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Why is it so difficult for a Brand to gain traction in the market?
Even after over 20 years in Taiwan, the magic of branding remains elusive. Tech companies may survive or even thrive, but they face a vicious cycle of innovating new products, growing sales, and fighting off competitors every year.
Meanwhile, companies like Starbucks can break free from this cycle thanks to Brand, maintaining their market share despite a crowded market full of low-price competitors. Why can’t others achieve the same?
It starts with the top 5 misunderstandings of what a brand truly is.
Misunderstandings about Brand
Misunderstanding 1 – “My sales are good, so my brand must be good”.
That’s a common misconception that becomes apparent when new competitors wrestle away part of your market with comparable quality but lower prices – your customers will likely switch to the low-price leader, unless you have a strong brand.
If you don’t have a strong brand, you have to rely on sales and luck, every year.
Good Brand: A large part of the Starbucks market is established through Brand – No matter that Taiwan is flooded with low-priced competitors, Starbucks customers stay loyal.
Misunderstanding 2 – “Brand is about attracting customers with aesthetics”
Logo, Website, Colors, Packaging are not the essence of your Brand. Brand is what’s behind the mask..
It doesn’t matter how attractive your logo, colors and website are – you can’t establish a significant market share with aesthetics.
The brand is about the personal relationship that your customers develop with your company – it includes trust, reliability, confidence, friendship, empathy, family, achievement, and status. A pretty logo, by itself cannot convey those.
Good Brand: Sorry McDonald’s but your basic hamburgers are only so so. And yet we go there and still order them, because of all the happy memories when our parent’s took us there. The Brand attraction is based on powerful, emotional connections.
Misunderstanding 3 – “Brand is only for B2C, Business to Consumer”
It doesn’t matter if your customers are B2C or B2B, they are all still human beings who value trust. Otherwise, why would they do business with you? Brand is about trust and loyalty.
Let’s say Apple signs you up to produce a circuit board for them (B2B). It doesn’t mean they are loyal to you. Next year, they might find another supplier with a lower price and say goodbye to you. Companies worry about just that situation, unless they have a Strong Brand.
Good Brand: Intel is a B2B company, and yet they are an iconic global brand, and companies flock to them for their technical expertise and solutions.
Misunderstanding 4 – “Building good products are the basis of our Brand”
Let’s say you have a good product and a customer buys it. Good, right? The problem is that a competitor has a similar product that can attract similar customers. It’s really a horse race to see who can grab the prize – more Ads, more exhibitions, more shouting, more money.
With a strong brand, the buyer will head straight for your store, because your product represents more than just specs – and that’s what brand loyalty means.
Good Brand: Apple cell-phones remain the top revenue-getter because of their Brand, a concept steeped in revolution, style, and status – think different, be different.
And yet, Apple cell phones are not so different than Samsung’s or HuaWei. From a practical perspective, they all basically top out with the same screen quality , audio clarity, camera functionality.
Misunderstanding 5 – “My marketing department is responsible for building my Brand”
In the 2000s, word was out that marketers independently employing branding strategies to attract new consumers was misguided.
A brand starts with the mission statement, which comes from the CEO, or owner. And it’s their job to hammer home core ideology consistently and regularly. This establishes company culture that reaches the design team, who produce consistent brand messaging and inspiring brand imagery that pervades the outside world.
Ultimately, Branding is inside-out.
Conclusion
Building a brand is challenging because it touches on human behavior, company ideology, and culture—concepts that have long been difficult to explain and understand.
Over the last 20 years, new research has shed light on brand misunderstandings. We have summarized those insights, to help companies overcome the initial hurdles to building a strong brand.
There still lots to know about Brand and Branding . If you liked my post, please give me a follow on Linkedin and I’ll get you future updates on how to build a Strong Brand.
Want to learn more about the powerful advantages of Brand? Please feel free to visit our Branding page here.
Branding is inside-out.
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