If you could only wear a brand of shoe all your life and choose one smartphone brand to go with it, what would be your choice of combination?
Note: You only get to choose once.
Ponder on that for a while.
I can’t say precisely what you chose eventually, but I’m sure your choice is likely to be a combination of Nike, Adidas or Puma, alongside iPhone or Samsung (You can share your choice in the comment section). But what makes you love these brands so much you would happily spend the whole of your life with them without regret.
The answer is brand positioning. The only guaranteed way a brand could achieve exponential growth and global relevance is to be on top of the mind of the people that matter the most, her customers.
But how do you achieve that level of brand positioning where people fall in love with a product so much they can’t imagine a life without it.
It goes beyond an attractive logo or a brand name that’s easy to remember. People don’t connect with brand names. People connect with feelings and emotions. That’s what makes any brand name memorable.
Creating that bond and feeling now requires a some strategies and secrets we’ll be looking at right now-
1- Tell your story in a unique way: Everyone else made the most sophisticated digital music player in the market, but Steve Jobs came in with a gift of “1000 songs in your pocket “, the iPod. The difference was not the technology, but the story. Anyone can imitate a product, but people don’t connect with imitations, they connect with stories.
Your story is what makes you unique, it is what differentiates your brand from others. Tell a unique story and reinforce it with marketing.
2. Let your audience tell the story: Do you notice how brands like Nike and Apple go about their advertisement? No fancy grammars, none of those industry jargons. Just a story told through the eyes of their target audience.
“A Brand Is No Longer What We Tell The Consumer It Is — It Is What Consumers Tell Each Other It Is.” — Scott Cook
The Apple privacy Ad depicted an imagery of how a customer’s data is being hoarded and her privacy snatched from her, until she brought out an iPhone and blocked the intrusive apps. Or shall we talk about the legendary Toyota Ad.
Nothing was said of the incredible features of Toyota. Just a single statement “have you seen a Toyota break down on the road?” was enough to send a clear message.
Tell your story through your customers. Let the rest of the target audience see proofs of your brand impacting the lives of people like them.
3- Constantly engage with your customers: Branding is an action word. It’s a constant conversation you have with your customers. When you stop telling people who you are and why you are different, they assume you no longer exist. And today where we find ourselves in a digital village , there’s no better place to hold these conversations than on social media.
Though you have to be careful of what conversations you engage in, as everything you put out there is an extension of your brand image. And whatever gets on social media doesn’t disappear with the delete button.
4-Seek Connection Not Attention: If you want your brand to grow exponentially, seek connection and not attention. Don’t just throw your coin at every influencer you can find around even when their personality disagrees with your brand message.
It’s not about how much followers and engagement an influencer has. It’s about how much influence they have over your target audience, the people who will eventually make the purchase. That’s why Nike would go for Michael Jordan. What would those young dudes not wear, so long Michael Jordan has it on his feet.
Branding is the soul of every business. When you lose your bond with your customer, you lose your influence in the market and shortly after, your balance sheets start to feel the hit, until it staggers to bankruptcy. To achieve exponential growth requires mastering the principles that let you stay on top of the mind of your target market.
In case you’re wondering how to get started, GABI is here to walk you through. And guess what? You can hop on a free discovery call with us now.