Brandworks: Advertising and Marketing Solutions, Chesterfield Virginia

Each product, service, or company, with a recognizable brand name, stands for something slightly different from everything else in its category. If the difference is a desirable one, and that difference is known, the brand will be the category leader. Plus, this difference will give the brand added value.

The category is where market share is won or lost. To win, a Dominant Value Point must be identified and communicated. The brand must be softer, cleaner, smoother, quicker, brighter, whatever. This Dominant Value Point must then be conveyed through direct, clear advertising so the customer can make his own link with the brand. But only the customer can tell us what attributes are most important.

The Customer is King

The Dominant Value Point

Dramatic Moments

How Big? How Often?

Advertising vs. Promotion

The Higher the Awareness, the Greater the Market Share

From the Top

Keep it Up

It is also important to reinforce the value point when it is time to reorder. Tires wear thin, the car gets old, toothpaste is used up, etc. In this brief moment, an upstart brand has a window of opportunity that can be opened. But it's not easy. Established brands are hard to dislodge.

To dislodge a leader takes considerable cunning by a competitor, or considerable neglect by the leading brand. Why are some brands still household words after 75 years while others have faded from memory? Would you buy Fels Naptha for .25 less than Tide? Brand loyalty is not a matter of “what did you do for me today?” but stems from a kaleidoscope of impressions and experience. Advertising reinforces these impressions to solidify the customer base; convert infrequent users into frequent ones; and turn frequent users into single-brand loyalists.

So how do we build a brand? First our marketing must enhance the brand, i.e., sell it. But, it has to start with the product, and the product's value point, from the customer's perspective. Then, we have to knock the customer's socks off!

Brandworks: Advertising and Marketing Solutions, Chesterfield Virginia