The 5 Branding Strategy Principles – GEC Business Review

by David Lee

In nowadays’ situation where one brand is targeting at multiple personalities, it is best to first connect the target audience, then articulate clearly what uniqueness of it, to ensure the brand’s marketability.

The objective is to stimulate an engaged conversation that allows brand owners to create dialogues, diagnose customers’ expectations, and then change perception, if applicable. That is the essence of developing brand strategy, the basis of the brand’s communication that builds genuine customer relationships.

It allows brand owners to utilize marketing, advertising, social media marketing and public relations to consistently and accurately reinforce the brand’s personality.

Here are 5 brand strategy principles that I believe to be the core of a successful brand.

1. The Brand Definition

This starts with your brand genuineness, its vision, mission, branding position, values and personality.  Focus on what you brand do best (e.g. Levi’s on denim), and then communicated your inimitable strengths through marketing consistency.

2. The Brand Message Consistency         

Always be firm on the branding position, more importantly, the consistency – so that target audience will recognize the brand easily and accurately. BMW has always been known as the “Ultimate Driving Machine”.

3. The Emotional Connection  

A strong brand is not simply a unique name, a creative logo, a beautiful website, stunning ad campaigns or PR.  The latter are only the marketing tools, but not the brand.  A brand is a desirable idea manifested in a product or service, and its experience.

4. The Brand Community

Brand community is a very powerful and effective platform on which to engage customers and create loyalty towards the brand. Guess what car would the members of Porsche Club consider when they consider to purchase their next vehicle, the answer is quite apparent.

5. The Performance Measurement

Often, it is evaluating how well your brand can be inspired. It could also be reflected in brand valuation or how your customers react to your product and price adjustments. Focusing on the ROMI (return on marketing investment) is the key metric to measure the effectiveness of your brand strategies.