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Welcome to our guide on Brand Management – your go-to resource for understanding and navigating the world of branding.
In this post, we’ll break down the basics, discuss why brand management matters, explore effective strategies, and shed light on the role of a brand manager.
Whether you’re new to marketing or looking to sharpen your brand expertise, join us as we demystify the essentials of building and maintaining a strong brand presence.
What is Brand Management?
Brand management is a broad term that refers to marketing techniques performed to maintain & improve awareness and reputation of a brand or product over time.
Brand management is managing the customer’s perception of a product or service.
Effective brand management helps companies to increase profitability and build a loyal customer base. Established brands also have to maintain their brand identity through proper brand management.
Relevance of Brand Management
Brands exist everywhere.
They are just not about labels, logos, design, and corporate identity but also about a set of values, patterns of familiarity, meaning, fondness, and reassurance that exist in the minds of people.
As the market becomes increasingly more competitive and the consumers become more brand and advertising literate, the role of the brand changes as does the role of the marketer.
The brand which initially leveraged the name and perhaps the logo to help consumers identify that it belonged to a particular company, thereby reassuring them of a certain quality threshold, slowly goes into a zone where it loses its power of differentiation and uniqueness, which all this while was nicely pivoted on the tangible product features and rational advertisements.
The market transitions from sellers’ market to buyers’ market and that is when a brand needs to transcend beyond the product features into the realm of intangible imagery to gratify the emotional needs of the consumers.
This is when emotional advertisements are effective.
With the further evolution of the market and the consumers, the brand’s role changes further to become part of the users’ self-identity.
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In other words, the brand takes the role of communicating to the outer world about the user through the values and associations that it connotes.
Symbolic advertisements resonate best in this scenario.
The marketer needs to recognise these progressive changes in the market and consumer dynamics and accordingly adapt his branding strategy and advertising style to ensure that the marketing action continues to create perceived value for the brand on an ongoing basis.
This is what strategic brand management aims at.
Why does a brand that is strategically managed result in increasing its perceived value in the minds of the consumers?
This is because long-term brand building involves identifying the relevant positioning of the brand which is differentiated from the competition and strikes a chord with the consumers.
It is also about compellingly communicating that positioning through different media vehicles to ensure maximum reach.
Therefore, the brand promise not only reaches out to a wider spectrum of consumers but also grabs their attention by cutting through the clutter, creating conviction about the value proposition and consequent positive disposition towards the brand.
The marketer can increase the price of the brand among this wider consumer fraternity without much resistance because of the brand value that he or she has been able to create.
Consumers subconsciously evaluate the price, not in absolute terms but more from a perspective of the ‘value-price equation’.
Of course, BTL activities e.g. consumer promotions need to be done in some situations like stock clearance, higher offtake during the off-season, quick trial generation, etc, but these cannot run continuously…else the equity of the brand may be diluted.
Effective brand management should take cognisance of this reality.
To effectively manage a brand, it’s important to make sure that the brand is always visible, and that you’re attracting and keeping customers. This involves creating unique and relevant imagery, building strong customer loyalty, and providing a memorable customer experience both online and in-store.
Optimal conversion and retention rates are also important factors to consider. By focusing on these elements, you can successfully manage your brand and build a strong customer base.
All of these factors contribute to the equity of the brand, which should be periodically measured for effective brand management. Therefore, maintaining a brand’s growth requires ongoing support to ensure it remains relevant and continues to be valued by consumers. A successful brand always stays in the mindfulness and hearts of its customers.
Brand management strategies
Building a brand strategy refers to building a unique story and customer experience i.e. something that connects the customers with your brand and its products and fosters loyalty over time.
Companies can implement different types of brand management strategies to promote their brand or product.
Here are a few common brand management strategies used by organisations:
1. Corporate Branding
Corporate branding is a company’s identity and the way by which the brand is presented to the target audience. Corporate branding involves several aspects, like the company’s public image, its values, brand voice, social initiatives, etc. A corporate branding strategy helps to build a connection with customers and establish trust for your brand.
2. Individual Branding
Many large companies like Apple, Coca-Cola, etc opt for individual branding strategy as their products are well-known to the public. Here, the parent company focuses on building a unique brand name for each product by analysing the target audience, market demand, etc. This marketing strategy helps to create an independent product positioning in the market.
3. Service Branding
Service branding is meant for service-oriented companies such as banking, insurance, consulting firms, travel companies, etc. Service branding aims to highlight your services and the benefits among your customers. With a strong service branding strategy, you can make your brand stand out among your competitors and retain more loyal customers.
4. Co-Branding
Co-branding refers to a branding strategy, where multiple brands work together to offer a product or service. The co-branding identity of a brand can sometimes create a new brand identity or it can be a combination of brand identities of brands involved.
5. Product Branding
This type of branding is very common and we see it in our everyday lives. Product branding refers to the creation of a distinctive brand image for a given product. Product branding focuses on creating a brand that anyone can recognise based on the product you sell. Your product is a brand extension of your company, so your company will also benefit from your product branding.
6. Online Branding
Digital branding or Online Branding is highly relevant in today’s digitised world. Online branding involves many types of online marketing strategies to promote your brand such as social media posts, blogs, videos, websites, etc. This strategy helps to boost the brand image and reach potential customers who are online.
7. Personal Branding
Personal branding is the process of creating a brand identity for a person or a company. Creating a personal brand is a great way to distinguish yourself in the competitive market because it allows people to understand who you are and what sets you apart from others. For example, Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla and SpaceX has created a successful personal brand.
What does a brand manager do?
Brand managers are responsible for overseeing all marketing activities related to a brand. Their role is to analyse how their brand is perceived by consumers.
Brand managers manage multiple areas of marketing, such as design, research, content, social media, etc.
In other words, a brand manager is responsible for managing both the tangible and intangible aspects of a brand.
A brand manager is responsible for:
- Conducting market research
- Managing projects through various stages of development
- Analysing data for market trends and other insights
- Creating new branding strategies
- Coordinating with the marketing team to ensure brand alignment
- Managing budgets for all branding efforts
- Maintaining relationships with company stakeholders
To become a brand manager, you need relevant experience and qualifications, such as an MBA. Many professionals are exploring careers in brand management nowadays. If you are interested in acquiring more skills and knowledge in marketing, consider joining our online MBA program tailor-made for working professionals.
By: Ashok Mitra
