Good reasons to develop a branded business

• A brand strategy is a powerful way of making all the elements of how you interact with customers - products & service, staff behaviour, environment and communications - work coherently and consistently.
• Individual customers who use and enjoy your products and services will develop positive feelings and beliefs about them. If you brand the experience well, you capture the value of those positives. If you brand poorly or not at all, you lose much of it.
• Successful businesses need a good understanding of how their customers think, feel and behave. The brand development process is an excellent way to obtain and exploit that kind of customer insight in a new marketplace.
• You can expect that your competitors will increasingly invest in branding their services.
• Having one well thought-out approach to branding is much smarter and more cost-effective than re-inventing the wheel every time you develop a new product or open a new site.
• A brand will help to create differentiation and attract interest from business partners.
• A successful brand will not only promote loyalty and even advocacy among customers, but it may also form the platform for long-term growth with the ability to use the brand franchise to move into new business segments or sectors.
• There are economies of scale in using the same, consistently branded products, services and marketing materials across your operation.
• Brands can enhance employee motivation & performance, by providing a clear brand identity with a worthwhile set of values to which employees can relate.
• Brands can be defended - a trademark is an important part of brand strategy, and registered rights, unlike patents, can go on indefinitely.
• Brands add value to the brand-owning organization - by creating consumer preference and adding value to consumers, the increased value to a brand owner may be significant. In 2001, 71% of the McDonalds total stock market value of $35 billion was attributed to its brand.

Marketing Thinking from GCM Marketing Ltd. provides consultancy, advice and practical help with marketing analysis, marketing research, business and marketing strategy, marketing plans, marketing communications, brands & positioning, from a base in Scotland. Copyright © 2004, 2005,2006.