How small and medium-sized enterprises build brands

Brand is a special intangible asset, which is even more valuable than tangible assets. Due to the limitations of their own conditions, small businesses must plan, cultivate, operate and develop their own brands while running the business from the beginning.

1. Choose a good product If there is no "good product", building a brand is empty talk. When choosing products, you should:

1. Have the idea of ????being a regional brand. Carefully analyze and study the market, focus on marketing, and build regional brands first.

2. Within the established industry scope, choose the product categories suitable for your own production or operation.

3. Consider the personality of the product and find the entry point for the product. Screen the products that meet the requirements in the selected product categories, conduct in-depth and detailed market research, and gradually narrow the scope of the selected products. Finding the right entry point is one of the keys to building a brand. This entry point can be found from the production line, from the general environment, or from the raw materials. Sometimes it can also break out of the concept of product and the circle of traditional thinking. When Weiland detergent powder was first launched in Henan, the author was invited to review its plan. This product is characterized by being phosphorus-free and the cheapest among phosphorus-free laundry detergents, but it is still more expensive than ordinary laundry detergents. Moreover, phosphorus-free washing powder is characterized by no foaming. Most consumers in my country (especially rural consumers) are not very concerned about whether it contains phosphorus, but they feel better about foaming washing powder. Therefore, if we want to successfully promote Weiland laundry detergent, we must explore the unique features of its similar products. After repeated market surveys and product function research, we decided to raise the issue of "sterilization" that has never been raised in the laundry industry on the basis of the positioning of "whitening and decontamination", and positioned the main functional appeal of this product as: "kill Bacteria on underwear.” The sales of Weilan laundry detergent in Henan have captured the Henan market based on the unique product function requirement of "sterilization".

Second, give a good name. A name is the part of the brand that can be read out in words. It is the first impression a product gives consumers when it appears on the market. An ice cream factory in Luoyang has developed a new product. This product is composed of glutinous rice, black rice, mung beans, red beans and other raw materials. It has high nutritional value and good market potential. They named it "Xiangxuenuo" based on the product's taste, color (appearance), raw materials, etc. After it was put on the market, 87.23% of people who came into contact with it thought its name had a bloody feel to it, and 23.6% of consumers (mostly parents of students) felt embarrassed and lost face because they did not recognize the word "糯". I would like to buy this product, but the product was unsaleable for a time. After another local company learned about this situation, it developed and produced ice cream with the same raw materials and named the product "Black Rice Cake", which became an instant hit. Naming: The name of the product or company should not only conform to its own characteristics and the cultural psychology of the target market, but also have a certain degree of inclusiveness, laying the foundation for the future extension of the company's products and the launch of new products. On the other hand, the name should give people positive and beautiful associations, be unique and distinguish it from other products, and should not contain words that make consumers feel unfamiliar.

3. Design a good logo Although a logo cannot be described in words, it can express the rich connotation of the product and brand. For example, McDonald's "M", Disney's Mickey Mouse, Mercedes-Benz's Samsung ring, etc., they are all exquisite logos. A good logo must have the following characteristics:

1. It has its own unique personality and can display the corporate image.

2. Able to convey the company’s main information to consumers.

3. Easy to understand and remember, and can give people good associations.

4. Register a good trademark. It is not enough for a company to have a good name and a good logo. It must also be covered with a "protective umbrella". Enterprises must register their carefully selected and designed names and logos with relevant government departments to obtain their exclusive rights. When registering, a defensive trademark should also be registered. "Kongfu Family Wine" invested heavily in many advertisements on CCTV, making Kongfu Family Wine a household name. However, it failed to register a defensive trademark and was taken advantage of by the "Kongfu Family Wine" that appeared in 1995. "Kongfu Family Wine" , one word difference, lost most of the market. There are two main strategies for registering defensive trademarks: One is to register words with the same pronunciation and similar meanings in Chinese. For example, Hongdou Group registered "Hongdou" and "Acacia Bean" together.

Another example is "Haha", which has registered a series of trademarks such as "Hahawawa" and "Hahawawa". Another method is to use the same trademark on completely different types of products or different industries to prevent others from using your trademark on different types of products or different industries. In 1998, Sanjiu Group registered the "999" trademark for all eight major industries it planned to enter in the future, with a value of more than 730 million yuan.

5. Set a good position. In an era of serious product homogeneity, to stand out, you need to let customers know the story behind the product and the experience your product brings to them. The difference in product positioning mainly comes from the general characteristics of the product such as function and quality. In an era of serious homogeneity of products, what is more important is the story behind the product, the image of the company that produces the product, the emotional color, cultural connotation, service and the benefits the company brings to consumers. One of the secrets of the long-lasting success of French perfumes in the world market is their exquisite and classical packaging, which can instantly distinguish them from other perfumes. The success of packaging positioning is an obvious competitive advantage of French perfumes. The advertising slogan of my country's Power Washing Machine: "Power Washing Machine, dedicated to mother's love" strives to differentiate the product emotionally from similar products and is an emotional positioning. Accurate positioning:

1. Conduct market segmentation based on market survey results, combined with differences in consumer demand characteristics, purchasing behavior, etc.

2. Combined with the actual situation of the enterprise and external Environmental conditions, analyze the supply and demand relationship and competition status of each market, and select and determine reasonable target markets.

3. Based on the characteristics and attributes of your own products and other similar products, the difference in benefits brought to consumers, and the value and benefits consumers want to obtain through your products, create a brand that is different from your competitors. , a personality and image that can make a distinct impression on people.

4. You can use "outside brains" and think tanks or institutions to find your own "selling points" and position yourself well in the market.

6. Select some good markets. Small businesses can use marketing research and market segmentation to find good opportunities within their capabilities, and find opportunities to fill in gaps.

1. A good market usually has the following standards:

(1) Measurability The market that a small business intends to enter must be measurable, that is, the size and purchasing power of this market The level can be relatively easily measured and predicted through investigation and analysis. This will save a lot of costs for small businesses and will also increase the speed of brand building for small businesses. Unpredictable markets such as how many teenagers and children are likely to smoke and how many people in the United States need to be prevented from AIDS are not suitable as target markets.

(2) The intended market entry should be of sufficient scale to enable the enterprise to achieve its profit targets. The market should have a certain population size, not too small, and should have considerable purchasing power. However, it should be noted that the size of the market that small businesses enter should not be too large, because growing the market requires investing too many resources, and the large market is the focus of large companies.

(3) Accessibility: First, whether the company's advertising can enter the market through certain media and deliver product information to consumers; second, whether the product can reach the market through certain sales channels. market.

2. Strategies for small businesses to build their brands:

(1) The strategy of taking advantage of opportunities is to develop oneself by leveraging the power of others. Shuanghui Group has successfully used this strategy. Shuanghui Ham Sausage adopted a follow-up strategy when facing a strong competitor in Chundu. Wherever Chundu goes, you can see the shadow of Shuanghui following him. Both in terms of price and sales channels. The adoption of the follow-up strategy allowed Shuanghui to become popular across the country with a small amount of capital, and it also avoided the problem of detours in developing the market.

(2) Leverage channel strategies to leverage the sales networks formed by other companies. In order to expand its influence, Henan Dixinquan Mineral Water put its products on Star Supermarket, and put "Star Supermarket" under "Dixin Spring Mineral Water" on the packaging, borrowing the name of "Star" The channel successfully occupied the market.

(3) Name-borrowing strategy uses the fame of others to develop oneself. Ningcheng Laojiao uses "Ningcheng Laojiao, Moutai beyond the Great Wall" as its advertising slogan, borrowing Moutai's name and momentum to achieve its own development goals.

7. Make a good plan. Without a good plan, there is no good direction. Building a brand requires a process, but you must first make a good plan. There are three main parts to a brand development plan. The first part is analysis of the current situation.

Describes the company's current operating environment and answers questions such as "Where are we currently" and "Where are we going?" It can determine whether the enterprise wants to "build a brand", "whose brand" (its own brand, the brand of an intermediary, a joint brand between manufacturers and intermediaries), and brand extension decisions (upward, downward, sub-brand, sub-brand). brand) and other issues. The second part emphasizes the brand's development goals. It answers the question "What do we want to do?" The plan must determine the leading enterprise for action and make a reasonable allocation of human, financial and material resources. The last part, strategy and action plan. Outline the brand development strategies to be implemented and the specific actions necessary to implement these strategies and achieve each goal, that is, answer the following questions: How do you get where you want to go? When will it arrive? Who will be responsible for this? How much will it cost? etc. Make a plan:

1. Have your own advantages. To be operable, long-, medium-, and short-term plans must be formulated based on the actual situation, consumer needs, product life cycle, and different stages of development. "Nippon Paint" is known as the number one brand of home decoration paint. It has a complete range of products (more than 100 types), so it has set its slogan as "Nippon Paint, shine everywhere". As long as consumers have needs, "Nippon Paint" can satisfy them. Therefore, for a long time, no company could be on an equal footing with Nippon Paint. But this seemingly impossible thing has been achieved by a company in India. After investigation, they found out the five best-selling products of Nippon Paint. So they only make these five kinds; the price is one-third cheaper than Nippon Paint; in terms of publicity strategy, they declare: If you want to buy one of these five products, you have no reason to buy Nippon Paint (mine Best); if you buy paint other than these five products, then please buy Nippon Paint. If Nippon Paint only produces these five products, it will not be able to embody "shine everywhere" and its advantages will be lost; if it narrows its front line, its positioning will change; if it does not shrink, it can only watch others make money. And nothing can be done. Therefore, if you want to attack your opponent, you must find a weakness among his strengths. "It is better to cut off one of them than to injure ten of them." Find a weakness among his strengths so that he cannot fight back.

2. The content of the plan must be detailed, specific, and targeted, and must be continuously adjusted as market conditions change.

8. Draft a good advertisement Advertisement is an important means of spreading the brand. In addition to advertising, if you can provide additional services, you will definitely achieve unexpected results.

1. Advertising goals.

(1) Must meet the overall marketing requirements of the enterprise;

(2) Have a certain degree of flexibility and can be adjusted appropriately according to the situation;

(3) Can be accepted by other marketing departments and facilitate cooperation;

(4) Can be turned into a series of specific advertising campaign goals.

2. Advertising theme. When designing corporate advertising themes, designers must go deep into life and conduct careful and objective analysis of products, markets, and consumers.

3. Advertising words. Advertising slogans must be easy to understand, easy to remember, direct, catchy, and easy to spread.

4. Advertising paintings. The design of advertising paintings should be conducive to expressing the image of the product and a certain feature of the product; it should be good at using color to enhance consumers' attention to the product; it should be clear at a glance.

5. Focus on reputation and provide additional services. There was once such an incident: a vegetable buyer first bought some tomatoes, and then bought two cabbages. Probably because he had never bought vegetables, he casually placed the cabbages on top of the tomatoes. At this time, the elder sister selling cabbage came over and said to him with a smile: "What a fool. If you put the cabbage on top of the tomatoes, the tomatoes will be crushed." After that, he took out the tomatoes and put them on top of the cabbage. Just such a small gesture of putting cabbage on the table moved the vegetable buyer deeply. From then on, every time he bought groceries, he would go straight to this eldest sister's stall. If small and medium-sized enterprises can provide some extra services when building their brands, they will definitely be able to "shine in every corner".