A strong brand is the most useful asset of an organization. It is already known that customers always prefer to buy the brands familiar to them. However, brand-building is not a short-term game and to make a successful brand, there are more factors that need to be considered than what most people usually imagine.
According to experts, to build a coherent brand strategy, there should be a consistent communication and experience in all platforms the organization deals in, including the environment, prints and packaging, online presence, and sales and services. Whether, it is a small business fighting against big ones or an established firm seeking a new market, brand-building can help any firm that needs to profit from operations.
Here are 10 time-tested steps to build a stronger brand:
1. Find Out the Target Market
No company can provide everything to everyone. So, the first task in building a brand is to determine who the target market is. Many experts believe that being specific about the target market is helpful in two ways – it gives the firm a solid customer base and it makes the firm capable of calculating the exact market size. It is obvious that both of these factors make the core of a brand and hence must be treated with utmost importance.
2. The Accurate Mission Statement
If a firm does not have a matching mission statement, it is often lost in the crowd. It must know what the value the firm provides to its target markets. The mission statement is like the guiding force of all marketing activities. It must be accurate, applicable and purposeful.
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3. Knowing the Competition
It is important to know which other brands are there in the same market you are targeting. While imitating big brands cannot guarantee success, a firm must be familiar with the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) of itself and the competitors. This is important because a firm cannot add value without knowing these four factors.
4. Knowing What to Offer
The products, services, and benefits a firm offers must be included in the brand-building process. While there will always be bigger competitors, a firm must know its offerings to be sure of the components of brand-building process.
5. Logo and Tagline
These are the most important factors in making a brand successful because it provides the brand an identity. The logo and tagline must match with the mission and product offerings. If the logo and tagline are just for show, the brand will eventually die without reaching the goal. A strong brand starts with a strong all-inclusive logo and tag.
6. The Voice of the Brand
Depending on the mission, target market and the industry, a firm must decide its voice. It should be clear, friendly, meaningful, conversational and informative. The brand is going to survive the grind in the completion only if it is coherent and applicable in the market. Without having a voice, it is hard to build a long-lasting brand that makes sense.
7. Building a Proper Brand Message and an Elevator Pitch
A firm must tell the customer who it is. Without a proper message to convey, it is hard to imagine an effective brand. The voice, mission and logo & tags play a deciding role in creating the message. This message once created must be used in the pitch the firm makes to attract the customers. The message and pitch must be simple and transparent, and it must tell why your brand is useful for the target audience.
8. Brand Integration
There is no end of the brand-building process. The firm must be able to integrate its brand attributes in everything it does. The brand will last only if there is a distinct, unique and meaningful value in it. Therefore, the brand-building process must integrate everything it has devised for the brand to stay competitive in the market.
9. Staying Loyal to the Brand
To make the brand acceptable by the audience, the builders must stay attached to the brand attributes, such as logo, tag, voice and the mission. It must be realized by the brand builders that they are not creating a method to seduce the market, but in fact they are offering a certain kind of value that can be important and useful for the audience.
10. Advocate the Brand Personality
The audience does not know the personality of the brand if the firm and the brand-builders do not wear it everywhere and in everything. The brand will shine only if the brand is conveyed to the audience in a succinct and relevant manner. For this, the brand-builders must be the biggest advocates of the brand itself. Without the brand owner being involved, a brand cannot sustain the wear and tear in the market.
Following these 10 simple steps, one can make a strong brand that is recognized, accepted and looked for by the target audience.
HSN Codes for Services
| Sr. | HSN Codes | Description |
| 1 | 4909 | Printed or illustrated postcards; printed
cards bearing personal greet-ings, messages or announcements, whether or not illustrated, with or without envelopes or trimmings. |
| 2 | 4910 | Calendars of any kind, printed, including
calendar blocks |
| 3 | 4911 | Other printed matter, including printed
pictures and photographs; such as Trade advertising material, Commercial catalogues and the like, printed Posters, Commercial catalogues, Printed inlay cards, Pic-tures, designs and photographs, Plan and drawings for architectural engineering, industrial, commercial, topographical or similar purpos-es reproduced with the aid of computer or any other devices |
| 4 | 4902 | Newspapers, journals and periodicals,
whether or not illustrated or containing advertising material |
| 5 | 998313 | Information technology (IT) consulting and support services
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| 6 | 998361 | Advertising Services
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| 7 | 998391
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Website Design |
| 8 | 9508 | Roundabouts, swings, shooting galleries and other fairground amusements; [other than travelling circuses and travelling menageries] |
| 9 | 8308 | Clasps, frames with clasps, buckles, buckle-clasps, hooks, eyes, eyelets and the like, of base metal, of a kind used for clothing or clothing accessories, footwear, jewellery, wrist watches, books, awnings, leather goods, travel goods or saddlery or for other made up articles; tubular or bifurcated rivets, of base metal; beads and spangles, of base metal |
| 10 | 8413 | Power driven pumps primarily designed for handling water, namely, centrifugal pumps (horizontal and vertical), deep tube-well turbine pumps, submersible pumps, axial flow and mixed flow vertical pumps
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