The Sunday Mail
Cresencia Marjorie Chiremba
“Branding is the art of becoming knowable, likeable and trustable” – John Jantsch
The image of an organisation is very important, and the visual components of the brand are what makes or breaks the organisation.
A branding strategy is also known as a branding development strategy. It is used by organisations to build a better perception and customer experience. Although it takes time to build, the ultimate result is when customers can identify your brand and it becomes their preferred brand.
Any branding strategy that a company may opt to use should include the brand’s mission, its promises to its customers and how these are to be communicated.
Types of useful branding strategies
1. No-Brand Branding
Generic products usually use this type of branding, whereby products are unlabeled and affordable, but of good quality. In order to keep the costs low, the packaging is plain, but shows product-related information. It is therefore not part of this strategy to put fine packaging, flyers or advertisements. Organisations that adopt this strategy do not really advertise, and to compensate for this their shop or store location must be at prime spots that have high traffic flow. In Zimbabwe, we have tuck-shops that are located in the downtown part of the central business district (CBD). These small shops do not advertise their locations or their merchandise, but they are always congested with customers buying different brands.
OK Supermarkets, for example, used to have an in-store brand, “Pot ‘o’ Gold”. The brand had very minimal packaging quality and the costs of the products were very reduced in comparison to those that had top quality packaging.
Organisations that have products under the no-brand branding seek to let their products speak for themselves, hence, they do not intend to increase the cost of their products through flashy branding.
2. Online Branding
This is internet branding, which is used by organisations that want to establish themselves on the online marketplace. This strategy can also be used by organisations that have a lot of their customers spending much of their time in the digital space. They can connect with their present and potential customers in this virtual market. Platforms that can be used for online branding include social media pages, blogs, and a company’s website. Besides attracting new customers, this strategy can also be used to build brand loyalty.
3. Co-Branding
This is a marketing partnership between two or more companies, and its aim is to connect and get value from each other’s brand equity. This strategy helps the different brands in brand awareness and tapping into new markets. When companies co-brand, they pool resources together and have similar values, missions and cultures. Companies that have used this strategy successfully reward their partners with increased profits, positive associations and a larger customer base. For instance, Monomotapa Hotel once used this strategy with Legacy International. National Foods also seem to use this strategy to promote its multiple in-house brands under one product, Red Seal. Promotions like the OK Grand Challenge and Pick ‘n’ Pay Big Brands Bargain Bonanza are some of the marketing partnerships where companies enter their products as participating brands.
*Cresencia Marjorie Chiremba is a marketing enthusiast with a strong passion for customer service. For comments, suggestions and training, she can be reached on [email protected] or on 0712 979 461, 0719 978 335
