How to create a brand?

There are four effective steps in branding strategy to create a brand:

1. Choose the brand name and logo
2. Establish the brand in the minds of customers.
3. brand sponsorship
4. develop the brand

What is brand equity?

Creating a brand is no different from founding your business. It takes time. Gradually you can create Brand Equity. Brand equity is the differential effect when consumers react more favorably to a brand than to a generic or non-branded version of the same product. Whenever we think about buying a smartphone, the first name that catches our attention is: the iPhone. Do you ask why? It is because of the convenience and authenticity that the iPhone brings to its users.

Apple, through its years of research and experience, has created in our minds a state of ultimate luxury and comfort when using its products. There may be some other more similar products in line with the Apple iPhone and they may be superior to that, but the identity of the iPhone gives it an edge over the others, no matter the price. This advantage is Brand Equity.

4 steps of the brand development strategy

1. Choose the brand name and select the logo:

When building a brand development strategy, the name plays a vital role. A good name and style can add positive aspects to the success of a product. It is the most difficult task to start. Simplicity is the first step. The name should be easy to pronounce, recognize and remember. Also, you should suggest something about the benefits and qualities of the product.

Names like Google, Nike, Facebook, Apple, KFC, etc. they are among the most established brands worldwide. An interesting fact about those names is that they are easily translatable into different languages ​​around the world. Therefore, the meaning of a particular word should not be something that indicates something bad, incorrect or negative.

Again, the name must be able to extend to cover multiple product lines. For example, Amazon.com started its business selling books and has now spread to multiple product categories.

Once chosen, the brand name must also be protected. It means that, in many cases, the brands were eventually mixed with the product category and people cannot differentiate the brand identity from the product category.

For example, Xerox is a company that builds photocopiers, but making a photocopy is often called making xerox. ‘Xerox’ must be pronounced as a noun and not as a verb. Many people find it difficult to distinguish between the product and the service, which ultimately hampers the company’s brand.

2. Establishment of the brand in the minds of customers:

An interesting saying from a salesman: Products are created in the factory, but brands are created in the mind. This can be done in a number of ways: At the basic level, start by introducing target customers to the product and its distinctive features.

Take the example of Amazon’s Kindle e-book reader. Amazon takes aim at its customers, saying that it is an e-book reader that has a distinguished feature of reading books in virtual format. At this stage they are simply introduced with the product and have a very low impact level.

The most effective way to position a brand is by associating its name with desirable benefits. So Kindle is more than just an eBook reader: It’s lightweight, it has a portable dictionary, it stores thousands of books that are easy to search, glare-free, and distraction-free.

The strongest brands go beyond establishing features and benefits in the minds of customers and are positioned on strong values ​​and beliefs, rooted in a deep emotional bond. As reading books on Kindle is an absolute pleasure and comes as the new best friend of book lovers. In placing a brand in the human mind, the marketer must establish a mission for the brand and a vision of what the brand should be and do.

3. Brand sponsorship:

Brand sponsorship can be of three types:

• private label sponsorship
• Licensed brand sponsorship
• co-brand

Private label sponsorship:

Many ads and social marketing strategies work behind the big brands that emerge and are called national brands. But for smaller businesses, it may not always be possible to support brands at a large out-of-pocket expense. In those scenarios, brand sponsorship is very important. Compared to National or Manufacturing brands, there are Store Brands. In recent decades, own brands are getting more out of the market. This is why?

Large malls like Big Bazaar, Walmart resell products at significant discount rates, especially generic or no-name brands. They endorse the products citing their advantages or comparing them with the best brands. The association of the big resellers with lesser known products works as an aid in raising the brand value of the product that was once called ‘no name’.

Private label sponsorship is also followed in online purchases. As we can see, small or lesser known mobile phone manufacturers are recently linking up with Amazon to sell their phones. In fact, this strategy is working very well as ‘no-name’ brands are receiving support from big brand stores, whether online or offline.

Licensed Brand Sponsorship:

In this brand sponsorship, some companies buy the names and symbols of other manufacturers or creators in exchange for compensation and promote their products under that brand. This is common in the fashion industry like Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, Gucci, Armani, etc., where companies use the names and initials of renowned fashion innovators. This type of brand is like an additional stimulus but with a pinch in the pocket.

Region:

Under such brand sponsorship strategy, established brand names of different companies are used on the same product. Because each brand dominates in a different category, combined brands create greater consumer appeal and brand equity.

For example, Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance, where Bajaj is a dominant player in the automobile sector and Allianz is a major German financial services company. Now that Bajaj wants to enter the insurance sector and Allianz wants to enter the Indian market, together they created a brand ‘Bajaj-Allianz’ to reap the benefits of the Indian insurance market.

Co-branding also carries some limitations. Such relationships generally involve complex legal contracts and licenses. Co-Branded Partners must carefully coordinate their advertising, sales promotion, and other marketing efforts. The onus is on both partners to carry the shared brand with confidence and dignity.

4. Brand development:

In order to increase brand value, it is very important to prepare a brand development strategy in line with changing business scenarios. There is no hard and fast rule to dictate.

Line extensions:

A product brand name may be extended to an existing line of products to credit new shapes, colors, sizes, ingredients, or flavors of an existing product. However, line extensions do carry some risks. A brand name that is too long can cause consumer confusion or the loss of part of its specific meaning.

Brand extensions:

It occurs when a current trademark is extended to a new or modified product in a new category. For example, Nestlé’s popular Maagi brand of noodles has been extended to its tomato sauce, pasta, soup, etc. A brand extension gives a new product instant recognition and quicker acceptance. But care must be taken when extending the brand, as it can confuse the image of the main brand.

Multibrands:

Multi-branding offers a way to establish different features that appeal to different customer segments, secure more reseller shelf space, and capture more market share.

For example, a reputable company sells multiple varieties of soft drinks under different brand names. These brands are fighting each other for market dominance, and as a result, individually they may have a smaller slice of the pie, but as a whole, the company dominates the soft drink market. The main drawback here is that individual brands get only a small share of the market and may not be very profitable.

conclusion

Brands are not created in a day or two; you must have the patience to grow. The points mentioned above suggest some best practices for building a brand, but the real test begins in the field. Branding strategy differs from place to place, even urban branding and rural branding are very different in their practical applications. Remember that behind a successful branding strategy lies a lot of effort, a vividly clear vision, and above all, unmatched product or service quality.