Question

Topic: Branding

Making My Company A Brand

Posted by Anonymous on 1/16/2004 at 4:04 AM ET 125 Points
My name is Thomas and I am heading ETM's marketing department. The problem I am currently facing is the question if we should make the company or the companies products a brand name in our market.

ETM is a software company, currently without a strong name. There is only 1 product with some additional features. There are some more products coming up in the next 12 month. What I would like to do is making ETM a brand name in our industry. I am just not shure if we should rather make the company or the product a brand.
The problem is that the second product, coming early next year, is different to what we have now and serves a slightly different market. The current product is for top professional applications, the product coming soon is for a wider market. One thing to be mentioned is that the new product is slightly competing with the old one. I want to avoid that customers buy the new product instead of our professional solution.

My current strategy is: Making ETM a brand name whereas ETM has two different products including some additional features serving different markets. The product range get similar names such as Pro-DX, Pro-View, Pro-SCADA but will be under the hat of ETM.
Conclusion: ETM and its products Pro-???

Any recommendation is highly appreciated!

Best regards
Thomas Pfeller
ETM Marketing
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RESPONSES

  • Posted by ReadCopy on 1/17/2004 at 6:28 AM Accepted
    Remember what branding is and never forget it ... "its the promise of the delivery".
    If you buy into a good brand you expect a good delivery of that branded product or service (this delivery includes, pre-sales, sales, and post sales interactions with the company).

    Everyone inside the organisation should "buy in" to the brands values (what it stands for), whether that be high (or low) cost, great (or average) customer service etc etc.

    All brands should be based on something, and this something is the brand promise.

    EXAMPLE: I buy a particular make of Mobile phone, because the brand promise is that it has the features and functionality I need, its highly reliable and great support is provided (should I need it). If all these brand values are in place, I will buy this brand again. If any of these brand values fail (i.e. the features in the literature are not delivered, it arrives faulty or the support from the organisation never sort out my problems) i will probably be turned off that brand.

    Brands should also provide an emotional exchange, so in my mobile phone example above, if a new phone its the market which better suits my lifestyle or aspirations, I may be persuaded to try that brand next time.

    FINAL POINT: Brands take years to build, do not expect overnight success.

    Good luck
  • Posted by ReadCopy on 1/17/2004 at 6:30 AM Accepted
    15 top branding tips (can''t remeber where I got these from, but thanks, they are useful):

     Brands are personifications of organisations, products, services and experiences and they are the source of relationships.
     Top management support is crucial to a brand’s success.
     Profound customer knowledge is essential to building winning brands.
     The brand and its products and services must exceed customer expectations.
     Brand building begins with awareness.
     Relevant differentiation drives customer brand insistence.
     A brand should strive to evoke emotions and create sensory experiences.
     A brand should exhibit admirable human qualities.
     A brand must stand for something.
     Constant product and service innovation build strong brands.
     A brand should strive to create a sense of community.
     The corporate culture must reinforce the brand essence, promise and personality.
     Internal brand building is essential to external brand building.
     Front line employees are key to a brand’s success.
     Co-creating a brand with its customers will help the brand continue to thrive.
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