What is Branding?

Brand is a Chinese word, and pinyin is pn pái, which refers to the degree of consumer awareness of products and product series.

[pn pái]

l. Branding decision 2. Brand ownership decision 3. Brand name decision 4. Brand expansion decision

Brands and Trademarks

Trademarks and brands are concepts in two different areas and can be easily confused. In daily work, many people use these two terms together and use them interchangeably. It is even mistaken to think that the trademarked symbol becomes a brand. If that is the case, then all trademarks registered with the Bureau of Industry and Commerce can be called brands.

In fact, the two are both connected and different.

China is a big country in trademarks, and China is also a weak country in brands. There are only a handful of Chinese brands with the 100 most valuable brands in the world. It can be seen that trademarks and brands cannot be equalized. The two refer to the same thing from different angles. They are both closely related and different. In life, many people often confuse these two concepts and think that a trademark becomes a brand after registration. In fact, it takes a long and arduous process for a registered trademark to become a real brand, just like building the Great Wall.

The word brand is derived from the ancient Norwegian word brandr, which means "branding" in Chinese. At that time, western nomadic tribes put different branding on their horses to distinguish their property. This is the original product name. Way, but also the source of modern brand concept. In 1960, the American Marketing Association (AMA) gave an earlier definition of a brand: a brand is a name, terminology, mark, symbol, and design, or a combination of them, the purpose of which is to identify a seller or A seller's product or service that differentiates it from competitors' products and services. A trademark refers to a brand or a part of a brand that is submitted to a trademark registration agency in accordance with legal procedures, is reviewed and approved, and is granted a trademark exclusive right. A trademark is protected by law. They must not be imitated or used. It can be seen that the connotation of the brand is wider.

If you compare the brand to a huge iceberg, the trademark is only a small part of the iceberg.

A trademark is an integral part of a brand. It is just the brand's logo and name, which is easy for consumers to remember. But the brand has a richer connotation. The brand is not only a logo and name, but also contains vivid content of spiritual culture. The brand reflects the values of people, symbolizes the identity of people, and expresses the feelings of people.

Brand name and logo design are only the first steps in brand building. To truly build an excellent brand, you also need to carry out brand research and diagnosis, brand planning and positioning, brand communication and promotion, brand adjustment and evaluation, and other tasks. You also need to improve brand awareness, Reputation, loyalty, accumulation of brand equity, and year-to-year, persistence, adhere to their brand positioning, and honor their commitments to consumers, so that the brand image is rooted in the hearts of the people and will not fall.

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The purpose of cultivating a brand is to hope that this brand can become a famous brand, so work hard on product quality and work hard on after-sales service. At the same time, the brand represents an enterprise. In the long-term development perspective, the company must work hard on product quality. Special brand-name products, brand-name enterprises, so brands, especially well-known brands represent the quality of a class of products, and represent the credibility of the enterprise.

(1) Beautiful shape and novel idea. Such a brand can not only give people a beautiful enjoyment, but also can give customers a sense of trust.

(2) Can show the characteristics of the enterprise or product.

(3) Simple and obvious. The words, patterns and symbols used by the brand should not be long and complicated, and should be concise and give a concentrated impression.

(4) Consistent with traditional culture and popular with the public. When designing brand names and logos, pay special attention to the customs and psychological characteristics of various regions and ethnic groups, respect local traditional culture, and do not violate taboos, especially for foreign-related products.

When it comes to brand marketing, people think of promotional scenes in the mall, all kinds of bargaining and bargaining voices. But consumers are more rational because of their consumption habits, and their enthusiasm for such promotions is not too great. Therefore, brand marketing should still focus on brand promotion, perfect sales chain and personnel training.

First, take the initiative to promote. Although there are relatively few customers during the off-season, Chinese brand companies must take the initiative to promote. Don't play cards when business is not good. If you want to start to change from a business to a business, you should take the initiative to sell and provide services. The simplest and most practical way is to distribute a leaflet or enter the community for promotion.

Second, moderate price reductions. We all know that during the off-season, many merchants will use price reductions or even sell at a loss. Although this method reduces the pressure on inventory and temporarily increases cash flow, it will damage the brand image of brand franchise stores and affect subsequent sales. Moderate promotion is only feasible in the off-season. You can consider increasing the added value of the product and adding some services. This will increase short-term sales while not causing too much negative impact on consumers who have already purchased the product.

Third, transfer the market quarterly. In addition to the time limit in the off-season, there are also regional restrictions, that is, in the same time, in different regional markets and different urban areas, the off-peak season is different, at least to a certain extent. For example, when low seasons occur in first-tier cities, there may be no signs of low seasons in second- and third-tier cities, so you can shift your focus to these places during low seasons.

Fourth. Open

The brand is a kind of evaluation and recognition formed by consumers on the excellent product quality, perfect after-sales service, good product image, beautiful cultural value, and excellent management results of an enterprise and its products. A trust between consumers and consumers that has been invested in huge manpower, material resources, and even generations of hard work by generations of managers and managers ...

The following concepts are closely related to the brand:

Brand name: The readable part of the brand-words,

(A) the brand is a proprietary brand

A brand is used to identify the product or service of a producer or seller. After being identified by legal procedures, the brand owner enjoys the exclusive right of the brand and has the right to require other enterprises or individuals not to counterfeit and forge. This point also refers to the exclusivity of the brand. However, the companies in our country have not made good use of legal weapons in the international competition, and have not exerted the exclusive right of the brand. Since the 21st century, we have continuously seen domestic golden signs in the international market. The embarrassing situation: "More than 100 brands have been squatted in Japan and more than 180 brands have been squatted in Australia.

(B) the brand is enterprise

Brands can be divided into different categories based on different criteria:

(I) Division of radiation area based on brand awareness

According to brand awareness and radiation area division, brands can be divided into

(A) brand-the embodiment of the core value of a product or enterprise

Brands-Consumers or users memorize merchandise tools not only to sell goods to target consumers or users, but also to make consumers or users have a good opinion of the products through use, so as to repeat purchases, continue to promote, form brand loyalty, and make consumers Or the user repeats the purchase. Consumers or users who are satisfied with the use of branded products through the brand will form a consumer experience around the brand, store it in memory, and form the basis for future consumption decisions. Some companies have established a good image for their brands, endowed with beautiful emotions, or represented a certain culture, so that brands and brand products have formed a beautiful memory in the minds of consumers or users. People will feel about this brand. A culture is associated with a quality, standard and hygiene.

(B) brand-a discriminator to identify goods

The establishment of a brand is used to identify a seller's product or service due to competition needs.

The influence of a good brand on customers is deeply rooted in people's hearts. On this basis, brand extension to network products such as

The core value of a brand is the main part of brand equity. It allows consumers to clearly and clearly identify and remember the interests and personality of a brand. It is the main force that drives consumers to identify, like, and even fall in love with a brand.

The central task of brand management is to clearly outline the core value of the brand, and in the process of brand building in the next 10, 20, or even 100 years, we will unswervingly adhere to this core value. Only in the long years with extraordinary determination to do this, will not be disturbed by the wind and the grass, so that every marketing campaign and every advertising cost of the brand will be added to the brand, to communicate to consumers The core value may remind consumers of the role of the core value. Over time, the core value will be deeply imprinted in the consumer's brain and become the most contagious connotation of the brand to the consumer.

In-depth study of the reasons for the core value of Chinese corporate brand Xintianyou will help everyone to consciously and specifically avoid making similar mistakes in brand management. The main reasons for the changes in the core values of domestic corporate brands are:

I. Do not understand the meaning of stability first

Brand management is an extensive and profound knowledge. There are actually very few entrepreneurs who truly and scientifically understand the importance of maintaining the core value in the long term. The best way to resolve this contradiction is to train a large number of professional brand management talents, and continue to create opportunities to spread this principle to the business community.

Of course, some companies believe that "it is not necessary to shoot more commercials for the same core value", which is also unscientific. It has not changed for more than 10 years, but there have been no fewer than 50 commercials. Is there a new commercial almost every six months? If you do not change the advertisement for a long time, consumers will be very tired, the brand will give people the feeling of stale, dull, unfashionable, lower grade, and will kill the brand.

2. Frequently changing advertising companies

This is a common problem for Chinese companies. Without a sense of common sense, I always feel that my wife is someone else's good. I look at the mountain high all day and change the planning company if I am not satisfied. The big question was changed as soon as it was changed: Whether the new planning company can fully understand the original planning company's strategic planning for the brand is a question mark. Even if you have the ability to eat through, you have to deny the original company's planning plan in order to reflect the high technology. Therefore, core values often have to change! Sometimes, even if the same advertising company and planning company change a new service team and a new batch of talents, the new talents also have performance. "

1. Unified brand strategy

The unified brand strategy refers to the strategy of using the same brand for all series of products that the company operates. Using the same strategy is conducive to the establishment of "enterprise identification system". This strategy can reduce the cost of promoting new products and save a lot of advertising costs. If the corporate reputation is very good, new product sales will be strong, and using the unified brand is the easiest way to launch new products. Companies adopting this strategy must strictly control the quality of all products to maintain brand reputation.

2. Expand brand strategy

The brand extension strategy refers to the use of a brand with a certain reputation in the market to launch improved products or new products. Using this strategy can not only save promotion costs, but also quickly open up product sales. The implementation of this strategy has a premise that the expanded brand has a high reputation in the market, and the expanded product must also be a good product that is compatible with it. Otherwise, it will affect product sales or reduce the reputation of existing brands.

3. Brand Innovation Strategy

Brand innovation strategy refers to the strategy of the enterprise to improve or merge the existing brand and establish a new brand.

There are two ways to brand innovation:

The first is the gradual change, which brings the new brand closer to the old brand, and gradually changes the brand with the development of the market to adapt to the psychological changes of consumers. This method costs less and maintains the original goodwill.

The second is a sudden change, abandoning the original brand, and adopting a new brand with the latest design. This approach can arouse consumer interest, but requires a lot of advertising costs to support the promotion of the new brand.

Strategy and creativity are contextual

Products and brands are just a piece of material. The function of strategy is to define the brand shape, and the function of creativity is to infinitely enlarge the brand shape determined by the strategy.

Strategy outlines the shape of the brand

The shapes of products and brands themselves may not have rules at all, or they may have a clear or fuzzy basic shape. The strategy is to plan and define the final shape.

Brand building channels first

Strategy 1: Siege

Take the initiative to attack and challenge the market leading brands in order to seize market share. The initiative to launch the battle of the brand must be at the center of the battle, in order to control the enemy with one move, or else it can only end in a hurry, if not lost.

Strategy two: Borrow chicken to egg type

Through the battle of brands, we hope to achieve flank breakouts and increase brand awareness. When a brand has the strength to compete with its competitors, it can consider a positive offensive strategy, and sometimes a powerful attack will dismiss the opponent. For a challenger brand that poses a direct threat to industry leaders, its main competitive strategy is to develop its own strength and brand competitiveness by continuously issuing threatening challenges to the leader brand, and weaken the influence and advantages of the leader brand. , So as to achieve the goal of borrowing chicken eggs to increase the challenger's brand awareness and achieve its status.

Strategy 3: Strategy

The purpose of this is to adjust the industry structure, with a view to occupying a place in the inherent structure. The initiators of the strategic brand battle must have strong capabilities, including products, technology and other aspects. Only by strengthening its core competitiveness can an enterprise occupy a favorable position in the market.

In 2016, the General Office of the State Council issued the "Opinions of the General Office of the State Council on Giving Play to the Leading Role of the Brand to Promote the Upgrade of the Supply and Demand Structure", which clearly states: "Brands are the comprehensive reflection of the competitiveness of enterprises and even the country, and represent the upgrading direction of the supply structure and demand structure" ^]

At the same time, the current status of China's brands is proposed. The development of China's brands is seriously lagging behind the economic development, and the problems of low product quality, weak innovation ability, and weak corporate integrity awareness are more prominent. This opinion is put forward in order to give better play to the leading role of the brand and promote the upgrading of the supply and demand structure. ^[1]