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Four Tips Toward Building a Stronger BrandEarlier this month, Professor Paul Wang of Northwestern University and Bob Giampietro, Target Corporation's VP of Marketing and New Business, addressed an audience of top-level executives at AEP's CEO Roundtable. "A Brand is a Terrible Thing to Waste" was the theme of the day and topics ranged from the basics of brand building, to expansion, to planned obsolescence. Wang, an associate professor in Northwestern's Integrated Marketing Communications Program, offered an in-depth perspective of the theories and strategies behind brand building, with a specific focus on customer relationships. Giampietro, who has played an integral role in the success of Target's numerous innovative marketing campaigns, provided concrete examples of branding strategies at work. Here are some points of interest from the event: 1. You do not define your brand, your customer does. Knowing what your customer wants is the obvious starting point for any marketing campaign. Asking the right questions and clarifying the answers you get is the only way you can hope to understand exactly what your customer is looking for from a product and what they expect from your brand. "Some companies think they are giving their customers more by bombarding them with gifts. But gifts that don't have any value to your customer do nothing but tell them that you don't understand them," said Wang. "You need to figure out students' and teachers' expectations." 2. Over-invest in your strengths. Find the one thing your company does best - as defined by your customers - and capitalize on this. If you try to do too much, you won't be investing enough time in what's important. For example, Giampietro talked about "the power of one" - Target's credo for simplification. When he started at the corporation, they owned a number of different companies, stores, and catalogs. They realized they were spread too thin, so they sold everything to focus on retail. "It's not so much a matter of what to do, but to a very large extent, it's a matter of what not to do," he said. "I think 'no' is the most strategic word you can use." 3. Resist the urge to copy competitors. Once you find your point of difference, stay true to that regardless of what else is going on in the industry. "Resisting the temptation to copy your competitors is not easy, especially in the publishing industry," said Wang. While some degree of competitive analysis is necessary in today's marketplace, Wang said you should avoid constant monitoring. 4. Establish a barrier for switch. "Once you establish your brand, you need something to prevent customers from wanting to try other companies," said Wang. "Never let them go away feeling even; always make them feel like they're getting something more than just your product, something they can get anywhere else." In its most basic form, the message participants took from the day may seem an obvious one, but its value incites its repetition: a brand is only as strong as the product upon which it is built. A quality product creates faith, and faith in a product is one of the intangible advantages at the foundation of any successful brand.
Questions, ideas, or in need of more information? Please contact Stacey Pusey at 302-295-8349.
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