Learn here how strategic brand management works, why it is so important today and how you can stand out from the competition with a strong brand.
What does strategic brand management mean?
Strategic brand management is the systematic development and expansion of a brand. Successful brand management is not a short-term project, but a long-term strategy, which gradually develops and strengthens the company's brand. The management process of strategic brand management therefore includes, on the one hand, finding and securing one's own position on the market and, on the other hand, accompanying this brand position from the current state to the desired target state. The so-called four W's, namely value creation, sensation, esteem and added value, play a decisive role in the process of strategic brand management.
value creation
The use of the product or service must create clear value advantages for the consumer. Does your brand create concrete and unique value for your target group?
esteem
When consumers know the value of a brand, they will make their own assessment of how much the product or service is worth to them. In the best case, he estimates the value of the brand higher than the price charged for it.
sensation
The described value advantages are of benefit to the company only if they are also perceived as such by consumers. Is your target group aware of the values your brand contains?
added value
Value is created on the part of consumers when they feel that they receive more value/benefit for the brand than they have to spend on it and makes a purchase. This also creates added value on the part of the company: It is rewarded for the creation of value created.
Why is strategic brand management so important?
In our everyday lives, we encounter countless brands offering a wide variety of products and services. We don't even actively notice most of them and we can only remember a few later on. Why is that so?
As a rule, brands only stay in our memory if we come into contact with them repeatedly and/or if they have a strong Recognition value have. The recognition value of a brand can lie on the one hand in the design, for example in the choice of colors, the presentation of the logo or in the visual packaging design. But certain slogans, sounds, quality promises or emotional messages also ensure that consumers remember brands and recognize them immediately. acquaintances unique selling points include the distinctive purple cow from Milka, the famous Coca-Cola lettering or the short slogan “I love it” from McDonald's.
In marketing, companies with a decentralized corporate structure in particular are faced with the task of creating a Consistency of your brand to be reached across their entire partner network. Strategic brand management therefore plays a particularly important role for this type of company. For example, an automotive manufacturer must ensure that all car dealerships have uniform marketing materials in order to ensure brand recognition. Especially in today's fast-paced world, in which consumers are constantly overwhelmed by digital innovations, it is a real challenge to create a brand with a high recognition value that cannot be easily replaced by other new brands. Strategic brand management is therefore important in order to build and expand a brand in the long term. How a brand positions and develops on the market is decisive for holistic corporate success. In this way, strong brands manage to increase the value of the entire company and increase sales figures.
Well-known and successful brands have these points in common
- High recognition value
- Authenticity and Credibility
- Unified identity and values
- Emotional character and confidence-building
- Long-term strategy and adaptability
How to develop a strong brand
A strong brand with recognition value cannot simply be created overnight. Strategic brand management is a long-lasting process that does not have a fixed end date. We will show you which four steps are essential in the process of strategic brand management.
1. Position yourself on the market
The first and most important step in brand management is brand positioning. The aim of this is to determine which unique selling points it has, how you differentiate yourself from the competition and what position you can and would ultimately like to take on the appropriate market. Start by carrying out an as-is analysis. To do this, you should first use the Strengths and Weaknesses Identify your product or service and determine what your brand stands for. In other words, which values they reflect and what targeted benefits the product or service should bring to the previously defined target group. It is helpful here to have a specific Vision and mission to develop, on which the process of strategic brand management is based. You then define the relevant market, examine the contest and determine which characteristics differentiate your brand from the existing competition.
2. Communicate your brand internally
Before you bring your brand to customers, you should first ensure that the brand's values are anchored in your own corporate culture. Make sure that the concept is not only communicated at management level, but that all employees know what the company brand stands for and what vision or mission is behind it. Internal Branding, i.e. brand development and brand communication within the company, is the decisive keyword here. It is particularly important to have a uniform identity, the so-called Corporate identity, to create that is understood, followed and lived by everyone in the company.
3. Communicate your brand externally
During the entire customer experience, i.e. along Customer journey, the customer can come into contact with the brand at various points. Make sure that at as many touchpoints as possible, the customer experiences a positive brand experience and that your brand follows a consistent concept. External communication brings together various marketing activities, which are known as Marketing Mix are known. According to classic marketing mix theory, the brand strategy is accordingly based on the four instruments Product, Price, Place, and Promotion Played out. More information about marketing tools can be found in our Retail marketing articles.
4. Constantly develop your brand
A brand is always from visual and non-visual success factors embossed. The visible, i.e. visual, features include, for example, the design and colors of the logo, the packaging design, the slogan, the font or even the price. The invisible features that every brand has include experiences that consumers have with the brand. This also includes conscious and subconscious emotions that customers associate with the brand. Do customers trust the brand and would they recommend it to friends and family? The non-visual and intangible features are often more decisive for holistic success than the visual ones.
Even if you think you've already created a successful brand and don't want to optimize the visual features much, always keep in mind that the invisible features are decisive for consumers' willingness to buy and loyalty. New competitors on the market can quickly inspire your target group with visual features — Trust, emotions and values, which, however, have built up the target group with your brand in the long term, are difficult to replace and therefore make your brand unique.
Different types of successful brand management
Even though strategic brand management basically pursues the same goals for different brands, companies can set different priorities when it comes to brand positioning strategies. This allows them to choose either identity-oriented, function-oriented or differentiated brand management. We will explain the differences between the three different types of strategy.
Identity-oriented brand management
If the main focus of strategic brand management is on building an identity, emotional communication measures are in the foreground. The company is trying to create a sense of togetherness and a deep connection between consumers and the brand. This is also often referred to as corporate social responsibility.
Function-oriented brand management
Function-oriented brand management places particular emphasis on the quality features of the brand. Customer benefits and added value as well as unique product or service quality are in the foreground here and should lead the brand to success. If the focus is on outstanding quality, it can often be found in the high-quality price segment.
Distinction-oriented brand management
If the aim of a company is primarily to create the greatest possible difference with the brand from existing competition, differentiated brand management is used. Whether in terms of function, design or price — the brand should clearly stand out from the crowd and be different from anything that has been offered on the market so far. High recognition value through unique features is crucial here.
Current challenges of strategic brand management
Increasing digitalization and globalization offers companies many opportunities to build a successful brand and make it known on the market. At the same time, the digital and global change Companies also face some challenges with regard to their brand positioning. Through the digital transparency New brands can easily be created in competition and it becomes more difficult to stand out from the crowd. Customers can choose from an increasingly wide range of products and service providers and easily compare prices themselves. Already small missteps are also noticed much faster and are spreading in the digital world at a rapid and unstoppable rate.
Companies are therefore faced with the major challenge, even Maintain control over brand image development. It is often not possible to steer your own brand in exactly the direction you imagined. Agility and adaptability They are therefore playing increasingly important roles in marketing.
How can software support successful brand management?
Software to support strategic brand management can be very helpful for marketing decentralized companies that need to reach their customers across different locations. Through a Local marketing platform, through which the various sales and sales partners have their advertising measures and campaigns provided in corporate design can order and carry out, brand uniformity can be created. Decentralized companies can therefore guarantee that the values of their brand are uniformly communicated, that their local visibility is increased and that the corporate identity is maintained.