The ultimate guide to becoming a brand that scares the competition and eventually gets you ahead in the game.

Great brands are not accidents. Becoming a brand is a journey that involves 4 Stages as shown in the image below. Further, we’ll decode this strategic branding process to build a brand that people will remember for life.

Brands that constantly follow the steps in the image above eventually builds a bond with the audience. Therefore, business owners must understand that branding is emotional and must be combined with right positioning.

The mistake that startups and new business owners usually make is believing that branding is only for large players.

To break the myth anybody whether individual or new business can take the journey to become a brand. The earlier you incorporate the branding strategy to precede the marketing better are the chances of you being known as an authority.

“A brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room” – Jeff Bezos

Let’s get deep into this 4 step process

Step 1 – Identify & Establish Positioning and Value

This is the step where we lay the foundation of becoming a brand and involves four major activities. We begin it with brain storming and by the end of this step we should have identified our core association. Let’s take each step and understand how to glide through the process of becoming a brand.

Mental Maps

This is the first of many steps in becoming a brand. A mental map is a graphical representation of what you want to be known for? This is where you brainstorm with your team and list down the attributes you want to be known for? Look at the image below for a mental map for Nike this will help you understand better.

This Mental Map will help us in laying down a foundation for our business to become a brand.

Competitive Frame of Reference

Post preparing a mental map we need to get into understanding our target market and segment. This is the step that defines the direction we’ll take as an organization. There are various factors to consider while performing the segmentation and positioning.

By definition segmentation means “The process of defining and subdividing a large homogenous market into clearly identifiable segments.” There are 4 major areas which should have our focus while defining the right target market.

The images above helps in understanding the questions that business owners must ask to target the right audience. A good example here about wrong targeting is Coca Coal’s targeting when Pepsi was giving them tough competition after initial launch. Coca Cola build a formulae to beat Pepsi and did rigorous testing on taste and finally launched the new coke. However a lot of original coke buyers went furious and their sales dropped.

The key reason their product failed was lack of focus on the motivation aspect for their brand. Coca Cola was much more than a drink to Americans it had it’s own community. Coca Cola as a result had to re-launch the original coke.

After the segmentation and targeting we must establish a frame of reference. Frame of reference is knowing who are you competing against. This frame is of reference is what we will use to establish a Point of Parity & Point of difference.

Point of Parity & Point of difference

Point of Parity is establishing the attributes or quality in your product or service that is a must for your brand to stand and remain in the competition. This is where we make a statement to the customer that we have what it take to compete against others. Having established a point of parity begins to build awareness and customers begin to notice you.

Point of Difference is where you establish the factors and attributes that differentiate you from the competition. These are the factors , attributes and benefits that customers associate with and find not available with other brands. These factors could be features, service, emotional wellbeing, cultural cause. Let’s take the example of Apple there POD’s (design, ease-of-use, and irreverent attitude) similarly for Nike it’s (performance, innovative technology, and winning).

Core Brand Association

This is the point where we consolidate all the discussions that we have had in this section to nail down on the core positive feeling that we want the customers to associate with. This is where we need to ask what feelings does my customer get when they hear our brand. You also need to remember to have that feeling imbibed in your organization and have your organizations show that association as a culture.

Step 2 – Plan and Implement a Brand Marketing Program

In step 1 we defined the identity of our brand that is who do we serve and what we should be known for. Now it’s time to leap ahead in branding journey and understand other components of building a brand.

Mixing and Matching Brand Elements

Brand elements are the components that help customers differentiate a brand from others. These are trademarkable hence give you legal protection over the elements being used by others. Few items that form the brand elements are (Logos, Character, tagline, jingle, packaging etc.) for example Toblerone’s unique triangular packing, Nike’s logo, and slogan “Just Do It”. The brand elements have a direct impact on what image your business carries in mind of consumer.

There are 6 criteria to consider when choosing brand elements :

Brand Building Criteria

Memorable – When choosing a name one should make sure it’s easy to pronounce and has a good recall value. Shorter the name easily it sticks in our head (Nike, Apple, Tide etc.)

Meaningful – This is the attribute that brings credibility and meaning to the brand in terms of use or benefits.

Likeability – The brand elements should be fun, interesting, and likable and may not always relate to the product or service. A good example of that is Apple.

Focusing on these offensive criteria helps in building a brand equity and recognition and thus reducing the marketing budgets.

Brand Defense Criteria

Transferable – Choose an element that enables you to expand your horizons easily to different products, product category and geography.

Adaptable – You need to imbibe this factor in your culture and continue to evolve as a brand with changing times.

Protective – The brand elements should not be easily copied and legally protected.

Integrating Brand Marketing Activities

This is the stage where we begin to communicate our brand messages to the world via different channels. For a brand to be successful it must be able to hold on to the customers attention. Kevin Keller a branding expert said that marketing communication that follows below 6 steps leaves a lasting impression.

1. Exposure: A person must see or hear the communication.
2. Attention: A person must notice the communication.
3. Comprehension: A person must understand the intended message or arguments of the
4. communication.
5. Yielding: A person must respond favorably to the intended message or arguments of the
6. communication.
7. Intentions: A person must plan to act in the desired manner of the communication.
8. Behavior: A person must actually act in the desired manner of the communication.

Now we have process that will take us forward in the branding journey and we can communicate the right message to get closer to becoming a brand with a good recall value.

Now we need to use this communication process in all our marketing activities through the various channels, Print, TV, Digital, or any other means. We need to ensure all the marketing activities are aligned and deliver a unified message.

Below are the benefits of different kind of marketing.

Experiential marketing promotes a product by not only communicating a product’s features and benefits but also connecting it with unique and interesting consumer experiences.

Relationship marketing includes marketing activities that deepen and broaden the way consumers think and act toward the brand.

Mass customization, one-to-one, and permission marketing are all means of getting consumers more actively engaged with the

product or service.

The aim here is to create a holistic marketing experience where the brand recall is created and customers are moved to take the final action of buying the product.

Continue Reading for the details on the next 2 steps