How to operate a brand well? Practical skills in brand operation!

Many people in companies who are in charge of brand operations talk about "brand tone" and "brand assets" all the time. They are busy with brand promotion every day, posting small advertisements in different WeChat groups, following hot topics, updating brand manuals, and even learning the basic definition of brand: a brand is an identification mark, a spiritual symbol, a value concept, and is the core embodiment of excellent quality.

It’s a pity that even though I understand a lot of principles, I still can’t live a good life; even though I understand a lot of brand-related concepts, I still don’t know how to do it.

How could such a strange phenomenon occur?

1. Knowing the “calculation formula” but still not being able to solve the problem

When we first took math class, almost everyone knew the Pythagorean theorem, logarithmic equations, area calculations for various shapes, and other calculation formulas, but not everyone could solve the problems, and not everyone could get full marks in math.

Why? Because the knowledge we come into contact with in our lives can be divided into two categories: one is conceptual knowledge and the other is practical knowledge. In short, one is theory and the other is practice. Theories without practice are just empty talk, and practice without theoretical support is reckless and reckless.

When it comes to understanding brands, we all know the “conceptual” definition of brands:

The English name of the brand is Brand, which comes from the Old Norse word Brandr, meaning "burn". At that time, people used branding irons with different symbols on cattle, sheep, horses and other livestock to distinguish their private property from other people's.

In medieval Europe, many craftsmen used this branding method to mark their works so that customers could easily identify them.

Philip Kotler, author of Marketing Management, said:

“A brand is a name, term, sign, symbol or design, or a combination of them, that identifies the products or services of a company to a particular consumer or group of consumers and distinguishes them from those of competitors.”

My summary is even simpler, just one sentence: a brand is a symbol with recognizable value.

• The company name is a cultural symbol;
• A corporate logo is a graphic symbol;
• Corporate slogans are discourse symbols;
• Corporate spokespersons are image symbols;
• …

The direct purpose of a brand is to make consumers recognize the positive cognition, spiritual values, advocacy concepts, etc. conveyed by the brand, and the ultimate goal is to make consumers buy private label products, spend money, continue to spend money, and generate commercial behavior.

But when many people asked me, Qu Tailang, do I know everything you said? I knew the concept of brand when I was in school, but when I was working, I still had a lot of confusion about brand operations. The reason behind this phenomenon is that the brand concept we have always understood is not practical.

The specific manifestations are:

1. Only know the importance but not how to do it. They understand the importance of corporate brand assets, but do not know how to build brand advantages, let alone the steps of brand marketing;

2. Only know the general idea, but don’t know how to systematize. The focus of work is on daily brand promotion activities, while ignoring the overall brand perspective, often falling into the vicious circle of mechanical activities;

3. Only knowing the exposure, not knowing the user’s heart. Investing a lot of resources and money to refresh brand awareness, but often can’t get into the hearts of users, and don’t know the real position of the brand in the minds of users;

…

The root of all problems is the lack of practical knowledge. All relevant brand statements and content on the Internet are about the interpretation of "Tao", but lack explanations on "how to Tao".

In this article, I will combine the children's study table industry that I have participated in, try to use a new brand image, and roughly plan a brand marketing path to interpret the concept of "practical knowledge".

2. “Practical” brand definition, think in reverse

Understanding the definition of a concept does not mean that you can use it flexibly or truly master it. Just like knowing a girl very well doesn't mean you can make her your girlfriend. Therefore, the ultimate goal of a "practical" brand definition is to truly occupy the minds of consumers, get into the hearts of consumers, and truly put it into use; unlike a "conceptual" brand definition which is intended to make you understand, to make you remember, and to interpret the meaning.

We know that the brand comes from a brand, and everyone can see the brand, but no one tells us where the brand is on the cow? On the butt or on the neck? On the thigh or on the hoof? The purpose of branding is as follows:

• The first is identification (to prevent cattle from getting lost);
• The second is recognition (proving that the cow is mine);
• The third is trust (this logo is equal to mine);
• The fourth is habit (your cow is the easiest to find).

Therefore, the definition of "practicability" of a brand must point to purposefulness and operability, so that all marketers can immediately understand what to do and what goals to achieve.

I define brand “practicability” as follows:

Branding is the process by which an enterprise symbolizes consumer perception. It is the most core, essential and convincing consumption reason or consumption concept that a company conveys to the public after discovering its most outstanding genes.

In this way, our understanding of the brand will become actionable. A brand is still an identity, but what we define is what makes it an identity:

First, shape it through symbolic means. The so-called symbolization is essentially the process of refining and compressing, putting a series of files in a folder and naming them. I agree with H&H's brand methodology of "super symbol is super creativity", which is to find a strong group cultural memory for a word and a familiar thing rooted in everyone's heart for a graphic, so as to truly condense the brand into a sentence that can be described to others and a picture that can be described to others.

Second, by combining corporate characteristics with consumer demands. The search for corporate characteristics is actually the establishment of the company's competitive strategy, a low-cost strategy? Differentiation strategy? Target aggregation strategy? No matter which one, a trade-off needs to be made, and the reason for the trade-off is consumer demand. From the most important demands of consumers, find the characteristics that your own company can meet and have a large market scale, and combine them to become the key points of brand value.

Third, quickly brainwash the public through communication methods. Find a communication method that is closer to the target users, quickly and efficiently convey the brand discourse, unify the caliber, let the public receive the information conveyed by the company, repeat it continuously, and truly implant new reasons for consumers to buy.

Fourth, consolidate consumer awareness through continuous reinforcement. To establish a good brand image and brand value, long-term investment and communication are needed. Whether it is the name, logo, display, or publicity, they must be layered and covered to strengthen consumer awareness and establish the brand through keyword associations and key image associations in the minds of consumers.

Ultimately, consumers will truly understand the meaning of "XX brand = specific identification mark, spiritual symbol, and value concept."

So the question is, now that we all understand the definition of a "practical" brand, how can we systematically and scientifically plan a new brand and make consumers reach a consensus on the brand so that they can truly receive the brand image, concept, and value that we convey to them?

Taking the children's study table industry mentioned above as an example , let's make the following assumptions:

This is a company founded in 2002, and has been focusing on the children's study table industry for 16 years. The company is a children's study table manufacturer integrating R&D, manufacturing and services. It has more than 30 patents of various sizes, has advantages in R&D and production, and uses high-quality materials and excellent workmanship. It has maintained high growth for more than ten years and has provided reliable and guaranteed children's study table products to 2 million families.

The children's study tables produced by the company can automatically adjust the height and angle, and are equipped with elbow supports and arc-shaped posture correction openings, allowing children to maintain a good posture while studying and prevent growth problems such as myopia and hunchback. Moreover, the company currently has offline stores all over the country, but because of too many traditions, it has never paid attention to brand building and creation, so there is still a large market size to be explored.

If we were the brand manager of their company, which angle should we choose to sort out and plan its brand so as to capture consumer awareness and help it become a strong brand?

Next, we start the real "practical operation" -

3. Brand operation steps

For brand marketing, I have my own theoretical model: the coin theory . It includes the three core parts of the brand: internal identification (brand positioning strategy), external identification (consumer senses), and brand activities (activation process). In addition, of course, there are other factors such as the executive team, leadership support, etc.

Copper coin theory

In the children's study table industry, there are more than a dozen brands competing equally in the market, and no strong brand has emerged. It is difficult to say which one has an absolute advantage in this category. Therefore, now is a good opportunity for brands to break through. During this stage, the company that does a good job in branding and is the first to capture the minds of users will become the leading brand in the future and will occupy 50% of the market share.

On another level, consumers’ recognition of children’s study tables is not enough and requires repeated education, so the brand that first enters the consumer’s choice list will have an absolute advantage.

Children's study tables are mostly made of logs, bamboo, particle boards and other materials. Their main function is to adjust the child's sitting posture while studying and keep the child in a healthy posture while studying, thereby preventing children from having growth-related health problems such as myopia and hunchback.

Judging from the major brands currently on the market, they are geographically divided into overseas, Taiwan, and mainland China; their positioning is mostly biased towards children's posture correction and healthy learning equipment; from the perspective of brand voice, the advertising channels and content of most brands are insufficient; thus presenting a situation of "Warring States chaos": channels sinking, stores fighting each other, and fierce competition among regions.

Why did this situation happen? There are several main reasons:

1. There are no top-tier strong brands in this category, so consumers are easily confused when choosing.
2. The functions and selling points of children's study tables are similar, making it difficult to stand out from many competing products;
3. The general consumer population lacks in-depth knowledge of this category and their purchasing behavior is rather casual.

Therefore, creating a popular brand and taking the lead in capturing the minds of consumers is an urgent issue to be solved. Based on the concept of practical brand definition mentioned above, we know that brand is the process of a company symbolizing consumer cognition, and the specific implementation of this process is exactly the steps expressed by the copper coin theory .

The core of the "copper coin theory" is to disassemble the most important parts of the brand, forge each part, and finally assemble them into a communication tool to capture consumers' cognition. Therefore, we divide the brand marketing process into the following steps:

(Due to space constraints, the brand positioning, external logo, and brand communication activities will not be expanded in detail and will be discussed separately later.)

1. Establish an internal identity, that is, find the strategic positioning for the brand

In marketing, the STP theory (Segmenting, Targeting, and Positioning) is generally used for positioning. This forms the market positioning, from which we need to extract the brand positioning. It is to translate the market positioning into words that consumers can understand, remember and spread, and implant it in the hearts of consumers.

As assumed above, for a manufacturer of children's study tables, we segmented the market based on product functions. We divided consumers who buy study tables into parents who focus on habit formation, parents who fear myopia and hunchbacks, and parents who cultivate learning spaces. Through discovery, we can find one of the pain points: children have heavy schoolwork, and long-term study at the table can easily cause hunchbacks, myopia and other adverse health problems.

In fact, the children's study table itself is already a segmented market, which mainly focuses on children's learning, health and growth. Therefore, when choosing our target market, we entered the narrower market of children's health, so that we can clarify our positioning: a brand of children's tables and chairs focusing on posture correction for children aged 5-12.

Some may ask, why 5-12 years old? Why learn posture correction instead of preventing myopia? The process of developing this positioning requires more rigorous logic. I will discuss positioning in detail later. Here I will just share some of my thoughts:

Chinese children usually go to primary school between the ages of 5 and 12, and most of them still live at home. However, when they go to junior high school and high school, most of them have to live in school dormitories, so it is more accurate and detailed to define the target customer age as 5-12 years old.

Why is learning posture correction functional enhancement, rather than vision prevention? In many people’s minds, the pain point of myopia is more painful. Wouldn’t it be better to directly dig out the more painful selling point?

wrong. The main function of a study desk and chair is to adjust the table top and allow children to study in a healthier and more standard posture, rather than to prevent myopia. If you are afraid that your child will become myopic, the best thing to do is not to buy a study desk, but to let your child do less homework, go out and play more, or other things. If the product is positioned as a study table for preventing myopia, it will appear exaggerated and will not be conducive to gaining trust.

Finding the positioning means finding the core of the brand and establishing its internal identity. The next step is how to convert it into an external logo that consumers can accept.

2. Establish external identity and translate strategic positioning into super symbols

In my opinion, the process of establishing an external identity for a brand is the process of translating brand positioning. Few consumers can truly understand the product. Even large products such as cars and real estate have many people who do not understand them when they buy them. But what do consumers know? Understand the brand's external image, slogan, name, keywords, associations and other external identification parts.

Therefore, the most urgent issue to be solved is to translate the strategic positioning into super symbols (Hua & Hua methodology) and let consumers help spread it.

How can we create a brand external logo that is instantly recognizable, instantly familiar, and spreads quickly? (I recommend you to read Hua Shan’s book “Super Symbols Are Super Creativity”. My method also comes from this book.)

We know that the most important elements of a brand are: brand name, logo, symbol, image representative, brand slogan, advertising video/advertising song, packaging, etc. Next, let’s try to establish a set of external logos for the brand.

a. Find popular idioms through written symbols

After determining the positioning, the first thing to do is to name the brand? What should I call it? By finding familiar popular sayings, brands can be caught off guard and quickly enter the public mind.

Let's analyze the study table industry. The products are used by children, but it is the parents who pay for them. So we should think from the parents' perspective. What kind of name can reflect the parents' mentality and make them feel good?

Connect with everyday idioms or life scenes and find the word that can awaken the public. Based on my childhood scenes, I remember that when I was a child, I would always sing "Only Mom is Good in the World" to everyone. This song is a powerful IP that is familiar to almost all parents born in the 1980s. So, we can name the brand "Good Mom" .

On this basis, we found a song "Only Mom is Good in the World" as the starting point of all creativity, so our slogan and advertising video can extend this creativity:

■Slogan: Posture Correction Desk and Chair is good for mom, healthy learning is my treasure

■15″ Advertising Video:

The theme is based on the life scene of a mother loving her child, and the product selling point is implanted. The song "Only Mother is Good in the World" is used as the music narration.

Scene: The mother stands in front of the study table and looks at her child who is studying hard. The child sings the song "Hello, Mom, Posture Correction Table and Chair".

Advertising copy: Sing to the original tune of the song "Only Mom is Good in the World"

Hello, Mom, it’s great to have a healthy study!

As long as you have a good study posture, you don’t have to worry about myopia causing trouble!

End of article: Good mothers all choose the MamaGood Children's Study Table!

Just imagine how inspiring it will be when this nursery rhyme keeps echoing in offline stores. This will be enough to make everyone remember the brand and all the selling points it conveys.

b. Find the original totem through visual symbols

At the same time as textual symbols, visual symbols can also be found among the most fundamental and consensus images in our native culture.

Since the brand is named "Good Mom", we can look for visual elements related to mothers: Nuwa, Mengmu, and mother-in-law, who are the most important mothers in our culture, but the tone is too different. So, change your way of thinking. What kind of objects, colors, and smells usually convey the image of mother to us? By thinking in this way, we can very appropriately find the image that makes people feel "familiar at first sight."

What is it? That’s mom in English. By changing “o” into a red heart, you can directly form a logo like “M❤M”. Since I'm not the one who designed it, I just made a rough sketch to show my intention.

It is like we have decided on a logo and main color for the brand. Based on this tone, we can extend a VI visual system, including all places where the brand appears, using this super image symbol to establish good visual recognition and memorability.

A good brand image must be familiar and memorable after just one glance, and can be clearly described to others in one sentence. In this way, it is easy to enter the minds of consumers, thereby reducing a lot of unnecessary waste of resources.

3. Organize marketing activities to quickly spread brand value

After the brand is established, it is necessary to launch a systematic marketing campaign involving products, prices, channels, publicity, etc. through the 4P strategy, so that the brand can amplify its most influential value in every link.

Assuming that we are focusing on the Good Study Table for Mom, in addition to conventional exposure advertising, we should organize more parent-child interactive experiential marketing, bringing parents and children into the consumption experience scene at the same time, and truly making consumers feel that it is necessary to buy the Good Study Table for Mom . Then, sales will increase naturally.

IV. Conclusion

When it comes to understanding and marketing a brand, it is far from enough to just have conceptual knowledge. You must learn how to practice, as practice is the best way to fully understand the brand.

Why do many advertisers and creative people succeed in the advertising industry, but fail when they start their own business? I think a big part of the reason is that talking without practice is just empty talk, so it is better to use some of your personal time to do a micro-entrepreneurship experiment, such as setting up a small stall or making a T-shirt of your own design, and truly integrate what you have learned into practice. In this way, you will find that many of your previous ideas were wrong.

The market and customers are the best touchstones. A good marketer should always pay attention to whether the works he creates can bring huge commercial benefits, rather than playing some performance tricks like those speculators.

Author: Huang Erdan

Source: Huang Erdan