Three simple (but pivotal!) tips to establish new brands!

Hey Business Leader,

A few years ago, I had a business challenge.?My organisation had brought a new, relatively unknown brand into the Nigerian market and the challenge was getting our target audience to fall in love with the brand and choose it at the moment of purchase.

There were lots of things we tried and several strategies we put in place to move this brand along, however, reflecting on that period, the biggest shifts happened when we did three things.

First, we became the brand!?It was a "lifestyle" type of brand and so we demonstrated the lifestyle.?We had a beautiful, compelling and attractive service ritual and we drove this consistently over the first couple of years.

Second, we focused on Lagos only and this single-minded focus helped us learn about our target audience and the Nigerian market in a "controlled space".?After the first year and a half, we moved on to our City Expansion project, and I'd speak about that subsequently.

Third, we got our target audience to interact with the brand!?We got them to taste it.?We demonstrated how they could enjoy it in their homes.?We showed different ways that it could suit different palates.?We emphasised what made this brand different from the existing brands in the market.

How does this apply to you??It's the same three-step process!?Let's call it?The L.F.T Model!

LIFESTYLE: Do you embody the brand you are trying to sell??Do you and every member of staff believe in and use your product or service??Does your natural lifestyle reflect that of your product or service?

If you and your staff don't believe enough in your service to use it, why should anyone else?

FOCUS:?Be very focused at the beginning.?Start small, fine-tune your operations and then scale!?Too many business owners make the mistake of expanding too soon without solving operational issues.?This will lead to poor customer service and a general lack of excellence in your business.

A consistent, positive customer experience beats an ill-timed expansion hands-down any day.

TRIAL: Find creative ways to get your target audience to try and interact with your goods and services.?This is still the most proven and tested way of driving conversion.?It's why the woman selling boiled groundnuts, for example, will ask you to taste a few of the groundnuts in a bid to convince you to buy.?And yes, I've brought in my love for boiled groundnuts into this conversation, but let me focus!?

People remember what they try... Especially if they enjoy it!

That's?The L.F.T Model?in a nutshell and it applies to you whether you are a product business or a service business.

Oh, and before you start emailing me about how you tried this for a month and didn't work, can I remind you that your business is here for the long haul? Building brands is always a long-term process. Yes, you will receive short-term benefits such as increased sales and more consumers BUT ultimately, the best brands are those that became a part of the culture and have a long-term view of their products and services.

So, what part of this model will you put into practice??Let me know!

To your continued success!