If you have a business of any sorts, you’ll be familiar with the term “brand equity”.
Not only does the term reverberate around the walls of brand agencies in Sydney, but all those of multinationals and even the smallest of companies as marketing executives set out to distill a brand’s essence and navigate the sometimes treacherous waters of advertising and marketing.
What About My Brand?
Ever considered the value of your brand? Ever wondered how your brand has even achieved a value? And then, the big question: how do you maintain that value and brand?
Developing a brand is so important. It allows your business to effectively engage with customers in a way that drives brand loyalty and allows the business to continue growing from strength to strength.
Who Stands to Benefit From Brand Building And Maintenance?
Start-ups – those taking their first big step into the world of business, need to consider their brand worth too. A strong brand helps a company to define itself in the years to come and steer themselves towards profitable end goals.
Even fledgling brands require as much support as they can get and that means the first port of call is the search for customers. But it’s so important at this early stage to focus on a brand’s essence, its values and start cultivating these.
Start-up companies are actually at a great advantage: they have the ability to build and leverage their brand from day one. That means they can define their niche and effectively cut through the competitive clutter.
Developing a Company’s Personality
Building core values into a brand right from the get-go can help to really quickly capture a customer base that will remain loyal.
It’s important in determining a business’s position right from the start and then proactively developing a personality for the brand. As the marketplace continues to become over-crowded, this will go a long way in defining the brand and letting it stand out from the rest.
Why You Need to Maintain a Brand
The importance a brand’s value can have on the internal structures and workings of a company is just as important – and they can affect the brand’s outward face too.
As a brand grows and becomes established, there’s always that threat of losing track of your initial values. The values become somewhat dilutes, creating the risk of losing loyal customers, advises SDirect. So it’s vital that an internal culture is created too. One that reflects the brand’s position and one that can continue to grow the equity of the brand instead of devaluing it.
Related: Why Establishing a Referral Program is a Smart Move For Your Business
What’s more, this makes it a lot easier to create brand advocates within your staff team – something that can attract and keep customers.
Think of events or trade shows: brand advocates can allow for effective brand activations as well as one-to-one engagement with leads and customers. Their art of selling is put to the test at such events and it helps greatly if the customer believes the staff fully but into the brand or company they work for.
Brand Communication
Brand equity plays a major role. Brand communication that is successful goes a long way to crafting the staff into the “face” of the brand and business. These employees can then successfully promote the brand to your target audience who in turn buy into the brand message and spread it to a wider customer base.
The Value of the Brand
The value and nature of the brand are difficult to quantify. Word of mouth plays a big part of a brand. And measurable marketing campaigns are really only one of several potential strategies for brand development. And with the surge of social media, this really isn’t likely to change any time soon.
Putting a price on brand equity is close to impossible but it doesn’t mean branding shouldn’t play a big role in your marketing strategy.
Oh no, on the contrary, branding and brand maintenance, should be taking the lead role – offering brand essence from which all other marketing ideas can develop. Ultimately, it is that that will ensure the translation of brand values into sales and, importantly, profit.
About the author: Cherry Soriano is a writer at Media Buzzer, a News Trends website in the United Kingdom. She is passionate about her husband and three active girls. You can read more about her here.
