During the era of slavery, slaves were branded so they could be traced back to their plantations when they escaped. That does not make that slave a unique brand. Rather it is a mark of ownership. Also, when a product becomes a brand, in this era, it is a mark of ownership. Not the manufacturer's power of ownership; but that of the consumers. This simply means that manufacturers do not build brands; customers do. What a manufacturer needs to do is to position his or her product or company in such a way that customers will build a brand around it. What you need to do is to create a brand persona around what you want to turn into a brand.
Just what is brand persona? Persona is the aspect of someone's character that is presented to or perceived by others. So brand persona simply means the aspect of your company or product that is presented to or perceived by your customers.
Every brand has a persona. Think of your brand as a person. What is the person like? What should customers expect when they interact with the person? From appearance to personality and everything in-between, your brand persona is one that consumers will evaluate and judge before they do business with you or buy your product. To build a brand persona, here are the four factors you must position before your consumers through your business or product.
# 1 Create a brand Promise: You must make a promise through your business or product to your customers; a declaration or assurance that a particular thing will happen when they interface with your brand. What will your customers get when they patronize you? It can also be described as the satisfactory feeling your customers will get from doing business with you or buying your product.
# 2 Brand Perceptions: Customers or consumers build brands not the companies. They do that through perception, which is the way customers perceive your overall business or brand. How do you want your customers to perceive your business; quality or quantity, reasonably competitive or expensive, poor customer service or excellent customer service? It is yours to decide.
# 3 The Brand Expectations: Based on your promise, your customers will also develop some expectations about your brand. When they are buying your products or patronizing you, they already have expectations based on your brand promise. If ever your brand does not meet their expectations, your customers will become confused and may turn away from your brand.
# 4 The Brand Elements: Your brand needs to have tangible elements that represent it. These elements include your logo, messaging, packaging and customer service. All these elements must work together to consistently communicate your brand promise, shape your brand perceptions, meet your brand expectations in other to define your brand persona.
Once these factors are properly put in place, customers will build a defect relationship with your brand, creating a brand persona around you.
