How to create a brand?

There are four effective steps in the 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?

Building a brand is no different from founding your business. It takes time. You can gradually build Brand Equity. Brand equity is the differential effect when consumers react more favorably to a brand than to an unbranded or generic version of the same product. Whenever we think of buying a smartphone, the first name that catches our eye is the iPhone. Do you ask why? It is because of the comfort 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 maximum luxury and comfort when using its products. There may be some more similar products from others in line with the Apple iPhone and they may be superior to that, but the identity of the iPhone gives it an edge over others, no matter the price. This advantage is the 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 begin with. Simplicity is the first step. The name must be easy to pronounce, recognize and remember. Also, it 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, wrong or negative.

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

Once chosen, the brand name must also be protected. It means that, in many cases, the brands have eventually blended into the product category and people cannot tell the identity of the brand from the product category.

For example, Xerox is a company that builds photocopiers, but making a photocopy is often called making xerox. ‘Xerox’ should 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 hinders the company’s brand.

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

An interesting saying from a salesperson: 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 it has a very low level of impact.

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, has a portable dictionary, 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 stand 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 for 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. Sponsorship of the brand:

Brand sponsorship can be of three types:

• Private label sponsorship

• Licensed Brand Sponsorship

• co-branding

Private Label Sponsorship:

Many ads and social marketing strategies work behind the big brands that are emerging 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 Manufacture brands, there are Store Brands. In recent decades, private labels have been getting more out of the market. Is this why?

Large malls like Big Bazaar, Walmart resell products at significant discount rates, especially generic or no-name brands. They endorse products by citing their benefits or comparing them to top brands. The association of big resellers with lesser known products works to help raise the brand value of the product that was once called ‘no name’.

Private label sponsorship is also followed on 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 getting support from big brand stores, be it online or offline.

Licensed Brand Sponsorship:

In this brand sponsorship, some companies buy the names and symbols of other manufacturers or creators for a fee 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 a 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 greater brand equity.

For example, Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance, where Bajaj is a dominant player in the automotive 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 rewards of the Indian insurance market.

Co-branding also comes with some limitations. Such relationships typically involve complex legal contracts and licenses. Co-brand partners must carefully coordinate their advertising, sales promotion, and other marketing efforts. The responsibility lies with both partners to co-brand with confidence and dignity.

4. Brand development:

To increase the value of the brand, it is very important to prepare a brand development strategy according to the changing business scenarios. There is no hard and fast rule to dictate.

Line extensions:

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

Brand Extensions:

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

Multi-brands:

Multi-branding offers a way to establish different features that appeal to different customer segments, secure more space on reseller shelves, and capture greater 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 reign, 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 market share 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, including urban branding and country brand they 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, uncompromising product or service quality.