To appease our necessities. That would be one straight answer. But is it really so? No.
Once the need for a particular product or service is felt, the feasible options are considered. The most convenient out of those – quality and affordability wise, is chosen and then benefited.
Our fundamental requirements are namely – food, clothes and shelter. But our lifestyle is highly influenced by our income. Based on the society we live in, and the culture we follow to fit in, we chose our products wisely. The number of people of a social class using a specific service or product makes the brand.
In today’s brisk growing society, people are much conscious about what they are wearing or driving or using. They want to be presentable all the time. This gives rise to a feature called “competitiveness”. As it may sound bizarre but people are turning brand savvy. They trust the quality of a brand, and that’s why further proceed to spend on it. But the negative side of this obsession for brands is that other people are judged based on their possessions, which becomes a lousy habit.
This social pressure highly affects our buying strategy. People tend to spend more than required for the namesake of a better brand. Due to this, a sincere competition is seen among top brands. Every day we get new offers and schemes which increases our general shopping ratio as we are fond of buying things at less price than its MRP.
These strategies come under a criteria named “Branding”.
Making your decisions simpler is the basic purpose of Branding. A great Branding is successful in gaining your trust. It plays with your mind and Brands are created in it.
It is a process of creating an exclusive name and image for a product or service in consumer’s mind. It focuses on attracting and retaining the consumers by advertising campaigns and strategies.
Branding plays a key role in creating iconic brands out of regular ones. It affects your behavior without your notice. This begins when you are planning to buy a product. Let us take an example of “moisturizing cream”. When you go to a store to buy a moisturizing cream, even if you don’t follow any exact brand, still you’d go for a product offered by the renowned brands like VLCC, Garnier, Nivea, Oriflame, Lakme, Dove and a couple more. These brands have created a trademark in the industry.
The branding strategy of any iconic brand begins from seeking consumer’s attention at first, followed by convincing him, during his product (as well as its brand) evaluation process. The consumer decision making journey is altered and persuaded by branding and company’s various other marketing leads.
Branding connects the product with your personality and lifestyle. It makes you the proud owner of your possession.
Creating a brand out of your product or service is one huge deal. Once the Brand has grown iconic, it becomes significant to maintain the brand. First step lies in connecting it with the consumers. Any day the brand must be either of these three – cheaper, better, or different. The simple strategy planning should be in favor of making the brand relevant, and compelling.
Everyday competition is increasing in market. It becomes essential to know the competition before they attack the existing brand. So, it is required that in intervals, necessary changes are to be made in the strategies. As great brands always over-deliver the promise.
Apart from giving brilliant ads in print media, the focus should also be on mainstream press and social media promotions. With the world growing digital, this becomes dominant. Another supreme factor is being innovative. For example, APPLE. People love using Apple products, not particularly because of the ‘status’ the viewers feel about you. But Apple is always one step ahead in the competition. Additionally, it’s simpler to use. A person of any age, whether techie or not, can use an Apple product at a great extent, and can use most of its features. Apple product might be over-priced but is never overrated.
Every new product of an existing brand should follow the old ethics and new trend. It is highly recommended to listen to the consumers, no matter how successful the brand is; as without knowing their needs, one can’t create a product that will suffice their demands.
In hard times or in rough phases, one needs to take tough decisions to maintain the brand and he must take it. As someone has nicely said, “A good defense starts with a good offence.”
