Franchise Money Maker

This article is written and owned by Gareth Schweitzer
Branding to the Consumer

What is a brand? More than a mere product, service or
company, a brand exists in the mind of the consumer as an
association with a particular product, service or company.
These associations are based on a combination of objective
and subjective factors. Objective criteria include quality,
price and consumer reports, while subjective criteria tend
to reflect a highly personal sense of nostalgia or
aspiration on the part of the consumer. Given the surfeit
of products available today in every imaginable sector, a
proactive branding campaign is vital for separating your
product, service or company from the competition and
generating a heritage of customer loyalty.

Because brands exist in the minds of consumers, brand
positioning should always focus on the minds of your target
market. Before this can happen, you must define who and
what that target market is - i.e., who your customers are,
and where your product, company or service will compete.
Only then can you properly deduce the set of
characteristics that best describe your brand. It is
important to note that this information must come from your
customers, not you. (When it comes to branding, it’s not
who you think you are that counts - it’s who your customers
think you are.) After collecting perceptual information
about your product, service or company from a sample of
customers, you can apply this learning to calculate the
ideal combination of brand characteristics for your target
market.

While all brands are essentially an amalgam of consumer
perceptions and expectations, there are a number of brand
positioning techniques for creating the impression that a
brand associated with a particular product, service or
company is special or unique. One key method is to create
value. This can be accomplished by manipulating the
projected image of a product, service or company in a way
that makes the consumer view it as intrinsically valuable.
The right advertising campaign, for example, can do wonders
for brand value - with many going so far as to convince
consumers to pay premium prices for products or services
that are relatively inexpensive to produce or provide.

Another method is to secure brand recognition. By making
your brand widely recognizable in the marketplace - i.e.,
through advertising, event sponsorships or other marketing
initiatives - you will directly inform - and elevate - your
consumer’s perception of your product, service or company.
In addition to having positive ramifications within the
culture at large, brand recognition pays off where it
really counts - in the retail environment. When choosing
between a branded product and its generic counterpart at
the point of purchase, customers often select the more
expensive “name brand” option on the basis of reputation.

The fact that brands exist in the minds of consumers does
not preclude the possibility of brand management. On the
contrary, successful brands are actively positioned on a
regular basis - long after they’ve been unleashed on the
market and become part of the cultural landscape. By
defining your target customers and tailoring your product
or service to their needs and preferences, you can obtain
the value and recognition necessary to make your brand a
leader in every relevant category.

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Gareth Schweitzer is the Founding Partner of Kelton
Research (http://www.keltonresearch.com). Kelton Research
is a full service marketing research company with offices
in Los Angeles and New York, and is America’s fastest
growing market research agency.

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