Branding is such an important long-term activity that only this can make a business survive for hundreds of years. Until and unless people start buying by asking for your brand in a shopping store, there is a huge risk of dying with time. Those businesses which fail to create a brand or currently are in a startup stage face a huge setback from brands in competition. The name, the brand, is the ONLY reason behind the success of franchise model in India as well in other countries.
In India, specifically, people are crazy about brand names. Buying anything branded is now a status symbol. It looks crazy to me when I see a person carrying a mobile phone of Rs. 70,000 while his monthly income is mere Rs. 20,000/-. What makes him take such a wrong decision? It is the status symbol, which comes out in a big way with a big brand in hand.
Branding process is same everywhere including India. But due to geographical location and the niche (industry/type) of business, the methods applied changes in a massive way. It is exactly here when we talk about right branding and wrong branding.
Just to mention an example, Kidzee preschool has branches all over India. But their marketing strategy is quite different according to the geographical location and calendar month (because of industry effect). They prefer marking in the month of April in states like Haryana and Rajasthan, as generally, people got big money from their crops in the month of April. They prefer marketing in the month of January and February in the places like Delhi as people there want to take advantage of child education in tax. Not only this, the methods applied are way different from place to place and time to time. Like- Organizing seminars and baby shows are most effective in the NCR while organizing carnival and magic shows are effective in small towns of U.P., Haryana, Rajasthan, M.P., Bihar and more.
So, the methods applied must be chosen very wisely, as this is exactly what creates the difference between right and wrong. Let’s take another example– Suppose you started a new business and you invested in it. A strong urge will be there to just start marketing (when your business setup is 80% ready) to make some sales. And when people visit your office and see it is not fully complete then they just go back without buying, and you know what… the worst thing is that they will tell their friends something negative about your business. And hence, a negative loop will start. This is such an important thing to understand.
This draft couldn’t be complete without mentioning some of the evergreen branding strategies which everyone should use and must keep on applying them forever. These few handfuls of right branding strategies are —
- Social Media Branding – Always remember, branding is like hatching an egg. I personally think every constructive thing is like hatching an egg. With the evolution of social media and the craze around it make it damn sure that future is vested there. No matter what business you hold, just do some homework around picking right social media site for your business and how to perform well there, and do it.
- Building Trust and keeping promises – Do you deny this? No? Then no need for further explanation. This could also refer as Public Relations. Nurture them and see your brand growing.
- Continual Improvement and Adaptable – This is one of major factor behind the failure of most of the business. See, the world is ever changing, as Mr. Charles Darwin said… “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent; it is the one most adaptable to change”
In conclusion, give time, put efforts, and show your determination at the time of picking right branding approach, method, and time for your business. I repeat, branding is like hatching an egg. So, keep gaining trust, change when time needs, and connect with the people to build healthy relations to boost your business.