Branding Strategy Insider

Benefits of the Corporate Brand

There are several benefits from employing a corporate branding strategy which a corporation can exploit. First of all, a strong brand including a corporate brand is no less or more than the face of the business strategy hence portraying what the corporation aims at doing and what it wants to be known for in the market place. The corporate brand is the overall umbrella for the corporations' activities and encapsulates its vision, values, personality, positioning and image among many other dimensions. Think of global banker HSBC which has successfully implemented a stringent corporate branding strategy. They employ the same common expression throughout the globe with a simple advertising strategy based on the slogan "The world's local bank". This creative platform enables the corporation to bridge between many cultural differences, and to portray many faces of the same strategy.

A corporate branding strategy creates simplicity as it always will stand on top of the brand portfolio as the ultimate identifier of the corporation. P&G has notoriously been known for a multi-brand strategy (partial brand portfolio pictured above) and yet again, the corporate brand P&G is still what encapsulates all activities by the company. Depending on the business strategy and the potential need for more than a one-brand architecture in the case of P&G, which markets many different brands under their umbrella, a corporate brand can very often assist the corporation and the management to focus in on the core vision and values. Once this overall platform has been established and implemented, it serves as a great stepping stone for revisiting any other brands in the corporations' portfolio and to have a new approach and look at their various brand identities. This ultimately will lead to the final brand architecture of the corporation and set the strategy for how branding and brands will play an important role to achieve the corporate objectives.

Corporate Branding Strategy Defined

The competition in the global business environment is tough and achieving a unique position and competitive advantage is becoming more and more difficult and expensive. The high level of investment necessary to maintain production capabilities and rising cost of R&D for product differentiation, makes strong marketing capabilities and unique brands pre-requisites for modern companies to cover these heavy investments. How can companies and management teams catch up?

Corporations around the world are increasingly becoming aware of the enhanced value which corporate branding strategies can provide for an organisation. Branding in the classic sense is all about creating unique identities and positions for products and services hence distinguishing the offerings from competitors. Corporate branding employs the same methodology and toolbox used in product branding, but it also elevates the approach a step further into the board room, where additional issues around stakeholder relations (shareholders, media, competitors, governments and many others) can help the corporation benefit from a strong and well-managed corporate branding strategy. Not surprisingly, a strong and comprehensive corporate branding strategy requires a high level of personal attention and commitment from the CEO and the senior management to become fully effective and meet the objectives.

Corporate branding is often, but wrongly, referred to as an exercise where the company logo, the design style and color scheme are changed. Naturally, these are important elements to evaluate and potentially change at a later stage once the strategy has been decided upon. It is often accompanied with a new corporate slogan, and then everyone expects results to occur during the project. Corporate branding is a serious undertaking which entails more skills and activities than just an updated glossy marketing facade with empty jargon.

10 Steps To Successful Corporate Branding

Corporate branding is a potentially strong tool for re-aligning a corporate strategy and ensures that the corporation - big or small - is leveraging adequately on the un-tapped internal and external resources. There are10 crucial steps on the way to a successful corporate branding strategy, and they can serve as a useful guide for any corporate branding project.

1. The CEO needs to lead the brand strategy work

The starting point for corporate branding must be the board room, which is also serving as the most important check-point during the project. The CEO must be personally involved in the brand strategy work, and he/she must be passionate and fully buy into the idea of branding. To ensure success despite the daily and stressful routine with many duties at the same time, the CEO must be backed by a strong brand management team of senior contributors, who can facilitate a continuous development and integration of the new strategy.

2. Build your own model as not every model suits all

All companies have their own specific requirements, own sets of business values and a unique way of doing things. Therefore, even the best and most comprehensive branding models have to be tailored to these needs and requirements. Often, only a few but important adjustments are needed to align them with other similar business models and strategies in the company to create a simplified toolbox. Remember that branding is the face of a business strategy so these two areas must go hand in hand.

3. Involve your stakeholders including the customers

Who knows more about your company than the customers, the employees and many other stakeholders? This is common sense, but many companies forget these simple and easily accessible sources of valuable information for the branding strategy. A simple rule is to use 5% of the marketing budget on research and at least obtain a fair picture of the current business landscape including the current brand image among stakeholders, brand positioning and also any critical paths ahead. Simply do not forget the valuable voice of your customers in this process.