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Suicidal Branding

Over years we have seen Corporates talking more about Branding.I see three faces broadly here in an Organisation's growth Path.
Stage One: Company in its Start up stage wants to differentiate itself from its competitors and give extremely good Service levels to its customers to kill competition.There is a continous focus on Innovation ,Value Addition etc.Most of the time size is also small and it is quite Manageable.In this phase most of the time branding evolves through automatic route merely through customers Word of Mouth(WoM).Most of the companies later dont realise it is this Fundamental "quality of Service-Innovation-Value addition " is the core of Branding.

Stage two:
The second Phase is when a company is in Matured/Post Growth state where it looks for Market Expansion.Now Company thinks about Branding investment because it understands that WoM Cant cut across geographies/industries effectively.Capitalising on the WoM and Branding Initiatives companies Grow More and More in Size and at one stage companies reach the stage of "Brand Nirvana".

Stage three:

This third stage is where/when customers take minimal time to take decisions to buy company's Product or Service which ideally means they "TRUST" Your Brand.This is where few companies get into a comfort zone where they are tempted to capitalise on the "TRUST" and less importance is given to "Quality" and "Innovation" which was the prime focus in stage one.Size also becomes large at this stage and with same old Process its quite Cumbersome.Companies which fail to understand that Branding is a continous process and it could take a huge back effect when it deviates from its own Service/Product benchmarks set by the same company in its growth Phase is more likely getting into Suicidal Mode. Smart companies invest in people and retain people who were instrumental in growth and setting benchmarks , and chuck out the Comfort Zoners "People who showcased Performance by Capitalising on the Built Brand and not by thier Competency ".Huge investment shall also be made in training of the new Generation Employees. Talents shall be rewarded within the Organisation irrespective of age,Perceived Experiences etc based on the competencies and Performance and Huge emphasis shall be given for Succession Planning.Smart Companies do invest in Proper Performance/Reward Management System which is Reality Driven rather than Perception and Projection driven.
Mere investing in technology and automation cannot be the only way out and that can probably be a pain killer.

Comments

subbu said…
Prabhu-Nicely written-and I do agree that Brands must closely match (internal)competencies and processes...and some times companies do fail to address this mismatch.Keep it up!!

BTW-Are you angry at something?
Anonymous said…
A professionally crafted logo design prices is one of the greatest blessings for a company; whether it is big or small. It gives them an identity of their own and makes them different from others.
Anonymous said…
Hi........ nice post.!!
Thank you for giving us important information of brand positioning strategies & brand agency

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