One of the definitions of branding that I have come to love is the one that says ‘it is a s et of associations and perception about an idea, individual, service, product or company’. This definition is all encompassing. As individuals, we daily formed impressions- whether right or wrong.Our impressions are formed based on whatever information available to us. This may be through personal interaction or third party opinion. In most cases external parties are our allies or ‘dependable’ sources. Branding is the overall business strategies that will guarantee success at the market square.
As branding is all about collection of memory from different stand points, most branding efforts are concentrated on selling an impression through promotion, marketing tactics, public relations and advertising campaigns.
When consultants are hired or when in-house personnel are thinking of branding many do not give utmost value to what happens at the interaction level with the customers. To just put it in the ‘mildiest’ form, customer experience, and satisfaction is at the core of branding effort. Anything out of this is camouflage that does not do anyone any good. Countless feedbacks have shown that people will be willing to pay extra dime to any brand that ensures great experience at the point of contact, interaction with the brand than the ones that invested millions on advert campaigns, Public relations and promotions. At the experience level, most brands suffer untold calamities. That has been the vulnerable point for most brands. A known named brand here is suffering from point of contact syndrome. Many brands seem not to recognize the fundamental impacts of brand experience as exemplified by contact centres. They will rather invest in adverts than on point of contact that will justify the promise made in their adverts, promotions. Fast food joints as well as banks here are the most affected. The kind of people who formed the point of contact persons are not paid like those who hardly have anything to do with the publics. In other words, less attention is being paid to training, fitness of these sets of important internal brands. Customer preferences and loyalty are therefore being damaged through bad and awful experiences they go through in the hands of many ‘uncultured’ points of contact staffs. The mistake many banks have made is to hire pretty, beautiful ladies with less than ‘equally -matched’ skills that can withstand the demands of the positions.
Since the weakest points are the most vulnerable, brand strategies are damaged right there and issues of loyalty, commitment from the customers are often affected. Many of the customers may endure the journey until they find a capable great brand that will help them out.
What is your brand’s most vulnerable point that damages your brand strategy? Will you take a critical look at that now before it becomes a cancerous cell that spread through the system? If that is allowed, brand chemotherapy may not help out, death of the brands become imminent
