ARTICLE NO. 3
Branding and Customer touchpoints
Customer Touch points.....Critical aspect for Brand Building
Ms. Sheela is after her Hubby to buy a new car, she likes Maruti Ertiga.
She has 3 brands of Maruti Dealers in Goa to choose from, " Chowgule Inds. Ltd, Sai Service and Aryaman Sai.
She has seen Hoardings of Chowgule inds. by roadside, She also has come across Sai Service's Demo cars on the road, regular ads from all the players are very common on the newspapers, lot of Maruti cars on the roads have dealership stickers on their number plates and rear glasses. All these touch points shall help her choosing the dealership she will buy the car from.
Your customers can connect with your brand in many ways: Product Performance, Display /Shelf space, Advertising & marketing, Experience through interaction with your sales personnel, etc.
Each of these connects or touch points influence the customer's impression of the brand. Some of these touch points are obvious, like product performance, and personal customer interactions.
Other touch points, such as the product manual, monthly statements or post-sales support, Servicing reminders, Brand visibility through various media etc, goes a long way in strengthening your brand.
Brand owners should realize importance of these touch points and ensure serious attention to them. The following points may be useful to this topic.
- Identify your customer touch points:
In Each and every step of your business process there are number of touch points when the customer comes in contact with your brand. Do a study of these steps and ensure you identify these touch point and reinforce your brand in various ways at each of these points. Ask few questions like How do you generate customer demand?, How your products are sold to the customers?, What is the process for providing after sales service for your clients? What are the different ways by which a customer contacts my company?
Example: When you Call any Caculo Group employees, you will find a Caculo Mall jingle ringing. With every incoming call they are re-enforcing their brand.
- Categorise your Touch points: Once you identify the various touch points it is critical to categories them. There can be broadly 4 categories of these touch points.
1. Company Initiated Touch points: These are touch points created and driven by the company itself, these are very advantages as they are well controlled and planned initiatives.
2. Interactive Touch Points: Customers interaction with you while buying and selling of your brand is one of the most crucial touch point, these are very powerful ones as these are direct and personal, the brand experience is felt/analyzed immediately, The brands which are able to deliver good experiences at these touch points, are the ones which are powerful in their respective industry.
3. Un -Certain Touch Points: These touch points are those which are unexpected by the company, there is no direct control over them and can be both good and bad for the brand. References about the brand as news/article in various media, could be a example for such touch points.
4. Customer Initiated Touch points: Today's customers are well informed, they many a times are proactive in contacting various brands to make their buying decision a more researched one. Lot of companies today operate " Customer Care cell", they encourage web based inquiry, they are open to hear customer complaints. All these interactions are customer initiated and should be planned for.
To conclude I would say that every brand manager should give due focus on customer touch points as they can be major contributor in enhancing your sales volume and can certainly support in building a reputation and respect for your brand.
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ARTICLE NO 2
What is Branding? How is it useful for Biz?
Today I met a Life insurance Agent operating in Goa since last 22 years, He has his spread even in Mumbai and Pune. He happened to ask me as to what exactly is branding? How can it be useful to his biz?
To answer his 1st questions, I started by telling him about some generic brands like Band-aid, Colgate, Bisleri, Xerox etc. These brands are supreme in their product category and people buy competition products also in these category asking for these Brands (eg. most of consumers buy a package drinking water by asking for a" BISLERI"). Becoming a generic brand name is the most extreme achievement in branding process.
The Basic process of branding starts with building a connect with the target customers by means of a consistent communication through a logo, product message, slogan and the recall you give to your product through advertising, word of mouth, shelf space etc.
Initial branding process focuses on identifying the key essentials of your product/service and build a image around these key features, Eg. Tata Group, one of the key feature of Tata's biz is their sincere and pure approach towards their businesses, every brand communication of Tata group highlights this.
Answer to his 2nd question..." How can branding be useful for his biz (insurance agency)?
Branding is useful for every biz. As an Insurance agent he must have currently build certain perceptions about his services with his existing clients. A branding initiative can help him communicate this perceptions more effecctively to his new prospects hence helping him to generate new clients. His existing clients will be retained with him and will not move to competitors very easily if he establishes himself as a brand in insurance. Branding initiatives will give him continuous recalls which will always help him to be competitive and to be in biz.
Overall, a successful branding can make him the most sort after and preffered insurance agent in his markets. If any one needs insurance, they should buy it from him or atleast should consider him for a quotation/advice.
Insurance is going to be a very big biz in near future, Branding efforts for being the foremost brand of Insurance Agent/Consultant will definately help in long run.
The Basic process of branding starts with building a connect with the target customers by means of a consistent communication through a logo, product message, slogan and the recall you give to your product through advertising, word of mouth, shelf space etc.
Initial branding process focuses on identifying the key essentials of your product/service and build a image around these key features, Eg. Tata Group, one of the key feature of Tata's biz is their sincere and pure approach towards their businesses, every brand communication of Tata group highlights this.
Answer to his 2nd question..." How can branding be useful for his biz (insurance agency)?
Branding is useful for every biz. As an Insurance agent he must have currently build certain perceptions about his services with his existing clients. A branding initiative can help him communicate this perceptions more effecctively to his new prospects hence helping him to generate new clients. His existing clients will be retained with him and will not move to competitors very easily if he establishes himself as a brand in insurance. Branding initiatives will give him continuous recalls which will always help him to be competitive and to be in biz.
Overall, a successful branding can make him the most sort after and preffered insurance agent in his markets. If any one needs insurance, they should buy it from him or atleast should consider him for a quotation/advice.
Branding will make him stand out among his competition.
Insurance is going to be a very big biz in near future, Branding efforts for being the foremost brand of Insurance Agent/Consultant will definately help in long run.
Article by www.brandingingoa.blogspot.in
Labels: Branding Lessons, Learning About Branding
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ARTICLE NO 1
Brand Identity System
5 Reasons Why a Small Business Need a Brand Identity System
Business and marketing experts urge small business owners to "brand" their businesses with a logo and a set of consistent marketing materials, this concept is known as brand identity system.
A brand identity system can go long way in positively impacting the revenues of your biz and can certainly help in gaining customer loyalty.
Below I have highlighted the top 10 reasons why businesses need a Brand identity system.
- To convey that you are established. A logo and professionally-printed materials show that you are committed to both your business and your clients. It also makes you look like you've been around for some time, and that you're stable. A logo makes you look experienced and professional, and can go a long way towards making your business appear credible. And, if you'd like to be known as an expert in your field, this type of credibility is the first thing you have to establish.
2. To stand out in your field. A well-designed logo and a Brand identity system can put you far above the competition. Most of the clients look for a well-defined company, and "look and feel" may be one of their criteria in making a purchasing decision. A professional-looking Company will definitely have edge over its competition and help you gain and retain customers.
4. Establishing Brand Equity: Brand Equity is something that can enhance your business value; every business should aim at having brand equity. The first step towards attaining brand equity is to start with establishing a brand identity system. A well quantifiable Brand equity can help you in getting capital for business growth, also shall certainly help you in valuation of your business if you are looking at selling shares of your business.
5. To give clients a sense of stability and pride for your customers- You may not have been in business "since 1908," but if you have invested in an identity, you are more likely to acquire clients and become preferred business brand. Your customers feel a pride to own branded products. Your brand identity would satisfy this urge of your customers which many a times have a large impact on customer buying decision.
These benefits will certainly boost your business and your confidence, so start thinking about developing a logo and identity as soon as possible.
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