Are you an Entrepreneur who is aiming to achieve a distinguishing brand for your company? Or are you on the other end of the spectrum- a legacy business owner looking to revamp the outdated brand strategy. Irrespective of where you’re coming from or what your business is, you’re looking for one common thing- How can I build a powerful brand for my company?
With the dynamic nature of the current and future market, new-age brands need to be dynamic social systems instead of linear organizations to maintain a constant customer base and achieve success. We consulted Mr. Marco Casanova, a well-known industry expert in strategic & digital brand management, for quick and easy tips on how to build a powerful brand for your businesses.
Marco serves on top industry executive boards, advices on strategic brand decisions, and is the author of two great books on Branding. His first book, BRANDING IT 3.0, became a TOP 3 best-seller on Amazon in Global Marketing 2018. His second one, Pop-up Brands, takes you through leading edge collaborative branding strategies. Without further ado, let’s look at what Marco has shared with us-
7 Tips for How to Build a Powerful Brand
1. Develop value chain for customers, through customers
Across all market segments, consumer behavior is rapidly transforming. They demand a higher standard of services and experiences from brands. A fundamental element succeed in this dynamic age is to integrate the customer into the value creation and how they actively contribute to the overall Brand experience. These methodologies would help you to create a sense of belonging, bonding, and recognition among your customers.
2. Digital Word-of-mouth is paramount!
Be at the right place, at the right time and on the right channel. Serve customers by exceeding their expectations, and capturing their experiences on digital platforms would help your brand immensely in building digital buzz. There’s no doubt that the relevance of digital word-of-mouth is imperative. Learn how to anticipate demand and consumer behavior by leveraging digitization, adapting methodologies to enhance digital content and more. Work on strategic brand positioning and firming your brand value proposition on digital media.
3. Move to “As a Service” Brand
As value shifts to experiences, the interaction between the Brand and the Customer is becoming the focus of value creation and value extraction. To be successful in transforming your brand, fundamentally different Brand management. Marco is a big proponent of understanding social context and meaning underlying your brand. Transformation of value proposition over economical pricing is a new trend that’s valued highly among new age consumers. Keep this in mind when you work on your As a Service Brand.
4. Play IT to your advantage in branding
Orchestrate and redefine the interplay between Information Technology and Corporate Branding of your organization in the digital millennium. Move from ‘Branding Follows Strategy’ to ‘Branding Is Strategy’ to finally ‘Branding Guides Strategy’. This strategic development within an organization is pivotal to succeed as a great brand. Do more research on this topic, as this is the backbone of every great brand, such as Netflix, Apple, Google, Facebook, etc.
5. Build a purpose-driven Brand Management System
Decentralize your ecosystems and pro-actively get involved in it as a Brand to build a common purpose that drives inside-out. Majority of world-wide consumers would prefer connecting with brands with a purpose that reflects their own values and beliefs. Be sure to give high importance to your purpose and be sure that your consumers are well-aware and resonate with your purpose.
6. Have a competitive strategy against Digitally Native Brands
The gap is widening between the best performers and the rest. The new age race is between digitally native brands and the traditional brick-and-mortar Brands- the rabbit and turtle. If you are a turtle then Overcome the competitive disadvantages of not starting up in today’s digital era, by Pop-up Brands plan of action on how to out-run the rabbits. If you’re a rabbit (the first mover) then learn how to utilize digital interactions with prospect customers to transform your value proposition and establish your brand powered by services. Understand and develop an effective strategy for Semantic branding (understanding social context and meaning)
7. Focus on Employer Branding
The War of Talents is real and how. Take Apple, for instance, the employees are the face of every great brand. Marco highly recommends that employers need to revamp value proposition in Industry 4.0 era. Catalyze your company transformation by attracting the best talent fit for your organization.
That’s a wrap! A big thanks to Marco for sharing 7 tips for how to build a powerful brand with us. If you found the above tips interesting, be sure to read the book- Pop-up Brands by Marco Casanova, where Marco unearths the secrets of next-generation brand management. You would be introduced to a rule-breaking and game-changing mindset of Branding, using his trademark methodologies and easy to apply strategies. The book puts forth transformational plans that organizations can adapt to outshine competition in the dynamic Industrial 4.0 era. Go check it out!