Articles

1. Basing your brand on price

If you base your brand purely on price, there will always be someone that will beat you there. There is no value that makes you stand out from your competitor. Even if you are priced the same as a competitor, why would a potential customer choose you? Create your brand around benefits rather than price and you will create trust and a loyal following. Price will not be an issue to a core customer who has benefited in some way from your product or service.

2. Changing your core message

New managers sometimes come into companies and want to place their mark on a company brand. Change is not good if it’s just for the sake of change. If your message to the customer is about being the leader in custom built and quality products and you change the message to selling products that suit anyone, your loyal customers will get confused and loose trust in your brand. Your visual brand identity and collateral can change design but your core message must stay the same.

3. Over promising

Make sure that you deliver on all your promises. Don’t try to sound better than you are. Potential customers will see through it in a snap. Your promise must flow through everything you do. If you promise friendly service, make sure that this is true across all contact points: the receptionist, voice message, staff and sales people. If you are a young, cool company reflect this in your interior design. Be true to your brand on all levels. Honesty is the key to branding.

4. Leveraging off other brands

Create your own niche in the market instead of trying to be like the larger players. Target a sector of the market and talk to them instead of competing on the same level as your opposition. Don’t piggy back off their ideas as this will not ring true, create your own message and point of difference. There is always room for another player with a different angle on the business. Offer added value or a different look and feel. Find out what your market is looking for.

5. Not engaging with your audience

No matter how large and established a brand is, they need to establish a relationship with their audience and continually connect with their customers.

Sony was a big brand producing electronics, lifestyle products, films and music but they have lost market share by not engaging with their audience. They produced televisions and walkmans, but also branched into a music label, a mobile phone joint venture, a financial services company and an online music store. They diversified too much, became too passive and eroded the strength of their brand. They lost ground to Apple products on many fronts; design, lack of innovation and excitement for consumers. The Sony brand was no longer thought of as cool.