Brand equity affects whether customers choose you or whether they doubt you. Even a second of doubt will be worth a lot of lost users or customers as they see a more established brand. Even if you are not familiar with this concept, you can easily recognize yourself in this concept. It is brand equity that will be the key to development and progress. Let’s take a closer look at the value of long-term branding and develop marketing strategies to increase brand equity.
Proper Understanding of Brand Equity
Brand equity cannot be achieved out of thin air; it requires a strategic process with multiple layers. First, a brand strategy is developed, followed by brand value and storytelling. Next, a team is built for brand management to enhance brand awareness, loyalty, preference, and ultimately, brand equity.
Brand equity comprises several components that are built upon the aforementioned process. These components include:
- Brand Awareness: This refers to consumers’ knowledge and recognition of your brand. It ranges from initial discovery to exclusive preference for your brand when seeking a specific product or service. A great example of brand awareness is instant recognition based on your logo or even just your brand colors or slogan.
- Brand Perception: It encompasses how people perceive and feel about your brand. Positive or negative perceptions develop over time and greatly impact brand equity. Presenting your brand in a way that aligns with your client’s values is crucial for building a positive perception.
- Brand Differentiator: A strong differentiator sets your brand apart from competitors. Analyze how your differentiator resonates with consumers, aiming for a positive reaction that boosts brand equity.
- Brand Relevance: This measures how pertinent your brand is within your industry and niche. Relevance is influenced by various factors such as messaging, copywriting, and packaging design.
See Also: How Outdoor Marketing Can Enhance Your Brand’s Visibility and Credibility
Strategies to Build Brand Equity
1. Build Strong Loyal Bonds
When clients or customers start demonstrating loyalty, it’s the perfect opportunity to solidify those connections. To foster loyalty, which stems from conscious awareness of your brand, alignment with your brand values, and positive perception, it’s important to maintain consistent messaging without becoming monotonous. Instead, generate fresh ideas that complement your brand’s values and value proposition.
Investing in brand management software, like Frontify, is the most effective way to ensure a consistent brand experience. By utilizing such software, you can transform your static PDF brand guidelines into a dynamic digital format.
It is not necessary to be limited only to the customer base of users. You can use the fax app to build relationships with other brands. With this iOS app, you can move towards a common goal together. There are also many other uses for digital fax in the workplace. This is because it is superior to a fax machine in many ways.
2. Create a Positive Brand Perception
Positive or negative, brand perception can sway either way. Needless to say, to establish good brand equity, your brand must cultivate a positive perception. The initial steps of building perception are formed by first impressions and reactions.
Make sure to have a deep understanding of your client base and what sparks their interest. Communicate with them using a language that they are comfortable with. When creating visual marketing assets, take into consideration color psychology and how various colors evoke different perceptions.
3. Improve Customer Experience
Maintaining a positive brand image relies on how you handle customer relations, whether they are positive or negative. It’s crucial to address any issues customers face when using your products or services by making them feel heard and finding solutions.
Provide users and clients with a dedicated space to share suggestions and ideas for new products or features. Actively listen to their feedback and take action if multiple customers express similar requests.
Ensure excellent customer experience by building a strong support team. If your brand operates internationally, establish a remote support team available around the clock. Additionally, consider implementing a social listening process to monitor online conversations about your business. This enables you to swiftly address any negative comments and transform them into positive experiences for customers.
Brands vs. Brand Equity
It combines various elements such as product names, logos, and distinctive colors to establish its identity. Take Honda, for instance, which has separate reputations for its Honda and Accord brands. The Pepsi brand is instantly recognizable with its red, white, and blue color scheme.
In contrast, brand equity represents the value that a brand brings to a company once it gains widespread recognition among customers. Negative brand equity occurs when consumers choose generic products over branded ones, whereas positive brand equity leads to increased customer loyalty. This loyalty often results in customers being willing to pay a premium for their preferred brand.
For instance, those loyal to Campbell’s Soup believe it has better taste and quality compared to similarly priced alternatives. Similarly, Mercedes enthusiasts perceive their preferred brand as superior to BMW or Cadillac. This is why brands, particularly luxury ones, fiercely protect their trademarks and public image.
Also Read: Updating Your Existing Company Logo? 8 Key Factors to Consider
How to Measure Brand Equity?
Quantifying brand equity remains a challenge, despite its acknowledged existence. Marketing organizations tend to gravitate towards customer-based measurements, focusing on aspects like customer loyalty and brand awareness, recognition, and consumer opinion.
Alternatively, some rely on a measurement model that highlights factors such as:
- Brand recognition’s impact on sales
- Price comparisons against other brands or generics
- Market share within a product or industry
Others employ a combination of approaches or more intricate methods analyzing stock performance, projected profits, total company value about tangible and intangible assets, and various other factors.
Conclusion
You can see many examples in your daily life where brand equity created the conditions for a company to grow. Is there no alternative to Google, Amazon, or AliExpress? And yet, we use exactly the goods and services of those trends that are of great value to us. Develop brand equity and you will see how useful this asset is.
