Your brand represents your company and your product, consists of a combination of two components; visual and verbal. Determine the relationship with your company and your products will guide you to improve your branding.

Branding

• Family branding (umbrella branding): corporate brand and product brands are the same.

• Individual branding (multi branding): product brands are different from corporate brand.

Example

Unilever has created product brands such as Dove, Lux and Sunsilk, with no direct association to their corporate brand. Although these individual brands may produce similar personal care products, they are all positioned for different target markets. In this way, they do not cannibalize one another’s sales.

Tip

Remember that a brand is an identity. It is not a tangible object. It is the collection of perceptions in the mind of consumers and a basis of emotional and psychological relationship you develop with them.

Your brand is compose of goodwill, reputation and public perception and it differentiates you from the competition.

Importance of Branding

• Your brand can add value to your products.

• Help your company achieve high profits.

• Attract customers without price competition.

Example

Apple Inc applies the Apple brand to all their products and maintains one single, strong brand identity. With this strategy, they are able to capture the interest of their loyal customers whenever they release new products such as the immensely popular iPad.

Tip

It is crucial for you to manage your brand properly and carefully. Once it is damaged by negative publicity and sentiment, it can take years to salvage, if at all. Therefore, you need to align everyone in your organisation and inculcate in them the responsibility to uphold your brand values at all times.

Creating a strong branding will create and develop a strong relationship between your brand and consumers.

Branding B2B

• Building a corporate brand for a consumer brand

• Set tone on the brand values

• Differentiate the brand

• Building trust and relationship

Example

Over the years, Apple has managed to catapult its brand to cult status with the success of the iPod and iPhone. As a result, Apple sold 2 million iPad's in the first two months of its launch, only half the time they took to sell the previous products. By leveraging on its strong brand, it has managed to re-ignite demand for the tablet computer and entice customers into paying a premium over low-cost yet functional laptops and netbooks.

Tip

All these successful brands, despite their differences in products, customers, industries or country of origin, have something in common. These are brands that are easily recognized and well-received and have become an integral part of their customers’ lives. Each and every of these brands is able to offer their customers a promise and live up to it. A brand promise is about what your brand can do for your customers. It is important that you ensure that any product bearing your brand must fulfil this promise to build greater trust and confidence in your brand.

“The World on Time”

FedEx’s brand promise is to give their customers peace of mind by guaranteeing punctuality and security in their delivery of packages all over the world. For assurance, FedEx allows customers to track the whereabouts of their packages easily online. This brand promise is communicated and reinforced through memorable advertising campaigns. By consistently delivering this promise, FedEx is continually gaining greater consumer confidence in their services.

You have heard countless stories about successful brands in the global market. Leading brand consultancy firm, Inter-brand, publishes a list of best global brands annually. Both consumer brands such as Coca-cola, McDonald’s and Gillette, and business brands such as IBM, Microsoft and GE, make the list year after year.

Tip

Singapore Brand Stories

The local media frequently features Singapore companies that have built strong brands. Look out for these and learn from them. You can also visit local government websites to look for brand stories of local companies.

• www.iesingapore.com

• www.spring.gov.sg