Not all companies that sell the same or similar products are equally successful. Some of them are known in all countries of the world, and many others are known only by a small group of people in a certain area.
Success, recognition, popularity largely depend on the quality of the brand platform, through which the company forms the right attitude to itself, to its products or services.
Let’s find out what brand platform is, how to build and how to use this important business and marketing tool.
What is a Brand platform
The brand platform is a basis, a foundation, a kind of semantic field that forms a certain image of the perception of the company, determines a comprehensive development strategy and positioning in the market, promotes recognition.
If managers understand the advantages and values of their product, they are able to convey this to subordinates, partners and target audience.
The term “brand platform” refers to a real physical document. Every employee of the company is introduced to it so that the staff strictly observes everything that is written there.
If the platform is successfully developed, it will remain relevant for decades, it will help to adhere to the chosen way of development. The basis can be supplemented, modified, modified if necessary.
Why a Brand platform is needed
The brand platform is necessary not only for large corporations. Small firms and aspiring entrepreneurs also need it to become competitive, win the favor of customers and partners, increase sales and profits.
Using brand platform many goals become easier to acomplish:
- – create the desired image of the company;
- – to convey ideas to consumers;
- – achieve recognition;
- – fill the brand with emotions, meaning;
- – prove competitive advantages;
- – build up from market competitors;
- – ensure stable business development;
- – influence the associations that appear in customers thoughts when they mention your company.
An important benefit of the platform is that it serves as a safety cushion in difficult economic periods. During crises, customers lose their ability to pay and buy goods from manufacturers they trust.
Main elements of a Brand platform
To create a brand platform, a whole team of marketers and developers is involved. But there are general rules and points that it is desirable to include in the document.
Name, corporate identity
The success of the company strongly depends on the name. Its mission is to fully reflect the essence of the brand. Come up with a name that:
- – sounds nice;
- – is easy to read;
- – is remembered from the first time;
- – is clear to everyone;
- – helps to stand out from the competition.
Pay a great attention to the development of corporate identity in order to favorably emphasize the features inherent in your products.
History, mission
Clients are interested in the development of their favorite brand. Tell them about yourself, open the “backstage” a little. This will increase trust, improve positioning, and strengthen feedback.
History influences thoughts, feelings, and people’s desire to buy goods of a certain brand. Without a legend, without a fascinating story, the brand becomes uninteresting, faceless, mediocre.
A clearly formulated mission (global goal) will help to better understand the philosophy, idea, message – everything that the manufacturer wants to convey to customers.
Example:
The short slogan of the Reebok – I am what I am – informs that the brand’s clothes and shoes emphasize the individuality of their owner.
Target audience
Communicate to your target audience about:
- – Values. State the moral principles that guide the company on the right path of development. Tell us what you are guided by when creating products for people.
- – USP. Formulate a unique selling proposition, which is difficult for customers to refuse. This will help to build up from competitors.
- – The voice of the brand. Determine the ways and nature of interaction with the target audience to achieve mutual understanding.
- – Company functions. Describe the administrative, commercial, production, financial and legal functions.
- – Goals. Develop the targets that you plan to achieve with the help of a long-term development strategy and management tools.
Your target audience should have a solid brand image that cannot be confused with any other.
Example:
McDonald’s fast food restaurants are easily recognized in any country of the world by the characteristic golden letter M. The symbol is immediately associated with bright fast food, clowns, gifts, and family values.
How to develop a brand platform
The development of a brand platform includes a complex analysis of the business, elaboration of the idea, definition of the strategy, creation of the architecture of its own development model.
1. Analysis of your company. Identify your weaknesses. Identify what your vulnerability is, what needs to be eliminated. Think about how you are superior to your competitors, in what, on the contrary, you are lagging behind.
What place do you currently occupy in business (in the industry), to what degree will you be able to rise. What needs to be strengthened, what is better to abandon.
2. Competitor analysis. Study all aspects of the companies you will have to compete with. Adopt all the best that helped them achieve good positions. Compare prices. Come up with ways to quickly distance yourself from competitors.
3. Identification of the target audience. It is impossible to sell a product without knowing the main parameters of the target audience:
- – gender, age, social status, average income;
- – interests, hobbies;
- – location, place of residence (city, village).
Without knowledge and segmentation of the target audience, it is impossible to effectively conduct an advertising campaign. Determine what problems and pains of customers your product is able to solve / eliminate; how to convey to consumers the benefits of buying it; how to strengthen the emotional component in sales.
Knowledge of the target audience will help to better position products, more precisely choose the brand tone of voice, advertising methods.
4. Defining values and mission. Clearly formulate ideas, values, and rules that the company will always follow. Moral principles should be high so that they are shared by all employees and customers. It is better to state values and mission (ideology) in one or two phrases, in which a deep meaning is embedded, the essence of the work is revealed, the desire for continuous improvement is shown.
Examples:
The American corporation Levi’s, which has existed since 1853, operates under the motto “Quality never goes out of style”.
Apple’s call to “Think Different” has forced all progressive people to turn towards the digital information world.
5. Shaping the tone of the brand. The way you plan to communicate with partners, contractors, clients is important. Success in the market depends on it. A calm, friendly, sociable tone should be maintained in any, the most unpleasant situation.
All appeals to the audience, the help of technical support and other communication services should be maintained in a single style.
6. Creating a document. After working through all the points, the data is entered into a document that accumulates the listed information about your business. This is a guide for all employees, managers, and structural divisions.
Based on it, it is much easier to develop new products, implement progressive marketing strategies, and build a company policy.
The brand platform will help you plan advertising events accurately, save resources and money, and avoid numerous mistakes when doing business.
The document is filled in in any form.
Conclusion
Building a brand platform will allow you to find a document basis in which the following aspects will be spelled out:
- The direction of the company’s development;
- Its mission and place in the market niche, the business community;
- Rules of interaction with partners and clients;
- Ways of delivering products or services to consumers;
- Options for the development of emotional marketing.
The platform will help you quickly gain a solid reputation as a reliable, honest, stable company. It will emphasize your uniqueness, increase work efficiency, accelerate business promotion and profit.
