The product is not perfect, how to plan the brand operation

The view that everyone has always accepted is to make good products first and then talk about branding. Products are the foundation of everything. This view must be recognized, but if only this principle is followed, 90% of startups will go bankrupt. After all, imperfect products are the norm for most companies.

For most of these companies, how should they build a good brand even if their products are not perfect?

1. The product may not be perfect, but it must have highlights

There are many ways to highlight the product. It can be a selling point of physical properties. For the same product, the formula is better than others; for the same price, the materials are better than others, etc.

Or the product story may have highlights. For example, the founder is a veteran backpacker who has been to dozens of countries. Although the products are the same as those of a travel agency, they are all selected by the founder’s personal experience. Doesn’t it sound more experiential?

Another example is if a product has been used by a celebrity user, such as the same product that a popular celebrity uses when traveling, can this product be sold at a higher price?

Or the product has received investment from a well-known institution. How can a product that even investment institutions are optimistic about be not useful?

…

Many highlights do not seem to be strongly related to the product, but you should know that each highlight is the basis for users to pay and is also a good foundation for dissemination.

But having highlights in building a brand does not mean not making good products. After all, no matter what industry you are in, if the product is useless, it is impossible to create highlights, and it is unrealistic to expect marketing to solve the problem.

2. Products must be able to solve problems

If highlights are the prerequisite for product attention, then the ability to solve problems is the prerequisite for ensuring product sales.

The birth of every product must be accompanied by demand, whether it is real demand or false demand. Solving certain needs of current users is the value of the product. Only with the ability to solve a certain problem can the product do a good job in marketing and its own brand.

For example, the birth of customized tours is aimed at the lack of autonomy and depth of traditional group tours run by travel agencies, and is specifically designed to meet the travel needs of high-end users and in-depth tourism users; for example, the growth of Pinduoduo is indeed due to people's demand for extremely low prices on e-commerce platforms after Taobao's transformation; for example, the birth of shared bicycles, even though it has been criticized for wasting resources, it cannot be denied that it has solved the last-mile travel problem for many commuters, etc.

So before building a brand, think carefully about your product and what problems it solves. This problem can be holistic or just a small problem solved by a small function, which may gain user recognition. For example, compared with many competing products, perhaps just one better-looking point is enough to impress many users.

3. The product must have a clear development direction

Having highlights and solving problems can be of great help in brand communication and marketing, but long-term product planning and improvement are the long-term means to realize corporate value.

Take Apple as an example. Now when we mention Apple and Steve Jobs, we can cite many cases and solutions, and talk about many product manufacturing stories and details to show how powerful and great this product is. But if we go back to the beginning and look at Apple’s first generation of mobile phone products with today’s perspective, whether it is the iPad, iPod, or iPhone, we will probably feel that they are weak in terms of functions and design experience.

What does this example illustrate? This shows that even though a certain killer feature helped Apple rise rapidly back then, what really made Apple a product that is still considered amazing today is that from the very beginning, Apple had a clear plan and iteration rhythm for product development and implemented it step by step. This is how we have the Apple we know today.

So for most products, no matter they are imperfect now or seem to be very powerful, they still need to continue to grow and improve in order to win in the future .

4. Maintain product innovation

Continuing from the previous point, the two best ways to maintain product strength and improve competitiveness are to clarify product direction and continuously iterate, and to continuously innovate based on the product. When it comes to innovation, many people think it is a project that requires huge manpower and financial resources. Sometimes it may be true, but there are also examples of huge successes achieved with just a few changes.

Internet products are the most obvious example. In the early years, many foreign Internet giants entered China but failed to achieve success. However, Alibaba and Tencent won the ultimate victory in e-commerce and social products. Many people attributed this to localization. In fact, in my opinion, it is essentially product innovation. After all, with so many imitators at the same time, why were they the only ones able to succeed? The reason behind this is the localized innovation of "successful products".

Another example is a cold medicine that was once very successfully marketed - Baijiahei. People take the white tablets during the day and the black tablets at night. The cost was not high, but it was a huge success.

Of course, the premise of this kind of innovation is that you need to have in-depth research and understanding of the industry, and have deep insights into users and your own products, so that you know where to innovate, rather than blindly innovating for the sake of innovation.

5. Clarify the essential difference between sales and branding

Finally, let’s talk about sales and branding. After all, whether the product is perfect or not, it’s all for the purpose of sales and branding.

There is an essential difference between these two points. No matter how bad the product is, it can actually be delivered and sold as long as you can find the highlights and think about how to sell it quickly and well. You don't even need word of mouth. After all, the core goal of sales is to sell products.

However, for a brand, the product must reach a certain level before it can be sold. After the product is polished, it is sold to the target customer group, gradually gaining word of mouth and forming a long-term positive effect.

Therefore, it is only by having requirements for product quality and gradually improving the requirements that it is possible to do better. It is the final result of comprehensive factors such as a company's vision, mission, product strength, and sense of responsibility. Therefore, when building a brand for a product, you must not be impatient for quick success.

In summary, a product does not have to be perfect, as long as it has highlights and can solve user needs, it can achieve sales. However, if you want to build long-term vitality for a product, you must have a clear plan and continuously iterate and innovate to become a successful brand.

Author: Lao Nie talks about brands

Source: PR Home