Branding process

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Question - I want to develop a brand: where do I start?

Answer - Use the following check list

Key Action Points

The main steps in the branding process are:

• Getting the buy-in of your organisation and of others who help build and deliver your brand
• Assessing the market opportunity
• Articulating your brand as a compelling customer experience
• Delivering your brand consistently through customer relationship marketing (CRM)
• Tracking performance and the value of your brand
• Identifying opportunities for obtaining additional revenue by exploiting the equity of your intellectual property to the full

In more detail…..

Getting buy-in

1. Convince yourself & a few fellow activists
2. Who will deliver the brand experience?
3. Educate the team in branding principles
4. Surface current assumptions

Assessing the market opportunity

1. Define the market
2. Identify the market structure - channels, opinion leaders and customers
3. Evaluate the market stability
4. Assess the growth opportunity
5. Identify the markets which are most attractive to you where you can win

Articulating your brand

1. Segmentation - demographics, behaviors, needs & values, situational segmentation
2. Define your brand experience
3. Choose your trademark architecture
4. Develop your brand trademark "look and feel"
5. Ensure the legal protection of your trademarks

Customer relationship marketing (CRM)

1. Assess the opportunity for developing new products & services or refreshing old ones

   • Scenario planning
   • Identify customer problems
   • Screen ideas internally
   • Develop potential winning concepts
   • Test products/services against concepts
   • Optimise the marketing mix
   • Assess alignment to a brand
   • Track products/services post-launch

2. Train and motivate all employees, including the sales force
3. Train and motivate distribution channels and other external agents who can build and deliver your brand
4. Define the process for remote interactive customer management - eBusiness & call centers
5. Develop a plan for formal communications
• Advertising
• Direct marketing/mail/catalogs
• Events/exhibitions/fairs
• Literature/brochures/data sheets/price pages
• Promotions
• Public relations
• Sponsorships/co-branding/joint ventures
6. Define your pricing policy
7. Design your packaging
8. Develop your store design/layout

1. Track your brand equity
2. Consider developing a business scorecard
3. Identify future events & needs
4. Track the effectiveness of your product portfolio
5. Track the effectiveness of your service
6. Track the effectiveness of your communications
7. Track the effectiveness of your packaging
8. Track the effectiveness of your pricing strategy
9. Track the effectiveness of your store design/layout

Exploiting your intellectual property

1. Identify potential opportunities - e.g. licensing, co-branding, ingredient branding, outright sale
2. Identify who else could profit from your brand, and to what extent
3. Identify what impact they would have on your brand
4. Define the equity management and tracking process
5. Negotiate the terms and conditions of the deal

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