BUSINESS AND TRAINING
45
How to gain new clients and
build a strong digital brand
By Eamonn Ryan
Many plumbers view marketing as ‘this other thing’ separate
from the mainstream business of running their plumbing
business, and that a tweet or Facebook status here and there
will suffice for this ‘necessary evil’ one has to live with.
Speaking on the subject of building a brand at a
recent conference, Andile Khumalo, CEO of The
Broadcast Group, a technology and media group,
unpacked the subject in some detail.
What is a brand?
“Consequently, it has nothing to do with what the
business owner thinks, but about what a customer or
potential customer thinks following an interaction with
the business. It may also have little to do with what the
owner would like the consumer to think or what he feels
the consumer ought to think about his or her business,”
says Khumalo.
To bridge this perception gap, marketing communication
is therefore about communicating in a manner so that
when a consumer interacts with a business, they do so
with the viewpoint the business would like them to have,
and successful brands spend millions on this. Every
interaction between a brand and its customers builds this
perception via:
• Product
• Packaging
• Website
• Showroom
• Salesperson
• Invoice
• TV ad
• Billboard
• Word of mouth
• Facebook posts, and
• Tweets
January 2020 Volume 25 I Number 11
Khumalo says that a lot of terms – such as a ‘logo’, ‘PR’,
a ‘corporate identity’ – are used interchangeably and
serve to confuse the issue. A brand is a perception that
lives on in the minds of consumers – it’s their concept
of and opinion about a particular product or service, and
which ultimately determines whether or not they are going
to buy it.
“Start with
existing
customers.
Spend more
time on the
emotional
than the
rational,
because the
latter often
has to do with
standards.”
Andile Khumalo, CEO of The Broadcast Group.
“It’s ongoing – a brand isn’t an ad or a logo. It
is not a single event, but, rather, the sum of the
interaction at every level between the business and
its customers. All these things build a perception
and every one of these touchpoints has to be
professional and show care in detail,” says Khumalo.
Why should you build a brand?
“It’s been proven time and again that there’s a
correlation between building a brand and driving
sales and profits. The brand is precisely the
reason why people will pay double the price for
a recognisable car brand, for instance, when
they could get the same thing from an Asian car
manufacturer for half that price. A strong brand is
instantly recognisable and familiar, it builds loyal
customers who keep coming back; it creates free
advertising when satisfied customers tell their
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