Fundamentals of Branding

Branding is one of the most important aspects of any business, large or small, retail or B2B. An effective brand strategy gives you a major edge in increasingly competitive markets. But what exactly does "branding" mean? How does it affect a small business like yours?

Simply put, your brand is your promise to your customer. It tells them what they can expect from your products and services, and it differentiates your offering from your competitors'. Your brand is derived from who you are, who you want to be and who people perceive you to be.

Are you the innovative maverick in your industry? Or the experienced, reliable one? Is your product the high-cost, high-quality option, or the low-cost, high-value option? You can't be both, and you can't be all things to all people. Who you are should be based to some extent on who your target customers want and need you to be.

The foundation of your brand is your logo. Your website, packaging and promotional materials--all of which should integrate your logo--communicate your brand.

Brand Strategy and Equity of the Brand

Your brand strategy is how, what, where, when and to whom you plan on communicating and delivering on your brand messages. Where you advertise is part of your brand strategy. Your distribution channels are also part of your brand strategy. And what you communicate visually and verbally are part of your brand strategy, too.

Consistent, strategic branding leads to a strong brand equity, which means the added value brought to your company's products or services that allows you to charge more for your brand than what identical, unbranded products command. The most obvious example of this is Coke vs. a generic soda. Because Coca-Cola has built a powerful brand equity, it can charge more for its product--and customers will pay that higher price.

The added value intrinsic to brand equity frequently comes in the form of perceived quality or emotional attachment. For example, Nike associates its products with star athletes, hoping customers will transfer their emotional attachment from the athlete to the product. For Nike, it's not just the shoe's features that sell the shoe.

Defining Your Brand

Defining your brand is like a journey of business self-discovery. It can be difficult, time-consuming and uncomfortable. It requires, at the very least, that you answer the questions below:

What is your company's mission?

What are the benefits and features of your products or services?

What do your customers and prospects already think of your company?

What qualities do you want them to associate with your company?

Do your research. Learn the needs, habits and desires of your current and prospective customers. And don't rely on what you think they think. Know what they think.

Because defining your brand and developing a brand strategy can be complex, consider leveraging the expertise of a nonprofit small-business advisory group or a Small Business Development Center.

Once you've defined your brand, how do you get the word out? Here are a few simple, time-tested tips:

Get a great logo. Place it everywhere.

Write down your brand messaging. What are the key messages you want to communicate about your brand? Every employee should be aware of your brand attributes.

Integrate your brand. Branding extends to every aspect of your business--how you answer your phones, what you or your salespeople wear on sales calls, your e-mail signature, everything.

Create a "voice" for your company that reflects your brand. This voice should be applied to all written communication and incorporated in the visual imagery of all materials, online and off. Is your brand friendly? Be conversational. Is it ritzy? Be more formal. You get the gist.

Develop a tagline. Write a memorable, meaningful and concise statement that captures the essence of your brand.

Design templates and create brand standards for your marketing materials. Use the same color scheme, logo placement, look and feel throughout. You don't need to be fancy, just consistent.

Be true to your brand. Customers won't return to you--or refer you to someone else--if you don't deliver on your brand promise.

Be consistent. I placed this point last only because it involves all of the above and is the most important tip I can give you. If you can't do this, your attempts at establishing a brand will fail.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Online Retailing

Having worked for some of the Philippines fast-growing E-commerce pioneers such as Lazada.com.ph, and had one way or the other communicated with top titans of Philippine E-commerce business such as the managing director of CashCashPinoy, Business Development Managers of Ensogo, Managing Director of Zalora.com.ph. Indeed the e-commerce landscape business in the Philippines has made some dramatic turn around from several years ago.  Filipino individuals and households now embrace convenience online shopping and has avoided the dreaded Metro traffic turns to online marketplace to get their essential needs and wants such as gadgets, mobile phones, kitchen appliances, dining wares, clothings, shoes, and even freebies on spa, skincare products and many more.

Online retailing is growing at an astonishing rate, with online sales now accounting for around one quarter of the total retail market. Retailers who ignore e-commerce may see their trade lessening as customers continue to shift to ordering products online. However, you need to think carefully and weigh all the advantages and disadvantages - backed by good market research - before deciding on whether or not to trade online.

Advantages of online retail

The benefits of retailing online include:

·         Easy access to market - in many ways the access to market for entrepreneurs has never been easier. Online marketplaces such as eBay and Amazon allow anyone to set up a simple online shop and sell products within minutes.

·         Reduced overheads - selling online can remove the need for expensive retail premises and customer-facing staff, allowing you to invest in better marketing and customer experience on your e-commerce site.

·         Potential for rapid growth - selling on the internet means traditional constraints to retail growth - eg finding and paying for larger - are not major factors. With a good digital marketing strategy and a plan a scale up order fulfilment systems, you can respond and boost growing sales.

·         Widen your market / export - one major advantage over premises-based retailers is the ability expand your market beyond local customers very quickly. You may discover a strong demand for your products in other countries which you can respond to by targeted marketing, offering your website in a different language, or perhaps partnering with an overseas company.

·         Customer intelligence - ability to use online marketing tools to target new customers and website analysis tools to gain insight into your customers’ needs. For more information on driving sales through online advertising see how to develop an e-marketing plan, and for advice on improving your customer’s on-site experience.

Disadvantages of online retail

Some negatives of online retail include: 

·         Website costs - planning, designing, creating, hosting, securing and maintaining a professional e-commerce website isn’t cheap, especially if you expect large and growing sales volumes.

·         Infrastructure costs - even if you aren’t paying the cost of customer-facing premises, you’ll need to think about the costs of physical space for order fulfillment, warehousing goods, dealing with returns and staffing for these tasks.

·         Security and fraud - the growth of online retail market has attracted the attention of sophisticated criminal elements. The reputation of your business could be fatally damaged if you don’t invest in the latest security systems to protect your website and transaction processes.

·         Legal issues - getting to grips with e-commerce and the law can be a challenge and you’ll need to be aware of, and plan to cope with, the additional customer rights which are attached to online sales.

·         Advertising costs - while online marketing can be a very efficient way of getting the right customers to your products, it demands a generous budget. This is especially true if you are competing in a crowded sector or for popular keywords.

·         Customer trust - it can be difficult to establish a trusted brand name, especially without a physical business with a track record and face-to-face interaction between customers and sales staff. You need to consider the costs or setting up a good customer service system as part of your online offering.