What is Brand Management?
Simply put brand management means building brands, sometimes from scratch and sometimes enhancing the perceived value of a product with different strategies and marketing techniques. It involves public relations, broadcasting messages, building a fan base among customers, and so on.
This is often carried out by public relation (PR) firms or in-house by company executives using social media platforms such as Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, etc. or through advertising on television, radio, etc. Branding happens over a period of time with increased awareness among consumers regarding the products offered.
In order to develop a strategy to enhance brand equity or increase brand value, one need to have a thorough understanding of the products, its target markets and customers, as well aligning it with the overall vision of the company. As customers gain awareness of the positives of the products offered, the volumes of sales will increase. Branding builds brand and in brand management companies monitor and maintain the brand.
It is also extremely important to sustain the positive effects of the brand among customers in a world that changes at the drop of a hat. There are many external factors such as news, latest trends, current events, upgraded versions of a product brought out by rival companies, etc. These will definitely challenge your product and you need to quickly adapt to the altered conditions and adopt the best practices to stay relevant in the eyes of the customers.
Effects of branding
In today’s world branding is essential to flourish in business, irrespective of the size of a company, its turnover or assets. For withstanding market pressures and competing on a global scale branding is crucial. It helps you connect with customers, influences their purchasing patterns and move your business several notches above.
Importance of brand management in marketing
Branding improves recognition for your products and the company overall in the minds of customers. The first thing which attracts a customer to your product is your logo as that is the face of your business and then it is the website, social media pages, etc. which are your sales personnel online 24×7. A professional logo design should be simple to strike a chord with customers and powerful enough to create an impression and the same is truefor a website and social media pages.
Branding builds trust
Customers will go for a product that they trust and they will buy something that appears polished and legitimate. For example, families need to feel comfortable before committing to a child care programme. Companies’ use their business logos on business cards, staff t-shirts and outside of the building to give the business the professional image it deserves. Public who see the logo can easily identify the business as a trusted one and entice them to look for the new offerings.
Branding supports advertising
Advertising and branding go hand-in-hand and often overlap each other. The medium selected and the demography targeted for advertisements help build a brand. Companies print their logos on apparels, packaging and printed materials to spread the word about the business and stand out in competition.
Branding builds financial value
Companies that trade in stock exchange are valued many times the actual hard assets of the company and much of this value is due to the branding of the company. A strong brand guarantees future business. If the company wants to borrow funds for expansion or rolling out an IPO, being perceived as more valuable will make the process smoother for the company and this happens with branding. The greater a company’s devotion to building its brand values the better the financial return from its efforts. It is then well positioned for its future expansion plans.
Branding inspires employees
Many employees need more than just work — they need something to work towards. When employees understand the mission of a business and its reason for being, they are more likely to feel that same pride and work in the same direction to achieve the goals the business owner has set. Having a strong brand is like turning the company logo into a flag that the rest of the company can rally around.
Branding generates new customers
Many a times branding is built only through word-of-mouth referrals. After all a customer can speak better about a product to his friend as he has used it himself. The most profitable firms, whether it be small, medium sized or large ones, have a common factor, they have established themselves as leaders in their industry by building a brand starting with an attractive logo.