Private Sector Development
(PSD) in
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PSD - Newsletter
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No. 18- October 2006
Bill and
Stephen
from left to right
Some known
Ethiopian brands compared
to exotic ones
Branding
“A
Brand is a name, term, sign, symbol or design or combination of them
intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of
sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitors.”
Source: Marketing Association
One
of the issues addressed within the private sector development (PSD)
component of the ECPB in this month was ‘Branding’. Two international
consultants William Dickman and Stephan Willms from
Institute
for Brand Equity
and
enablers
respectively came to survey the understanding of branding among enterprises
and support organisations. They further conducted a one day workshop (over
two days) for companies, associations, university and ministry participants
to entrench the concept. The issue of branding passes beyond the “image” of
a particular product and enterprise; Nations have even started extensively
working on branding their countries. The image of a country has a greater
impact on the marketability of products and services offered from there. The
positive images aligned to a country trickle down to promoting the products.
In the same token, negative images of a country play a great role in
demoting products from the country of origin. This implies that governments
lend a particular focus to branding their countries in order to promote and
inspire positive and encouraging images of their country the world over.
Branding
creates
emotional
attachments to products and services apart from their mere quality
attributes. It plays a greater role by far in increasing the value of
products, services, etc. compared to similar others. Branding is not a one
time task. An image is built over several years of focused effort. Most
interestingly brands have a “personality”
which can be expressed in character attributes like down-to-earth, charming,
successful, cheerful, tough, reliable, etc. to mention but a few. The next
question is how enterprises identify their brands and how their customers
perceive the products i.e. ‘Brand Image’. It takes a conscious effort and
good budget to transform brand identity into brand image- but it is time and
money well spent.
Lessons in Branding
Source: Presentations of William Dickman and Stephan Willms
What
is a brand?
- A brand
is something that resides in the minds of customers.
- A product
or service is something tangible; a brand is an idea in someone’s mind.
- A product
can be copied; a brand cannot.
- Brand
image is the “content” of the brand.
What
are the major advantages strong brands create?
- They
create greater customer loyalty
- The
customers are less vulnerable to competitive actions
- The
company is less vulnerable to market crisis
- The
company has the possibility to earn a price premium
- The company receives better channel support via customer demand
Basic
Principles:
When
developing any brand strategy, these principles should be used as strategic
guideposts.
-
Relevancy
– Does it mean anything? Do the customers really care?
-
Consistency
–
Are we staying focused? Are our messages aligned?
-
Familiarity
– Can we build this over the long term and make it recognizable?
- Esteem – How does it make them feel? Will they react in any certain way?
Previous BDS Newsletters please visit www.bds-ethiopia.net/news.htm.
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