Successful Brands Are Thoughtfully Nurtured

A brand is a common term but arduous to define. Every person, depending upon his/her position, summarizes a brand differently on different occasions. Whether a potential customer, an existing customer, an employee, recruiter or part of the general population, a brand does not mean the same to everyone. Therefore, it may be said that a brand is a way to represent a business to all the internal and external stakeholders.

To have a successful brand is really difficult but despite this, certain brands do gain a lot of exposure and success. Do you know why? Because they are thoughtfully nurtured to increase the trust, loyalty, and engagement of everyone associated with them. 

Still confused about the “Successful Brands Are Thoughtfully Nurtured” idea? Don’t worry, this article covers the most important concerns related to successful brands which eventually clarifies everything. Continue reading…

Why Brand Building is Important?

If a business wants to gain success, building a strong brand is a necessity. It influences the responses of current and prospective clients regarding the products or services offered by a business. Building a brand also increases awareness, generates trust, ensures customers are loyal towards the products or services, boosts the morale of employees and improves job satisfaction.

The Significance of a Brand

A brand is beneficial to buyers, as well as sellers. It helps the buyers to identify the products or services we like or dislike. Branding not only reduces purchasing time but also the risk perceived by buyers. It helps buyers evaluate the quality of products or services. Above all, buyers feel excited and special, owning certain brands (such as Apple, Mercedes, Rolex, and others).

From the sellers’ point of view, branding differentiates a business’s products from competitors. As branding develops loyal customers, repeat purchases become more common and price comparisons become rare. An advantage with successful brands is that they are able to launch a new product or service at any time. Moreover, branding smoothes promotional efforts and helps in stabilizing market share.

Key Ingredients of a Successful Brand

A successful brand is always positioned to convey distinctive and compelling notions which build emotional links between the business and its stakeholders. Here are the 10 key factors which play a major role in making a brand successful:

  1. A unique quality separating it from its competitors.
  2. Thorough knowledge of target audience such as demographics, interests, ways of communication, etc.
  3. Superior product or service that attracts the target audience.
  4. Effective leadership.
  5. Passion to work hard and deliver only the best to customers.
  6. Consistently providing the same quality and service.
  7. Vibrant exposure through Omni-Channel advertising.
  8. Being competitive and always determined to improve. 
  9. Always putting people (whether customers, employees or the general public) first.
  10. Positive company culture.

Major Steps to Developing a Successful Brand

Being a successful brand is the dream of every business. Knowing the factors that make a brand successful is not enough, you also need to know how to effectively use them for your purpose. Consider the following 10 steps to developing a successful brand:

  1. Find out the target audience of the brand. Be specific, focus on the lifestyle and behavior of the target audience because only then does your offering exactly meet their needs.
  2. Craft a mission statement for your brand which clearly expresses the passion of your business. Note that everything that reflects your business (such as logo, tagline, message, personality, etc.) echoes this mission statement.
  3. Research and analyze the competitor or benchmark brands within your industry. Do not copy them exactly but understand their working procedure and factors behind their success.
  4. Summarize the major qualities and benefits of your brand, in the form of products or services and offers. They are the reason why your target audience chooses you over others.
  5. Give your brand a logo and craft an enticing tagline. The logo appears on everything related to the business so it needs to be easily recognizable. Keep in mind the size, colors, and fonts while creating a logo and tagline. 
  6. Create your brand’s voice which when connecting with consumers helps the brand to be consistently recognized on different channels.
  7. Develop a 1-2 sentence brand message that succinctly describes the  brand and gives you an opportunity to directly connect with your consumers.
  8. Do not limit your brand to just a logo, tagline, or brand message. Integrate it into every facet of the business. The image of your brand reflects not only in the environment but during personal interactions as well.
  9. Remain consistent while building your brand. Any content from or about your brand seamlessly reflects your brand’s image. Remember, inconsistency confuses customers and acts as a hurdle in successful brand building.
  10. Be the biggest supporter of your brand because nobody knows your brand as perfectly as you do. Hire employees who fit your culture, help them to achieve personal as well as professional growth, and give voice to your customers – motivate them to share your content and post reviews. 

The different elements of a brand are grouped into tangible and intangible ones and both are important in building a successful brand. The tangible ones include things that are touched, seen or listened to, such as the logo, brochures, letterheads, website, jingles, music, and others; while the intangible elements primarily include personality, emotions, positioning, and promises.

Key Marketing Trends to Follow

Today, the marketing world is influenced by audience analytics, automated advertising technologies, and social media. Brands determined to reach and stay on top are always concerned about the latest marketing trends and remain up to date. Here are 5 of the most promising marketing trends a brand follows to be successful:

Interactive Content

Content which requires the active engagement of participants is called interactive content. Common forms of interactive content are interactive infographics, videos, polls, surveys, calculators, assessments, eBooks, white papers, blogs, and emails.

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence in marketing is used to escalate user engagement. When AI is used creatively with Facebook Messenger or a chat box of a site, you get a better understanding of a brand’s target audience and market.

Virtual Reality

Virtual Reality has evolved as a major marketing tool for big as well as small brands. It is extremely fruitful when used sensibly to target the customers and spread the brand message.

Social Media Platforms

Social Media Platforms are definitely being considered if a brand wants to become successful because they not only increase customer engagement but also place the products and services in a manner that surely captures the customer’s attention.

Honesty

You might have heard “Honesty is the best policy.” Nowadays, it is followed aggressively by all successful brands and since it is bringing amazing results, continues to be a hot marketing trend in the future. We love it when marketers describe the positives as well as the negatives of their products and services. This honesty gains customers’ trust and eventually, sales.

The Journey of a Successful Brand

Any theory or knowledge is appreciated and followed only if it is feasible. Sometimes businesses become successful by following brand strategies and sometimes, brand strategies are developed by evaluating the way a business runs (this happens in rare cases).

We understand that our readers also believe and respect the above-mentioned knowledge only after seeing its positive results. That is why we are providing you with a brief journey into one of the most successful brands ever, Nike. Read it, feel it, and implement its principles in your business. 

Nike, an American multi-national corporation, is engaged in designing, developing, manufacturing, sales and marketing of footwear, equipment, accessories, apparel, and services. It was founded in the year 1964 and at that time, was called Blue Ribbon Sports. It was in the year 1971 when the name Nike evolved and after some time, its iconic logo also came into being. Let us focus on the factors which make Nike successful:

 

Consistency

One principle Nike has followed from the beginning until now is consistency. From 1971, the brand name Nike, its signature slogan (Just Do It), its famous swoosh logo, and the quality of its products have remained the same. Brand consistency has made Nike a trustworthy name, so consumers hardly hesitate when buying its products.

Collaboration with Greats

The early marketing strategy of Nike involved collaboration with Michael Jordan, the basketball legend, to come up with Air Jordan in 1984. Globally, millions of pairs of Air Jordan’s have been sold. Nike further collaborated with sportspersons from different fields such as footballer Cristiano Ronaldo and golfer Tiger Woods. A collaboration with the correct industry professional helps a business significantly.

Constant Improvement and Innovation

One of the biggest reasons behind Nike’s success is its habit of constant improvement and innovation. Nike is never afraid to push boundaries yet remains with the times. Their ad campaigns and products reflect this. 

Emotive Branding

Nike emphasizes emotionally engaging its target audience. Whenever Nike starts a fresh marketing campaign, the advertisement, poster or the product release always has an emotional touch. Sometimes it is about the world coming together or sometimes everyone is made out to be a hero. Nike successfully evokes emotions and that is why it wins over its audience. 

Great Business Values

The mission statement of Nike is “To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world. If you have a body, you are an athlete.” This means that Nike’s values are at the heart of its branding. Nike, as a brand, believes in inspiring those from all parts of the world. Being socially conscious, it focuses on enlightening the world.

Social Media

Social Media Marketing has emerged as one of the most successful digital marketing strategies over the last decade. Social networks are used by businesses to advertise, as well as cultivate their online image. With more than 77 million Instagram followers (and the numbers are continuously growing), Nike has enhanced the consumer experience through Social Media.

There are several other elements which have made Nike what it is today. All factors discussed here, if followed thoughtfully, are capable of making a brand successful. Some might seem easy and some difficult but all of them when combined together bring success in the short, as well as long term. Always remember that building a brand is a timely process and that nurturing it is a lifetime process. 

Emmanuel van der Meulen
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