The Four P’s of Branding

Branding is an area of business that is often misunderstood and sometimes not achievable by smaller companies be-cause they simply do not have the experience. Why? Because most areas of a company that are about branding are not pulled together as a cohesive unit.

Building a product into a brand leader is not easy, but you can improve your branding impression if you concentrate on these areas: consistent, passionate quality impressions and the four P’s of branding that I have identified — product, placement, promotion and people. These four P’s enable you to check the way your brand is interpreted. Each of these distinct headings has an impact on your brand, and the brand in turn affects each of these areas. For those of you who have gone through Marketing 101, you will see that the only difference between the four P’s of marketing and my four P’s of branding is people — and people affect the brand more than any other area.

Product
Imagine this scenario: It’s lunchtime, and you decide you want an orange for dessert. You drive to the supermarket, go to the produce department and find that only two oranges are left. Both look the same, but one of them has Sunkist stamped on it. Which one will you buy? If you are like 99.999% of Americans, you will buy the Sunkist orange. Over the years, Sunkist has promised you an orange that not only looks good and tastes good, but is also a good value for your money. Now comes the kicker: There is a very good chance that you would still buy the Sunkist orange even if you had to pay a penny or so more for it. That is what building a brand leader is all about. At the moment of truth, if all things are equal, there is a good chance that the “brand” will be the purchase choice and even command a premium price.

Placement
In my brand concept overview, distribution, location, stores, transportation and plant are generic headings, and you might be able to add more that are pertinent to your industry. Imagine that all of these areas are full-page advertisements for your company. They should communicate a message that is consistent with the rest of your campaign. Every piece of communication affects the end user or consumer in some way, shape or form. It really is the logo on the trucks that makes a huge impression, but it’s also the logo on the drivers’ shirts, the cleanliness of the trucks and the way the delivery people interact with customers. They should act the way you want them to, the way you want your brand to be enacted. This should all be scripted, leaving nothing to chance or choice. They are your brand image.

Promotion
Promotion is the area we think of most when discussing brand and brand impression. Promotion covers the vast area of communication, from the very essence of the brand to its image, advertising, sales promotion, direct mail, public relations, marketing, sales force and point of sale. There are so many elements it would take a series of articles just to get started. Consistency should be pervasive throughout all the components. Sometimes you don’t have to have a great design if you are consistent with the message.

People
People are involved in every step of the production of your product or service, and people are the brand — your employees, dealers or distributors, end users, vendors, friends and honestly the rest of the world. Every employee represents the brand — it’s not just the sales department. Think about this: Your accounting department regularly calls someone in a client’s accounting department. Maybe it’s to chase money, to clear up a billed consignment that got lost. But this is also a chance for your accounting person to get a little closer and find out how your company is doing with the customer. This is a great opportunity to get inside information. How are we doing? Why do you think our competition is getting the lion’s share of the business? How can we do a better job for your company? With so many other questions that you would like answered, I would go so far as to try to get these two people together, give them the opportunity to get closer, go out to lunch on you. It will pay back dividends in the long run. There are many more opportunities to make your brand grow. Make sure you follow the golden rules — passion, consistency of message and multiple quality impressions — and your brand will be on its way to becoming a brand leader.