One could argue a brand is actually not what you think it is (or designed it to be), rather its more about how a customer or stakeholder interprets it. That then poses the question, brand management, what is it and why is it important?

The term brand means many things to many people. Some believe it's their logo, which in fairness is partly right, however a brand is so much more than just a logo.

The Business directory defines brand as: "Unique design, sign, symbol, words, or a combination of these, employed in creating an image that identifies a product and differentiates it from its competitors. Reference: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/brand.html

A brand encompasses everything that the business represents. Be it printed marketing materials, its online presence, the product or service itself, its staff and service standards, product delivery/logistics and perhaps most important of all, the overall customer experience (including the post transaction phase).

Whats more important, a great looking business card or a customer who has enjoyed dealing with your business so much they post a great review online? What is the first impression a customer forms, do they trust you, are they willing to spend money with you.

In short, brand management is all about controlling the manageable brand touch points a prospective/current customer has with your business. And lets not forget we also need to manage our brand internally. Staff have their own brand perceptions, are they in line with the overarching marketing strategy of the business?

A business needs to think about its brand in attracting new clientele as well as the brand experience a customer has during the process. Aside from the standard parameters such as customer segmentation, we can drill down even further within brand management to look at both the pre and post transaction phase to ensure we are managing our brand all the way through from start to finish and beyond.

I don't believe you can take a one size fits all approach to brand management either. In a modern, digitised world where word of mouth spreads quicker than the proverbial, managing your brand both online and offline is not just important but also complex and requires resource and dedication to maintain consistency.

How important is it that you manage your brand consistently, holistically, and effectively? Vital.

If you would like to talk more about this post or if your business needs assistance with brand management, please contact joe@cultivateagency.com.au

Ask yourself these 2 questions, Prior to the $1 milk strategy did you know what the price of a litre of milk was and did a lower price point encourage you to drink more milk?

I would like to take a stab in the dark and say i know what your answer is to both of those questions. Would it by any chance be NO?

The lowering of price on a staple product was designed to reposition a major supermarket chain in line with its Down Down strategy. Some would say that worked spectacularly well, i would argue the long term effects are fatally damaging to an industry that is under constant price pressure, changing consumer habits and government regulation.

The only question large retailers are interested in is do you now see us as better value for money or indeed, would you now be more likely to shop with us?

The approach was to have retail impact in the short to medium term but what are the long term impacts of $1 milk? We are now seeing downward price pressure on producers and processors which in turn may lead to there being less local farmers and the likely need to outsource supply and processing to the eastern states and heaven forbid, overseas.

Worst still, a quality product has now been positioned clearly in most consumers minds as being worth no more than $1 per litre. That has undone decades of good marketing in an instant.

Yes the dairy industry should continue to innovate and introduce different products to market at higher margins (think A2 milk etc) but ultimately the supermarket chains have a responsibility to the industry that is the backbone of their very existence by raising prices and passing on the extra margin to producers and processors.

Agree?

The simple fact is, Masters Hardware was always up against it.

Why?

Firstly, an established competitor with advanced notice of Master's arrival had time to plan, plot, strategise and more importantly, secure the key real estate assets that would prevent Masters from placing stores where they needed to be.

Secondly, whilst consumers like change. In reality they don't.

Bunnings has somewhat followed the typical golden franchise rule in making sure its stores are familiar and consistent. No matter which store you walk into, most of us know which aisle the fixings are in or where the garden centre is located without having to think too hard about it. We like to get in and get out. Especially on a weekend.

Masters Hardware had the perfect opportunity to test the market by opening 'concept' stores before launching a full scale attack. This would have allowed the bugs to be ironed out, to receive vital feedback from consumers, test supplier relationships and gain a better understanding of the intricacies of hardware retailing.

Unfortunately, Masters chose not to do this.

Thirdly and most importantly, the motivation from Woolworths was all wrong. It didn't want to be the best hardware retailer in Australia, (this would have been the right reason to do it) instead its sole purpose was to put a dent in the Bunnings business and in turn impact the bottom line return of Wesfarmers.

I haven't touched on the other key aspects behind the failed venture such as partnering with someone (Lowes) who didn't understand the Australian market or being too diverse in their product offering. Im sure there are a hundred other reasons that could be talked about.

So whats the moral of the story?

Consider the motivation behind what it is you are trying to achieve. Woolworths ultimately hurt its own bottom line and caused irreparable damage to its brand and culture.

Doing something for the right reason should give you a far better long term outcome as opposed to the short term gratification you may get with a misdirected negative approach.