Building a Power Brand

In 1998, Philip Morris took over Kraft in US and Nestle bought Rowntree in Europe. Philip Morris paid four times the value of the target company’s tangible assets whereas Nestle paid over five times. Such incredible payment for names were the reflection of the value placed on the brand in terms of long-term profit expectancy. Definitely, a good brand is a great asset but it takes years of dedicated effort to build it and great care has to be taken in maintaining the brand once it is established.

Many companies believe that they have a brand but in actual sense all they enjoy is name-recognition. The name-recognition may help a company in generating onetime business. A name becomes a brand when the customer associates the name with the set of tangible benefits and other set of intangible benefits from the product or service. A brand offers a distinct value proposition and consistent quality delivery,which, in turn, provides loyal customers to the company. Philip Kotler, a leading marketing guru says, “The most enduring meanings of a brand are its values, culture, and personality. Brands give the seller the opportunity to attract a loyal and profitable set of customers and strong brands help build the corporate image, making it easier to launch new brands and gain acceptance by distributors and consumers.” Moreover, a brand simplifies the everyday choice, reduces the risk of complicated buying decisions, offers emotional benefits, and offers sense of community.

In most of the cases, journey of power brand starts with unbranded ‘me-too product.’ With effective communication, an unbranded product generates brand awareness. Brand awareness backed by strong brand promise increases brand acceptance in the market in course of time. When the market starts accepting a brand, quality control helps increase brand preference and consistent promise delivery with passage of time generates brand loyalty. Strong brand loyalty is the first step towards the development of a power brand.

A brand becomes a power brand, when it meets all the branding basics – adistinctive product, consistent delivery, alignment between communication and delivery and brand personality and presence. A power brand helps a company leverage all available business opportunities. McKinsey’s five-part approach, ‘Brand Accelerator Model’ helps marketers position their brand. It proposes to build strong brands faster than the competitors. The five steps that build a strong brand are:

• Creating a compelling brand strategy
• Delivering a consistent, distinctive and inspiring customer experience
• Building unique brand presence approach
• Leveraging the brand for growth and optimizing brand architecture
• Shifting the brand organizational development.

In fact, a power brand provides a win-win situation to the customer and the company. This is what makes branding strategy one of the crucial factors for organizational growth. Brand strategy needs a careful thought and intensive planning backed with a well-researched study of the market and its complexities. CEO of Brand Stream, Scott Bedbury emphasizes that it’s time to build a strong
brand that evokes trust from customers.