How to build an effective brand
Brand is the set of impressions that consumers have about a firm’s products or services. Although each consumer has a distinctive experience related to a particular brand, the collective perceptions of that brand in due course define its effectiveness. Besides, a brand represents the value that customers believe they receive by entering in a relationship with a particular firm. When consumers hear about Coca-Cola® or Lexus they have a particular set of impressions in their minds about these brands that influences how they think of them. Consumer impressions define purchase-decision making to the extent that particular brands are viewed as more valuable than others. Strong associations with particular brands are often the result of brand names, logos packaging and positive customer experience. Moreover, a brand’s consistent positioning leaves no doubt about its effectiveness and what it can offer to consumers.
Why building a strong brand is important
Building a strong brand name is a key factor for business success. In today’s complex business environment organizations are required to build distinctive brands, able to communicate clear marketing messages to their customers. As consumers are becoming increasingly sophisticated, the need for effective branding strategies forces organizations to direct their efforts toward brand building.
Brands are valuable to organizations because consumers prefer to offer a higher share of their wallet to acquire a higher quality brand over a less reliable one. Therefore, more favored brands are those that are able to consistently deliver a high level of quality and dependability over more generic brands.
The main advantages of effective branding are:
- Delivering solid marketing messages
- Creating an emotional bonding with the target audience
- Motivating consumers
- Maintaining brand loyalty
- Achieving differentiation
- Establishing a firm’s credibility
Steps to build an effective brand
Building an effective brand requires careful planning that allows a firm to deliver on its promise to consumers. Effective brands build brand awareness and meet consumer expectations. Through effective targeting of consumer needs, strong brands create emotional bonds with their customers and build brand loyalty as a result of customer satisfaction. When a brand is reliable, consumers not only are motivated to enter in a relationship with the company, but they are also reluctant to switch to competition.
In particular, the steps to build an effective brand are:
1. Identifying the target audience
Through systematic and thorough market research, firms identify the unmet needs of consumers. Typically, clusters of consumers have a common denominating need that can be met with the benefits offered by a product or a service. Once the target market is defined, the needs of consumers in the particular market segment are addressed in a clear and concise value proposition.
Identifying the target audience before creating the brand logo is essential because the logo identifies the brand. Different age groups have different perceptions about different logos and therefore, it is critical to gain an understanding of which consumers the firm needs to direct its products.
2. Identifying customer touch-points
To ensure superior customer service organizations should include a number of customer touch-points in their marketing strategies. Touch-points are points where customers come in contact with the brand, including an ad; the company website; a sales person; or the company’s premises. Touch-points enable consumers to form perception of the brand.
To identify customer touch-points marketing managers need to revise their commercial processes and identify possible gaps in the marketing, selling, and servicing processes that may make customers' experiences with the brand less enjoyable.
3. Building trust to achieve brand loyalty
Building trust is essential because it enables the firm to build a loyal customer base. Long-term mutually beneficial customer relationships can be developed only if customers trust the firm and they believe that it will consistently offer high quality products and services.
Once brand loyalty is established, customers have higher tolerance for mistakes, are less price sensitive, and offer higher share of wallet. For the organization this translates into higher market share, word of mouth advertisement and improved reputation.
4. Focusing on organizational alignment to achieve differentiation
Aligning the efforts of all organizational members toward customer satisfaction is critical. Top management, middle managers and their subordinates should measure the impact of their work on the customer experience and identify possible flaws that may hinder consistent quality.
Consistency leads to differentiation. For example, Apple can increase its market share through differentiation because consumers perceive Apple as a reliable brand that consistently offers high quality innovative products. By offering a unique experience, differentiated brands not only expand their customer base, but they also retain a loyal customer base through repeated purchases.
In conclusion, in spite of today’s complex business environment, strong brands are evolving rapidly due to effective brand-directed marketing communication strategies. Through great marketing efforts, the brand message is delivered building value and engaging consumers to a long-term, emotionally strong relationship with the organization.
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