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A brand has value only if it has a strategy that supports it.
Branding implies to integrate communication, marketing and commercial areas within companies.
by Sofia Corral, La Nación, Buenos Aires
Behind the brand is a strategy. No detail is left to chance: from product presentation, advertising, to the local design and attention from sellers. Everything is designed. It is about branding, to give life to brands with an overall vision.
But the global economic crisis has also left its mark on the world of products and companies. “Now customers are much more conservative. The majority has the same budget as before, but they must do things more efficiently. Today more than ever we need innovation,” said Patrick Smith, worldwide president of FutureBrand, who was visiting our country.
Brands are not what they were before, or at least for Smith they should not. “Products, identity and employees are part of the same. For example, it is critical that at retail stores sellers understand that besides to be communicating the characteristics of a product they must also transmit the values they hold” he says. The specialist prefers to talk about “moments of truth” as those situations that leave consumers face to face with the brand.
“It is important to note that it is no longer enough to differentiate via a change in the image. The challenge for companies is to understand that they need an integrated strategy,” said Gustavo Koniszczer, local head of FutureBrand. “Today, he adds, saying branding is to talk about experiences. You talk about all the points of contact a customer has with a brand, whether real, virtual, telephone or interpersonal”, he details.
According to Koniszczer, thanks to branding communication, marketing and commercial structures are unified and come to life within companies.
The experts consulted agree that the firms that will endure in the coming years will be those that apply small doses of innovation.
Smith highlights two projects developed by FutureBrand, which had great acceptance among the public. “We designed a horizontal bed for passengers taking international flights. Another example I like to mention is the launch of a beer with lower alcohol content but with premium taste. In both cases, the ideas came from customer needs and solutions helped build the brand”, he says.
Another case mentioned by Smith is the one implemented by British Airways. Passengers having access to VIP lounges in certain airports can start to enjoy their holidays before takeoff. They had asked to avoid too “executive atmosphere” in those lounges right at the beginning of their holidays. The answer? Parasols and deck chairs looking at the runway. “We did preliminary research with consumers. They wanted to feel that we were already on the beach. We were able to provide a response with a slight modification”, Smith describes.
Another trend that will set the course of branding will be the Web 2.0, i.e. compliments and complaints made by users through virtual communities like Twitter or Facebook.
“The power of dialogue between consumers through social networks is very interesting. It is a tool that companies should take advantage of. From the opinions reported, companies can implement changes in a much more rapid way. In addition, in short time you can test ideas”, he says.
Excerpt translated from La Nación, Buenos Aires.
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