Effective Brand Strategy

Hello and welcome back to my blog. This week I will be talking about branding and online reputations. First I ask you this, what is branding? Well, branding is the marketing practice of creating a name, symbol or design that identifies and differentiates a product from other products. Now there are probably millions of products out there in the world and with the internet today, effective branding is even more important. The question is though how can you show the world what makes your brand special with so many other products out there? According to the article Fundamentals of Personal Branding, your product must fulfill a specific unmet need in a well-defined target audience and be perceived as special and valuable. Basically what I just said before, your product has to stand out. What is it about your product that makes it special? Whatever your product may be, you need to find your target audience. Who are you selling your product to. If you're selling grills then you market to cooks that grill, if you're selling baby products, then you market to parents, particularly mothers.

Finding your target audience

First things first. You have to find your audience for your particular product. So, how do you do that? Well first you need to start with your demographic. That includes age, location, gender, income, education, occupation, ethnicity, marital status and number of children. Once you get the basic understanding of your target audience demographic, you can then begin to target that specific audience you are trying to cater to. Now you should try to set your target to 2 core markers out of that list. That will make it much easier on your part and by focusing on a small core you can find out what's important to them. Keep focus on your target audience. Once you have made an impression with your core market, you will have to trust that everyone else will follow suit. After finding who your are trying to sell to, the next step is finding out why they are buying your product. You need to monitor you target audiences interests to gain insight into things like their lifestyle, behavior, interests etc. You need to know as much as you can about your target audience so that you can better serve your customers.

Brand Personality

Another important factor is the personality of your brand.                                  

I found this wheel online and it basically shows you the brand archetype. Doing the research before you create the content will make your more informed and better equipped to serve your market the best way possible.

Branding on the internet

We have an article this we read this week entitled branding on the internet. In this day and age it has become increasingly difficult to do anything particularity branding without the use of the internet. There are so many different ways to get your product out on the internet. Through blogs, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or creating your own website, you can market your product to the masses. In the article Branding on the internet, we get several stages to embracing a relationship with a company and they are awareness, familiarity, trust, and commitment. You get through these stages with prospective customers and you can get them to embrace your product and become your customer. Alot of the things that I buy is because I have seen the advertisements for them online or on television. I have been a lifelong customer and fan of Nintendo's products one, because of my memories and favorite characters of the past and present, and two because the message Nintendo puts out in their advertisements. Their brand and very recognizable and you get quality games that you can't get on any other system such and Super Mario  and The Legend of Zelda video game series. Nintendo has also increasingly used the internet to for their brand. Last year and at this years E3 which stands for the Electronic Entertainment Expo, Nintendo is not and did not do a traditional press conference at the Expo. Instead they opted for a Nintendo E3 direct which streams live. They will also have some of their games at E3 available to play at Best Buys across the country, such as Super Smash Bros for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U. This new brand strategy in my opinion has been very interesting. I was at Best Buy during E3 week and I got to try out several games months before their release. I think other companies should follow suit and try a similar strategy. Information is able to pass the middle man and get straight to the consumers and that is the most important thing. Nintendo is one of the most profitable brands in the world. Companies and brands that are just starting out won't have the luxury or the history that Nintendo does. So, how does your brand get out? Well the internet for one as I've been saying earlier. Also word of mouth works. You satisfy a customer with your product and they tell their friends about it and their friends try out the product for themselves. I remember my roommate from a couple of years ago bought a PS3 and I was never a big Sony fan, but from his word and from my playing for myself, I ended up getting my own and have been a fan ever since and plan to get a PS4 by the end of the year. Once a company builds a relationship with their customers with great products, they will for the most part remain loyal to you as long as you're good to them and continue to have great products.

Will you be the next big thing?

Well that is hard to say. Most of the companies that are huge now had humble beginnings. Facebook started in a students dorm room, Nintendo  was a game card company before getting into video games, The original, Playstation was the result of deal that fell through between Sony and Nintendo for a CD extension to the N64 and now they are one of the most profitable companies in the world thanks to their video game division. It all begins with an idea about a product, creating the product, getting the product out and marketing the product. Thank you for reading my blog and be back next week for my next blog. Until next time.