We live in a branded world. Everything is branded, from products
to experiences. Some research studies have shown that babies as
young as age 18 months recognize brands. And the average three-year-old
is familiar with more than 1,500 brands!
Brands play a critical role in purchase decision-making. They
become a short-hand for your customers and telegraph certain
attributes and qualities to the marketplace, making it easy
for the customer to choose your brand. Brands are the customer-facing
expression of your business strategy.
Research Helps Build Brands
So why do so many companies know so little about their brands?
Brand research is focused on helping companies make the critical
decisions that build and enhance their branding. Whether you
are just starting to define your brand or whether you have an
established brand that you are managing, accurately and timely
information is available through brand research.
There are six key areas where you should be looking for
branding research to give you the critical information you need
to manage your brand:
1) Creating a new brand strategy – Whether you are creating a
totally new brand or want to change your brand strategy,
information about your competitors’ and your positions in the
marketplace is important to understanding and developing your
strategy. As was said in Alice In Wonderland, “If you don’t know
where you are, then any road will get you there!”
2) Understanding how far your brand can stretch – One of the
great things about strong brands is the way they help companies enter new markets, new geographies and new product categories. Leveraging your brand in this way requires that you understand what your brand stands for in great depth.
3) Brand Architecture – Understanding and managing how equity
flows throughout your brand/product portfolio is an important
element in brand management.
4) Brand Management – Information for brand management in terms
of target audience awareness of your brand, perceptions of
your brand attributes and benefits and potential opportunities
is critical to understanding and managing the brand’s lifecycle.
5) Revitalizing Brands – It happens. In spite of a company’s
best efforts, brands lose their way and equity begins to erode.
Information is key to being able to bring a tired brand back
to life and set it on the path to growth and profitability.
6) Brand Positioning – Differentiation is key to brand strength
and positioning is the expression of differentiation.
Research to identify the optimal brand position is key to
quickly and effectively repositioning your brand.
BuildingBrands will help you unlock the potential of your brand. We believe the best way to achieve this is by focusing on the fundamental truths of brand management - and sharing them in a way that is clear, concise and free of jargon.
Full Access to buildingbrands.com provides you with a growing set of resources to help you build the value of your brand.
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