The market is full of various products, the level of competition among companies is increasing every day. And the offer of the best price, the highest quality will not surprise anyone. The most thorough analysis of customer needs is necessary to create the best product offer, improve the company's image and increase consumer confidence in it. The reality is that without a number of marketing moves it’s impossible to create a competitive brand.
Brand definition. Concept and purpose of brand strategy
A brand is a complex of elements, the purpose of which is to make the company easily distinguishable from others and give it personality.
A brand strategy is a plan for creating, developing, introducing a brand into sales markets, which promotes the promotion of goods and services, provides increased profits and attracts the attention of customers. Constant monitoring of consumer needs, introducing them to a new product - this is the main goal of strategic branding.
Brand building: 4 basic strategies
In marketing, it is customary to single out the following brand creation strategies:
- Product Brand Strategy. When using the strategy, each product is assigned a personal name. A brand is developed for each product. The strategy is suitable for young companies. The main disadvantage is the cost of creating and developing each brand individually.
- Product Line Strategy. When using the strategy, the product line is closely associated with the brand, products of the same line are produced under the same brand. The advantage of using this strategy is the convenience of distribution. A customer who is familiar with one of the products in the line will intuitively wish to try new products in the line. The disadvantage of this strategy is the restriction to a certain range of products that will be associated with the brand.
- Assortment strategy. In this case, the manufacturer of the goods uses one brand name for all manufactured goods. This strategy is most often used by manufacturers of products and manufactured goods. This approach helps to avoid unnecessary money and labor when creating a brand and its subsequent promotion on the market. Such a brand formation strategy has one significant drawback: the communication channel with the consumer is disrupted, which makes it difficult to attract new customers.
- The umbrella strategy. It consists in the fact that a single brand has a supporting function for several different products in different markets. The advantages of this strategy are savings when entering new markets, including international ones, and significant coverage of different consumer groups. The main feature of the use of the "umbrella" is inelasticity, i.e. the consumer’s attitude to one product will necessarily be reflected in his attitude to other brand products. This can be both a plus and a minus in a certain situation. If a consumer likes one product, his brand perception will improve, and vice versa.
Strategy process
The main steps in developing a brand strategy are:
- Market analysis and competitors. First of all, you should pay attention to the volume of competition in the market and analyze similar products.
- Searches for the target segment. These are buyers who are interested in purchasing goods of certain brands with a specific set of quality characteristics. To analyze the segment, observations are used in the field of consumer preferences of a certain age, gender, social status and other things. Knowing the priorities of their customers, it is easier to develop a brand strategy.
- Brand development. This stage begins with a description of the product and the search for its positive characteristics. It is possible to focus on the individuality of the product or its quality. Then you need to choose the appropriate names for the products and for the brand, to develop its logo, design and style.
- Pricing. Based on the previous paragraphs, analysis of financial costs and desired profit, the price of the product is calculated.
- Implementation. This part includes direct sales to the target segment, development of the customer base, work with sales managers, achievement of the plan. An integral part of this stage is the creation of an advertising company and the development of a communication strategy (determining channels of interaction with the consumer).
- One of the key points in the implementation is narrowly targeted advertising. That is, advertising that should receive a response from a certain group of consumers. For example, dynamic and vibrant sporting goods advertising will target young people under the age of 35. It should primarily affect the target audience and, if possible, attract the attention of new customers.
Brand development
Creating a brand resistant to market fluctuations is not an easy task even for professional brand managers. It is even more difficult to ensure that the product can retain the attention of the consumer for a long time. For this, it is necessary to continuously develop, apply and improve the brand development strategy.
Brand development is a set of measures aimed at increasing brand equity by reaching new markets, introducing new products and their advertising. Those. This concept includes a set of tools to achieve a higher level of the brand.
Usually there are 2 strategies:
- brand stretching;
- brand expansion.
Brand sprain
Appears when a new product is launched, while the consumer group, product category, product purpose, brand identity remain unchanged. Only one indicator does not change: consumer benefit. This is the most commonly used brand development strategy.
For example, a company produces face cream with lotus extract. The line of creams is replenished with a cream with lotus and ginseng extract. The product (cream) remains unchanged, but at the same time the consumer benefits in the form of a ginseng supplement.
Types of stretching:
- Change in packaging volume (powder is produced in 1.5 kg, 3 kg, 6 kg packages). It provides the needs of different categories of consumers.
- An increase in the quantity of goods at the previous price (three toothbrushes at the price of two).
- Updating the product packaging (coffee in a glass jar and in a tin).
- Change in composition, taste, etc. (yogurt without additives and yogurt with the addition of cherries).
- New quality of goods (packaging of familiar pasta, on which they print a recommendation for cooking from a famous chef).
The use of this type of brand strategy, such as stretching, is designed to meet the needs of different categories of consumers and satisfy their needs.
Brand extension
Brand expansion is a consolidation of the brand and its use in a new segment. For example, a brand of female face cream begins to produce a male cream to reach a male audience. This is the extension.
Types of brand expansion:
- production of products that complement the main product (production of toothbrushes in addition to toothpaste);
- coverage of a new segment (a company engaged in the production of children's educational games, arranges the release of board games for teenagers, thereby attracting a new kind of customers);
- the use of the product in other conditions (most often this brand strategy is applied to clothing. Sneakers are sports shoes that can be worn in everyday life);
- a new purpose for the product (release of chewing gum with a whitening effect for teeth, i.e., in addition to the usual function of chewing gum (cleaning teeth), whitening is added);
- replacing the product with another with similar functions (the buyer is invited to buy a gel with a repellent function instead of a mosquito spray).
Brand promotion
Brand promotion is a multi-tasking process that involves the application of a large number of marketing strategies.
The main objectives of brand promotion are:
- increased consumer attention and brand awareness;
- improving the image of products and customer confidence in it;
- increased competitiveness;
- sales system development.
Effective promotion strategies:
1. Brand communication strategy . Any brand promotion strategy needs to analyze consumer opinions about products. Best of all, communication with the consumer handles this task. Feedback "manufacturer-consumer" allows you to achieve the following tasks:
- increase customer loyalty to the product;
- inform the consumer of useful news;
- make changes to the product in accordance with demand;
- achieve the expectations of the target audience about the product.
The main features of a communication strategy are:
- Time limit (the start and close dates of the strategy should be clearly defined. During this period, all the tasks set must be solved).
- The presence of an idea that the manufacturer would like to convey to the consumer through his product.
- Development of methods for conveying ideas to the consumer.
- The presence of space for the implementation of communication with the consumer (shops, events, the Internet, etc.).
2. Brand positioning. The strategy is a set of measures for the presentation of goods on the market. Positioning includes such necessary attributes as creating an image of a product, packaging, advertising, etc. The main task of positioning is to create positive associations with the consumer when mentioning a product. In addition, proper positioning allows you to select a product from the total mass of similar products, create an image for it.
The positioning process can be divided into several stages:
- Marketing research of the opinions of consumers, which should provide information about the perception of buyers of goods.
- Analysis of competitors and their proposals, which will reveal the strengths of the product, determine its competitiveness.
- Brand image development.
- Conducting an assessment of consumer perception of a new brand.
Image
A brand image is the point of view of consumers about a company's product, its quality, as well as all associations that may arise when a product is mentioned.
Image building is part of a brand management strategy. Any brand, brand, regardless of desire or unwillingness, has an image. It consists of the opinions of consumers of the product, their reviews and comments.
Elements of image formation
They are as follows:
- Style is a certain feature that allows you to identify the product from the total mass, to distinguish among similar products.
- Advertising. It is impossible to sell a product that no one knows about, so advertising is one of the key tools for creating an image. Through it, the manufacturer can convey to the buyer a message, a message about the product.
- Communication with consumers (through social networks, website, promotions and events).
- The accumulation of a “fan base”, people who support the brand and share its idea.
- Attraction of "ambassadors". This group consists of people endowed with privileges (discounts, discount cards, etc.) who will tell their friends about this.
Successful marketing strategies
Examples of the most successful brand marketing strategies are international companies listed by Forbes magazine as the most expensive brands.
In the first place is the Amazon, one of the largest online stores in the world. The platform acts as an intermediary between sellers and buyers. Brand value is estimated at more than 150 billion US dollars. The company began its work in the garage in 2000 and, after 18 years, took the leading position in brand capitalization. The secret lies in a competent strategy for launching your brand on the market. The company's brand strategies are updated annually, this allows you to find new markets and resources for the sale of goods. So, in 2018, representatives of Amazon officially made a statement in the press about the development of offline stores by the company.
The basic rules of the Amazon strategy are:
- free access to goods and services for buyers;
- development of offices and warehouses around the world;
- improving data transfer systems between customers and sellers;
- Customer friendly website
- enlargement of small brands;
- standardization of employee behavior and thinking.
In second place is Apple, valued at just over $ 146 billion. It is a leader in the field of information technology and the production of gadgets. The company names the main components of its brand strategy:
- Emphasis on product quality. The Apple brand is associated with consumers with the excellent quality of any of the company's product line.
- Involvement in vip status. Not only Apple products, but also its packaging, advertising and stores make the buyer think that they are purchasing premium products. A striking example of the strategy of the Apple brand is the release of iPhones, which are associated with a consumer with a certain status in society and a high financial situation.
- Degree of satisfaction. This remains one of the key points of the company's strategy. The consumer should be completely satisfied with the quality, design, service, etc. The company is focused on communications with consumers. In addition, the brand is always trying to anticipate customer expectations.
On the third line is Google - a search network that needs no introduction. The company is estimated at 121 billion dollars. Google calls its “main strategic trump card” “the desire to make the world a better place.” That is, the Google search engine should not only like the user’s interface and other characteristics, but also leave the impression of a company with a special mission, carrying a good message that employees are trying to develop in every way with the help of social projects, advertising, messages to users. This gives a feeling of consumer involvement in something more and allows you to contribute to the development of the service, and at the same time the world as a whole.