Key elements of Product Marketing Strategy – Strong Brand

Awareness

How well do your customers know & appreciate your brand – in a sea of other brands? Which category does your brand occupy from your customers’ perspective?

What are some other brands your current and potential customers recall – either as an equal or superior / inferior to your brand?

Expectations

What does your brand represent to them? Based on your stated brand promise, what expectations does it create in their minds – in terms of quality, grade, service levels, value, style, customer base / popularity?

Knowledge

Do your target customers have a reasonable understanding of the overall range, as well as specifics, of your product & service offerings?

What is their level of knowledge and their overall impression about your company, your track record, and that most important quality called credibility?

Positioning

Positioning is about securing a place in your customer’s perceptual map of the marketplace / players – the specific market in which you are trying to increase your presence (awareness & reputation).

Perhaps even more than the other marketing strategy tasks noted here, positioning requires a high degree of creativity, empathy, and insights – to envision the full gamut of benefits delivered and the myriad components that influence your customer’s perception – along various dimensions. These go beyond financial and functional – to other dimensions such as perceived category and grade/quality, status, safety/security, psychological, emotional, social, aspirational, etc.

Much more than logo + colors!

Good, strategy-driven marketing improves your brand perception. It is not just the logo or visible “branding elements” – it is the sum of all their emotional and rational responses to their experiences of doing business with you.

Thus, even attributes like brand style or brand personality come into the picture.

More than the sale

A good brand is therefore, one that customers associate with positive experiences – that goes with meeting or exceeding their expectations consistently.

Creating these great customer experiences means focusing on all touch points – from ordering, inquiries (online or phone), delivery, payment, usage (initial & ongoing), support, reordering, viewing a message (ad or email, etc.). It is not about closing a single transaction, but about nurturing the relationship over a long period of time.

Getting there

A powerful brand is a great asset. The way to get there is via a solid marketing strategy & the resulting messaging strategy – to define and convey what you want your brand to be – to the target audiences you wish to attract and serve!   Questions?