What are the most important branding strategies for a new brand manager?

A smart brand manager would do the following - Deep dive - understand its DNA, history, evolution, methods, aim, TG & vision. Audience - Get to know the audience, potential customers, existing customers, their hopes & fears & brand affinity. Visual Identity: Ensure the visual identity is never compromised with & followed as per protocol. But don't be too attached to it as well in case innovation can be introduced with logo. Content - Focus on content that serves not only the brand awareness, but ultimate purpose too. Clarity - Be clear on how your brand is not like every other brand in your category. Know the differentiation. Consistency : Ensure brand language & ethos are followed across channels you own.

Brand purpose is the foundation for why a brand exists and why anyone should care. It became a popular concept around 2011 with Simon Sinek's TED talk 'Start with Why: The Golden Circle.' Before that, we referred to it as a mission. I believe the one important question to ask is: Why does this brand exist, beyond making money?

The key to effectively managing and promoting a brand is to understand its mission, vision, values, USPs, and target audience. It's the foundation for everything you do in branding. Create a unique brand positioning that sets your brand apart from the competition. Communicate what distinguishes your brand from the competition and what makes it valuable to your target audience. Ask yourself: "What is my brand solving for beyond profits?"

As a new brand manager it is easy to get carried away with the title and prestige that comes with managing a brand. However one of the most important things to do in the first few days is to ask a lot of questions - about the consumer, the brand, the competition, the business environment, the operational aspects of the business and industry you’re operating in. These insights will give you the right foundation to build appropriate plans and strategies for your brand.

Drawing from my personal branding experience, I can attest to the crucial role of defining a brand's purpose for new brand managers. When I started building my personal brand, I asked myself: What value do I want to offer? What impact do I want to make? By clearly defining my purpose, I was able to shape my brand identity and message effectively, which has since resonated with my audience and positioned me as a thought leader in my field. A well-defined brand purpose serves as a guiding light, helping new brand managers make meaningful connections and stand out in their respective industries.

There's no good brand nor relevant product or service if we don't know *first* what are we trying to solve. That's why it's crucial to understand who is our target market. A great tool that always helps is building the persona(s) of our (prospect) customer. In there, we should be able to summarize not only their demographics, but also some psychographic information - identifying what are their interests as well as their needs and pain points. In parallel, study your competitive landscape and discover white spots where you could have an advantage. Having this clear, we would be able to start developing our value proposition, which we shall test with a sample of our target audience to validate, or adjust and iterate.

Definir o posicionamento é o elemento chave para o sucesso de uma marca ou produto. Para definir o público é necessário estudar: o tamanho do mercado, e os grupos que têm interesses e necessidades semelhantes. A partir daí, você precisará escolher o público mais ávido pelo o que você oferece, e definir os diferenciais e razões pra acreditar que melhor respondem ao repertório do seu cliente.

A robust and well thought-out brand strategy provides direction and clarity. To create an effective brand identity, first and foremost you need to understand your customers. Knowing who your customer are - their needs, preferences and motivators - will help you craft a cohesive story that will build loyalty for your company or product. That way your marketing can work smarter by creating coherent campaigns with messages tailored to meet the expectations of your audience while also staying true to the core values of your business. Brands need to leverage customer understanding into powerful growth strategies that drive engagement and deeper connections between them and their customers.

Establishing a successful brand necessitates a deep understanding of your market and audience. Comprehensive research is key to unraveling industry trends, customer preferences, behaviors, competitor dynamics, and market opportunities and threats. Employ a diverse array of methods and tools, including surveys, interviews, focus groups, online analytics, social media listening, and SWOT analysis.This meticulous research serves as the foundation for identifying target segments, refining positioning, crafting a compelling value proposition, and establishing a competitive advantage. By delving into these insights, you equip your brand with the knowledge necessary to navigate the competitive landscape and resonate effectively with your audience.

Everyone can learn how to conduct research that provides insights into solving customer problems. Even a commodity product can address a problem. However, it's essential to understand that it goes beyond that—it's about creating a deeper emotional connection. Who does the ideal customer become when interacting with the brand? It's about identity building. People don't just buy a Tesla or Prada because they need a car or a bag; they purchase who they become in others' eyes and how it makes them feel. Brands are about status and belonging. Never forget this when conducting research. People may say one thing but act differently. That's why deep interviews and observational studies are my favorite research methods to get insights.

In my experience, it's problematic that we use 'brand identity' to describe solely the visual aspect. In the bigger picture, brand identity includes visual, verbal, and experiential components. All of these require a solid brand strategy as the foundation. How can we design and write any messaging until we know who we are, who we're addressing, why they should care, and how we differ from our competitors? In my opinion, it's clearer to talk about the brand's personality as an extension of its purpose, mission, culture, and values.

Just like a person’s identity shapes how they are perceived and understood, a brand’s identity does the same for a company. It’s a composite of all the elements that make a brand distinct and recognizable, mirroring personal attributes such as appearance, style, voice, and values. In essence, brand identity is the personality of the brand. Make it likeable.

In my journey, we embarked on a rebranding endeavor where aligning visual elements with our brand essence was pivotal. Our brand's voice, tone, and personality redefined interactions. Every word, color, or font choice was a brushstroke defining our brand's canvas. Consistency across touchpoints emerged as our guiding principle. From social media to customer service, maintaining a cohesive identity became our beacon. This uniformity amplified recognition and etched our brand in the minds of our audience. However, it wasn't solely about being uniform; it was about being distinctive. We aimed not just to stand out but to be remembered. Every design element, from the logo to the colors, was curated to evoke emotions and forge connections.

Uma identidade de marca bem definida é o que vai fazer seu consumidor se apaixonar. Antes de entender se um produto tem uma boa performance, o cérebro do consumidor presta atenção em cada pequena mensagem que a marca passa e junta tudo em uma "avaliação completa e inconsciente". Todos os detalhes contam.

One of the key things a brand manager would need to pay attention to is the brand identity. In simple terms, brand identity is who you are. A brand identity includes, the logo, the colors, the fonts, brand style, brand feel and brand tone, etc. The brand identity enables you to see or visualize the brand vision in action.

Após definir a identidade e valores da marca, eu começaria contando um pouco sobre a jornada única que levou à criação da marca, o porque, como e quando, destacaria os desafios superados e as conquistas alcançadas. Muito importante utilizar uma linguagem autêntica e envolvente para conectar emocionalmente com o público-alvo. E nunca cometer o maior erro que é não manter a consistência na narrativa da marca, sempre divulgar o que lançou e o que estar por vir, transformando a marca cada vez mais parte da vida do público alvo.

A signature story is a “once upon a time” tale. It’s got a “Wow” factor, so it pops. It creates interest, discussion and action. And, whether indirectly or directly, it communicates an authentic strategic message about organizational values and the brand’s vision. It isn’t simply a set of facts, which is always hard to for brand executives to grasp. David Aaker says.

Don't underestimate the power of your brand story. It's not just about what you offer; it's about why you offer it and how it can make a difference. Expertise alone won't set you apart. You need your WHY. This is crucial. Without the proper intrinsic motivation and narrative you won't get very far. Your story is your unique selling proposition. Try asking yourself questions like What drives my passion for X? What are my core values as a X? How have I overcome challenges in my own X journey? These reflections lead to create a brand story that revolves around your mission to inspire others. Your brand story should not only resonate with your audience, but it also establish you as an authority in your industry.

Use storytelling, everyone likes a good story! Engage, relate, impress. Make your brand memorable by sharing unique angles and unexpected stories. Make your audience shed a tear, get emotional or burst out laughing - make them remember you!

In my experience, creating a compelling brand story is an essential component of successful branding as it humanizes your brand, resonates with your audience, and sets you apart in the market. Few pointers to note while creating a brand story: -Define core values & insert them in your story -Focus on the customer, highlight what need did your brand solve for the targeted customers -Build an emotional connection through storytelling as it can help your audience relate to your brand on a deeper level

In my experience, brand awareness is the most important yet often undervalued step in building a brand. This requires the brand manager to understand how to find the perfect marketing mix between paid, earned (PR), and owned channels. When working with consumer brands, it's crucial to establish a baseline measurement at the outset and then track brand awareness to determine and fine tune the most effective marketing and branding mix. If your brand isn't top of mind, there's a risk that the ideal customer won't even pay attention to it. Our brains are highly selective and tend to notice brands to which they've been exposed.

Customers NEVER FORGET. We had a customer last month who had bought our products over a year ago, before we fine-tuned our logo and trademarked it. This elderly gentleman, bless his heart, had a cutout of the label from the product he had purchased (so he won't forget which brand it was). When it got delivered, he noticed there was a different packaging and slight changes to the label (mostly around the logo and font used). He rung us atleast twice, just trying to confirm it was indeed us and not an imitation product. This is where we dropped the ball... We had done so much marketing on the new labels and products bags in the digital sphere, we had totally neglected to do something for the non-digital customers too.

The most challenging part of brand management is building brand awareness, especially in a highly competitive market. It requires research to establish a solid positioning. Otherwise, it will be even more challenging.

It's simple! If consumers don't know you, how can they buy you! But Building awareness is to also think about the next step of loyalty - how do we make them buy you/adopt you again and again! It always starts with great product promise - with product love comes love for the brand, that's when consumers start getting emotionally involved! So for a new brand - great product promise is the first step to awareness!

One critical aspect in evaluation is to take calculated guesses at times! Not all data sources will point to a single aspect and more often than not decisions need to be taken basis calculated guesses! Not all brands are built purely on data! Sometimes strategies come with belief system; differentiation from competition etc

Effective brand management demands continuous, consistent, and credible communication. Place the consumer at the heart of every conversation, ensuring relevance and resonance. Add value persistently, creating a sense of premium-ness. Never underestimate the virtuous feedback cycle; it's a compass for improvement. Mirror consumer habits to stay in sync, fostering an authentic connection. Success lies in the seamless blend of strategy, authenticity, and consumer-centricity.

Building deep connections, embracing change, and partnering with others are key to branding success. Engaging with communities, offering seamless experiences, and making data-driven decisions are also important. Adapting to evolve, promoting employee support, and preparing for crises empower new brand managers to thrive.

Listening! Listen to all stakeholders, understand the business goals and objectives. Do your research on your consumers and their personas. Look at the current brand strategy and then start formulating yours in collaboration with your team. Brand strategies are so important but you need stakeholder engagement and buy in to help you lead this successfully.

The good news is that, having a good brand recall amongst customers, helps them act qs watch dogs for your brand. They can spot a fake listing, fake vendors or any phishing content and help you by reporting it. It also means that you're definitely doing something right, when a customer can vouch so deeply for a certain quality or expectation from your brand. We did have a customer once who had noticed a product listing that used our product for the main image. When she clicked, she noticed not only was the price higher than our regular rate, it was also from a seller unknown to her (and to best of her knowledge, she had remembered our label stating that we were sole distributors). She sent us a link to the listing and even reported it