Sundaymail Editor
Cresencia Marjorie Chiremba
“Your brand is a story unfolding across all customer touch points” – Jonah Sachs
Branding is all about perception management and customer experience.
Serious companies strive to have these in the correct place, that is to say, they aim to have a positive perception in the eyes of their customers, while giving them unforgettable best experience.
“Engage with”, “buy from”, “advocate for”, and “defend you” are some of the trust signals that companies get when they successfully implement strategies that help to build a positive perception in the minds of their target customers.
The business world is always at war as companies fight to gain a slice of the market share, and it usually gets even more intense when the services they are offering are similar to that of their competitors.
Thus, they resort to a variety of tactics to stand out among competition and be counted. Some use dirty tactics to discredit their rivals, while some use smart tactics such as branding to differentiate themselves.
In their quest to differentiate, grow and extend beyond their target market, companies must make use of different effective branding strategies.
However, it is the target audience, budget, industry and marketing campaigns that determine which branding strategies add value to the organisation.
The following strategies help to build brand value:
Types of Useful Branding Strategies
Product Branding
When companies do product branding, they pick a product and work on making it distinct and recognisable. This is especially true in organisations that have more than one product line. They make use of symbols and designs to set their product apart. For example, Chibuku Breweries’ ‘Scud’ and ‘Super’ beers are differentiated by the container designs. Companies can also use promotions to boost revenue and build brand loyalty.
For instance, fast food outlets like Pizza Inn, have their popular ‘Terrific Tuesdays’ and Thursday’s ‘Buy two pizzas for the price of one’ promotion. The promotion has made their pizzas more recognisable and popular, and this is evidenced by the traffic into their outlets on these two particular days. The outlets are always packed with customers responding to the promotion.
The packaging colours and logos also make Pizza Inn distinctly different from its close competitor, Pizza Slice.
Personal Branding
It is not only organisations that require branding. Individuals too can be brands.
Business people, politicians, celebrities, sportsmen and pastors use branding to establish their work, character and personality. It helps them to present the best version of themselves in the public arena.
So apart from work, a business person or anyone can possess a brand outside their usual office. For instance, Barack Obama has managed to maintain his brand as a thought leader even after leaving office. In Zimbabwe, we have Strive Masiyiwa, a business mogul with a traceable business reference.
He has managed to position himself as a successful, renowned business and motivational expert to start-ups.
People have recognised his personal brand, and this is highlighted by the huge following on his social media pages.
His followers associate him with nuggets that give business wisdom and advice on how to run successful businesses. His personal brand is so effective that people prefer to hear more from Strive the individual, than from Econet or any other organisations that he represents.
Service Branding
Customers get value from superior customer service, and this is exactly what service branding is all about. It is used to leverage the needs of the customer so that they gain an upper hand against competition.
Organisations like Emirates have managed to make use of this service branding strategy, to become one of the most preferred choices when it comes to airline services.
Corporate Branding
The core values of business and philosophy developed by a business to present itself to its employees and different stakeholders are what constitutes corporate branding. Effective corporate brands are presented at each and every touch point, or point of interaction at all stages of the customer life journey with the company. They display their company’s mission, personality and core values across all platforms that they are present, and on all products.
For instance, Nyaradzo has positioned itself as a funeral assurance company that eases the pain of grieving through provision of critical, but necessary funeral services such as transport, coffin and food. Through their services, they have made it clear that they are that friend (Sahwira) that can provide a shoulder when you are at your lowest and comfort you (Nyaradzo).
The aim of using strategies is to get people to talk about your brand, grow it and eventually deliver exceptionally well so that customers are delighted with the brand. Next week I will continue on the other brand strategies that companies can use.
*Cresencia Marjorie Chiremba is a marketing enthusiast with a strong passion for customer service. For comments, suggestions and training, she can be reached on or on 0712 979 461, 0719 978 335
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