The secret sauce in a successful brand

Today's business world is deeply influenced by modern marketing techniques. Most products, services, and people have or are a brand themselves. But, what really is a brand? Famous American author Jonas Sachs rightfully said, "Brand is a story unfolding across all customer touchpoints". So, how does one build an impressionable brand that adds value to customers? After 20+ years in the industry, I've observed that the following are the top steps to building a brand and its equity -?

Stay true to the business and its values

Every brand tries to set itself apart from its competitors, but only the ones that stay true to the business and its values accomplish the desired competitive edge. When the brand strategy complements the business goals, it helps in the organic growth of the business. For instance, COVID-19 impacted the day-to-day workings at Ideas91, especially with the remote working model. Still, we managed to evolve as a team and adapt to the change while keeping our clients at the center. To provide the best customer service possible, we made 90% on committed time delivery in the last quarter of 2020 and Q1 2021 despite all the supply chain challenges. We strongly believe that performance excellence is achieved through knowledge, and we need to keep researching to understand all aspects of a product to ensure the best solution for our customers.

Create a compelling story?

A brand story is a valuable marketing asset at the core of brand building, impacting every facet of your business. It helps you build the desired perception of your brand and plays a significant role in emotionally connecting you with your customers. For example, a US-based shoe company, Toms Shoes, successfully entered an extremely competitive industry using its powerful brand story. The brand pioneered the One for One model, wherein one pair of shoes is given away to a child in need for every pair sold. This is a powerful differentiator that went on to inspire customers and disrupt the market. Their brand story focused on depicting how they've always been in business to improve lives, which truly inspired me. A brand story helps strengthen your company from within by attracting the right talent and uniting the existing workforce.

Define a target market and build a community

A compelling brand story helps bring together like-minded customers and attract the right buyer persona. But how do you keep the relationship alive with a customer who has already made a purchase? Brands should create a community of customers to strengthen themselves and pave the way for long-lasting relationships. A stellar example of this is OnePlus. The OnePlus ecosystem with its Red Cable Club gives exclusive benefits, rewards and many more privileges to the members. It is best recognized as a community of inspired individuals united by common interests and beliefs and passionate about superior technology and the finer things in life.?

Have a common brand language

Brand language is the body of words, phrases, and terms a business uses to help consumers connect to its brand and its promise. As our brains react to the descriptive power of words, we begin to create a brand identity and build a relationship with it. We then engage with the brand as we would with a person. Let your consumers see, experience, and identify your brand.?

Review your brand

Brand building is not a one-time effort but rather an ongoing process to ensure lifetime engagement from consumers. Therefore, you must continually review your brand-building efforts and ensure they are always aligned with the business strategy and values while adapting to the changes in the business and economic environment.?

A good question to ask everyone in your company and the customers themselves is - Why do customers love us??Do this exercise every quarter, and the insights you gather from this will help you build a great and vibrant community.?

Keeping the above pointers in mind, I have helped many brands achieve kinetic growth. I believe that most successful companies have a "secret sauce" that gives them an edge—a true differentiator that creates unique value for their customers. And I have also seen that many people within the organization don't know the secret sauce. Therefore, I always strive to bring that out while helping my clients convert a generic product/service into a successful and influential brand. I'm now on a mission to make a million more brands thrive and be happy.