In a saturated and highly competitive marketplace, the importance of brands and brand building to market share growth and product success cannot be overemphasized. Companies, countries, regions, towns and organizations that are able to understand the principles of brand DNA are more likely to outshine those that do not, in terms of generating value for shareholder investments or in the ability to attract domestic and foreign direct investment (IDI and FDI).
A brand refers to the tangible and intangible values of a product, service or place. By themselves and in their generic forms; products, services, cities, regions and countries are similar to each other. In a blind test; a thirsty consumer may not be able to tell the difference between Pepsi and Coca-Cola, nor will a potential tourist be able to tell the beaches of the Maldives from those of Mallorca. Thus, products become like other products, just another need-satisfying item. Any real difference may remain lost to consumers because brands mean nothing unless brand values are consciously communicated to consumers and target audiences.
The DNA of a brand refers to its Distinction, Novelty and Attributes, compared to those of the competition. In this case, countries like Nigeria need to discover their unique national brand DNA and communicate it to potential investors who may be drawn to South Africa as a potential investment country. In addition, brands like BMW need to communicate to consumers the superior differences between owning a luxury BMW car, compared to a Toyota Lexus. Telecommunications companies like T-Mobile, Vodafone, MTN and GLO must constantly find ways to identify and decode their brand DNA and communicate it to subscribers so that their networks truly connect with them and not be seen as mere mobile phone service provider. .
Why is Brazilian soccer different from other soccer countries like England and Germany? Because Brazilian soccer is free-spirited, it has the element of samba that connotes fun and pleasure. A very distinctive feature that has become a promise for Brazilian soccer fans around the world. It is a basic expectation of the fans based on this unwritten promise that they will have fun every time they watch a Brazilian soccer match anywhere in the world. Brazilian soccer players go to great lengths to deliver on this promise, which is why players like Ronaldinho and Robinho continue to captivate fans both on and off the pitch.
Italy is another example, their football is rooted in a distinctive style of defending and protecting the goalkeeper, a famous billboard during Euro 1996 had advertising copy saying “Italian goalkeeper, the safest job in the world”, a testimonial the distinctive style of Italy. defensive football.
A brand must be unique in its own way; it must have characteristics that differentiate it from competitors, so that these characteristics are easily identifiable by consumers. Then, marketers must try to discover or create the distinctive characteristics of their brand and communicate them to consumers; furthermore, any brand promise must be constantly fulfilled and accompanied by action, just like Brazilian soccer players.
Other examples that easily come to mind are the superior engineering behind Mercedes vehicles, the comfort of Nike trainers, the prestige of an Oxford or Harvard education, etc. These products and institutions have distinctive brand values that have also been communicated over the years to various stakeholders, helping to maintain the immortality of the brands in their respective sectors.
At the same time, brands must also constantly adapt to changing market conditions, brands are always trying to catch up with consumer tastes, which are always changing, and any brand that does not heed the warning of ” innovate or die” you do so at your own risk. Consumer tastes for new products and services, just as investor hunger for new investment opportunities and destinations is constantly increasing, brands must constantly reinvent themselves and be able to offer consumers something new. These novelties must be specific and relevant to the needs of consumers. For regions and counties, potential investors want to know about new government policies aimed at cutting red tape, expanding opportunities and increasing capacity. These new policies must be communicated to the people who need that information.
Apple has released several generations of the iPod since the release of the first generation in 2001; each new edition seems to have something new for customers, who might also switch to rival brands with novel features. Sony made this mistake with its Walkman and Discman brands, and for a long time didn’t offer customers anything new until Apple released the iPod. Now, Sony has relaunched the Walkman on its mobile phone terminals, but the damage has already been done as Apple has captured a better share of the market for portable music devices.
In addition to a brand’s distinctiveness in terms of brand quality and superior performance, brand novelty refers to the evolution of the brand through a research and development process, the brand must be summarized in a letter of mark and state What is it about. Brand attributes, therefore, encompass all tangible and intangible aspects of the brand, which are also consciously and unconsciously communicated to customers and stakeholders.
Successful brand building achieved through distinctiveness and brand novelty can still be negatively affected if customers and stakeholders receive mixed signals about brand attributes. The people element is key to enhancing the positive attributes of the brand. Both superior and innovative brand offerings will fail in the face of poor customer service. If the service delivery chain is slow or poor and customer complaints are not responded to in time, customers may turn their customers over to the competition.
Likewise, the identity of the brand must be clear and easily identifiable; This can be achieved through a combination of elements such as corporate communications, advertising, public relations, corporate social responsibility, events, word of mouth, designs, packaging, labels, logos, etc. The Nike logo and the Mercedes star symbols are excellent examples of strong logos that have now helped the brand recognition of the Nike and Mercedes brands.
Other brand attributes will include the use of colours, for example the famous yellow and blue jerseys of the Brazilian national team and the orange jerseys of the Dutch national team. Surprisingly, England has not been able to adopt and promote its national colors in as different a way as Brazil and the Netherlands. Their red and white combinations aren’t as distinct as you might expect from a country with a large soccer following and a history of brand-building. Nigeria have stood out in their green colored jerseys, though of late, due to declining football fortunes, they have been unable to keep the earlier promises and also meet the expectations of the growing number of fans across the globe.
Every brand must be able to communicate its origins and history, as well as its culture, knowledge, and awareness of the brand’s DNA, and successful communication of all brand-related accolades, novelties, and attributes can help the brand live on. long time, if not for once.