Mission
A mission statement speaks of the present form of business, the products it is dealing in, the customers it is serving, and the areas in which it is operating etc. In other words, a mission is all about achievement of present objectives.
It also talks of the commitments and values that are needed to let the company achieve its objectives. It does not speak beyond that. But, the process of strategic management does not stop there. It makes it imperative that managers see beyond the mission, or the present, to determine a long-term direction that the company must take for tomorrow. Nothing is static. The dynamism of the market necessitates that managers must see the impact of:
They have to make some fundamental choices about where they want to take the company and how that evolution and transformation will take place. Such choices form their vision of the company and supplement present company mission with factors like
These factors form the foundation for brands and branding. They are closely intertwined and lead you to form the right branding strategies. It is from that point of view that brand managers must understand the subtleties of the vision and the mission of the company.
In case a company’s mission statement talks not only about its present, but also future, then the mission merges into the strategic vision and we can say the mission is future-oriented. Mostly company mission statements are more concerned about their present business than their future one.
The conceptual distinction between vision and mission, therefore, remains relevant. A clear vision of future business and strategic direction is a prerequisite to strategic leadership. It steers the whole company toward the desired destination.
Nothing could direct the company better toward that destination than having good strategic leadership. And, nothing could give brand managers better insights into developing brands that really fit into the strategic vision of the top management.
Setting Objectives
After vision and mission are in place, the next step is converting those statements into specific objectives. Performance of all managers is measured by the level of achievement of those objectives.
Any organization setting itself ambitious and bold objectives become aggressive in its pursuits. Ambitious and bold should not be misinterpreted as unrealistic. Organizational capabilities must be considered before setting realistic objectives.
Targets
Toward achievement of objectives, all managers across the company must get targets that can be measured. Targets broken into divisions, departments, and then units develop a result oriented work culture. It improves work performance with no confusion about who is supposed to do what and who is stepping on whose toes!
The collective achievement of targets helps the company to achieve its mission and assure fulfilling its vision.
Brand building is a very tough job and hence it requires a solid plan in advance. This is where Strategic brand management steps in. The role of strategic brand management is to take the brand equity of the company to new heights through sequential steps which add value to the brand and ultimately position the brand strongly in the mind of the customers.
Thus, you will find that there are 4 steps which are the most important in strategic brand management and these steps give the maximum effect over a long period of time to build a brand.
1) Brand positioning – The number 1 step in strategic brand management is to decide the brand positioning which the firm wants to achieve. This in itself is a humongous task. The marketer has to research the positioning of each brand in the industry and then find out differentiating factors. Using these differentiating factors, the brand can find a unique position in the mind of the customers. This unique positioning will give the brand a boost and consequentially will affect the overall performance of the brand. Hence, the first step of strategic branding starts with defining the positioning that the brand wants to achieve.
2) Brand marketing – Once you have decided on the brand positioning, to implement the positioning, you need to carry out brand marketing. This involves marketing through various media vehicles as well as implementing ATL and BTL strategies so that you reach the end customer. Besides using media vehicles, building value through brand marketing activities is also important. And value can be built through a lot of research and creativity in your marketing communications. Brand marketing is an important middle step in strategic brand management because it covers the gap between planning and implementation.
3) Brand Performance and analysis – Once you have determined the brand positioning that you want to achieve, and once you have marketed the brand accordingly, it is important that you analyse the brand and its performance in the industry. Brand audits can be conducted on a periodic basis to find out the real performance of the brand and how it has benefited the company. When compared to competitors, is the brand on top of the mind positioning or 2nd or 3rd in positioning? Accordingly the right measures can be taken.
4) Building brand value – The last step in strategic brand management is when you build value for your brand by taking various necessary measures. Brand building takes decades. And it is the role of strategic brand management to plan for decades and not for months. A company which is one or two year old, will not be able to offer too much of value to the customer. It has to make do with whatever it has. So to increase the value of the brand, the company has to enter new products and possibly new markets. It is the work of the brand manager to keep adding value and repeat the previous steps to keep changing the brand positioning as per the market demand or the demand of the customers.
Thus, as mentioned at the start of the article, you will find that brand management is a long term journey, and the results can be achieved if you plan decades in advance.
A mission statement speaks of the present form of business, the products it is dealing in, the customers it is serving, and the areas in which it is operating etc. In other words, a mission is all about achievement of present objectives.
It also talks of the commitments and values that are needed to let the company achieve its objectives. It does not speak beyond that. But, the process of strategic management does not stop there. It makes it imperative that managers see beyond the mission, or the present, to determine a long-term direction that the company must take for tomorrow. Nothing is static. The dynamism of the market necessitates that managers must see the impact of:
- changing technologies
- changing lifestyles
- changing needs of customers
- changing benchmarks of quality, and
- changing competition and overall conditions
They have to make some fundamental choices about where they want to take the company and how that evolution and transformation will take place. Such choices form their vision of the company and supplement present company mission with factors like
- future business makeup
- product line, and
- customer base
These factors form the foundation for brands and branding. They are closely intertwined and lead you to form the right branding strategies. It is from that point of view that brand managers must understand the subtleties of the vision and the mission of the company.
In case a company’s mission statement talks not only about its present, but also future, then the mission merges into the strategic vision and we can say the mission is future-oriented. Mostly company mission statements are more concerned about their present business than their future one.
The conceptual distinction between vision and mission, therefore, remains relevant. A clear vision of future business and strategic direction is a prerequisite to strategic leadership. It steers the whole company toward the desired destination.
Nothing could direct the company better toward that destination than having good strategic leadership. And, nothing could give brand managers better insights into developing brands that really fit into the strategic vision of the top management.
Setting Objectives
After vision and mission are in place, the next step is converting those statements into specific objectives. Performance of all managers is measured by the level of achievement of those objectives.
Any organization setting itself ambitious and bold objectives become aggressive in its pursuits. Ambitious and bold should not be misinterpreted as unrealistic. Organizational capabilities must be considered before setting realistic objectives.
Targets
Toward achievement of objectives, all managers across the company must get targets that can be measured. Targets broken into divisions, departments, and then units develop a result oriented work culture. It improves work performance with no confusion about who is supposed to do what and who is stepping on whose toes!
The collective achievement of targets helps the company to achieve its mission and assure fulfilling its vision.
Brand building is a very tough job and hence it requires a solid plan in advance. This is where Strategic brand management steps in. The role of strategic brand management is to take the brand equity of the company to new heights through sequential steps which add value to the brand and ultimately position the brand strongly in the mind of the customers.
Thus, you will find that there are 4 steps which are the most important in strategic brand management and these steps give the maximum effect over a long period of time to build a brand.
1) Brand positioning – The number 1 step in strategic brand management is to decide the brand positioning which the firm wants to achieve. This in itself is a humongous task. The marketer has to research the positioning of each brand in the industry and then find out differentiating factors. Using these differentiating factors, the brand can find a unique position in the mind of the customers. This unique positioning will give the brand a boost and consequentially will affect the overall performance of the brand. Hence, the first step of strategic branding starts with defining the positioning that the brand wants to achieve.
2) Brand marketing – Once you have decided on the brand positioning, to implement the positioning, you need to carry out brand marketing. This involves marketing through various media vehicles as well as implementing ATL and BTL strategies so that you reach the end customer. Besides using media vehicles, building value through brand marketing activities is also important. And value can be built through a lot of research and creativity in your marketing communications. Brand marketing is an important middle step in strategic brand management because it covers the gap between planning and implementation.
3) Brand Performance and analysis – Once you have determined the brand positioning that you want to achieve, and once you have marketed the brand accordingly, it is important that you analyse the brand and its performance in the industry. Brand audits can be conducted on a periodic basis to find out the real performance of the brand and how it has benefited the company. When compared to competitors, is the brand on top of the mind positioning or 2nd or 3rd in positioning? Accordingly the right measures can be taken.
4) Building brand value – The last step in strategic brand management is when you build value for your brand by taking various necessary measures. Brand building takes decades. And it is the role of strategic brand management to plan for decades and not for months. A company which is one or two year old, will not be able to offer too much of value to the customer. It has to make do with whatever it has. So to increase the value of the brand, the company has to enter new products and possibly new markets. It is the work of the brand manager to keep adding value and repeat the previous steps to keep changing the brand positioning as per the market demand or the demand of the customers.
Thus, as mentioned at the start of the article, you will find that brand management is a long term journey, and the results can be achieved if you plan decades in advance.
- The role of brands, the concept of brand equity, and the advantages of creating strong brands
- The three main ways to build brand equity by:
- properly choosing brand elements,
- supporting marketing programs, and
l- everaging secondary associations - Different approaches to measure brand equity and how to implement a brand equity measurement system
- Alternative branding strategies and how to devise brand hierarchies and brand portfolios
- The role of corporate brands, individual brands, family brands, and brand modifiers and how they can be combined into sub-brands
- How to adjust branding strategies over time and geographic boundaries to maximize brand equity
- How to build brands in the age of the organized consumer
The process of strategic brand management basically involves 4 steps:
1. Identifying and establishing brand positioning.
Brand Positioning is defined as the act of designing the company's offer and image so that it occupies a distinct and valued place in the target consumer's mind.
Key Concepts:
- Points of difference: convinces consumers about the advantages and differences over the competitors
- Mental Map: visual depiction of the various associations linked to the brand in the minds of the consumers
- Core Brand Associations: subset of associations i.e. both benefits and attributes which best characterize the brand.
- Brand Mantra: that is the brand essence or the core brand promise also known as the Brand DNA.
2. Planning and Implementation of Brand Marketing Programs
Key Concepts:
- Choosing Brand Elements: Different brand elements here are logos, images, packaging, symbols, slogans, etc. Since different elements have different advantages, marketers prefer to use different subsets and combinations of these elements.
- Integrating the Brand into Marketing Activities and the Support Marketing Program: Marketing programs and activities make the biggest contributions and can create strong, favorable, and unique brand associations in a variety of ways.
- Leveraging Secondary Associations: Brands may be linked to certain source factors such as countries, characters, sporting or cultural events,etc. In essence, the marketer is borrowing or leveraging some other associations for the brand to create some associations of the brand's own and them to improve it's brand equity.
3.Measuring and Interpreting Brand Performance
Key Concepts:
- Brand Audit: Is assessment of the source of equity of the brand and to suggest ways to improve and leverage it.
- Brand Value chain: Helps to better understand the financial impacts of the brand marketing investments and expenditures.
- Brand Equity Measurement System: Is a set of tools and procedures using which marketers can take tactical decision in the short and long run.
4. Growing and Sustaining Brand Equity:
Key Concepts:
- Defining the brand strategy: Captures the branding relationship between the various products /services offered by the firm using the tools of brand-product matrix, brand hierarchy and brand portfolio
- Managing Brand Equity over time: Requires taking a long -term view as well as a short term view of marketing decisions as they will affect the success of future marketing programs.
- Managing Brand Equity over Geographic boundaries, Market segments and Cultures: Marketers need to take into account international factors, different types of consumers and the specific knowledge about the experience and behaviors of the new geographies or market segments when expanding the brand overseas or into new market segments.
No comments:
Post a Comment