Branding in Taiwan Part 3 – In Part 2 we talked about why a lot of Taiwan companies don’t Brand or resist Branding. In Part 3 we will talk about why successful companies use Brand as a powerful advantage in their industries.
Why do successful companies brand?
Brand attracts loyal customers who are willing to pay.
Brand attracts loyal, high-quality customers, which makes your product immune to price competition. Starbucks can charge twice the amount for a cup of coffee than the Café down the street, but customers still keep coming back to Starbucks. Why? Because customers are emotionally attached to Starbucks – when they walk through the door, customers know they will have a great coffee experience every time – they feel welcomed, comfortable and privileged (status). And believe it or not, Starbucks intentionally makes it that way – and that is Branding.
Brand builds culture and emphasizes mission.
As I mentioned, Brand helps keep your entire company on the same track. Starbuck’s mission is to provide a great coffee experience to all their customers, and you can feel it when you visit their stores. Employees are respectful and empowered, the coffee/snacks are delicious, the décor is fashionable, and their bathrooms are always clean. Brand supports a strong culture because it helps to deliver a consistent brand message.
Brands are easily forgiven.
When a well branded company has a hiccup, they are easily are forgiven. Even Starbucks occasionally has problems that are quickly publicized on the web and in the news. Starbucks immediately mobilizes to repair the problem and are forgiven by customers. Before long, it’s business as usual. I know a few companies that have had hiccups, some of them rather large ones – but they survive and even thrive afterwards because the customers trust the brand to the end.
Brand distinguishes your company, product and services.
Branding encourages you to distinguish yourself from the rest of the pack. If you have been a 20-30 year company, there must be something you are doing right. You need to identify what your strengths have been and deliver those special attributes in your brand message. While other companies are trying to promote the benefits of their products in a sea of similar products, you can be building trust with your customers by connecting with them through a powerful Brand message (see What is Brand Story?).
Branding is about being Genuine – it builds trust.
In its purest form, Branding was not meant to be persuasive, manipulative like traditional marketing. Branding is about delivering a message with reasonable, attainable promises and then making products that fulfill those promises. That’s how you develop Brand and that’s how you attract loyal customers. It’s all about trust.
Brand helps you compete, even with larger companies
With Brand, you can compete with larger companies that have more resources and maybe a better product. Why? Because you have a better, more meaningful message that distinguishes yourself and focuses on what the customer really wants– someone to stand by them and fulfill their needs.
There’s not a better example than the Microsoft (big) vs. Apple (small) battle many years ago. Today, Apple is big too because of the powerful messages they deliver (e.g. “Think Different”).
Branding makes your whole company better.
Some companies can’t Brand very well, even though they have a decent product. Maybe their sales staff is uninformed, their customer service doesn’t communicate well, their website is outdated, their documentation is hard to read, there is internal discord, or the bathrooms are dirty. All this is to say there are a lot of ways to undermine the sensitive nature of your brand with conflicting messages.
A well branded company knows that it’s the entire organization that needs to fall in line with Brand. And that is why Branding is an important part in developing a strong pervasive culture.
So how do you build a brand that will boost company/product awareness like Starbucks?
It’s the million dollar question.
But you just have to look at Starbuck’s itself. Anyone can make a cup of coffee.
Then why is Starbucks a multi-billion dollar company?
Brand.
What if you can replace the underlined words above with your company and product?
In the coming weeks, we will show you how you can take your first baby steps in establishing a powerful brand in your industry. Branding is undeniably the next important step for many established companies looking to climb out of the doldrums of stagnant sales and increased competition.
How can we help? For a consultation, please contact C2Believe.
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