type of company but is more suited to companies that supply a wide range of products at the same time. It allows for flexibility in the market place and room to continue introducing more products to a range.
Another advantage of house branding is the ability to introduce products that differ in quality without compromising the client’s perception of the business or leading to confusion.
Applying the strategy: you can apply this strategy to your business if you sell a range of perishable products. Perishable products always need to be diversified and improved upon. A strategy like this can allow to try and test new products for the market which can create a lot of room for failure and trying something different without losing too much income.
If you are a small-scale business, this strategy may not be suitable, but if you are looking to grow your brand - it may be a good option to consider. You can start small by diversifying your offering with one or two products.
2. Private label or store branding and/or no name branding
This strategy is usually used by large retailers but may also work for smaller brands, and has become quite popular over the years. This strategy is ideal for the type of brand that is well-established like a supermarket.
However, it can be a challenge to compete and seeing costs are kept at a minimum, meaning that with other brands, particularly because of aesthetic reasons. Usually, the packaging might only have minimal branding which can be outdone by similar products on the self.
The core element of this strategy is to attract customers looking to buy a product that is cheap but of good quality. An extension of this strategy is No-Name branding which is simplistic and generic.
This strategy entails creating packaging that has no name on it and perhaps is characterized by something like the color of the lid if it is a drink. This very basic form of brand strategy also requires a lot of confidence and value propositioning on the side of the seller.
Applying the strategy: This is ideal for a retail business and can work well for a small business looking to create a unique line of products. Coupled with a powerful mobile marketing strategy, it has the potential to reach a niche audience that is looking for a unique product in that specific market place.
For instance, if you are selling something like bottled water, minimally branding your product can also create room to craft personalized corporate gifts or products.
3. Personal and organizational branding
Authoritative personal branding is more important than ever. This type of branding is the most popular and used by many brands. It is also the easiest and emphasizes the brand name and core product. It is ideal for developing a brand image and works as a conduit for the product to become more prominent.
It is often used by an individual or a group to grow brand awareness and popularity. The strategy uses the product or individual to target audiences with specific needs that it caters for. As a company, it promotes the vision and mission behind the brandand tends to focus on a specific aspect of the product or person with each campaign.
This form of branding is often used in the entertainment industry, where a celebrity or actress is the focus. It can also be employed by organizations to expand their audience base by promoting products such as membership, viewership, and growing social media following.
This style of branding can be highly impactful when employed correctly and can grow in the hearts of consumers. With a personalized approach to the target market, it targets a certain group to garner brand loyalty.
Applying the strategy: this strategy is possibly the simplest form of branding for any type of business. It ensures that the focus is on the brand, and also offers an easier way of automating digital marketing strategy to reach wider markets.
You can apply this strategy by creating a campaign that is focused on the product or individual and determining their core values or principles.
This allows you to create an interactive campaign focused on optimal growth and increased brand recognition. It is also a fantastic way to engage consumers on various levels, and find ways to innovatively accommodate a diverse marketplace.
4. Crowd-sourced branding
This entails leveraging the power of the consumer to create a relatable brand and it is quite different from how traditional branding works. Instead of focusing on simply selling a product to a consumer, the focus is using consumer insights to build on a campaign. This method is proven to minimize risks and brand failure because consumers feel connected to the branding process and it can often result in immense success.
With the culture of online marketing growing, this strategy can be employed through the use of testimonials and using factual case studies as part of the marketing strategy. This strategy minimizes the risk of failure immensely because the growth of the brand is directed by the consumer.
However, there are certain drawbacks, such as the fact the brand may not be fully controlled by the business and the business may find itself in a place where the consumer determines its growth.
Some products are even created by fans, meaning that the fan organization may have more control than the business that created it.
Thus, it is important to apply this strategy with the caution of what may follow in terms of consumers taking ownership of the brand experience.
Applying the strategy: This strategy relies on authentically presenting a brand meaning that the consumer is the one representing the brand. For this strategy, you would find a handful of consumers willing to testify to the quality and uses of the product you are selling.
It is an honest form of marketing and is probably the best way to gain feedback on your product or service. In addition, it makes it easy to connect with your brand for people who have not heard of it or are curious about it. For instance, if you are offering an assignment service, you rely on the feedback of previous clients who have expressed satisfaction with the service.
5. Co-branding
As the name suggests, co-branding is an agreement between two brands to offer one product or service and/or extend to another’s service. The arrangement is usually beneficial to both parties and offers the consumer more than what a single brand would offer.
Generally, each party maintains its independence and chooses what to offer to create a valuable combined product. This is a powerful mechanism that builds on the strength of two or more brands to ensure an effective campaign. This form of branding also allows brands to access markets they typically would not have access to and complement each other’s strengths.
A few examples of co-branding include airlines partnering with car hire services, tourism companies pairing with hotels and furniture companies pairing with paint companies, etc. In essence, the companies would not be competitors or offer the same product to diversify the offering or campaign.
Co-branding agreements need to be entered into with caution because one brand may offer something of more value that may affect the other negatively.
Furthermore, these arrangements require lengthy legal agreements to ensure that both parties are fully protected. Co-branding is also a risk because it may lead to a negative impact on one or both of the existing brands.
Applying the Strategy
Co-branding is a way to effectively building a sales funnel and expanding on your customer base. You would need to find a good brand to partner with, and avoid partnering with a brand that may overpower yours. This means that you need to focus on finding a business that operates at a similar scale to yours but offers a differing product.
You also need to get ahead of the complexities by compiling a list of the pros and cons of approaching a particular brand with your proposition. To gain maximum and measurable results, it is also important to create an agreement that does not bind you for an undetermined amount of time.
Be specific about the length of a campaign and how you will measure the success of the partnership to avoid brand dilution which occurs when a brand is extended beyond its limit and confuses a potential client.
Final Thoughts on the 5 Smart Branding Strategies
Creating a viable branding growth strategy is pivotal to the growth of your business, and these strategies are simple to apply because they allow room for error. However, you should not focus on the mistakes but the potential for continued growth and value to the client. There are many brand strategies, and the above mentioned are the core which can help you propel your business in the right direction.
Most small brands struggle to get off the ground because of an incoherent strategy that is not clear nor addresses the needs of the business properly. The best way to get around certain challenges is to conduct thorough research on any strategy you are pursuing. Building your brand is not rocket science; it may be a mammoth task, but once you find the strategy suited to your business, it can become a lot easier.
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