Where Does Brand Strength Come From?
Solving all contradictions in a brand takes a lot of time and effort.
Strong brands enjoy many advantages. For one, they spend relatively less on marketing than weaker brands and typically have higher profits.
One reason is that they benefit from a large population of loyal customers who, like brand ambassadors, promote the brand to friends and family, creating a positive vibe and increasing brand awareness.
Unlike paid influencers, these customers spread the word for free.
Unsurprisingly, competitors, usually those with weaker brands, envy these benefits and cost advantages.
Brand Coherence Boosts Strength
Different levels of brand coherence often explain why a similar marketing campaign succeeds for one brand but not another.
Strong brands are usually more coherent, while weaker ones are less so.
Solving all the contradictions in a brand and, thus, creating a high level of coherence takes time and effort — a lot of time and effort. "Good enough" doesn't make a brand coherent.
Brands that take the extra time and put in the extra effort to iron out the inconsistencies and contradictions are likelier to stand out in the market.
High-Quality Content Builds Loyalty
Coherent brands tend to be very intentional about their marketing spending.
Instead of spreading their advertising budget across multiple platforms, they focus on the marketing channels that reach the largest audiences and invest in creating high-quality content that resonates with them. Such valuable, relevant content is a catalyst for customer engagement and increased loyalty.
Brand Authenticity Transforms Your Business
The ultimate test is when brands step out of the controlled environment of the marketing departments and face the real world.
Are the employees as caring as the brand values claim? Is a brand promoting the durability of its products while secretly cutting corners to increase profits? Does a premium brand nickel and dime their customers with fees and surcharges?
Talk is cheap but actions tell the truth.
A company may have spent extra time making its brand more coherent or producing high-quality content. Still, despite all this spending, a brand will stay weak if its employees, including managers and owners, don't genuinely live the brand values and fulfill its promise.
Instead, embrace authenticity and walk the talk. It has the power to transform your business for the better.
How to Build a Strong Brand: Strong brands have mastered three crucial steps: brand coherence, consistency, and authenticity.
