Make your brank stick

From Star Online: Business

2nd July 2013



Strong brand name: AirAsia is often perceived as the low-cost airline. Sometimes, we even say “I am flying AirAsia” when we are using other low-cost airlines. — REUTERS

Successful marketing is about making your brand dominate top-of-the-mind recall.

RECENTLY, I received an SMS from a former colleague whom I have not seen for many years. He said someone he knew was looking for help with a marketing plan. When asked if he knew anyone to recommend, he said the first person that came to his mind was me.

I thanked him for remembering me after all these years, as we had not been keeping in touch. I also thanked him for his kind gesture of referring prospects to me.

He was not the only one. Over the past two years, many clients have come my way through referrals, either through existing clients or former colleagues. These colleagues are not my close personal friends.

Considering that I have left the employment world for close to four years now, and I was still the first person that came to my former colleagues’ mind when approached for help in marketing, I thought that I must have done something right in the past.

In my previous column, I wrote about reputation marketing and how we should work on building our reputation.

Reputation is what comes to people’s mind when they think about you, your brand or your company. It is about how people talk about you. Are you or your company, a name they would advocate and recommend to others?

 

The most powerful marketing tool of all is not just influencing what comes to people’s mind when they hear your brand name; it is what comes to people’s mind when they think of something they want to do or buy — the first brand or name that comes to mind.

Could it be your company’s name or your product’s brand?

It is similar to doing a web search; the first name that usually pops into our mind is Google. Other examples are Xerox and AirAsia, being synonymous with photocopying and low-cost flights respectively.

So much so, we have replaced some of the verbs used with these brand names. We say things like “I will Google (do a web search of) the details. I will Xerox (photocopy) those documents. I am flying AirAsia (low-cost airline).”

Many of these brands are not monopolies. But by being the first (or perceived the first) to offer their kind of products and services, these brand names dominate the top-of-the mind recall.

For example, I have often complained about toothpaste and tooth brushes TV commercials that have become stale. These always feature either a dentist, a talking toothbrush or a purported customer’s testimonial.

One day, I chanced upon a totally fresh TV commercial for a new toothpaste brand for consumers with sensitive teeth. The commercial was nicely done — no dentists or a talking toothbrush.

But minutes after watching it, I had no recollection of the brand name. All I could remember was the name of another brand — which was not the brand featured. So what happened?

The brand that came to mind, which was a type of toothpaste for sensitive teeth and gums, had been so strongly cemented in my mind that it refused to remember or accept any other brand names that came my way.

The brand invasion was so successful that whenever I think of toothpaste for sensitive teeth and gums, the first name that comes to mindwas that brand.

If you are an SME offering products that are competing with global brands, you must ponder how you can move to or stay in the top-of-the mind recall for your potential and and existing customers.

Established brands have bigger budgets for marketing campaigns backed by a stronger brand name. Many SME business owners often fall into the trap of trying to cram too many messages into their marketing collaterals and activities. The key is to find your niche — it is better to be remembered or associated with ONE thing than not to be remembered at all.

You can even invent an act or a moment that goes with your brand (think Kodak moment, or Whatsapp). So when people think of ... (fill in the blanks with an act or moment), they think of your brand. Successful marketing is about making it (your brand or messaging) STICK with your customers.

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