Strategic Brand Management by Jean- Noel Kapferer (TOPIC - LAUNCHING A NEW BRAND) 1311423

LAUNCHING A NEW BRAND

Launching a new brand in today’s times is a challenging prospect, but we should also keep in mind that all the major brands- Nike, Apple, Lacoste, L’Oreal, and Dash - were also new brands at some point of time. Over the years, and often by intuition, chance or accident and also by putting in immense hard work, they became major brands, leading brands and powerful brands!!

The best way for a new brand to succeed is to act like an old brand!

                                                                                    -S King (1973)

LAUNCHING A BRAND AND LAUNCHING A PRODUCT ARE NOT THE SAME

The confusion between product and brand is an enduring problem. Products, usually, get copied by other competitors and then get replaced by new, higher quality products which often benefit from the fame of the existing product name, but Brands are unique, they cannot be copied.

Brand launch

A successful launch requires that the new brand be treated as a real brand, right from the very start.

A few steps and points to kept in mind while launching a brand-

1. Know Your Market and Competition (Research)

It might be boring, but you simply have to do your research.

• ·         Identify your competition and their strengths as well as their weaknesses.

• ·         Find your own point of difference and USP, so that people have a reason to defect and come across to your brand.

• ·         Collect as much information as you can on the size of the market, the margins, the trends, and the problem areas etc and download the accounts of your competitors to see if they are actually making any money.

2. Have a Strong Brand Identity

Where does this start?

• ·         A good logo can make your brand instantly recognizable and the simpler the better – the Nike swoosh, the Facebook F, the McDonald’s M and the apple em… apple are all examples of great simplistic design that most 5 year olds will be able to point out.

• ·         Alternatively, some of the best and most recognized brands are just the name of the brand in a clear font – Google, eBay, Sony. Less is more; don’t clutter up your logo!

• ·         Once you have your logo, use it everywhere. Letterhead, website, social media profiles, business cards, emails, faxes (if anyone still sends them!) advertising. Get it out there and into people’s consciousness. There is one exception to this, which I will discuss later.

• ·         Another way of simple visual way of putting a strong identity on your brand is by developing a corporate colour scheme – i.e. Easyjet orange, Facebook blue etc.

• ·         Develop a strong vision and mission statement.

A bit of a fun before you read on… can you name the brand from the slogans below, I bet you can!

• Just Do It
• I’m loving it
• Melts in your mouth, not in your hands
• The best a man can get
• It’s the real thing

3. Network, Network, Network! (Gain Recognition)

A great man said network is always more important than net-worth.

Promotion is what a new brand needs. When launching a new brand you will need all the help you can get. 

 Influence existing contacts, ask them to help spread the word or promote your brand and seek out new contacts that can help you. The more you make it known and make people familiar with the brand, the better it will be in future.

Always have your business card to hand and do as many favours as you can for others – you scratch my back.

Not on LinkedIn? You better set up a profile then and get building your network!

4. Be Cool (Be Dynamic)

Well, these days it’s all about seen to be involving directly with your customers and the way to do this is, undoubtedly, social media.

Social media strategies is a subject for a whole different article, but suffice to say you need to have one and it doesn’t involve blasting as many status updates on Facebook as you can a day. That is a sure-fire way to get people to switch off from your brand!

When promoting your brand on social media, make sure you are offering something (preferably for nothing, like a giveaway) and not just blasting your brand in people’s faces. 

5. Invest In A Good Website (Go Online)

Today, the world survives on internet, the first thing anyone will do when they hear about your brand is look you up online, so make sure your website is clean, fast, easy to use and gives a strong impression of your brand and identity.

Your website is your shop window, so make sure it looks amazing and also user friendly.

6.  Learn To Trust Your Employees

This is one of the most important points which an entrepreneur has to keep in mind always.

No matter how hard you work, as your brand grows you will quickly find that you can’t do it all. We all have our skills and our weaknesses so, although you may see it as your baby, at some point you will have to trust others.

At the early stages you will probably be recruiting people directly, so trust them – after all you chose them for a reason! I’ll say it again – you can’t do it all.

Even if they make a mistake, forgive them and trust them.

7. You Will Make Mistakes

It is very natural to make lots of mistakes while building a brand but making mistakes and losing hope is not good. Rather, learn from them and make sure you never repeat them in future.

Remember also that most businesses make a loss in their first year and indeed many don’t break into profit until their third year. A good saying in business is that your first loss is your best loss.

8. Live and Love Your Brand

And the final point for launching a new brand is simply to love your brand and what you do. Your passion will shine through and rub off on your employees and your potential customers or clients.

If you don’t love it, it’s time to find another idea!

Tanveer Singh Bakshi

1311423

5 BBA- C