Don’t spend in brands, only invest.
Human psyche is fascinating. The human brain is a veritable storehouse of information. Yet, it is very interesting that coming to brands, recall in most people, is often limited to the top 10 brands. The business of marketing and growth is built around this fact.
Brand building, Brand equity and advertising are ways and means to get to the ultimate goal of being there in the top 10. Assets, revenue, and expenditure are taken into reckoning each time an effort is taken to boost a brand. Often this becomes what is called adspend.
Adspend is seen as expenditure that can be axed in times of recession or if the brand is doing good. But a brand or a product sustains and grows only with informed decisions directed towards the elevation of the brand promise and positioning. We believe not in spending in brands, but investing in them. Branding adds value to a product, adds visibility and enhances recall.
Branding lessons
- Strategic marketing is the need of the hour. With the competitive landscape becoming tougher to traverse by the day, an in-depth assessment of the customer experience is required to position a brand.
- Holistic understanding of client’s business and the modern multichannel environment at our disposal needs to be evaluated in a comprehensive manner to drive steady growth in an up market or protect the company’s value in an overwhelmingly down market.
- Keeping choices clear is yet another important lesson. Often a successful brand is extended to other products which may be out of line in the main business and thus leads to dilution. Promotional exercises should steer clear of such disastrous whirlpools.
- Branding is much more than just creating a corporate identity, defining colours and usage. It is about creating an ethos that helps the brand to stand out in the crowd. It can be manifested in a number of things right from advertisements, collaterals to PR exercises.
To sum up, the name of the game of staying ahead is investing in the brand. It builds it, sustains it and helps in growth.