What is strategic brand management?

Strategic brand management is primarily utilised by companies to help their brands and products get global recognition. The term “strategic” signifies that the process deals with long-term plans and assets of a brand. This includes integrative and sustainable policies that aid a company to create, develop and manage its brand. This article discusses the role of strategic brand management in the evolution of a brand and the various types of branding strategies available.

What is strategic brand management?

Branding strategies help establish a brand and promote its product in the financial marketplace. Strategic brand management is based on choosing a suitable strategy for the brand’s growth and the frequent updating of the strategy. This long-term sustainable policy makes it possible for a company to add value to its products and services. It is a collection of techniques that helps to create a unique identity for an organisation by maintaining brand character, quality and customer interactions. 

Why is strategic brand management important?

• Provides greater appeal and differentiation to a brand;

• Enhances customer loyalty and retention;

• Increases employee engagement and alignment;

• Improves perceptions about product performance;

• Decreases vulnerability to competitive marketing actions;

• Accelerates trade cooperation and consumer response;

• Increases marketing communication (MarCom) effectiveness;

• Promotes licensing opportunities.

The strategic brand management process

It is essential that every company designs an exclusive strategic brand management process. This is crucial in building a unique personality in the modern day business world. Strategic brand management comprises of a few distinguished aspects which are as follows:

• Planning processidentification – this ensures that the values of strategic planning are understood and adhered to across all departments. The values should be aligned with the strategic planning process and focused on accomplishing the company’s mission and vision.

• Brand positioningestablishment – the act of designing a company’s proposal and analysing its position in the market is referred to as brand positioning. This aspect assists in convincing consumers about the company’s advantages over its competitors and its attributes. Brand positioning also includes a depiction of the various associations that the company is linked to and explanation about brand essence.

• Brand marketing programmeimplementation – brand marketing includes choosing brand elements (logos, images, symbols and slogans) for the marketers to use during brand promotion. This also involves creating strong, favourable and unique brand associations by supporting marketing programmes and activities.

• Brand performancemeasurement and interpretation – this helps to understand the brand value chain by analysing the financial impact of brand marketing investments and expenditures. This also aids in assessing the source of brand equity and the setting of tools and procedures for functioning of brand equity measurement system.

• Brand equitygrowth and sustainment – this involves the utilisation of the brand-product matrix, brand hierarchy and brand portfolio tools to define the brand strategy. The success of a company’s future marketing programmes depends on the brand equity management system. Marketers need to consider international factors, types of consumers and market segments while managing brand equity across various geographical locations and cultures.

Types of branding strategies

• Brand name recognition– a strong brand name depends on the range of products and subsidiary brands that the company deals with. A well-established company utilises its brand name to earn global recognition and popularity through its logo, slogan or colours.

• Individual branding – this requires every brand to have a separate name to avoid competition against other brands that are run by a parent company. Individual brand names help in establishing a unique identity for a brand that results in greater flexibility in marketing similar products with different quality.

• Attitude branding – this sort of branding strategy is not confined to the quality of a product or its consumption but represents a larger brand personality. Attitude branding involves appealing to a particular feeling that does not necessarily have a direct connection to the brand. A great example of this is the branding strategy employed by Nike with their tagline “Just Do It”.

• Brand extension and dilution – utilisation of an existing strong brand name to create new or modified products is referred to as brand extension. This allows flagship brands to enter a new market, wherein the latest version of a product is similar to the original product, excepting the altered brand name.

• Private labels – some retailers may possess strong brand identity, also known as store brands, which enable them to compete against other brands in the market. Private labels have become increasingly popular at supermarkets and allow their products to outperform other well-established brands in the market.

• Crowdsourcing – these brands are created by common people for brand promotion, allowing the public to be a part of the brand’s naming process. This process minimises the chances of risk from brand failure as the products involve the personal interests of individuals participating in the branding process.

Strategic brand management not only helps boost the value of a product but also build positive customer interaction. It is an important aspect of marketing, which utilises images or key messaging to create brand affirmations. London School of Business and Finance (LSBF) offers a wide range of programmes on marketing plans and strategies. If you are interested to learn about effective strategic planning in business, you should go ahead and apply for the course.

This article was written by Deblina Dam and edited by Anisa C.