It is possible to build a product that holds its market spellbound. This forms every entrepreneur. And of course, consumers love such connections. It is the source of extensive product rebuy, reuse and customer attachment that transforms into an impressive business profitability level.
To reach such an enviable market position, the product would have accumulated enough power and control over users through consistent delivery of quality, wider accessibility, appealing user engagement and keen attention to price affordability.
These product features would ensure that a product becomes a leader in its category, achieve overriding spontaneous awareness and increasingly turn users to advocate. If the market impact continues unabated it can turn even a niche business idea into a social wildfire. This is the point where a product isn’t just a product anymore – but a brand.
Hence, a brand is a name (say, a product or company name) that has successfully created a level of experience which justifiably sets itself distinctly apart from every other market offering.
This vaunted height doesn’t come cheap. It is the result of a clear strategy and brilliant implementation across all the marketing phases of product concept development, eventual production, pricing model, product placement and communication.
Sam Darwin, an expert in the branding space, admitted to the challenges that make achieving top market placement through a branding effort a tough act. He says, “Differentiating your brand among competitors can be a long and arduous process.”
As well, Pim Van Helten, another expert, hit it, “Building a strong brand is no easy feat. It’s a complex process that goes beyond creating a slick logo and catchy tagline. It requires time, dedication, and above all, skills.”
The challenges attached to implementing a successful branding strategy have been spelt out to some extent. In sum, branding goes beyond merely developing company logos and sticking labels on products. It requires a well-coordinated development effort.
To help startup owners that are bidding for future market leadership below are tips that should suffice:
- Keep an eye on volume – Critical channel players such as retailers, and bulk breakers that are expected to carry your products hate having challenges in reordering a best-selling product quickly. Whether you are selling a tangible product or a service, continue to work out a process to raise your production level as the product penetrates the market deeper.
- Secure stable quality – Variability gives a product a bad reputation. Ensure the consumer experience is the same each time they reuse your product. This isn’t easily achieved especially for businesses selling a service. Creating and sticking to a tested and tried production/ servicing methodology is key to avoiding variability in product usage experience.
- Focus on price affordability – Except you are aiming to position your product in the luxury segment, focus on lowering your production cost so that you can keep your price within the mass market corridor. This is a call for affordability.
- Focus on making the product widely accessible – Bulk breaking is critical to ensuring your product is placed within a trek distance for consumers. E-commerce can also come in handy. Whether you are targeting making your product available in local stalls or leveraging an e-commerce infrastructure, ensuring the consumers don’t have to spend more money on logistics to purchase your product would help you gain good leverage.
- Be driven by consumer needs – Consumers’ tastes don’t remain the same. What they aspire to evolve. Keep discovering and appealing to the end-users changing needs profitably. You can’t afford to remain unchanged as trends emerge around. It is even advisable to keep improving your product/ service by adding fresh features to them occasionally.
By adopting the tips enumerated above your product would be able to meet trade expectations, and connect with consumers deep needs.
