What is brand management?
Brand management is a broad term used to describe marketing strategies to maintain, improve and bring awareness to the wider value and reputation of a brand and its products over time.
A strong brand management strategy helps to build and nurture closer relationships with its audience. By building a loyal customer base, a brand’s reputation and associated products will be perceived more positively, subsequently driving higher revenue and better brand equity.
Inevitably, today’s most iconic and recognizable brands are experts in brand management strategy, recognizing what marketing tactics need to be employed in order to increase the value of the brand and maintain a good relationship with its customers.
What are some effective brand management techniques?
Before the always-on, hyper-connected world of digital, branding was a little easier to control and measure. Yet, with a growing number of digital channels and technologies to stamp your brand presence on and reach today’s content-hungry consumers, it’s critical that your brand identity is unique, relevant to the times, and brand-consistent across all the various customer touchpoints—both online and offline.
Here are some key points to consider when thinking about an effective brand management strategy at your own organization:
Understand the branding basics: There are several strategic brand elements that must be documented, centralized, and communicated to all stakeholders involved in brand management. This typically includes:
- Mission statement
- Visual elements (“look & feel”, logo)
- Tone of voice and “personality”
- Target audience
Digital brand guidelines are also an effective way to ensure everyone knows how to use brand assets, and communicate your brand consistently.
Create a compelling brand story: Humans are hard-wired to respond to stories. Everyone understands a true narrative with a beginning, middle, and end, so creating an authentic brand story will help foster an emotional connection with your audience and ensure your brand is relatable, driving more positive associations with your brand.
Recognize the personal connection: Branding relies on all sorts of intangible elements—some you can control, some you can’t. When a typical customer determines what a brand means to them, it’s made up of memories, interactions, and a whole lot more that’s happening at a subconscious level.
You may control how the product looks, but they decide what that actually means. Understanding and tapping into the importance of a personal connection can make all the difference in beating off the competition and driving customer loyalty.
Take advantage of brand management software: Technology has transformed how marketers and brand managers develop, manage, and promote a brand. Brand management software is a tech solution for organizations to centralize their brand management activities, content, and messaging.
By consolidating these activities in one central location, brands are better able to create, store, organize, and collaborate on branded assets with both internal and external parties. This ensures a better overview of their brand presence across various digital touchpoints, while also delivering an up-to-date, consistent brand identity to all consumers.
If you want to learn more about the features and benefits of brand management software, check out our guide: Brand management software for dummies.
