Member-only story
Masterclass: Branding and Value Propositions that Spark Growth
The ‘not so secret’ ingredients to success:
Now that you’ve identified your company’s values, its mission and your vision for its future — it is time to define your brand and develop your value proposition.
But first, here’s a quick review of terms to make sure we’re all on the same page before we get into why defining your brand and developing a value proposition will help you market and grow your business.
Brand: also known as a ‘brand name’ is any word, design, sound, shape, or color, or combination of these used to distinguish a seller’s goods or services from its competitors in the eyes of the customer.
Branding: the term ‘branding’ was first associated with cattle ranchers burning a mark on steer so that a rancher could identify his steer from those owned by another rancher. Branding products and services keeps with this principle; a company burns its brand image in the minds of consumers.
Brand Equity: this is the evidence that a brand (or words/design) used to distinguish a company’s products is strong. It is the added value a brand name gives to a product beyond the functional benefits provided. Think Coca Cola, Nike, eBay etc. Having strong brand equity usually means:
* a company can charge higher prices because it has higher perceived quality,
* it will give a company more trade leverage with distributors and retailers,
* it can reduce marketing costs because of an already high level of consumer brand awareness and loyalty.
Value Proposition: is a brief and simple statement that explains all of the benefits that will be delivered to the customer. These benefits might be qualitative (example customer experience) or quantitative (example price). Elements that contribute to creating value for customers include:
* Cost Reduction
* Customisation
* Design
* Performance
* Price.
