Imagine launching a company selling sustainable electronics; you have an ecommerce store, a marketing plan, and an initial product launch. However, your logo is slightly different on your website and product packaging, and your social media posts use a variety of color schemes and writing styles. This kind of inconsistent branding makes it harder for customers to recognize your company and identify with it.
In this case, your company needs a thoughtful brand management strategy that weaves together a consistent brand message, highlighting the value of your company, products, and services over your competitors. Learn more about the importance and fundamentals of brand management to begin developing your brand management process.
What is brand management?
Brand management relies on specific marketing techniques to create a recognizable and strong brand identity. Strategic brand management involves crafting core brand values, a brand personality, a consistent voice and visual style, and other branding elements that can impact every aspect of the customer experience.
Marketing teams, brand managers, and brand management companies focus on improving customer associations by creating, evaluating, and adjusting assets and strategies like developing a compelling brand story or writing an attention-grabbing slogan.
An example of effective brand management would be implementing specific brand guidelines for your employees that inform how you present products and services, customer communications, and marketing materials. Depending on the size of your company, you might handle brand management yourself or hire a brand manager whose sole responsibility is to monitor and adjust your brand.
Why is brand management important?
Brand management can enhance your brand’s reputation and perceived value in the market by displaying a consistent brand identity with core values that align with your target audience. A consistent and engaging brand identity can improve your market share by distinguishing your company, products, and services from your competitors.
Without a clear branding strategy, you risk creating inconsistent products, services, and marketing campaigns that fail to enhance brand recognition and positive perception. By implementing consistent, robust, and attention-grabbing brand strategies, you can improve the perception of your brand in the market and begin to create a loyal customer base.
The fundamentals of brand management
Brand management efforts work in tandem with various marketing strategies, like content marketing, social media marketing, and email marketing, by ensuring every representation of a company is consistent with its overall brand identity. Here are three fundamental aspects of brand management to remember as you develop your brand strategy:
Brand recognition
Brand recognition refers to the likelihood a potential customer will recognize your brand. Brand recognition happens when customers identify your company while interacting with brand assets like a logo, font, color scheme, or slogan and other aspects of a brand identity, like a brand voice or brand name.
Recognizable brands create compelling and consistent assets focusing on their target market and highlighting their unique value proposition (UVP). Brand management software tools like Shopify’s logo maker and business card maker are useful resources for merchants looking to take that first step toward creating a recognizable brand image.
Patagonia has a recognizable brand identity exemplified by its mountainous logo and eco-friendly images. Using recycled material, investing in organic farming practices, and connecting customers to environmental activism projects, Patagonia manages a consistent brand personality focused on the values of its outdoor-enthusiast target audience.
Brand equity
Brand equity is the value of a brand based on the market’s perception of the quality and desirability of a company, product, or service. Merchants build brand equity through positive brand associations and a clear brand positioning strategy that sets them apart from their competitors.
If you increase the perceived value of your brand, you can use this brand equity to justify increasing your pricing or launching a new product line. One of the best ways to increase your brand’s equity is by prioritizing quality customer experiences and encouraging positive word of mouth through social media posts and customer reviews.
Allbirds is an example of a company that built brand equity by focusing on its understated brand personality, simple visual style, and core brand values defined by ethically sourced materials and an environmentally conscious brand personality. In the words of Travis Boyce, vice president of business development at Allbirds, the company found that “someone who’s really passionate about sustainability or about our brand already, or who cares about the goods they’re consuming, we can help coach them and develop them into a retail ambassador.”
Brand loyalty
Brand loyalty occurs when a customer repeatedly chooses a particular brand despite competitors offering similar products. There are several ways companies can build brand loyalty, including clear brand values, high-quality and diverse products and services, and exceptional customer service. According to a 2022 study, customer service was the leading factor for brand loyalty, with 83% of respondents considering it critically important.
Another way to encourage brand loyalty is through a loyalty program that rewards loyal customers with discounts, free products and services, and other perks. For example, body care brand Blume created a fun and engaging loyalty program called Blumetopia that lets customers redeem points for prizes like products and branded goods.
Brand management FAQ
What is the role of brand management?
The role of brand management is to monitor and adjust customers’ perceptions of a particular brand by crafting a consistent and compelling brand identity that involves a variety of branding elements, like core brand values, a brand voice, a visual style, and brand assets like a logo or slogan. By managing your brand effectively, you can increase your brand recognition, equity, and loyalty among your target audience.
What is the difference between marketing and brand management?
Marketing includes specific campaigns focused on goals like new product launches, while brand management has a broader focus on a brand’s overall perception in the marketplace. Ideally, your company can determine brand guidelines that give your marketing department clear boundaries regarding brand assets, voice, and overall brand identity.
What impact does digital marketing have on brand management?
Digital marketing has a huge impact on brand management. Digital marketing efforts like social media marketing and content marketing are at the forefront of how you convey your brand identity to your target audience.
How can I measure the success of my brand management efforts?
There are several ways to evaluate if you are building a successful brand, including brand awareness surveys and social listening that tracks online discussions of your brand.
