Insight
Branded White Book
4 Tools to Convince Decision Makers and Stakeholders to Invest in Professional Brand Management
"Management has more important things to do than branding. Brand management is the marketing department's job."
"Isn't brand identity just about a nice logo and good packaging design? "
"Rebranding? That's the marketing department's job, not our business team's."
"Brand management is only for big companies. We're a small business and we don't need to get into brand management."
For those of you who are at the helm of your organization's brand, have you often encountered the above questions from your supervisors and misunderstandings from your colleagues? On the difficult road of branding, do you feel that you are all alone and that it is hard for you to fulfill your aspirations?
Over the past 25 years, Procter & Gamble has coached large and small enterprises, and most of the departments that the project mainly contacted were the marketing or branding departments. It seems that everyone is at a loss as to the true meaning of branding and how to build a brand, not to mention colleagues outside these two departments. Indeed, some inappropriate or unprofessional brand-related arguments are often put forward, making the brand or marketing department feel powerless.
Therefore, you must be prepared to respond with objective arguments. Below we present four tools to help you raise awareness of the importance of your brand among decision makers and stakeholders:
1. Establishing brand definitions
Branding is an abstract and multifaceted concept, and "different definitions" are often a distraction to communication. Your goal is to get the stakeholder groups in your organization to agree on a definition of your brand so that everyone speaks the same language. Avoid superficial brand definitions, such as visual design. You want to communicate a brand definition that appropriately reflects what the brand is about and the benefits it brings to the organization, and further impresses stakeholders with the high value of your business proposition and the confidence in your abilities.
So, what is a brand? "A brand is the sum total of existing impressions of a company's performance in the minds of customers and the general public."
A brand is formed when a customer develops a pre-existing impression of a company. This impression should preferably be positive. The performance of the enterprise should come from all the experiences of customers, in addition to the product, customers can also feel the performance of the enterprise through other ways, such as marketing public relations, website, sales channels, distribution, customer service, product packaging, or physical environment, such as stores or offices or contact points. At the same time, the attitude of the enterprise to customers, employees, suppliers, the environment, residents and society, the formation of customer perception is a brand experience.
The brand definitions we propose here have a powerful effect. Because they make it clear that branding, brand management and branding itself is not solely about aesthetics.
The key is: for customers to consider what products and services they should be paying for - and for them to trust your business to deliver 'value for money' rather than high CP values.
2. Strengthening the brand argument
Professional arguments can help you articulate your target program before decision makers and stakeholders. We've organized the appropriate arguments for you, assuming the following typical scenarios.
Question 1: "Brand consistency at the marketing communication level is sufficient. Brand management only complicates decision-making, as colleagues in different departments have to make decisions for different situations."
Point: Strong brands are characterized by their ability to create a distinct, unique, attractive and consistent feeling among their target audience. In order to shape this subjective perception, all business units should be aligned with the desired brand image, not only marketing, but also product development, human resources, sales, production, customer service, etc. To do this, we need a well-thought-out and long-term planning process. To do this, we need to manage the brand through thoughtful, long-term planning and consistent implementation.
Question 2: "Management has more important things to do than branding. Brand management is the marketing department's job."
Point: Strategy management is guided by corporate leadership's direction to turn strategy into an experience that influences the perspectives and behaviors of the target audience, and it is the responsibility of executives to implement it at both the operational and cultural levels. The operational and cultural implementation is also the responsibility of the executives. Therefore, the senior management needs to make a clear and tangible commitment, which is supported by others.
Question 3: "Brand management is only for big companies. We are a small business and we don't have to deal with brand management."
Point: Both large and small companies need to build a brand, and the way to do so is actually the same. Even if a small business has fewer resources, regardless of size, a company that builds a brand needs to do its research, clarify the message it wants to send, and know its reason for being. If a company doesn't know the answers to these questions, it won't survive.
The process of building a brand is like planting a tree. In nature, there are big trees and small trees, but size doesn't mean winning or losing. "Your company may be a great potted plant, but potted plants have roots, trunks and fruits, just like those big trees."
If you think these are good points, read them a few times and be prepared for the critical moments. And of course, don't forget the human part of communication. The goal is not to silence the other side in an argument, but to confidently refute brand management bias as unhelpful behavior and to turn doubters into advocates wherever possible.
3. Make internal allies
In order to succeed in branding issues, you need to build relationships in your organization. Make your colleagues feel your passion, lobby for your goals and programs, and win brand management advocates. The more people who agree with your goals and programs, the more departments they come from, and the more visibility they have, the more your voice will be heard by senior management.
You will need promoters for 4 roles:
(1) Professional Promoters - are professionals who are as highly respected as possible within your organization. They can provide additional content and give you extra credibility because of their professional status.
(2) Power Promoters - These are high-level decision makers at the corporate level. They can use their position and decision-making power to implement your requirements through top-down decision-making.
(3) Process Facilitators - are organizational geniuses who are familiar with business organizations and processes. They can help you create streamlined, efficient, and effective processes for implementing your goals.
(4) Relationship Promoters - are highly social and well-connected team members. Their lobbying skills can help you engage the right people early and consistently.
We must remember that allies are extremely important in winning appointments to build and execute brand management.
Brand management is a course that many of our colleagues may mistakenly believe is not something to be taken seriously, or that anyone can do it. That's why strong allies are essential to long-term success. The better networked individuals you have in your organization, the easier it is to maintain the mission of brand management and effectively manage it in your daily life, even with all the divergent interests.
4. Struggle for Appointment Concerns
Have you found the right allies, established consensus with your stakeholders on your brand's concepts, and are secure in your arguments? Now it's time to prepare your draft branding decisions to win the decision of the CEO or senior management.
(1) Motivation - place this proposal directly into the corporate strategic priorities and the number of indicators to which they belong
(2) Effectiveness - This is the potential that may be realized through your proposal within the scope of brand management, please make a commitment in terms of target figures that are realistic and achievable.
(3) Market Environment Assessment - Link the proposal to credible sources, preferably using trackable numbers, best practice examples, and benchmarks from your competitors.
(4) Easy to understand - Provide a strategic outlook and a checklist of next steps for building.
The key point of your proposal is to make it clear to the decision maker how the brand can help the organization get closer to its desired goals. However, it should also be clear that
Brands require formal appointment and long-term attention from senior management. Make decision makers aware that they are part of the brand building process and that the corporate strategy they create will be infused in the brand's manifestation.
If there is a competitor comparison, it will effectively speed up the decision maker to agree to your proposal.