The word branding is not a relatively new business concept. More than three decades ago, marketing expert Michael J Baker wrote an introductory text on the importance of brands and branding. What is new is the degree of attention and sophistication it has gotten the world over in recent years.
Perhaps this has to do with the biggest mental clutter in our lives and in the marketplace, making it difficult for companies to get their messages across.
“Brands are fast becoming the basis for most critical business decisions,” noted one observer. The brand is the sum total of what a company or an idea represents. For the most part, branding is as simple as doing the right thing, consistently and clearly.
Today as expected, Nigeria parades herself with her most celebrated brands of all time – her super brands! In fact, for some of them, branding isn’t about getting your target market to choose you over the competition, it’s about getting your prospects to see you as the only one who provides a solution to their problems.
While a brand is the uniqueness that a customer perceives of an organization or idea; there is a connection between a brand name [identity]brand image [perception] and brand reputation [respect].
All strong brands depend, more than anything, on their reputation. In as much as corporate executives try to build a good brand, they ought to be mindful of corporate reputation also. In essence, a good reputation accounts for a good brand.
However, for obvious reasons, Nigerian entrepreneurs rush to build strong brands for their benefit only to allow them to fall apart in short order, due to a lack of brand management skills.
I have to admit, I used to buy Gala Sausage from UAC, until Leventis Meaty came along. The experience was always positive and I always had the feeling of that tasty snack with pure beef filling. But where did Gala go wrong? Gala lost his unique positioning in the heat of the competition. Apart from the sudden change of wrapper [which I think I don’t like so much]the sausage has become so lean.
UAC didn’t realize that branding is more than just putting on new clothes.
The problem with a man from these big brands is that they often realize the impact of their actions and inactions until long after the time and money have been invested or after too much has been invested.
How many times have you pulled into a business parking spot and seen a sign that read: “Parking reserved for xxxx customers only. All others will be tolled” or “Cars parked at owners risk”? Have you ever met a lousy school owner raining dirty words on parents? Or how many times has he had to stand in line for long hours somewhere, only to be disappointed by the way a customer service officer treated him?
These are all negative branding and reputation at work. We experience it every day. It affects the way customers perceive us.
Corporate bodies must pay close attention to their messages: spoken or written.
Words speak for our business, so it’s worth investing in the best copy you can afford. Unprofessionally written communications and marketing materials can actively work against us and tell potential customers things we didn’t mean to say.
Instead of the stereotype “Cars are parked at owner’s risk”, why not try something like “While we make sure your vehicles are safe, we take no risk”? Long but full of great impact.
Our beloved economy has collapsed as a result of your choice of words. They cost money, but words applied efficiently produce great wealth.
So let’s start by taking a good look at everything we do: our message; our corporate identity; our approach to communicating with customers; Our request; our products; our packaging; our advertising and our staff.
