A brand strategy always guarantees success

It seems like every company is touting its branding strategy these days, but many of these ideas never make it outside the marketing department. The 2002 Best Practices Study conducted by Prophet, a branding and business consulting firm, found that the concept of brand strategy often receives little more than lip service in many firms. Only a small majority (53%) of the 90 global corporations surveyed had a long-term brand strategy in place. And only 40% of respondents were very satisfied with their company’s strategy. Of those surveyed, 62% cited lack of senior management support as the most pressing threat to a brand’s long-term success. (Marketing Management, 2002) Analysts point out that brands need the full backing of senior management to be an organisation wide driver of business decisions. Merely having a brand strategy is no guarantee of anything; rather the firm must create, support and, most importantly, commit to, a feasible, long term brand strategy.

Equally important is the integration of brand strategy in the overall business strategy of an organisation. Redefining the role of the traditional marketing function means expanding beyond marketing communications activities, and looking at all of the different ways that an organisation’s brand interacts with and makes an impression on customers, employees, and other stakeholders. A brand ‘touchpoint’ (Dunn and Davis, 2003) is represented by every action, tactic, or strategy taken to reach a customer or stakeholder. Achieving brand-driven success requires a decided mind shift across the organisation, and to truly transform the company, all employees must understand the brand’s promises and their role in bringing the brand to life within their functional areas. Additionally, the organisation needs to be structured to support, sustain, and develop a brand-based culture. The first step toward this transformation involves educating the employees about the brand and inspiring them …

Tags: brand, brand name, branding, consumers, globalisation, success

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