What is effective brand management? It’s knowing things you didn’t think you needed to know.
From the tiniest details of your procurement practices through to the manufacturing stages, everything about how you go from a blank page to being a viable business should be part of your brand management considerations – if you don’t know your brand inside out, the public doesn’t stand much chance of being able to take your brand to heart (for more information, find out more at Bynder.com). Let’s look at how to go about effective brand management.
Plan it. Go over the plan. Plan it again if you have to.
Brand management, by its very nature, is something that comes after the fact. You can’t manage a brand if a brand isn’t there to begin with. That’s why you need to plan your brand from the ground up, rather than starting from a position of having a brand that functions on some levels but isn’t well thought out. Let’s get into it a little bit.
Let’s say you start a bar or nightclub. Why? Because you inherited a commercial space, and it just so happens that you also inherited a large number of beers and wines, all boxed up with nowhere to go. You put the two together, and in a flash, you have come up with the idea of starting a little jazz bar on the edge of town, where respectable guests can come and partake in fine spirits while indulging in a little piano mastery from the likes of Dave Brubeck, among other greats. Nice.
But that’s no plan. Not in the long run. You need to understand what drives people towards such establishments. Think decor. Think dress code. Think exclusivity and feeling part of something. You can’t just throw plans at the wall and see what sticks. That’s not effective brand management.
Maintain your brand equity
Your brand equity is basically your reputation, or what your brand is worth in the eyes of the paying public. Going back to the example of a jazz bar, your brand equity can suffer some irreconcilable knocks if you overlook things like door staff and a queuing system. Remember, everyone likes to walk through a door marked, “Private”. And nobody likes to think that they are welcome for only as long as their money lasts (a lack of door staff says “Welcome, but if things get rough you’re on your own because we only care about the money”). Loyalty comes from making people feel at home. Treat your audience well, and your brand equity will be protected.
Gain brand value over time
Building on your brand equity isn’t easy. Gaining brand value over time is a huge part of effective brand management, and it’s not an easy riddle to unravel. From how you approach and treat your staff, to how much attention you pay behind the scenes, it all counts. What the public sees is the tip of the iceberg. Don’t let your iceberg be all tip. Those are the kinds of icebergs that roll over and melt away into obscurity.
