Whether you know it or not, you’re being branded. Do you sell the cheapest shoes? Maybe you’re the cheap shoe store. Do you ignore customer complaints? Maybe your the store with terrible customer service. From your actions to your products, down to the way your website looks, judgments are being made by your customers and becoming a part of your online businesses brand.
When something goes wrong and you need a product that will fix it, experts say that generally one to three brands of products will come to a customer’s mind due to perceived value and advertising. If your brand is not one of the three brands to come to mind, you won’t see the loyalty or the sales that will come to those top three brands. This is why it is crucial that your product has a strong brand attached to it. People attribute value, benefits, and prices to brands.
At a speech to Utah State University, VP of Marketing, Rick Haskins, on the CW network talked about the importance of branding. “Trying to be all things to all people will fail, because it is impossible.” That is why it is so important to establish yourself as the best at something in your niche.
Haskins went on to talk about the first time CW auditioned women for “America’s Next Top Model.” Few could handle a runway walk or talk about their reasons for applying. Now, applicants can walk the walk and talk the talk, declaring themselves as “the smart one,” “the fun one,” or “the one who is going to win.” Young people who grew up watching reality television get the concept of self-branding, Haskins said. ( Nancy Van Valkenburg)
What should your company be branded as? Look at your strengths as a company and the benefits you can offer. If you don’t plan on competing on price, something else should set you apart. Quality or speed of delivery may be your strengths. Find them and stick to your guns.
Your brand should dictate all your company does. Your brand should seep into the way your business is run. When it does your customers will have no trouble identifying what you stand for and what they can expect to receive.
Redbox's Ingenious Branding
Redbox is a great example of extensive branding. Convenience is one of Redbox’s most important benefits. They position their products in convenient locations like grocery and retail stores, gas stations, and pharmacies. Considering customers are always present in these locations, picking up a movie is that much easier. It’s just one less stop they have to make.
They continue to make the movie rental process easier by listening to their customers and participating in social media. For example, “Consumer requests for a more convenient return program, for instance, spurred Redbox to launch its ‘rent and return anywhere’ program.” Refusing to stop at that, they’ve encouraged online registrations that reserve your video and let you know which Redbox location has the dvd you want to rent. This eliminates the disappointment of arriving at a location and finding out that none are available.
The very design and vending system of Redbox screams convenience. The movies are easy to find and quick to rent, and their kiosks are easy to identify in stark red. They even incorporate their brand onto the dvd cases that are encased in simple packaging with clear directions on how to return the dvd. Ingenious! The branding is incorporated into everything!
What benefit does your company, or you as a seller, want to be known for? What will resonate with your customers? How should you portray the benefit? The answers are different for every business. However, a strong brand adds value, trust, and eventually profit to any business. Think of all the value a strong brand could add to your business.
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http://adage.com/article/print-edition/redbox-america-s-hottest-brands-2010/147056/
I read this African Proverb a while back and I think it can be useful in business related topics. It reads, “Every morning in Africa, an antelope wakes up. It knows it must outrun the fastest lion, or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the slowest antelope, or it will starve. It doesn’t matter whether you’re the lion or an antelope – when the sun comes up, you’d better be running.” To me this says, if you don’t prepare today to be running when tomorrow comes, you’re already in big trouble. It also means that no matter where you stand in the food chain, whether you are a Mom and Pop store or a big corporate entity, you had better hit the ground running every morning.
