What Is Brand Management?

What Is Brand Management?

Let me tell you directly: brand management is a marketing function where I use techniques to boost the perceived value of a product line or brand over time. If done right, it lets you raise prices and build a base of loyal customers through positive associations, strong images, or high awareness.

To develop a strategic plan for maintaining or gaining brand value, you need a deep understanding of the brand itself, its target market, and the company's overall vision. That's the foundation I'm talking about here.

How Brand Management Works

Brands powerfully influence customer engagement, market competition, and company management. A strong brand presence sets your products apart from competitors and creates affinity for your offerings.

Once established, a brand must be maintained through ongoing management. This means increasing awareness, measuring equity, supporting consistent messaging, identifying new products, and positioning the brand effectively in the market.

Building a brand takes years, but maintaining it requires innovation and creativity. Think of leaders like Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Microsoft, IBM, Procter & Gamble, CNN, Disney, Nike, Ford, Lego, and Starbucks—they've done this over decades.

Benefits of Brand Management

Strong brand management makes your products stand out. With over 265,000 full-service restaurants in the U.S. as of 2022, you need it to be recognizable among competitors.

It starts internally with employee buy-in to the brand's values and principles, making staff more engaged in the strategic plan.

You can expect increased sales as loyalty and equity grow, with consumers choosing your brand over unknowns.

It boosts customer lifetime value through repeat purchases and trying related products if loyalty is strong.

A solid brand allows premium pricing, like Apple does, by leveraging reputation across products.

It provides stability in volatile markets, as loyal customers stick with you even in downturns.

Effective Brand Management Techniques

Brand management might seem complex, but I'll break down some straightforward techniques that keep it manageable.

Start with the basics: establish a strong mission statement, logo, target audience, and vision. As a brand manager, I refine and drive these from the product's early days.

Create compelling stories to strengthen the bond between product and user, tapping into emotional connections through how your products are used.

Leverage software for cohesion across social media, websites, TV, radio, and print. The more channels you have, the more critical it is to link them with a consistent message.

Consider your branding language—keep tone and wording uniform across channels to maintain that consistent feel.

Set internal rules, like restricting fonts, images, designs, or colors, and require approval for any deviations to keep everyone aligned.

Brand Management Elements

There are three critical elements: equity, recognition, and loyalty. Brand management directly develops all three, even if they're hard to measure quantitatively.

Brand recognition is where it starts—if your brand doesn't evoke positive emotions, there's little to manage. For new products, invest upfront; for established ones, allocate resources to maintain position.

Brand equity is the commercial value from the product's image, built through positive experiences and translating to higher sales.

Take Powerade's ads—its associations with sports give it equity over generics, increasing value over time like a company's worth.

Brand loyalty means customers won't switch; it's earned long-term through meeting needs and excellent service across the product's life.

Brand Management vs. Marketing

Both influence perception, but there are differences. Marketing leads initially for new launches, handling early perception without a dedicated brand team.

Marketing is broad, covering more than branding; brand management gets specific, formalizing detailed strategies and ensuring company-wide adoption.

Marketing focuses externally on communications and PR; brand management is more internal, outlining strategy and buy-in before external implementation.

Examples of Brand Management

A gecko might remind you of GEICO, or Coca-Cola's 1971 jingle 'It’s the Real Thing' still resonates. Brands can cover multiple products, like Ford's models or Procter & Gamble's range including Ariel, Charmin, Bounty, Dawn, and Crest.

Requirements of a Brand Manager

As a brand manager, I handle tangible aspects like price, packaging, logo, colors, and lettering, plus intangibles like consumer experiences and emotional connections that build equity.

Equity is the premium consumers pay over generics; it rises with positive perceptions and falls if they'd prefer cheaper alternatives. Cult brands create extreme loyalty through unique emotional ties.

The Importance of Innovation in Brand Management

You must understand what products fit under your brand and keep the target market in mind for new ideas or acquisitions. Success comes from ongoing innovation to maintain quality and retain loyalty, rather than resting on current reputation.

What Is Meant By Brand Management?

It's the creation and enforcement of rules on how a company or product communicates to markets, including boundaries on advertising, language, tone, and cadence.

Why Is Brand Management Important?

It shapes public perception of goods, ensuring loyalty and repeat purchases. Without it, you risk losing customers; with it, you gain short- and long-term financial success.

What Is the Goal of Brand Management?

The goal is to form a specific perception through strategic choices in font, language, messaging, and marketing plans.

The Bottom Line

Brand management guides public perception of goods, services, or companies, tying into equity, loyalty, and recognition. It's often handled by a dedicated team after initial marketing, leading to stronger financial outcomes through effective strategy.