Branding

The Brand is the Identity of a Company, How People Perceive it.

• Which Values are associated with a Company.

Depending on these Values, Customers may be willing to buy its products at certain Prices.

That is why all Companies should have a “Branding Strategy”.

• Because if you don’t associate Values to your Brand, your clients will do it for you.
  • And it is very difficult to modify them.

Branding is the process of building Brand reputation.

• It is action of associating Values to a Brand.

How it is done?

We’ll now explain how to Associate Values to a Brand by focusing on 5 Factors:

1. Coherence.
2. Augmented Product.
3. Sell Experiences.
4. Focus on your Top Clients.
5. Prescribers.

Let’s see them in more detail:

Don’t try to have “exclusive” Brand Values when you are offering a low quality Product.

Your clients could think you are trying to rip them off.

So, be honest and aim for Realistic Goals.

When you buy something, you are buying much more than just “a Product”.

The Augmented Product is everything that surrounds the Product:

• The Warranty.
• How well you treated the Client.
• If there is any Experience during the transaction (in Luxury Stores, for example).
• If you offer secondary products (interchangeable housings, for example).
• etc.

Sometimes a Brand is built on the Experience that surrounds a Product.

• Rather than on the Product itself.

* We recommend you to visit our “Augmented Products” Page.

• There, we talk about exclusively about Augmented Products.

Although having Popcorn in a Movie Theater is normal today, it was not in the past.

Going to the Movies is not just looking at a screen for 2 hours. You also:

• Go with your friends, family… on “special occasions” (not everyday).
• Get a Coke with a large bag of Popcorn, or Nachos, etc.
• You sit down in a big comfortable sofa and enjoy the experience.
• etc.

You buy much more than just a Ticket.

• You buy the opportunity to create your own Movie experience.
  • Thanks to the Augmented Product.

You must offer your Customers more than “just a Product.”

Think of the Customer Experience as the key to increasing your Brand Value.

• Don’t just offer complementary products

People tend to Remember the good times more than a Product features.

These Experiences can be:

• An Exclusive Purchase Process.
• A Unique Customization for each Customer.
• Access to a Customer Community (with discounts, private Blogs, etc).
• etc.

Let us ask you one question:

• How much would you pay for a fly to the Caribbean?
• How much would you pay for a cigar?
• How much would you pay for a Roasted Chicken with beans at the beach?

But… What about being in Cuba smoking a Cigar on a sunny Beach?

Separately, these Products seem cold and easy to Value.

• But, together they can build and unforgettable Experience,

You now have a Story that’s worth telling.

Never forget this:

• A Good Memory is Priceless.

When selling an Experience, you can “charge” for Products or Services that help create Good Moments.

Following the previous example, Popcorn have a price between 5 to 8 dollars.

Do you think you would pay this Price outside the Theater?

• Of course not.

You pay this Price because a good Movie without Popcorn… is not the same Experience.

Don’t be greedy and start thinking about How to ruin your Customers.

• We are not suggesting that.

You must offer something Good at a Fair Price.

We just say that, the more options you have to increase your Customer Experience, the more opportunities you have to Monetize.

• It is a Win-Win Strategy.

Do you think Louis Vuitton became famous selling  $100  key chains? No.

• Its Brand was built by Famous Customers that bought its Products.

If you were a middle-class French worker and saw that only the best businessmen can buy a leather luggage at the Louis Vuitton store, you would consider it as a brand for the “chosen ones”:

• Only wealthy and Powerful people can afford Louis Vuitton Products.

The personal Values associated with these Clients were transferred to the Louis Vuitton Brand.

• Values such as: Successful, Wealthy, Exclusive, etc.

You must Focus on the Values you want to be associated with your Brand, and target the Clients who best fit these Values.

You must differentiate between 2 Types of Clients:

• Top Clients.
• Mass Clients.

These Clients are the type of people that Average Clients would like to be.

The products they are usually interested in, are:

• High quality Products.
• Customized Products.
• Exclusive or Rare Products.

These Clients are interesting because they convince other Clients to Consume your Products.

• Directly or Indirectly.

And sometimes, the Margins Obtained with these Clients are reduced.

• But, your Goal is to use these Clients to Increase your Brand Reputation.
  • And Attract many other Clients.

These Clients are those Who usually buy Cheap or Mass Produced Products.

• And they want the same experience that the Top Clients had.

With these Clients, you must obtain your Benefits thanks to the Brand Reputation that you acquired with your Top Clients.

You will understand it better with an example:

Check the Mercedes catalog.

Surely, you like their top cars: 550 hp, 300km/h… For $150,000.

You probably consider a Mercedes, not as a car, but as a Mercedes itself:

• A good quality vehicle for wealthy people.

Its best cars are almost Handmade and Personalized for each client based on their Preferences.

• These cars are intended for Wealthy Customers; the Top Clients.
  • Customers perceived as Successful and High-Class.

What does Mercedes do? Exactly what we mentioned before:

Mercedes offers Mass-Produced cars at high Market Prices to Average People.

• These cars are often bought by customers who associate its brand, Mercedes, with those high-class status Clients.

Mercedes don’t lose money with its Top Clients.

• As it is a large company, it surely makes huge profit from them.
  • Mercedes can use Economies of Scale to lower its Costs.

But, the “Real money” comes from its Mass-Produced cars.

Mercedes uses its Brand to charge you a high Price.

• A car similar to a Mercedes but from another Brand costs half as much as a Mercedes.

It is important to differentiate between Top Clients and Prescribers:

• Top Clients involuntarily act as Influencers when choosing your Products.
• Prescribers Actively suggest your Products to other Customers.

A Prescriber is someone close to the Final Customer.

• Somebody that is respected and well integrated in his community.

They can be useful to Penetrate a New Market or to sell a New Product.

• Especially if your Brand is not famous.

If someone you know suggests you buy something, you trust him more than a TV ad.

Imagine that you frequently go to a gym.

• You just want to stay in shape.

In this gym, there is a strong guy that trains almost 24/7 and tries all the “new things”.

• Protein bars, alternative trainings… etc.

Imagine that, one day, this guy recommends you a certain Nike Product.

• And he shows you How he improved his results by using these New Product.

You would surely trust him.

• He is a well-known person in the Gym.
• He is a strong Guy.
• He knows a lot more about training than you.
• etc.

And, most important:

• He is a Real person sharing his Real experience with this Product.
  • A Product you can see, touch and try.

This is a Prescriber.

* Although we do not believe that Nike needs Prescribers.

• This is just an example.

You can offer different things to your Prescribers to promote your Products:

• Discounts.
• Commissions.
• etc.

The options are almost limitless, and depend on the product you sell.