When a person constantly uses the products of one company and recommends them to friends, he is a brand ambassador. Growing such loyal consumers is the job of a brand manager.
What is brand management
Why do you need brand management?
What does brand management consist of?
Principles of brand management
Effective brand management
Expert advice
What is brand management
Table of Contents
A brand is a stable image of a company or product (goods or services) in the mind of the consumer, which includes associations, opinions, impressions and stereotypes. Management is a system of targeted actions for managing, for example, an enterprise. That is, brand management is managing the brand image in the mind of the target consumer.
The task of brand management is to create and manage the image of a product or company, where each element, from the logo to a post on social networks, conveys a well-thought-out, analytically substantiated message to the consumer. And the brand becomes not just a trademark on the packaging, but a complex feeling of how the consumer feels when interacting with it.
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Why do we need brand management?
It helps the company solve a number of problems:
● Achieve business performance
Before it ends up in the consumer’s wallet, it needs to end up in their head. People won’t buy a product they don’t notice on the store shelf or don’t perceive as suitable for them. Creating a product that will attract attention and arouse a desire to buy is the goal of brand management.
The next goal is marketing. Using various promotion channels, it is necessary to tell the consumer about the product so that he or she will buy it. This helps to achieve the company’s goals, such as the desired profit level or entering new markets.
● Develop business
In 2022, renowned marketing strategist Tom Roach published a study on the impact of brand management on company development .
According to the study, management risks reaching a plateau — reaching certain stable sales figures and not developing further — if it only engages in performance marketing without brand management. If the target audience does not increase and there are few loyal consumers, sales stop growing.
● Stand out from the competition
There are now almost no low-competition markets or industries where you can stand out with the unique characteristics of the product itself. It is necessary to create a figurative value structure associated with the product. It should show a person that this product suits him not only functionally, but also corresponds to his lifestyle. For example, the online flower shop 2STEBLYA stood out from its competitors with an unconventional approach to a standard product. Provocative communications and extravagant names are an integral part of the brand concept, so intentional typos, slang and memes are often found in texts and pictures.
In essence, brand management is necessary for any company operating in a competitive market. Sometimes the function of a brand manager is performed by a marketer or development director. In small companies and startups, branding can be done by the business owner.
Thus, people who already work with branding come to the “Brand Management” course: marketers, entrepreneurs who promote their products themselves, communications managers, product managers. The course helps them structure their knowledge and make brand promotion more conscious.
What does brand management consist of?
The brand management system is based on the three pillars of brand management: knowledge, consumption, loyalty. This means that it is necessary to build the consumer’s path in such a way that from a person unfamiliar with the product, he becomes an ambassador of the brand. This is done in three steps:
1. Influence knowledge
The tasks of brand management for a fitness club in a residential area are to show that it is a fitness club, not a spa or yoga studio. Convey that there is also a swimming pool and group classes, and show that the club is suitable for the audience in terms of price. If the image is created correctly, a person who lives nearby, in response to the question “Where is the nearest fitness club?” will say its name.
2. Ensure consumption
At this stage, consumers who are already aware of the brand are offered to buy the product. A common mistake is to skip the first stage and go straight to the sale. In this case, the person does not know that this particular fitness club is related to his needs and meets the criteria for choosing a gym. As a result, the audience is in no hurry to buy memberships, and club managers are forced to offer them at discounts.
3. Create loyalty
This is ensuring sustainable consumption and commitment to the brand. At this stage, the brand has ambassadors who are ready to tell their friends about it. For example, such loyal customers are ready to wait until their favorite fitness club is being renovated and will not look for other places to exercise. And they will persuade their friends to buy a membership here.
Principles of brand management
There are several important aspects of brand management – these are the basics of brand management.
✅ The system of images should be clear, compact and interconnected
so that a person can easily remember the brand or a specific product. For example, the concept of the image of premium home textiles Home Story is that you can change your life for the better, starting with everyday things. And the task of the brand manager is to create such packaging and promotion so that potential and existing buyers learn about Home Story, believe it and make purchases in the sales channels the company needs.
✅ Images should not be contradictory
A specific message can be broadcast in different channels and to different target audiences, but all consumers should ultimately have the same idea of the company. It is important to broadcast the system of images through all brand communications: website, social networks, packaging, corporate video or booklet, advertising and PR materials. Otherwise, some consumers will not accept the brand idea, which can lead to the loss of potential customers.
A good example of a well-crafted way to communicate a single image across multiple channels is the running apparel brand Gri. Its idea is clothing created by runners for runners, worn with a smile. The concept is evident at every point of contact with the consumer.
✅ The brand manager determines what value needs to be created for the consumer, and only then creates the product and its packaging
If the package says “baking sugar” but inside there is regular granulated sugar, this is nothing more than working with the packaging – what is called “marketing tricks”. However, if you make the packaging more functional, it will give the product additional value. For example, make a durable box that can be opened and securely closed several times. Or add marks on it, by which you can determine how many grams have been used. So sugar will become not only a product, but also a “service” convenient for the buyer.
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Effective brand management
At the heart of good brand management is a cycle consisting of five stages:
1. Analytics
It is necessary to determine what results the company’s management wants to achieve. The task of brand management is to assess the market, understand its capacity, segments and trends. This will help to identify risks and opportunities for development. Then it is necessary to assess competitors and possible points of differentiation from them (what they do not give to the consumer).
The most important insights can be obtained by immersing yourself in the consumer’s world. Here, brand management tools will include quantitative surveys and in-depth interviews. Moreover, not only the socio-demographic characteristics of the audience are important, but also the lifestyle, value system, habits and traditions, and emotional portrait.
The result of the analytical stage will be an understanding of what product needs to be launched on the market and how to position it.
2. Brand creation
Begins with the formation of the brand platform . It is necessary to determine its character, mission, value system and long-term plan.
After that, the product range and packaging are developed.
3. Brand development strategy
At this stage, the brand manager understands how the product will develop further and determines its architecture if it is presented in several lines. For example, whether the products are positioned under a single brand or will be presented on the market as sub-brands.
4. Brand promotion strategy
The brand manager forms a communication strategy – a system of key messages for the consumer and channels for their distribution. At this stage, advertising, PR and HR tools that will be used in promotion are thought out.
5. Performance evaluation
This is carried out after the brand has been launched on the market to understand whether the KPIs (key performance indicators) set at the first stage of the cycle have been achieved.
This is the basic model of brand management, the same for any business. However, different companies may have their own brand management strategies depending on the type of business.
Different brands have their own characteristics that influence the strategy for forming an image system:
■ Personal brand management
The personality of a blogger, the founder of a yoga studio, is one of the main criteria for consumer choice, and the provision of services is directly related to his personal experience and character.
■ Retail brand management
This is branding of companies that have points of sale or services: clinics, restaurants, shops. The emphasis in the image will be on the specifics of the territory: comfort, atmosphere, accompanying service, convenient location.
■ Consumer brand management
It is usually focused on a specific target audience and positions the product or service to its needs. For example, professional shampoo from the mass market is interesting to those who want to get the maximum effect by buying the product in a regular store.
■ Corporate brand management
We are talking about a company, plant, factory or dealer. The target audience of the brand includes clients, employees, business partners, investors, government agencies. Each segment has its own specific messages, but the overall image of the brand must be uniform.
■ HR Brand Management
When a company’s success depends on quick hiring, attracting rare talent, or retaining a team, it helps to promote an employer image built around people management. This is often the choice of IT companies.
■ Digital brand management
This option is suitable for online stores and includes online brand management technologies. It is important that on the way to the brand the consumer feels that he is understood and cared for, for example by creating a user-friendly website interface.
If you take the brand management process as a basis and take into account the type of business, you will be able to create a product that will be interesting to consumers.
It can be said that brand management is at the intersection of many specialties and uses analytical, creative, communication and management tools. In addition, knowledge in the field of strategic marketing , Internet promotion, BTL and ATL is important for a brand manager. As a marketing manager, he must be able to build a team, interact with other specialists and contractors.
