Course: Brand Strategy
Overview:
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Introduction:
Brand Strategy = Business Outcomes
Measure everything even if it’s hard. Measure even how your customers feel.
What is a Brand?
A brand is what sits at the heart and mind of the consumer.
Branding and Brand are different:
- Branding – The way you want to be perceived
- Brand – The way consumers actually perceive you
A brand is at the core of defining who a company is and the reputation they want to have.
When starting with a company, start with the brand then figure out the marketing.
- What is your product?
- How is it built?
- Why is it relevant?
- Why is it different?
Two Iconic Brands
Starbucks
Parts of Starbucks’ brand were putting people first and all their initiatives and how they operated flowed from that perspective.
High quality cup of coffee with a high level of consistency.
Knowing what the customer wants even before they know what they even want. Starbucks new customers wanted to customize their coffee and being consistent. Handmade with a personal touch. It set Starbucks apart.
Disney
What does the consumer want and how do we give it to them in a clear and consistent manner?
Secret of a brand is CONSISTENCY. Brands help simplify communication to a customer. A customer knows what they are going to get every single time.
Before companies didn’t really differentiate themselves. Nowadays to stand out from the crowd, companies are realizing they need to stand for something to become different in the minds of customers.
What does the consumer want?
Disney used to have different programs that didn’t show consistency in what they were all about. Eventually they figured out what the consumer wanted and created consistency in the shows that they showed. Consumers were eventually able to count on Disney for a specific thing.
A brand is very purposeful about what they do rather than just what makes money.
Start with the Customer
What do customers need? Start there not with the idea. What matters to consumers? Determine what are the needs of the customers. This will determine how to craft what the company is going to be.
How are customers choosing different products?
When building a company/brand, these are the questions you have to ask:
- Who am I building the brand for?
All companies have a brand promise: What you want the brand to be in the hearts and minds of consumers
Disney is about having fun. Quality has to be there. Everything about Disney is story and values. Optimism. It isn’t dark or pessimistic. Community. Common good. Common good.
The clarity of what your brand stands for should help every single person in the company, regardless if it’s in finance, production, or customer service to know how to act or make a decision.
Internal clarity of the brand promise helps keep your company on point and consistent externally.
Get to know your customer:
- Ask your customers. Don’t be above that. Why did they buy this and not that? When did they make the decision. Why did they make them a decision.