How to Build a Brand That Lasts

Young Entrepreneur Blog: Aspiring entrepreneurs and those who are just dipping their toe into the business world should first take time to study the history of successful trailblazers and respected organizations before them. Invariably they will learn that, to be successful, you must proactively establish your brand and must go to great pains to ensure that you protect and encourage it to grow while still maintaining its core beliefs and appeals. Every organization from the humblest sole tradership to the largest multinational company possesses a brand, something that sets them apart and something that drives their entire philosophy.
It is important for an organization to fully understand what its brand is. Without a clear demarcation it will be difficult to cement any relationships with clients. The client only sees your organization as a brand, while an organization itself may often not share that same point of view!
Good brand relationships are not created overnight and must be the subject of a continuous operation. You must strive to engage the customer, once you have attention and understand that there must be some kind of emotional connection to ensure that you will be able to interact over any period of time. Often this is the most difficult aspect for the fledgling organization to understand.
Be prepared to go above and beyond in every aspect of your organization. This includes pricing, promotion, delivery and backup. Ensure that over delivery is a part of your business mantra. When all elements work together you have the chance of forging a brand association that will remain in place through good times and bad. You must establish a depth of feeling throughout the operation, so that the customer appreciates that the brand is worthwhile and interest should be retained.
While many management teams give a lot of lip service to brand management and the buzzword of the decade, “customer relationship management” or CRM, they often miss the point. Indeed, you could argue that when a company shifts its focus to a distinct CRM team or operation it may impart responsibility for brand management which represents a major strategical error. Brand management and development must be instilled within the entire organizational team and must come from the bottom up not from the top down.