Task 4: The brand
What is a mission statement?
A mission statement defines what line of business a company is in, and why it exists, or what purpose it serves. Every company should have a statement that gets people excited about what the company does and motivates them to become part of it.
Examples of a Mission Statement:
- "To empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more" - Microsoft
- “To be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the lowest possible prices.” - Amazon
- “Bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world. If you have a body, you are an athlete.” - Nike
What is brand positioning?
Brand Positioning is “the act of designing the company’s offering and image to occupy a distinctive place in the mind of the target market”, it describes how a brand is different from other brands. A brand positioning strategy is used to make customers recognise a company in a specific way (The most common method used is a recognisable logo) which increases the use of customers using their services as they trust them to be reliable.
There are 3 important steps that need to be followed in order for a company to be able to make a successful brand positioning strategy, these include: you must understand what your customers want, what your company’s and brand capabilities are, and how a brand's competitor is positioning their brand.
Examples of Brand Positioning Strategies:
- Customer Service Positioning Strategy (Great customer service which can help to gain higher price points)
- Convenience-Based Positioning Strategy (Why a product/service is more convenient based on factors such as location, ease-of-use, accessibility, etc.)
- Price-Based Positioning Strategy (The affordability of a product/service)
- Quality-Based Positioning Strategy (The quality of a product/service through factors such as craftsmanship, materials, and sustainable practices)
- Differentiation Strategy - (A product's/service's uniqueness and innovative qualities)
- Social Media Positioning Strategy (What platforms/channels the business is most/least active on)
What, in business, is meant by values and drivers?
In business, Values mean that it is the worth in monetary terms of the technical, economic, service, and social benefits a customer company receives in exchange for the price it pays for a market offering. To calculate value in businesses, it is essential for your business to have a shared understanding of exactly what values are in the markets.
Some examples of Common Company Values:
- Integrity
- Boldness
- Honesty
- Fairness
- Trustworthiness
- Accountability
- Learning
- Customer Experience
Drivers in business are a component, condition, process, resource, or rationale that is important for a business to be able to thrive. In other words, it's something that can have a major impact on a business's performance. It may also be a situation that would be able to improve a business's financial health.
The most common business drivers are:
- Legislation and government policy
- Litigation
- The price of resources or commodities - Electricity, Energy
- Competitors’ activities
- Customer demand
- Salespeople
- Number of stores/locations
- Production rate
How can an individual, business, or organisation market themselves?
There are many ways that a business/organisation can market themselves, the strategies that businesses use to advertise/market themselves are called B2C (Business-to-Consumer). A B2C strategy is "a broad term that refers to the approach of selling goods, products, and services to consumers".
Some of the best B2C strategies are:
- Social Networks and Viral Marketing: Uploading content that social media users can share around platforms (e.g. YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter).
- Paid Media Advertising: Paying for advertising campaigns to be displayed in many ways like social media, billboards, shops, etc.
- Internet Marketing: Any form of marketing that takes advantage of the internet and technology (email, websites, social media).
- Email Marketing: An automated process that targets customers with the intention of influencing their purchasing decisions.
- Direct Selling: Marketing/selling products directly to customers, sales agents are able to build face-to-face relationships with their consumers by visiting their residences.
- Point-of-Purchase (POP) Marketing: Aims towards consumers that have already engaged with the business through product displays, on-package coupons, and shelf talkers.
- Co-branding Marketing: Where two brands will collaborate with each other and sell a single product/service.
- Affinity marketing: A partnership between a supplier and a business that gathers others with the same interests (e.g. a coffee shop selling products from a local bakery).
- Cause Marketing: A collaborative effort between a for-profit and non-profit organisation to promote themselves and benefit from charitable causes.
- Conversational Marketing: Interactions with customers either by a chatbot or live chat, providing self-service and answering any of their questions immediately.
- Earned Media/PR: Publicity that's created through methods other than paid advertising and can have a variety of forms (social media testimonial, word-of-mouth, television or radio mention, articles)
- Storytelling: Creating a memorable 'tale' of who the company is, what it does, how it solves problems, what it values, and how it contributes to the community.
In business, what is a blueprint and how would this relate to customers and marketing?
A business blueprint is a strategic plan that tells the people in charge how to execute their business strategically, it covers different aspects such as; the productivity requirements, necessary jobs, milestones, targets, and expected outcomes. It's a mix of documents, including the life plan, organisation chart, position contracts, job prototypes, and business plan.
- Life Plan: The foundation of the blueprint, focusing on the most important things that a business owner wants to say to the world, setting milestones for how they can make sure that their message leaves behind an impact on others.
- Organisation Chart: covering the positions a business needs in order to work at peak performance (e.g. sales manager, sales apprentice, marketing manager)
- Position Contracts: It details what tasks each position is responsible for, the quality standards, the expected outcomes, who they report to, and how the position fits into the company's mission and vision.
- Job Prototypes: A series of documentations that are kept to act as training manuals when new jobs are taken. It'll also stabilise consistent processes, so customers know that they can expect the quality standards to be equal every time they return as every employee receives the same training.
- Business Plans: The goals and outcomes that a business owner will use to help them identify if their system is working.
Links Used:
https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/knowledge/strategy/mission-statement/
https://www.thebrandingjournal.com/2016/11/brand-positioning-definition/
https://www.fond.co/blog/best-mission-statements/
https://blog.hubspot.com/sales/brand-positioning-strategy
https://blog.smarp.com/the-importance-of-company-values
https://marketbusinessnews.com/financial-glossary/business-driver/
https://www.weidert.com/blog/top-10-most-effective-marketing-strategies
https://emarsys.com/learn/blog/b2c-marketing/
https://howtoentrepreneur.com/what-is-a-business-blueprint
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