Reasons to be cheerful
Jonathan Alder
Brand specialist | Author: Brand in the Boardroom | Helping ambitious organisations make an impact | Brand strategy | Brand identity | Brand management | Trustee at CoLab
The economic forecast is gloomy. The Bank of England announced last week that the UK is in recession, as businesses and consumers struggle with the rising costs. But there are reasons to be cheerful.
Even in a recession there are winners. Earlier this month Aldi announced their sales were up by almost a fifth, giving them a 9.3% market share - making them the fourth largest supermarket in the UK. As competitors struggle, Aldi are booming.
The potential to grow your business will certainly vary from sector to sector. Many businesses are under enormous pressure from rising costs: energy, recruitment, materials, transport. Everything is more expensive. But when customers - businesses or consumers - are under pressure, they look for other options. They look for alternatives.
The next few months will present opportunities for you to be that alternative.
The first step is to make a plan, so you can make the best use of your resources. This plan is your brand strategy. A good brand strategy will help you to drive growth in the most efficient and effective way. Efficiency is about using the fewest resources to deliver your plan. Effectiveness is about making the greatest impact when you execute your plan. There are three things your brand strategy will give you.
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A business goal
A good brand strategy should include a goal - a tangible, practical business goal that you can measure. This goal will often be a financial target, but it doesn’t have to be. But it does need to be something that is essential to business “success”, however you want to measure success. (If it’s not “essential”, it’s a waste of resources.) When you know what you need to achieve, you can pursue the right activity to achieve it. This is one aspect of the efficiency your brand strategy will bring you.
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A customer profile
A good customer profile will give you clarity, so your brand strategy will include at least one. This is another aspect of efficiency, but it also impacts effectiveness. When you understand your customers, you know what’s important to them - what they’re most willing to pay for. This insight will help you to retain your existing customers, but will also give you opportunities to reach new ones. When you’re creating a customer profile, there are four factors to consider: demographic, geographic, psychographic and behavioural. Each of this is valuable but it’s arguable that, when under pressure, it is behaviour that may be most significant.
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A brand proposition
Your brand proposition is a statement about the benefit you deliver to your customers. It should give people a reason to buy from you, rather than your competitors. At a time when customers (existing or prospective) are considering their options, this is really important. Your brand proposition is all about effectiveness. The previous two points lay a foundation: a clear goal and a customer profile. They create the potential for success. Your brand proposition builds on the foundation and releases that potential.
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It is certainly going to be a challenging environment to do business over the next few months. But understanding how your brand can create new opportunities for you, can drive your business success. So when you read the news, remember, there are reasons to be cheerful, despite the forecast.
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What does yellow make you think of?
Colour can be a very emotive communication tool. It certainly seemed to ruffle a few feathers when Asda used yellow on the packaging of their new Just Essentials value range!
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Branding tip: Are you frustrated about competing on price? Then talk about something else - give customers another reason to choose you.
If price is the only aspect of your product or service you talk about, your customers have nothing else to judge you on. So, does the quality of your product set you apart? Is the accessibility of your service a competitive advantage? Are you able to offer greater availability of your products, than your competitors? Do you offer more choice to customers, with a wider range of services?
If you don’t want to talk about price, talk about something else.
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Brand In The Boardroom
If you would like to know more about how your brand can drive your business success, you might be interested in Brand In The Boardroom. It explains how your brand connects the core functions of your business - operations, human resources, marketing, sales and finance - and why that's important.