Building a Brand and Making It Work

A brand is not created overnight, and not every
business sets out to make one. But following
these simple guidelines can help your
business become the brand leader.

DEPENDING ON THE TYPE OF BUSINESS YOU OPERATE, a brand can represent a multitude of things to the buying public. Often, it’s the actual name of a business. In other cases, it can be a certain niche or specific product a company has created. It can even be a recognizable logo, an image or symbol that, over time, becomes synonymous with the overall profile and success of your operation. Whatever it is, the goal for your brand should be to identify your products and services as distinct from those of other sellers in the same market. The international business question then is: Should you bring your brand from your home country, or adapt or create a new one in the target market?

Brand basics

First, what actually constitutes a brand? It’s a wide-ranging sum of positive experiences your customers have (or will have) with your business and the products and services you offer. And the stronger your brand becomes, the better it will communicate what your company does for your customers (your messaging), how you do it (your process), and at the same time, establish confidence and credibility (your track record). Once established, you can use your brand extensively in business promotion and outreach, in marketing and advertising campaigns. It can help you gain and control market share. It can eventually become the public identity of your business (think Coke or MasterCard).

Start from scratch… again

So, how do you get started, creating and then building your brand identity in your target market abroad? Note that even if your brand has been successful in your home market, given a different culture, a different currency, and quite possibly, different buying trends and habits in your new market, that brand might have zero power and appeal. Test it out on all parties important to your success: customers, the competition, marketing channels, buyers, sales reps, etc.

If you find that your brand is a bad fit, it may be smart to start from scratch, rather than adapt your branding from home. Before moving forward, look into the past to see what might be the best starting point for recreating your initial successes. Look around you now, in the present, and see if any trends in the target market prompt a new idea. Finally, look to the future—are there any developments on the horizon that you can capitalize on and surge ahead of the competition?

If you’re still a little unsure as to where you might begin, here are some thoughts that will help to ensure your basic groundwork is on track. Let’s start with a vital Step One.

Your value proposition

The first item you must tackle is to create and clearly define a value proposition for the new market you are entering. This step represents a promise of value to be delivered to your customers and a promise of quality that your business will stand behind. This proposition, which is not to be mistaken with the pricing of your products and services, begins the process of establishing your overall brand. It will also begin a comparison that will differentiate you from the competition. The value proposition you create can and should be updated on a regular basis too: it should reflect new products, ideas and philosophies you have instilled as part of your operation and culture. So just like a business plan, your value proposition should be reviewed often.

Consider for example that the Hello Kitty line of toys and accessories is typically aimed at little girls in Japan, North America and western Europe. In China, Hello Kitty watches are a hot item for twenty-something women. Their owners are viewed as hip, trendy, with-it. Who would have thunk it? This successful rebranding was the fruit of flexible, open-minded thinking. If the Hello Kitty folks had doggedly (sorry about that) targeted little Chinese girls, they would have missed a major opportunity.

After your value proposition is clear and aligned with your target market’s conditions, you can proceed to brand establishment. The points below will help you highlight key aspects and philosophies of your business. They help support the very value proposition you are broadcasting to your current and potential customers.

• Clearly define what you do. Make sure every potential customer knows what business you’re in, what you have to offer and how it will benefit them. Constantly review what’s going on with your target audience, check the fit of your product and service offerings to it, and then alter any aspects of your marketing and advertising to match. By delivering a clear message to prospects about who you are, where you are located, and what you have to offer, you make a strong initial case for people to do business with you. This is how a brand is born.

• Be identifiable. The new value proposition, your logo and colors, your goods or services, your business model, and the market niche you service all help shape the identity of your business, through increasing familiarity. This is especially important when expanding to an international market.

• Be different. Look for ways to differentiate yourself from others in your market category. This can happen on countless fronts. Different could simply mean you are better than your competitors. But you may also offer higher quality, a better price/value ratio, a bigger selection, better customer service, a better location, or more innovative solutions. You get the idea: A differentiator could be as simple as your operating hours. If they are different from traditional ones, you’ll stand out (but first confirm with the appropriate authority that you can vary them). Defining your business offering as unique (and showcasing it) gives off a great vibe, gets prospects’ attention, and give you the opportunity to convert them to customers.

• Give your brand an image. That image might be you, as the owner, interacting on a daily basis with customers. It could be your employees, delivering killer service without fail. It could be the incredible product guarantees you maintain. Whatever you pick will be the initial focal point in the value proposition you established in the new chosen market. It must be clear, concise and completely believable. The image you forge will deliver positive word-of-mouth referrals and develop a positive mindset toward your company in the local community.

• Give back. Ensuring your business is active in the local community wherever you are located is vital for your brand and your image. No matter what direction you take (charitable giving, sponsoring events, volunteer work, etc.), your brand stands to benefit from your generosity and service ethic as well. Your good deeds will be favorably associated with the quality of your business.

• Be consistent and deliver a better experience every time. Ensure that every staff member (should you have any) acts as your brand ambassador. Think about the tone you and your staff communicate to your customers. Also think like your target audience. What will resonate and compel them to buy into your brand?

• Build in measurements. Establish budgets and financial targets and to manage and evaluate how well your brand strategy feeds into your various product categories. How will you know you’ve succeeded, if you don’t establish goals and mileposts up front?

Putting the pieces together

It’s important to understand that creating a brand in your new market abroad may not be immediately vital to initial success. In fact, countless businesses achieve financial prosperity and experience rapid growth without paying attention to branding. It’s true that a business could even sell its products or services with minimal to moderate success, and continue that course of action perpetually, without brand development. However, long-term financial success, which will represent the overall sustained monetary value of your company, will primarily rely upon a particular facet of your success (products, service, experience, etc.) or even a combination of them. That’s why many businesses decide to create a visible presence suggesting a widespread, positive consumer experience in their brand identity.

So the moral of this story (and your ultimate goal) is to create a business brand in your target market that vividly portrays a rock-solid value proposition. Showcase this proposition through your marketing, advertising and outreach and allow it to evolve into a long-term reputation, to the point that your customers are compelled to share their positive experiences with your organization with others. That’s when the brand-building process really begins to deliver.

M.P.