8 Important Steps For Creating Successful

Corporate Brand Strategy

Corporate branding is the practice of using a company’s name as a product brand name. It is an
attempt to leverage corporate brand equity to create product brand recognition. In simple words,
corporate branding is the process of establishing name and image for your business.

I believe that corporate branding surely helps to establish a name for your company’s product or
service. Corporate branding is very important to all business because without creating a brand
image, you can quickly out of the minds of your target segment. For example, some of the
companies are remembered because of their logo or image like Nike. The first thing comes to
your mind when you think about Nike is “check mark and just do it tagline”.

By creating brand image, it will also help you to spread news about your business or company’s
product. Most of the times, consumers remember company by their logo and not the name of
their businesses. I hope by this far, you come to know that corporate brand is a key to a
successful business and how much important it is to keep your business in a long run.

So, in this article, I am sharing 8 important steps for creating successful corporate brand
strategy.

1) CEO and Brand Management team : Every branding strategy must start from Board room
and led by the CEO with brand management team and senior officials of the company. It would
be great if you hire any professional branding agency and involve them in your meeting.

2) Choose perfect business model or build your own : Business Model is the backbone of
branding strategy. So, it is important to choose the best model for your business or build your
own. Because every business has its own needs and working culture, therefore, it is best to build
a business model which perfectly balances your company’s need and values.

3) Listen from stakeholders and act possibly : Stakeholders are our Customers, Employees,
Share-holders, Trade Partners, Industrial Commentators, Opinion Leaders and Interest Groups.
They know the best about the company, so listen them accordingly and act possibly. This will
help you to create a transparency within the company and outside the company.

4) Always look for new technology : World is changing every minute so as the technology. So,
it’s important to keep pace with the changing technology because technology plays a vital role in
successful corporate strategy. Keep your company’s infrastructure updated with the latest
technology which will always give you extra edge above your competitors.

5) Inspire employees to become brand ambassadors : If you give training to your employees
about the company brand strategy, e.g., vision, mission , values, work culture. They can be the
best brand ambassadors of your company. The only thing is to clear company goals, aims and
future plans to make your employees believe.
6) Make lifelong customers : Always make sure to take proper care of customers expectation.
The successful corporate branding is when you keep up the promises you made with your
customers. So, always ensure to provide them the best product or service. After-sales service is
also very important after you are done with product sales.

7) Communication strategy : Communication strategy is very important when it comes to

create successful corporate brand image. So, always execute well-planned marketing strategy
which is relevant, simple to understand to your target segment.

8 ) Check performance of your brand : Brand equity always play an important in checking
performance of the brand. It refers to the marketing effects or outcomes that add to a product
with its brand name compared with those that would add if the same product did not have the
brand name. The study of brand equity is increasingly popular as some marketing researchers
have concluded that brands are one of the most valuable assets that a company has. Brand equity
is one of the factors which can increase the financial value of a brand to the brand owner. So
always keep track on performance of your brand time to time.

Brand A brand is a mixture of attributes, tangible and intangible, symbolised in a trademark, which, if
managed properly, creates value and influence.

"Value" has different interpretations: from a marketing or consumer perspective it is "the

promise and delivery of an experience"; from a business perspective it is "the security of future
earnings"; from a legal perspective it is "a separable piece of intellectual property." Brands offer
customers a means to choose and enable recognition within cluttered markets.

Brand Architecture How an organization structures and names the brands within its portfolio.
There are three main types of brand architecture system: monolithic, where the corporate name is
used on all products and services offered by the company; endorsed, where all sub-brands are
linked to the corporate brand by means of either a verbal or visual endorsement; and
freestanding, where the corporate brand operates merely as a holding company, and each product
or service is individually branded for its target market.

Brand Associations The feelings, beliefs and knowledge that consumers (customers) have about
brands. These associations are derived as a result of experiences and must be consistent with the
brand positioning and the basis of differentiation.
Brand Commitment The degree to which a customer is committed to a given brand in that they
are likely to re-purchase/re-use in the future. The level of commitment indicates the degree to
which a brand's customer franchise is protected form competitors.

Brand Earnings The share of a brand-owning business's cashflow that can be attributed to the
brand alone.

Brand Equity The sum of all distinguishing qualities of a brand, drawn from all relevant
stakeholders, that results in personal commitment to and demand for the brand; these
differentiating thoughts and feelings make the brand valued and valuable.

Brand Equity Protection Is the implementation of strategies to reduce risk and liability from
the effects attributable to counterfeiting, diversion, tampering and theft so that the differentiating
thoughts and feelings about the brand are maintained and remain valued and valuable.

Brand Essence The brand's promise expressed in the simplest, most single-minded terms. For
example, Volvo = safety; AA = Fourth Emergency Service. The most powerful brand essences
are rooted in a fundamental customer need.

Brand Experience The means by which a brand is created in the mind of a stakeholder. Some
experiences are controlled such as retail environments, advertising, products/services, websites,
etc. Some are uncontrolled like journalistic comment and word of mouth. Strong brands arise
from consistent experiences which combine to form a clear, differentiated overall brand
experience.

Brand Extension Leveraging the values of the brand to take the brand into new markets/sectors.

Brand Harmonisation Ensuring that all products in a particular brand range have a consistent
name, visual identity and, ideally, positioning across a number of geographic or product/service
markets.

Brand Identity The outward expression of the brand, including its name and visual appearance.
The brand's identity is its fundamental means of consumer recognition and symbolizes the
brand's differentiation from competitors.

Brand Image The customer's net "out-take" from the brand. For users this is based on practical
experience of the product or service concerned (informed impressions) and how well this meets
expectations; for non-users it is based almost entirely upon uninformed impressions, attitudes
and beliefs.

Brand Licensing The leasing by a brand owner of the use of a brand to another company.
Usually a licensing fee or royalty rate will be agreed for the use of the brand.

Brand Management Practically this involves managing the tangible and intangible aspects of
the brand. For product brands the tangibles are the product itself, the packaging, the price, etc.
For service brands (see Service Brands), the tangibles are to do with the customer experience -
the retail environment, interface with salespeople, overall satisfaction, etc. For product, service
and corporate brands, the intangibles are the same and refer to the emotional connections derived
as a result of experience, identity, communication and people. Intangibles are therefore managed
via the manipulation of identity, communication and people skills.

Brand Mission See Brand Platform.

Brand Parity A measure of how similar, or different, different brands in the same category are
perceived to be. Brand parity varies widely from one category to another. It is high for petrol, for
example: about 80% of respondents (BBDO survey) see no real difference between brands. By
contrast, brand parity for cars is low: only about 25% of respondents say that one make is much
the same as another.

Brand Personality The attribution of human personality traits (seriousness, warmth,

imagination, etc.) to a brand as a way to achieve differentiation. Usually done through long-term
above-the-line advertising and appropriate packaging and graphics. These traits inform brand
behavior through both prepared communication/packaging, etc., and through the people who
represent the brand - its employees.

Brand Platform The Brand Platform consists of the following elements:

 Brand Vision The brand's guiding insight into its world.

 Brand Mission How the brand will act on its insight.
 Brand Values The code by which the brand lives. The brand values act as a benchmark to
measure behaviors and performance.
 Brand Personality The brand's personality traits (See also definition for Brand Personality).
 Brand Tone of Voice How the brand speaks to its audiences.

Brand Positioning The distinctive position that a brand adopts in its competitive environment to
ensure that individuals in its target market can tell the brand apart from others. Positioning
involves the careful manipulation of every element of the marketing mix.

Brand Strategy A plan for the systematic development of a brand to enable it to meet its agreed
objectives. The strategy should be rooted in the brand's vision and driven by the principles of
differentiation and sustained consumer appeal. The brand strategy should influence the total
operation of a business to ensure consistent brand behaviors and brand experiences.

Brand Tone of Voice See Brand Platform.

Brand Valuation The process of identifying and measuring the economic benefit - brand value -
that derives from brand ownership.

Brand Values The code by which the brand lives. The brand values act as a benchmark to
measure behaviors and performance. (See also Brand Platform.)

Brand Vision See Brand Platform.

Branding Selecting and blending tangible and intangible attributes to differentiate the product,
service or corporation in an attractive, meaningful and compelling way.

    

Co-branding The use of two or more brand names in support of a new product,
service or venture.

Consumer Product Goods (consumer goods) or services (consumer

services) purchased for private use or for other members of the household.

Core Competencies Relates to a company's particular areas of skill and

competence that best contribute to its ability to compete.

Corporate Identity At a minimum, is used to refer to the visual identity of a corporation (its
logo, signage, etc.), but usually taken to mean an organization's presentation to its stakeholders
and the means by which it differentiates itself from other organizations.

Counterfeiting When an organization or individual produces a product that looks like a branded
product and is packaged and presented in a manner to deceive the purchaser.

Country of Origin The country from which a given product comes. Customers' attitudes to a
product and their willingness to buy it tend to be heavily influenced by what they associate with
the place where it was designed and manufactured.

Customer Characteristics All distinguishing, distinctive, typical or peculiar characteristics and

circumstances or customers that can be used in market segmentation to tell one group of
customers from another.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Tracking customer behavior for the purpose of
developing marketing and relationship-building processes that bond the consumer to the brand.
Developing software or systems to provide one-to-one customer service and personal contact
between the company and the customer.

Customer Service The way in which the brand meets its customers' needs via its various
different channels (for example, over the telephone or Internet in the case of remote banking, or
in person in the case of retail or entertainment).
    

Demographics The description of outward traits that characterize a group of

people, such as age, sex, nationality, marital status, education, occupation or
income. Decisions on market segmentation are often based on demographic data.

Differential Product Advantage A feature of a product that is valuable to

customers and is not found in other products of the same category.

Differentiation Creation or demonstration of unique characteristics in a

company's products or brands compared to those of its competitors.

Differentiator Any tangible or intangible characteristic that can be used to distinguish a product
or a company from other products and companies.

Diversion When genuine product is sold to a buyer in one market/channel and then resold by the
same buyer into another market/channel, without the consent or authority of the brand owner, to
take advantage of a price arbitrage situation. Definition also applies to parallel trade, gray market
or gray market activities.

    

Endorsed brand (See Brand Architecture.) Generally a product or service brand

name that is supported by a masterbrand - either dominantly e.g. Tesco Metro

or lightly e.g. Nestle Kit-Kat.      

FMCG Fast moving consumer goods. An expression used to describe frequently purchased consumer
items, such as foods, cleaning products and toiletries.
Focus Group A qualitative research technique in which a group of about eight people is invited
to a neutral venue to discuss a given subject, for example hand-held power tools. The principle is
the same as an in-depth interview, except that group dynamics help to make the discussion
livelier and more wide-ranging. Qualitative groups enable the researcher to probe deeper into
specific areas of interest (for example, the nature of commitment to a brand). The result adds
richer texture to the understanding of broader data (for example, quantitative), which may paint
general trends or observations. Also known as a group discussion.

Freestanding Brand (See Brand Architecture.) A brand name and identity used for a single
product or service in a portfolio, which is unrelated to the names and identities of other products
in the company's portfolio.

Functionality What a product does for the buyer and user; the utility it offers the user; what he
or she can do with it.