Before we discuss what brand management is, we have to discuss what it isn’t. Many people believe that the only focus of brand management is branding, but this is not entirely true. Typically if you hire a branding firm, they may give you a branding guide and logos, but that's not really "management," is it? With that out of the way, let’s begin!
What is brand management?
At Pliny Crane, we have our own definition: Brand management involves the strategic development and ongoing oversight of a brand's image and reputation, encompassing all aspects of its identity, messaging, and communications to ensure consistency, differentiation, and resonance with its target audience. In simpler terms, brand management is a simple solution to a single problem: "we have a product or service, what now?" It's not just about creating a brand identity, but also maintaining it and creating a unified message that is easily understood by your target audience.
“Brand management should create, capture, and cast a unified message so that it can be easily grasped.”
- Carter Krohn
Why is brand management so important?
The importance of brand management can be demonstrated by considering this simple exercise. Answer the following questions:
Who invented the automobile?
Who invented powered flight?
Who invented the iPod?
If you answered Henry Ford, the Wright Brothers, and Apple, respectively, you've demonstrated the importance and power of brand management. The actual inventors were Karl Benz, Richard Pearse, and Kane Kramer. Those are just three examples of amazing people who made amazing things, but they did not receive the credit they deserved. They didn't create, capture, and cast a unified message of what they had done and how important it was, and so they were quickly forgotten.
What are the elements of Brand Management?
Brand Management is a broad term for a large goal, but there are four primary categories that all brand management must address: strategy, creative, management, and marketing.
1. Strategy
Strategy is the most important part of brand management. It's crucial to create a clear strategy that determines your goals, steps, and pitfalls. Without a strategy, you'll waste time, energy, and money.
“The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do.”
- Michael Porter
2. Creative
After strategy, the most important element of brand management is the creative. With so much competition for attention in this world, you need a unique and clear message that will hold the most attention. This can only be achieved through creative work.
3. Management
While strategy and the creative may be vital to success, they can only come to fruition if managed and implemented properly. This takes people who are experienced, consistent, and dedicated, which is where brand management firms come in.
4. Marketing
The final key component of brand management is marketing. Marketing is how you display all that you've done to create a message and identity that can be grasped. While many people confine marketing to traditional means, there are many other methods, from organic marketing to partnerships and more. We believe that the best marketing is done when relationships are built.
Summary
In conclusion, any successful company is founded on two things: their product/service and their brand. Neglecting one will deprive the other of respect and opportunity. If your product or service is worthy of sales, you need to tell people about it. To learn more about brand management, schedule a call with us or drop your information in the box below to get regular updates on new blogs and events as they arise.
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