Branding Mistakes

I think that this is by far the strongest reason in making a branding mistake! If as a consumer I am not emotionally attached to the brand why would I even LOOK at it? My emotions lead me to have a basic connect with the brand and force me to USE it at least ONCE! Once my heart sings a song after usage I spread it by WOM (Word Of Mouth) and garner more "CREDIBLE" users to the brand. Its a very automatic process. I willmaintain that unless you have an emotional bonding with the brand, it will never work!

Dont kill me for being honest. But some organization do what there industry leader is doing. if they change there logo all others will follow. If they introduce discounts others will jump into the race to bottom. Brands become big & are known by doing what others dont do, Amazon become big because it thought differently; Starbucks is synonymous with coffee because they sold it differently. LACK OF ORIGINALITY KILLS YOUR BRAND. That’s my mantra.

A brand's advertising message may change its meaning when it is translated in other language. So make sure to evaluate it in the local cultural context to see what is truly being communicated. Because the message which was effective and perfect in one country may not that effective in other country ,the message it delivers may have a negative impact on them.

Have a look at these examples, its very interesting...

1) The American slogan for Salem cigarettes, "Salem-Feeling Free", was translated into the Japanese market as"When smoking Salem, you will feel so refreshed that your mind seems to be free and empty."

2) In Taiwan, "Come alive with the Pepsi Generation" was trans-lated as "Pepsi will bring your ancestors back from the dead."

lolz!!!

One of the biggest mistakes in branding is the traditional and cliched idea of the USP. A clear unique Selling Proposition can go a long way in establishing a good brand image.

If you are selling detergent powder, you cant say "my powder washes the cleanest, is the most economical and the lowest priced" people would start suspecting such a detergent powder.

The trick is to be honest and put forth a clear value proposition that would appeal to the TA mind directly. Some of the tag lines that come to my mind are : Hamara Bajaj : Desh ki Dhadkan : The king of good times : The Citi never sleeps: Neighbours envy, owners pride :  etc.

I think not using the existing customers for branding is the biggest mistake because the best marketing tool is word of mouth advertising. Make sure you ask your customers, clients if they can join you in getting the word out. Ask them what they feel about your ads or seminars...

One needs to narrow down on the target audience not just demographic wise but also on personal likes and dislikes. For example a premium brand of whisky might be communicated in clubs and five star hotels all over india where the rich and high profile frequent. But in a city like Maharashtra Whiskey may not be the most loved drink even amongs the upper income group. There it may be Beer, hence having one strategy for the entire country based on your TA - income classification alone is a mistake.

Today one needs to know the customer inside out. What are their tastes, likes and dislikes even down to the mundane fact of when they would love to go shopping - morning or evening (a big factor when it comes to FM advertising)

I have seen many businesses make this marketing mistake, they decide to have a same company brochure and then order copies which takes them many years to use up but they refuse to get a new brochure until all those are gone! Rather its better to order smaller amounts and re-do them more frequently (even if much of the same information is used with new graphics). And some companies use the same television or radio ad for three years. It is very important to understand that when your marketing materials are stale, people ignore them and tune out your message........

If people can't remember your name or slogan how will they find you??

One of the best marketing slogan is of Nike "Just Do It".

Why? The mind can only keep 7 bits of information in short term memory.

To develop a marketing message that’s easy to remember keep it under seven words.

You will never be able to brand yourself in such a way that everyone will like you. Typically the best you can do is to focus on the niche market for your product.

If your brand is unable to be transparent about its core competencies, then a wrong message may go to the consumers. When they find the branding values and real values different they become unable to link your brand to something specific. This may lead to confusion and rejection. 

Laopala is abrand in Glassware market it had lauched anew product with added USP instead of taking advantage of existing brand following, it lauched anew brand DIVA and it had lot of resistance in the market for acceptance