Marketing Your Brand
In order for marketing to be effective you need to have a strong brand identity from which to focus. A brand identity is simply a way of telling a story, of creating a branded world in which consumers want to partake. By owning an item from that brand, they own a part of that world. It may be the world of glamour and exclusivity (Louis-Vuitton), of athletic excellence (Nike), of environmentally conscious living (Body Shop) or coolness by association (Diesel). It’s all about perception. Only when you have this brand identity, regardless of what service or product you are providing, can you begin to market it in the most appropriate way.
For example, every time a new Chanel product is launched marketers ensure the bond to founder Coco Chanel is strengthened. How? Well, think Chanel and you think black and white still shots of 1920’s elegance. Why do we think that? Perhaps because they are the images we are bombarded with, subconsciously ingesting the Lonely Planet Guide to the world of Chanel. By maintaining this theme marketers are urging consumers to own a little piece of the legacy. And who would not want to be part of a legacy (that at least on the surface) stood for success and an understated, timeless elegance and femininity? When the jewellery range was launched in the early 90’s it was billed as ‘The Spirit of Coco’ despite the fact Coco Chanel actually disliked jewellery - irrelevant to marketers. What they were offering was limited entry into this mystical world.
The brand identity dictated the marketing strategy - where and to whom you are targeting. A single Mom on a limited salary with five children has little time to consider understated, timeless elegance, nor the disposal income to pay the fare across the borders to Chanel. She will be looking for entry into another world, perhaps one providing a little peace and quiet with affordable luxury, a chance for escapism and a way to make her home environment more organized and aesthetically pleasing (IKEA). Create your ‘branded’ world and you will create your market.
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