Product branding is a process that comes with many different benefits, especially for retail businesses. For centuries retailers are struggling to increase their sales, and within the last hundred years, during which product branding grew to unbelievable proportions, they realized that it can help them win-over consumer masses and make their current customers more loyal and trustful. In this article we provided short list of some of the major product branding benefits.
Benefits of product branding
Product branding comes with many benefits which is why companies invest huge part of their marketing budgets in building their brands. These are some of the most important ones:
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Meeting consumer’s expectations
Imagine you went to Turkey on a holiday. You enter the store, and see good old Coca Cola next to a black-colored drink called Cola Turka, both sitting in a fridge. Which one will you buy? Coca Cola of course! Why – because it meets your expectations. In the same way local Turkish people will often choose Cola Turka instead, because this is a well-known brand in Turkey, promoted by (believe it or not) Chevy Chase.
With so many products online, consumers are very allergic to ones they never tried before. Since their standards are usually very high, even if they do try some new product, they will expect it to be the best ever. Since this doesn’t happen in most cases, at the end of this adventure consumers usually end up disappointed, which is why they usually find brand name they like the most, and stick to it for eternity. Innovative product branding techniques can turn your product into that brand, which will definitely make you the top dog in your niche.
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Increased customer trust
From consumer’s point of view, branding turns products into friends. When you think about it, we choose our friends in a similar ways as we choose products. You won’t hang out with people who annoy you, in the same way you won’t eat tasteless sweets.
When you gain customer trust, every product with your company logo will be seen and reliable and trustworthy. It is like when a friend asks you to do a favor to his colleague from work, who ‘is a good guy’. Of course you will do it, because you believe in your friend’s judgment. In the same way consumers think that company they trust won’t put their brand name on low-quality or unworthy products.
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Image of size
Even if your company employs a dozen workers, including all the freelancers you came in contact since incorporation, if you succeed in building powerful brand, your consumers will see you as a top dog, and top dogs always bring the best offers, even when they don’t.
Image of company size also comes very handy for businesses that sign longer contracts with their clients. When signing contracts with smaller companies clients need reassurance that these will still be around in a year or two. Powerful brands don’t need to reassure clients in their future success. Their public image serves as a guarantee that all products and services will be delivered according to contract, in years to come.
How to build product brands
Product branding requires lots of time and effort. Bigger companies should assign one part of their marketing team for this work. Small businesses on the other hand don’t have so many marketing experts at their disposal, so every move they make needs to be carefully planned and it will be part of comprehensive branding strategy.
Branding process should include catchy and innovative design features, engaging shoppers through marketing platforms like point of sale displays, posting interesting and consistent ads, rewarding the most loyal customers, targeting customers with emotional commercials, etc.
Product branding is not only helpful for increasing company’s sales at current markets. Big local brands easily penetrate foreign markets and can easily reach international status. Effective branding is one of the best ways to turn local small business into a respected international corporation.