Written for NUS Career Centre

Before blogshops were popular, all people cared about was buying clothes, not selling them. That’s the local trend. In the international market, an example of an online distribution model is Dell. For the most part, e- commerce led the change because starting-up became easier with rental cost removed.

Seeing how more businesses are sprouting up, entrepreneurs can expect stiff competition especially in an industry with low barriers to entry. Be cautious with expectations – being the first to introduce a new product isn’t everything. As we have seen with music players, it didn’t matter that Creative was first to market the Nomad, ultimately it was Apple’s iPod that won over consumers with its strong brand signals.

When we’re asked to cite an example of good branding, an apple usually comes to mind. Part of brand building is having a visual identity – the logo. But don’t jump the gun by designing the logo first. Instead, start with identifying a simple idea you wish to communicate. This forms the essence of how communication with your customers at various touchpoints (levels of interaction) should be. With that, you’ll be able to communicate your brand consistently through visual representation, product offering, and service quality.

In advertising, I’ve observed that the challenge to successful branding is coherent communication. To ensure uniformity, people in management first need to agree on the brand idea – and adhere to it. Once that cornerstone is built, develop a brand guide book to help standardise what the brand stands for. This will come in handy when educating new staff or as a reference for decision making.

Organisations pay substantial amounts for brand consultancy. With so much financial resources invested, what is a measurable value? The answer to that is customer loyalty. The efforts of brand building pay off when their products/service is chosen over a competitor’s continually. The end result, higher market share.

I’d like to share a closing thought that sums the essence of branding, a valued client once said: “Branding is delivering on a promise.” I couldn’t agree more, after all, customers do scrutinise what a brand says. So remember to be consistent, make certain that what your business says it will do. By ensuring that your customers get the right products ordered, in the right quantity and not a day later than they expect, your brand will be off to a good start.