How can brand building help in slow economic times?
Following a consistent approach creates customer visibility and sustaining value.
Brand loyalty is seen as the ultimate goal of good marketers. Whether it be my favorite beer, Oreo cookies or a new car. Brands want you to love them and come back to them especially when economic times are tough, choices for products or upgrades become more limited and loyalty is critical to keeping you, the customer, coming back in spite of the slightly higher price point and your smaller budget.
How do brands survive in challenging times? What do you do to keep the focus on your customers and their needs and retain loyalty? There is more and more evidence that brand loyalty comes from building on core brand strengths as a driver. Marketplace success and loyalty come from clarifying the core customer need for that product and building a consistent customer experience and a culture of positive associations.
In the Wall Street Journal article of October 20, 2008, David Corkindale claims that brand strength will always come out ahead over the "four P's of marketing" - product, price, place and promotion; that no matter how well someone prices, positions and promotes their product or company to "be competitive" they will not succeed on this strategy alone.
For example, promotions may drive extra business but deep discounts devalue products because the customers are trained to respond to sales alone and go for the cheapest purchase. Eventually the product becomes a commodity competing for the lowest price. As a result, the value of the brand is lost. Look at the American auto industry to see how this has played out.
It's obvious you must have a quality product at the right price in the right market but this alone does not ensure success. According to Corkindale a strong brand is one that people trust; it has an established a track record and is built around predictability and reliability to create a culture of positive associations. These associations are key. They cannot be duplicated by competitors — they are created over time and they must be nurtured and sustained. This is why brand strength increases the value of all other elements of the product. In a slower economy stronger brands will bring back customers more than price cutting and promotions offered by others.
I'm sure the current slowdown will ultimately affect iPod sales but I doubt they will lose market share compared to competitors. They may actually gain because of perceived brand value beyond the commodity level.
So the ultimate path in dealing with an economic slowdown is to focus on building brand strength:
- Define your customers — speak to them
- Keep pricing in line with competitors but no deep discounts
- Stay consistent and reliable
- Build on your history and successes
- Remind customers who you are
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