The answer is “Yes!” Branding is a long-term investment strategy, so to overcome the crisis, long-term sustainable goals cannot be cut.Why is branding always a priority?
For most products, the cost of branding reaches 85% of the company's market value. A change in the brand index of 1% will lead to a change in the company's market value of 3%. So, the question arises: in difficult economic times, will the company cut all costs and try to maintain high revenue levels as much as possible, or will the company be one of the few that dare to go a step further and position its brand towards the future? There is a lot of advice close to the business that is wondering about the shrinking advertising budget. The success of the brand depends on the business maintaining investment in new ideas, with products and services that promise great potential. Because many successful world brands were born during economic crises such as the first personal computers of IBM, Microsoft and FedEx (1973 - 1975 in the US), CNN and MTV channels (founded in 1980 and 1982), Ipod music player, Crest's Whitestrips teeth whitening product in 2001)...
What should be done specifically?
It is clear that times of crisis are opportunities for savvy marketers and business people. Therefore, instead of streamlining staff, cutting all marketing and brand development activities to focus on maximizing short-term profits, companies should boldly seek new ideas that contribute to enhancing brand value in the eyes of the public. Observe the cuts in competitors' marketing strategies, take advantage of them to attract new customer groups with sustainable brand communication activities. Recent research by Thomas Harris - Research Director of Harris Interactive Polling Institute shows that companies that recently entered the top 200 US companies, spend more than twice as much on PR activities, compared to less famous competitors.
Focus is to sharpen the brand's differentiation strategy, building a focused brand identity to create maximum impact. In addition, these companies are also particularly interested in cutting down on small-scale sub-brand portfolios, which disperse the effectiveness of important decisions that many companies have had to bear on brand portfolio management. For example, in 2003, Nestle created 120 new products but only added four brands. Most of the new products were used to further strengthen existing mainstream brands such as Maggi or Buitoni. The roots of the brand are the prestige of products and services, the sustainability of quality. For example, a Honda motorbike from the 67 model to the Honda @ must always be a step forward showing the company's continuous efforts to renew itself.
Thus, it can be said that a brand is an intangible asset but contains a tangible power. Brand experts clearly understand that a brand is always sustainable but constantly moving, and in the strategy of creating and developing a brand, the important role belongs to dedicated, dynamic, creative people who know how to find the right direction for the brand.
At the seminar “Brand and global crisis” on November 7, many opinions were raised, but there was an interesting opinion that many people agreed with: building a brand in a crisis should start from within the company and go out to society. In times of economic instability, employees are also shaken by the uncertainty of the business, internal communication to create trust for employees to focus on creativity is extremely important.
In short, although economic downturns often bring about unsustainable cutbacks, they also open the door to great opportunities. There may be many reasons for economic downturns, like the tough times we are facing, but what drives economic upturns is the positive attitude of the market. Because good brands are built on the trust of consumers, they will never be forgotten. That is the truth!
According to Marketing
