1, the meaning and function of brand

Brand is a significant symbol used by producers and operators to identify their products, distinguish them from competitors and identify consumers' cognition. A brand can be a name, a term, a symbol, a logo or a design, or a combination of the above factors. In other words, a brand is an organic combination of words, graphics or words and graphics used to distinguish different enterprises and products.

Now, the brand is no longer just a symbol. P Doyle, a marketing authority, believes that a brand is "a name, a logo, a graphic or their combination to distinguish the products of different enterprises." P Feldwick's explanation of brand is: "brand is an intangible asset created by a guarantee badge." Feldwick is the executive director of BMP, a famous advertising company. In the past 20 years or so, the company took the lead in using relatively perfect research technology to understand the relationship between consumers and brands.

It should be noted that "brand" mentioned by Feldwick is no longer equivalent to "trademark", but has become a broader and more abstract concept. It's made up of a? Quot "badge" or "intangible asset" created by trademark.

In other words, a trademark is not the whole brand, but just a sign or mark of the brand.

This distinction is very important. It is a more perfect and powerful way of thinking to regard the brand as a group of "intangible assets" rather than a name, logo or figure.

Understanding brands from this perspective is one of the most important advances in the history of marketing development in the 1990s. Explaining the difference between successful brands and unsuccessful brands is a key.

The role of corporate brands is manifested in the following aspects:

It is beneficial for products to participate in market competition.

First of all, the brand has the function of identifying goods, providing basis for advertising and other promotional activities, and guiding consumers to buy goods. Secondly, the exclusive right to use a trademark protected by law will effectively curb the erosion of the product market of this enterprise by illegal competitors. Third, a reputable trademark is conducive to new products entering the market. Fourth, brand-name goods are more attractive to customers and help to increase market share.

Conducive to improving product quality and corporate image.

Brand is the evaluation coefficient and identification sign of commodity quality connotation and market value, and it is the intangible capital for enterprises to participate in competition. In order to win in the competition, enterprises must carefully safeguard the brand's goodwill. I dare not treat product quality lightly, for fear of smashing my own brand. The process of creating a famous brand must be a process of constantly improving product quality and establishing a good corporate image.

Conducive to protecting the interests of consumers.

Brand is the guarantee of product quality and source in the sales process, which helps consumers buy their favorite brands to get the greatest satisfaction. When there is a problem with the product quality, it will help consumers get compensation for losses.

Facts have proved that prestigious brands will be great wealth for enterprises. Globally, Marlboro, which ranks first in brand value, has a market value as high as 2 1 billion dollars, while Coca-Cola, which ranks second, has a market value of 24 billion dollars. China famous brand "Hongtashan" won the championship with 654.38+000 billion yuan. This is, of course, the result of long-term operation, but also because of excellent product quality and appropriate marketing mix. Experience shows that correct brand decision, scientific brand design and effective brand protection play a very positive role in the success of enterprises.

2. Corporate brand strategy and its significance

Brand strategy, as its name implies, is an overall action plan that focuses on brand creation, use and maintenance on the basis of analyzing its own conditions and external environment. As an economic form, brand is subject to certain social and economic conditions. Therefore, the rapid rise of brand strategy in enterprise management has its profound social and commercial background, and the development of brand strategy also reflects the evolution of market economy. In the early stage of commodity economy, the productivity level was low, the seller's market characteristics were prominent, and the consumer's consumption behavior was simple, so it was unnecessary to emphasize the external characteristics of products and services. Therefore, enterprise management focuses on production and operation, and the degree of product branding is low. The development of buyer's market triggered a consumption revolution. The integration of enterprises and products needs to develop heterogeneous characteristics beyond the product functions that can make consumers tempted. Brand's cultural identity function is prominent, and brand strategy emerges as the times require. Due to the repeated and unbalanced development of the market, the early brand is only the basic tool of marketing, even at the level of marketing strategy. Even after the enterprise enters the strategic operation, the enterprise management still closely focuses on the four elements of marketing-product, price, location and promotion. Brand strategy goes hand in hand with enterprise organization strategy, talent strategy, investment strategy, product strategy, technology strategy and transnational operation strategy, which has become one of many strategic choices for enterprises. The development of modern productive forces has promoted the informatization process of the market, and the initiative of the market has been further transferred from enterprises to consumers. Enterprises become the second main body of the market, and the efficiency of market resource allocation becomes more dependent and depends on its own information level. The traditional management mode of enterprises is facing severe challenges.

Brand is by no means a thing that exists in the market alone, but a belief based on many things outside the market. Once this belief is formed, it will eventually produce a superstition-like concept among potential consumers.

Brand-the brand we refer to is a real brand, and which so-called "bad brands" can't be called brands-is reflected in the combination of two main aspects:

Fame+reputation

Any product or service is doomed to lose its viability in a short time if it is only famous and lacks reputation. Unfortunately, for the benefit of short-term development and the pursuit of rapid expansion, our enterprises often focus on using huge advertisements to gain popularity, rather than spending money and energy to cultivate word of mouth. The consequences of doing so are very dangerous. Once mature enterprises and brands join the market, only well-known enterprises have weak market competitiveness.

3. Enterprise brand strategy and enterprise operation

Consumers in big cities in China have a strong sense of brand consumption, while brand awareness in small and medium-sized cities and rural markets has gradually increased. It has become a fashion for young people to realize their self-worth by pursuing the consumption of famous brands. But they grew up consuming foreign brands such as Nestle and McDonald's, and even developed to pursue foreign brands as a fashion, which can't help people of insight worry about domestic national brands.

In China market, foreign brands have created successful localized brands through joint ventures, sole proprietorships or mergers and acquisitions. In contrast, in China, except for home appliances, cosmetics, food and beverage and other industries that are open earlier and fully competitive, brand marketing is still blank in industries protected and restricted by national policies, and there are almost no really strong brands. Qin Chi, Aiduo, Giant and other once-bullish domestic national brands are also short-lived.

With the continuous development of China market and the formation of market segments, it is an inevitable choice for enterprises to target marketing and brand marketing for different consumer groups. Whether an enterprise can do a good job in brand marketing and establish its own strong brand is closely related to its long-term business strategy, because brand strategy depends on business strategy. Most domestic brands are short-lived, which is closely related to the lack of long-term business strategy of domestic enterprises.

Second, the status quo of enterprise brand strategy in China. What is the current situation of implementing brand strategy in commercial enterprises? Generally speaking, I have just realized the implementation of brand strategy and the development of my own brand goods. This awareness comes from the guidance of the government and the practice of market competition. Especially in the market practice, many commercial enterprises have made various competitive tricks in the increasingly fierce market competition, but it is difficult to work. However, when some peers found another way to develop their own branded goods, they won again and again. In Shanghai, there are three guns brand underwear, open brand clothing, ancient and modern brand bras, silk king, Aijian fabrics, and so on. Due to the development of their own brand goods, these business peers have made DeUEX an enviable big enterprise in the same fierce competition. There is also the nearby Chunlan brand air conditioner, which has embarked on a world tour (Chunlan brand is developed by manufacturers, but it is just an analogy to do business). Therefore, many commercial enterprises realize that the traditional road can't go all the way to today, and they should take the road of modern management to implement and promote brand strategy and develop their own brand goods.

However, many commercial enterprises realize that brand strategy is one thing, and when they put it into practice, it is another matter. At present, there are some problems that cannot be ignored in the implementation of brand strategy in commercial enterprises. Mainly:

First, the concept of implementing brand strategy is vague. As soon as many commercial enterprises hear that they want to implement and promote brand strategy, they immediately turn their attention to brand-name goods developed by manufacturers. It is thought that as long as we have more contact with these manufacturers, operate more brand-name goods and engage in some monopoly and special distribution, the brand strategy will be implemented and promoted. In fact, this is a big misunderstanding. We do not rule out the joint efforts of industry and commerce to implement and promote the brand strategy, but the direct significance of industrial and commercial implementation of the brand strategy is to develop brand goods by themselves and use their unique advantages of being close to and leading the market to develop brand goods. This is a huge and heavy system engineering, which requires hard work, not simply taking advantage of it. Second, there is a lack of sense of urgency in implementing brand strategy. It is very important for enterprises to implement brand strategy, but there are many things for enterprises to do now. Besides, since the implementation of brand strategy is a systematic project, it can't be done overnight, so we should take it slowly. At present, the most important thing is to catch up with sales, and everything else should be put aside. In fact, it is very important to catch up with sales, but how to catch up is not because of various measures to expand sales and promote sales, and the results are not great. It is better to study brand strategy and find a breakthrough from here, so as to find the right direction. Commercial enterprises should have a sense of urgency to implement brand strategy. Third, I don't know where to start. Some commercial enterprises are at a loss when implementing brand strategy, either because they lack the theory of implementing brand strategy or because the material conditions for enterprises to implement brand strategy and develop their own brand goods are insufficient. A confused action is to see what others do, especially what brands their peers make, and then follow suit. Actually, this is the most unacceptable. Because the implementation of brand strategy is a brand-new knowledge, the so-called knowledge economy, and there are not many ready-made things to copy. Besides, innovation itself is the pursuit of a new word. If you want to show your magical power, how can you learn from others? One purpose of everything is to proceed from one's own reality. Only by proceeding from reality can we develop our own brand goods with individuality, which is crucial. Fourth, there is a lack of corresponding mechanisms. At present, many commercial enterprises are establishing modern enterprise systems. One of the key issues is the separation of asset ownership and management rights. Only by implementing this separation can the operators of enterprises have independent personality. This is the need to implement brand strategy. However, many commercial enterprises have not separated the ownership and management rights of assets, or although they are separated, the definition is not strict and clear, which still makes the operators lack complete independent personality. This will inevitably lead to short-term behavior in implementing and promoting brand strategy. Brand strategy is a taboo for short-term behavior. Because brand strategy is a process. This process should have continuity and short-term behavior, which is not good for brand strategy. Therefore, in order to implement and promote brand strategy, commercial enterprises must solve the problem of operating mechanism. Thirdly, the countermeasures of using brand strategy flexibly in enterprise operation.

Then, how should commercial enterprises implement and promote brand strategy at present? I think the most important thing is to do the following work well:

1, establish a strong sense of brand strategy.

Operators of commercial enterprises, first of all, operators of large commercial enterprises (groups), should learn modern business knowledge, understand the domestic and international business development situation, assess the situation, seize the opportunity in time, and implement and promote the brand strategy of their own enterprises. Deeply understanding and implementing brand strategy is one of the fundamental means for enterprises to compete for market share and seek survival and development at this stage. It is also a major way for business to make due contributions to the country and the nation. Operators and entrepreneurs who are interested in doing business should establish a strong sense of brand development strategy from such a height and concept, and implement and promote their own brand strategy with a high sense of political responsibility and urgency. 2. Choose the correct market positioning and determine the strategic brand.

Commercial enterprises usually operate goods ranging from hundreds to thousands. It is not necessary and impossible to develop so many brand goods to implement brand strategy. But through market research, starting from the reality of the enterprise, develop one or two brands (usually one brand is enough). At present, there are only 500 big brands and 500 big enterprise groups in the world. The key is that in the case that modern science and technology and socialized mass production make consumer goods more and more homogeneous, the developed homogeneous goods should reflect heterogeneity. Only this heterogeneity is the key to the success of brand development. This heterogeneity should be developed according to the consumption demand of the market. Only by developing this heterogeneity in the same category can all famous brands succeed. This heterogeneity is to follow the market.

3. Use capital management to accelerate development.

Lack of development funds may be a common problem encountered by commercial enterprises in implementing and promoting brand strategy. But we can't wait for this reason, let alone give up development. The international practice of developing modern business is to carry out capital management to accelerate the pace of brand development. The form of capital operation is to graft and introduce international and domestic ready-made brands through merger, acquisition, transfer, franchise and paid use. Creating brand is the primary stage of brand development, and managing brand is the advanced stage of brand development. From the perspective of the development of American commodity brands, it has gone through a three-step process of creating brands, managing brands and buying and selling brands. We might as well learn from this experience and implement brand capital management. Whether to use capital management to acquire or merge other people's brands or to use capital management to transfer, use or franchise one's own brands depends on the specific situation of the enterprise. What I want to emphasize here is that to have the concept of capital management and know how to buy a good brand with a market is equivalent to buying a good market. Nowadays, this kind of brand capital operation and management has become commonplace in the world and China. 4, the use of information network, the implementation of portfolio management.

Once the brand is developed, it must be launched at the fastest speed. Because now is the information age, the fastest joint operation can be realized through the expressway. First, the newly developed brands can quickly access the Internet, which can not only quickly enter the introduction period of new product promotion, promote marketing and expand the market, but also save a lot of necessary advertising investment, which is necessary and huge for developing any new product. Because of the internet, this investment is saved, but the market is developed. And it is developing at the fastest speed. Second, the new product information on the Internet can seek the most extensive trading partners. If you are on the global information network, then this vision is global. The more trading partners you seek, the deeper the degree of joint marketing and the greater the effect. Thirdly, with the popularization of information network, online shopping will become the best channel for sales, which in turn becomes the most direct component of combined marketing. Therefore, to implement brand strategy, we must use information network.

5. Implement large-scale and intensive management.

Brand strategy itself is a large-scale and intensive management. First of all, the developed brand should be further extended and expanded, and the brand strategy should be implemented in a large-scale and intensive manner. In fact, when the newly developed brand enters the introduction period, it can be upgraded to a chain operation, regardless of whether the chain is an enterprise's own chain or a franchise chain. The second is to rely on large groups to promote newly developed brands. This means that if the enterprise itself is a single enterprise, as long as a new product is developed and recognized by the market, it will immediately move towards a large commercial enterprise group, and use its abundant funds, large market share and rich management and marketing talents to promote the newly developed brand in a broader market and multi-level consumption. Three? Quot Kick an own goal "and kick the developed new product into the door of the manufacturer. Because, after all, manufacturers specialize in manufacturing new products and have their specific advantages in manufacturing. When implementing brand strategy, commercial enterprises can form large-scale and intensive production and operation in the manufacturing of new brands through brand-fixing production and producer supervision. That's what they usually call it? Quot Borrow chickens to lay eggs and borrow boats to go to sea.

6. Create an excellent development environment.

It is not easy for commercial enterprises to implement and promote brand strategy. In addition to the internal environment of the enterprise, there must be an excellent external environment. Especially in China, which has just entered the market economy, it is impossible to lose government behavior prematurely. Commercial enterprises should strive for government policy support, implement and promote brand strategy. This is definitely indispensable. First of all, we must strive for the optimal allocation of resources for brand development. Commercial enterprises should declare the developed brands to the relevant government departments, and strive for the relevant government departments to optimize the allocation of basic resources such as human, financial and material resources. Of course, under the current conditions, the optimal allocation of this kind of government behavior is mainly to invite relevant government departments to bridge the gap, thus laying a resource foundation for brand development. The second is to strive for a good market environment. Through the coordination of relevant government departments, the existing "barriers" of local conservatism, monopoly and separatism will be broken. And this environment is a taboo environment for implementing brand strategy. As long as this environment does not change, brand strategy will be difficult to succeed. Therefore, when implementing brand strategy, commercial enterprises must win the support of relevant government departments to solve this development environment problem. The third is to seek legal protection for God. Brand development is real intellectual property and knowledge economy. Without legal protection, the knowledge economy will either be aborted or lost. Finally, I worked hard for nothing. Therefore, relying on the support of the government to create a legal protection environment for intellectual property rights will be a very important task in implementing the brand strategy.