The changing face of brands - don't be the bad apple

Brands are curious things, they consume time and effort to produce and yet for most small business their value is never tangible. From the largest multinationals to the smallest one person businesses, brands are everywhere and every person makes a decision with reference to them. What shampoo? which sandwich? where to go out? Each has its own unique message which effects each person differently.

As a small business you can spend huge amounts of time and effort building your brands, unaware of the effect it is having on consumers. Corporate brands are much more aware of their impact, teams of people slave over opinion surveys, sales data and directors instructions to drive the brand in the right direction. Both consumers and businesses are tied to the brands. Apple is a great example, its hardware is now not markedly better than that of the competition, but it is still able to make gross margins of 60% of its sale price, while squeezing the margin of its retailers and avoiding discounting to consumers.

I have long quipped that you almost don't have to make a good product anymore, nor price it reasonably, you just have to make people want it. Regardless of financial means, wanting an item is enough to drive them to purchase it, its just a matter of how much they want it and how much credit they can acquire.

Brands can take over their products - Hoover for example, now synonymous with a vacuum cleaner or industrially in the generator (http://bit.ly/WhatIsADieselGenerator)  market, Honda with its small petrol generators.

Brands can be destroyed faster than they are made, so its important to maintain a consistent approach - social media now destroys a brand faster than any other medium where unhappy consumers are concerned. This of course allows a minority to take advantage of the businesses that serve them, too fearful of the possible negative publicity one viral tweet could initiate.

Internationally, branding is just as important. My own business of diesel generators (http://bit.ly/uk-diesel-generators) is reliant on its brand to thrive around the world - that brand is also portrayed by a network of agents and distributors. We are fighting against other more powerful brands in the market and competition is tight. (http://bit.ly/TopDieselGB).

Build your brand daily; a little effort every day will give lasting results; think about every aspect of your business and how you would like to be treated; build positive message and assist your customer always and with a little good fortune, you won't be the rotten apple.