The Essence of Branding Strategy

A branding program is all about differentiating your product or company from the others in your category. And, if you don't have a point of difference, you'd better have a very low price. An example was BMW, which many, many years ago established the powerful position of being the "Ultimate Driving Machine." It has driven that differentiating idea to become one of the world's most successful premium automobiles.

Many companies just don't understand this. All they promote are meaningless slogans. Michael Porter said it very well: "Competitive strategy is about being different. It means deliberately choosing a different set of activities to deliver a unique mix of value. The essence of strategy is in the activities--choosing to perform activities differently or to perform different activities than rivals. Otherwise, a strategy is nothing more than a marketing slogan that will not withstand competition.”

Sponsored By: Brand Aid 

Comments

[miro slodki]

True enough - slogans are just .....slogans.....words without a deep context or history

But wouldn't you say that the essence of a brand strategy is that which the buyer/consumer/partner choses to believe in, in whatever frame of reference be it logical, rational or emotional...

And the job of the enterprise is to uncover and nurture that essence. Balancing off the short and long-term profit demands...

cheers
Miro