In branding seminars, the sharing around common questions such as where to start building a brand, how to have a strong and sustainable brand seems to not fully answer the concerns of many businesses. Hopefully this article will partly answer the above concerns as well as help entrepreneurs who have the ambition and passion to build big brands. At a recent business meeting, the author of this article met two entrepreneurs, Mr. A, around 50 years old, and Mr. B, 30 years old. Mr. A shared that he has worked hard for over 20 years and has been quite successful... in many fields, from producing soft drinks, confectionery to real estate and currently doing export processing. When asked about the profession he is passionate about, the main business field, he did not answer but only said that he had earned enough money to raise his children and was about to retire. For many entrepreneurs of his generation, seizing opportunities and making profits is a vital goal when life requires a lot of worrying about food and clothing for the family and themselves.
Businessman B excitedly said that he had just established a business operating in the technology field after a period of accumulating experience in a number of foreign companies. B is quite confident and hopes that one day his website will become an “alibaba” or “baidu”(*) of Vietnam in the future. For B, doing business is not simply about getting rich but also about passion, dedication and conquering long-term goals. It is the desire to own a strong brand in the field that you are passionate about. These two businessmen can be considered representatives of two generations of Vietnamese businessmen in the period of economic transition.
The common development orientation of many businesses is to become “multi-industry, multi-professional and multi-functional” business organizations. This reflects the general mentality of many businesses that lean towards sunlight rather than lasers. Because unlike lasers that only project in one direction, sunlight projects everywhere, so it can “hit” more customers, if not “hit” this place, it will “hit” another place.
However, statistics show that the result of such a spread out business is that the brands of these companies are often not strong in any industry. If they are called strong, it is only an inheritance at a time when the market has no real competition. In the world, multi-industry brands such as Mitsubishi, Yamaha of Japan or Daewoo of Korea, although known by many people, have never been ranked among the strongest brands in the world.
It may seem paradoxical, but the reality is that a brand works best when it operates like a laser beam. And it needs to “absorb energy” that is different and appropriate to leave a deep impression on the consumer’s mind, which is a “memory” that is often overloaded by exposure to too many messages every day, especially in the age of information explosion.
In times of crisis, the effectiveness and sustainability of brands that act like lasers are further proven by Intel's dominance in the field of electronic chips, Nokia's leadership in the field of mobile phones, Gillette's mastery of razor manufacturing technology or Honda's expertise in machine manufacturing.
Many studies have also shown that brands that apply a broad business strategy like a sunbeam often have a much lower profit margin on revenue than brands that operate in a simple laser way. Strategic thinking here lies in choosing the field of operation that you can do best and committing to pursue it for the long term. It also means sacrificing, ignoring other short-term money-making opportunities to focus on investing deeply in research and development, aiming to master technology, knowledge or know-how in your business field in the long term.
Brand laser: It takes time to “absorb energy”
If the goals of advertising and marketing activities are often short-term such as sales and market share, the brand aims for the long-term goal of a deep impression in the minds of consumers. Because in order to enter the minds, win the choice and preference of consumers over many other competitors, a brand needs time to create an emotional relationship with them.
If the brand game is likened to a distance in a running competition, it is a long-distance marathon. To reach the finish line first, it requires not only strength but also the flexibility and endurance of the player, often accepting "loss" in the early stages and then increasing speed later when momentum has been built. Specifically, a business brand can only become a strong laser when it continuously "absorbs energy" from products and services that are different from competitors in the industry and are consistent with customer perception over a long period of time.
For example, consumers' perception easily accepts that milk brand X continues to launch dairy products such as yogurt or milk coffee, but it is difficult to accept that X suddenly produces beer. That is a cognitive dissonance.
Through the process of entering a business (existing, subsidiary or new) and interacting with customers, the business gradually creates a unique brand identity, separate from competitors. This is the "input energy" for the brand laser to leave a deep impression in the minds of customers over time.
Branding is a big issue and has a long-term strategic significance. Therefore, businesses need to do thorough research before starting to build a brand. Where to start? (1) Before thinking about what to do to make a difference, it is necessary to identify the profession and business field that you are passionate about and committed to pursuing in the long term; (2) Next, you should understand who you are, what you are best at (the reason for existence) rather than just declaring that you will become "the top or number one"; (3) Recognizing the core values that support the reason for the business's existence plays an extremely important role.
Thoroughly addressing these three fundamental issues is the premise for knowing where to start and which direction to take in the long term. Finally, a potential brand needs to know how to “raise the flag” to gather people with the same ambition and motivation to contribute.
In the past, entrepreneur A may have succeeded by seizing opportunities in many different fields, but unfortunately, when he retired, he did not have a significant brand to leave behind for the next generation. For entrepreneur B, the key to future success lies in determining what his brand laser is and how it will project in the chosen marathon.
According to TBKTSG
