46
BUSINESS AND TRAINING
“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.”
friends about the brand; and for these reasons it
commands a premium price tag.
“The clear advantages of brand building are no longer
something you can relegate to the side-lines. A brand
is not something that you do once you’ve established
a flourishing business and can afford it – it has to
be integral to the establishment and growth of the
business.”
It goes beyond the functional nature of a product
but is about creating an emotional connection with
customers. For instance, in the case of the plumbing
trade almost every plumber is performing the same
kind of function at the same level of proficiency with
the same kind of expectation from the consumer
of that service. Whether it’s unblocking a drain or
installing the plumbing in a corporate head office,
every plumbing firm should be coming up with pretty
much the same result.
“To differentiate such a commoditised business,
brand transcends the functional expectation and
creates an emotional connection which then enables
a firm to charge a premium over and above the
actual product. It may be a feeling of affinity or trust.”
Khumalo gives Nike as an example, which, in its
marketing, partners with inspirational athletes like
Serena Williams and Caster Semenya. It creates an
aspirational link in the minds of consumers that they
too could be the fastest runner in the world, even if
they know they really can’t.
A second illustration is Nando’s Chicken, which does
not market itself as being a different type of chicken
(grilled as opposed to deep fried) but from the outset
created an emotional connection, based on humour
and current events in our country, and how that
relates to sharing a meal.
How to build a brand
Khumalo outlines the process (something which in
his firm they charge consulting fee rates for). It starts
with some introspection – why does an organisation
exist and what motivates a person to go to work each
day? “The answer is not to make a profit – that is a
consequence of what one does, not the reason for
doing it. The most successful brands start from the
premise of their purpose in life, and then add ‘Oh,
and we just happen to make great computers’ (in
the case of Apple), whereas a conventional computer
company would list the attributes of its computer
and invite consumers to buy – without creating any
inspiration.
“Start with what you do best, then how you benefit
the world, and finally why you do what you do.” He
suggests one write these in concentric circles and
start the process from the inner circle – at the why.
“That identifies the inspiration. In branding terms,
the ‘why’ is called the golden purpose. You have
to identify the purpose, so you can create the
emotional connection, so that whatever functional
service you deliver over time outlasts a simple
piece of communication. Identifying that ‘why’ may
not necessarily be easy when the service you are
delivering is seen as somewhat of a commodity, and
one is just a price taker.” Price taking, in the case of
a plumber, would be a call out fee.
That is precisely why, in such a commoditised trade
one should go to the effort to build a brand, because
it will give one the opportunity to charge a premium
rather than merely be a price taker.
Three simple steps to build the ‘why’:
1. Start by defining how one wants one’s business
to be seen, experienced and remembered,
which is accomplished by:
• Reviewing the product or service the
business offers.
• Pinpoint the space in the market that
it occupies and research the emotional
Character defines who Nando's is and who it connects with.
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January 2020 Volume 25 I Number 11