BRANDING TIPS FOR SMALL BUSINESS

By ’Seun Adeogun

July 2010

The old expression ‘Nothing happens until somebody sells something’’

 Is being replaced by today’s slogan,

‘’Nothing happens until somebody brands something’’.

                                                          -Al Ries.

     Brannding is no doubt an essential in business growth and development in recent times. Many businesses have been able to surmount tough market challenges as a result of the application of branding concepts. Many are still in the process of creating valuable perception in the mind of their prospects and buyers with the use of branding. Nonetheless, individuals and nations are not left out in this process.

      Branding is endowing products and services with the power of a brand. As a concept, it’s designed to differentiate your product from all the other products in the same market category with your product or services.  The differences created by branding can be said to be: 

·        Tangible –this emanates from the functional value derived from products by consumers. This is in relation to the product performance of the created brand.

·         Intangible –this emanates from the rational, symbolic, emotional values held in the mind of your consumers.  These are in relations to what the brand represents in their minds.

The underlying objective of branding is to create in the mind of the product the perception that there’s no other product on the market quite like your product.

In recent times, it is assumed that most products and services are bought and not sold. The basic factor that greatly facilitates this process is Branding. Branding pre-sells the product or service to the user.

Singularity, identification and perception play vital roles in the process of branding. The singularity in identification creates a first-hand impression or perception in the mind of your buyers and prospects.

As the commercial markets for products and services  is being saturated daily with new entries, there’s need for you to brand your product or services, hence differentiate it from the rest for the benefits of increase demand and market share in the long run. It must be noted that branding is basically done to getting your prospects to see your products or services as the only one that provides solution to their problems or better still as the only one that meets their demanding needs as against all other competing products and services.

Benefits of Branding Your Business

Internal Benefits

• Branding helps fine tune your business strategy and offerings
• Ensure adequate return on investments

External Benefits

• Branding help connect you to your targets, customers and prospects to your offerings emotionally.
• Increases customer loyalty
• Improve your product and service perception and performances

Power Points for Building Strong Brands

To brand your products and services the following tips are required:

• Identify a need, create a market for that need and lunch out as a category leader.
• Create a strong brand identity; this will include name, corporate identity, package and other brand elements.
• Develop your product and service to become an essentially strong and highly demanded need.
• Define and focus your product on meeting that need you have identified, never fall into the gamut of being eager to branch off or extend so soon. Narrow your brand to a particular target market.
• Publicise your brand making use of Public Relations tools. Ensure what you publicise is met at demand and purchase by customers.
• Make sure you are consistent and have a quality strategy for service credibility
• Keep re-enforcing the brand with advertisement
• Ensure your brand create a good perception in the mind of the customer
•  Never stop researching for product development, innovation, revitalization and reinvention to fit with the market dynamics.
•  Ensure you open viable communication for reinforcement, resonance and feedback. Connect with your customers emotions.
• Social investment and sponsorship of developmental programmes should not be left out.

·     Have a long term perspective and an effective management process for performance and revaluation. 

NB: Article previously published on Yinka Olaito's Brand Gravel Blog

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