Brand management involves a wider scope than brand strategy analysis. Brand strategy belongs to brand management, and brand strategy is only based on brand strategy. Relatively speaking, brand management is easier to write. You can refer to the following connotations of brand management and brand strategy brand management. What is a brand? According to Ogilvy's definition, brand is a complex symbol. It is an intangible general term for brand attributes, name, packaging, price, history, reputation and advertising methods. Brand is also the impression of consumers on their users, which is defined by their own experience. The products are made by the factory. A brand is what consumers buy. Products can be imitated by competitors, but the brand is unique, and products can easily become obsolete quickly, but successful brands can last forever, and the value of brands will affect enterprises for a long time. For many small and medium-sized enterprises, the connotation of brand reflects the corporate culture to some extent. Therefore, for such enterprises, brand is not only a sharp weapon for external sales (dealers and consumers), but also a moral force for internal management (employees and suppliers). In marketing, brand is the most primitive motive force that causes consumers to repeat consumption, and it is the soul in the consumer market. An entrepreneur once said, "Without a brand, an enterprise has no soul; Without a brand, companies will lose their vitality. " [Edit this paragraph] Why should we pay attention to brand management? In other words, it is becoming a fashion to pay attention to "brand management" under the environment of WTO and the promotion of the Internet. What makes people care about brand management? The first is that the audience and readers are decreasing with the change of the media; The growing development of new media; The emergence of small and medium-sized media; Popularization of cable TV network; The rapid development of Internet. Changes in consumers have increased consumer demand; Consumers become more picky; Consumers prefer to seek entertainment and excitement; Consumers have also learned to bargain and compare; The improvement of consumer demand level and the change of consumption habits. The change of market environment makes the competition more intense; The difference between products and quality is reduced; The evil consequences of vicious competition; The brand's strategy of seeking difference is challenged; Enhanced the substitutability of products; The influence of international brands. The change of enterprises themselves and the innovation of products are challenged; Increased mobility of talents; The organizational structure faces challenges; Obstacles to corporate culture; The trouble of insufficient funds; Market fragmentation and instability. Due to the above four obvious changes, it is difficult for products or services without brands to survive for a long time in the future. Only by successful brand management can there be a sustainable growth enterprise and future glory. [Edit this paragraph] How to carry out successful brand management? Brand management is a complex and scientific process, and no link can be omitted. The following are four steps that successful brand management should follow: ▲ Step 1: Draw the "essence" of the brand, that is, describe the rational factors of the brand. First, find out the tangible manpower, material resources and financial resources that can be outlined by facts and figures, and then describe what manpower, material resources and financial resources need to be added according to the target to enrich the essence of the brand. This includes the information of consumer groups, the composition of employees, the relationship between investors and strategic partners, the structure of enterprises, market conditions, competition pattern and so on. ▲ Step 2: Grasp the "core" of the brand, that is, describe the perceptual factors of the brand. Because brands, like people, have thoughts and feelings in addition to their bodies and limbs, when we understand the core of existing brands, we must understand the cultural origin, social responsibility, psychological factors and emotional factors of consumers, and take emotional factors into account. According to the goal to be achieved, reposition the core of the brand and list the emotional factors that need to be added one by one. ▲ Step 3: Find the soul of the brand, that is, find the brand's unique strategy of seeking differences. Through the understanding and evaluation of the rational and perceptual factors of the brand in the first and second steps, the soul of the brand and its unique positioning and publicity information can be sublimated. People like to eat McDonald's, not because it is junk food, but because it brings a sense of peace and happiness to children and adults. People like to go to Disneyland, not because it is a simple amusement place, but because people can find childhood dreams and fun there. Therefore, the brand is not the product and service itself, but the imagination and feeling it leaves. The soul of the brand represents such feelings and feelings. ▲ Step 4: Brand cultivation, protection and long-term care. It is easy to form a brand, but it is a very difficult process to maintain it. Without a good brand care strategy, the brand can't grow. Many brands only spend a lot of money on advertising to increase customer resources, but because they don't know the scientific process of brand management, after gaining popularity, they no longer pay attention to the changes in customer needs and can't provide the promised first-class service. Disappointed customers have no choice but to choose a new brand, resulting in a short-lived brand effect. Therefore, the focus of brand management is brand maintenance. In the past, when people talked about brands, they often thought of the trademarks of products or enterprises. The real brand starts from the reputation card to the emotion card. How to make products rise from trademarks to credibility and finally sublimate to feelings? [Edit this paragraph] Four key elements of brand management ▲ Establish excellent word of mouth because word of mouth is the foundation of the brand. Brands without credibility are hard to compete. After China's entry into WTO, the focus of competition between many "foreign" brands and local brands in China is reputation. As a result of the standardized management and operation system formed by "foreign" brands in the world for many years, consumers' affirmation of their brand credibility far exceeds that of local brands. The starting point of competition between local enterprises and multinational brands is to establish credibility, not by hype, but by improving management level, quality control ability, customer satisfaction mechanism and team quality. Enterprises in China must immediately start to study the changes of customers' needs, and constantly innovate products or services to make them have personalized functions to meet their different needs. Future brand competition will depend on speed to decide the outcome. Only brands that know the changes of the market and customers' consumption habits at the first time can adjust their strategies to adapt to the changing environment at the fastest speed and finally occupy the market. ▲ Strive for wide support. Without the full support of all levels in the enterprise value chain, the brand is not easy to maintain. In addition to customer support, support from the government, media, experts, authorities and distributors is equally important. Sometimes, we need the support of celebrities and use their influence to increase the credibility of our brand. ▲ Establishing intimate relationship has become the only way to provide personalized and diversified services to customers due to the dynamic changes in customer needs and more and more opportunities to obtain information. Only those brands that have established close and long-term relationships with customers will be the ultimate winners. Therefore, brands at home and abroad are sparing no effort to establish direct contact with customers and maintain customer loyalty. ▲ Increase opportunities for personal experience. The buying habits of customers have changed greatly. There are fewer and fewer opportunities to decide to buy only by the information in the advertisement. Consumers need to try or experience before deciding whether to buy. Therefore, the challenge of brand maintenance and promotion becomes how to make customers fully understand the quality and function of products or services in the most convenient environment without spending too much time and energy. This kind of customer satisfaction experience can increase customers' trust in the brand and create a desire to buy. For any brand, the index to measure the four elements of the brand can be tailored and become a special index. These indicators can be used as a baseline for brand evaluation and provide a basis for "tracking" changes in brand image. Brand management index includes reputation index, relationship index, support index and personal experience index. [Edit this paragraph] The value rule of brand management ▲ Optimal management Enterprises that follow this rule pursue optimized management and operation, provide moderately good products and services, and satisfy customers with the most favorable prices and the most convenient means. Such enterprises do not strive for market leadership through product invention or innovation or by establishing close relationships with customers. On the contrary, they win the market with low prices and simple services. For example, Wal-Mart in America is a successful example of this kind of company. Wal-Mart is still looking for new ways to reduce costs and provide customers with more comprehensive and simpler services. The cooperation between Wal-Mart and Yahoo will enable Wal-Mart to maintain its leading position in the global consumer goods retail field. ▲ Optimized products If an enterprise can concentrate on product research and development and continuously introduce a new generation of products, it may become a leader in the product market. Their commitment to customers is to constantly provide customers with the best products. Of course, it is not just a new product that can become a product leader. New products or new functions should appear year after year to meet the new performance requirements of customers. For example, Intel is a product market leader in the field of computer chips; Nike is the market leader in mid-range products of sports shoes. The competitive advantage of market leaders of these products lies not in the price of their products, but in the actual effect of their products, that is, the "performance behavior" of their products. ▲ Close customer relationship enterprises that follow this rule are concerned with how to provide the required services for specific customers, rather than meeting the needs of the whole market. They don't pursue one-off transactions, but establish long-term and stable business relationships with selective customers. Only by establishing a long-term and stable relationship can we understand the unique needs of customers and meet them. The belief of these enterprises is: we know what customers want, and we provide customers with all-round solutions and after-sales support to achieve their long-term goals. For example, Airborne Express is such a company, which has become the industry leader with its close customer relationship. Starting from customers, this enterprise provides customers with services that exceed their expectations, thus making airborne express become a high-profile express company in a short time. With China's entry into the WTO, entrepreneurs don't have much time to think and hesitate. Whether entrepreneurs like it or not, enterprises in China are facing global competition. Even at home, they are also facing competitors from all over the world. Therefore, the choice of brand management strategy and value law that can make enterprises stand out determines whether enterprises can achieve their goals and continue to grow in the post-WTO economic environment. The object of brand management is different from CIS. The object of brand management is brand equity, which is the market value or added value driven by the brand itself and the value beyond production, goods and all tangible assets. Brand management aims to enhance the intangible assets and market value represented by brands. Brand management is a process of accumulating, enriching and perfecting brand assets, which requires constant attention to consumers' preferences, judgments and choices for a brand. Brand management is more manifested as an export-oriented behavior that pays attention to market performance. Brand strategic brand is the crystallization of the psychological, physiological and comprehensive positive feelings and evaluations of target consumers and the public on specific things. People and landscapes, artists, enterprises, products, trademarks and so on can all develop into brand counterparts. When we talk about brand in marketing, we refer to the narrow sense of commercial brand, that is, the crystallization of the public's comprehensive feelings and evaluation of a specific business person, including products, trademarks, entrepreneurs and enterprises. The so-called brand strategy is an enterprise management strategy that the company takes brand as its core competitiveness and obtains differentiated profits and values. Brand strategy is the product of market economy competition. In recent years, some enterprises with advanced consciousness have used the sharp weapon of brand strategy to gain competitive advantage and gradually develop and grow. The essence of strategy is to mold the core expertise of enterprises, thus ensuring the long-term development of enterprises. Today, with highly developed science and technology and rapid information dissemination, products, technologies and management know-how are easily imitated by opponents and hardly become core expertise. Once the brand is established, it is not only valuable, but also unrepeatable, because the brand is a consumer cognition and a psychological feeling, which cannot be easily imitated. [Edit this paragraph] The content of brand strategy The so-called brand strategy includes six aspects: brand decision-making, brand mode selection, brand identification and definition, brand extension planning, brand management planning and brand vision establishment. Branding decision-making solves the problem of brand attributes. Whether to choose a manufacturer's brand or a dealer's brand, or to create a brand or join a brand, we must solve this problem before the brand is created. Different brand management strategies indicate different paths and fates of enterprises, such as choosing the integration of production, supply and marketing of "IKEA" or taking the joining journey of "McDonald's". In short, different brands have their specific adaptability in different industries, different enterprises and different stages. The choice of brand model solves the problem of brand structure. Whether you choose a comprehensive single brand or a diversified multi-brand, a joint brand or a main and deputy brand, although there is no good or bad brand model, they all have certain industry applicability and timeliness. For example, when Toyota entered the high-end car market in the United States, it did not continue to use Toyota, but established a brand-new independent brand Lexus. The purpose of this is to prevent Toyota from giving Lexus a low-end impression and make it a high-end car brand comparable to BMW and Mercedes-Benz. Brand identification defines the connotation of brand, that is, the brand image that enterprises want consumers to identify with, which is the focus of brand strategy. It standardizes the brand's thoughts, behaviors, appearances and other internal and external meanings from three aspects: brand mental identity, behavior recognition and symbol recognition, including core recognition with brand core value as the core and basic recognition composed of brand promise, brand personality and other elements. For example, in 2000, Hisense's brand strategic planning not only clarified the brand core value of Hisense's "scientific and technological innovation, building a century-old trust", but also put forward the brand concept of "innovation is life", determined to shape the brand image of "scientific and technological pioneer who challenges the scientific and technological peak in the new century and is committed to improving people's living standards", and at the same time launched a brand-new VI visual identification system. Through a series of marketing communication with brand core value as the commander-in-chief, it has changed the vague and chaotic brand image in the past and become a leading "technology flow" brand in the home appliance industry with clear brand recognition. Brand extension planning is a clear definition of the future development field of the brand. Make clear which fields and industries the brand is suitable for development and extension in the future, so as to maximize the brand value on the premise of reducing the risk of extension and avoiding brand dilution. For example, the unified use of "Haier" brand in Haier household appliances is a successful example of brand extension. Brand management planning is to protect the brand construction from the organizational structure and management mechanism, establish a vision for brand development on the basis of the above planning, and clarify the goals and measurement indicators of each stage of brand development. Enterprises become bigger and stronger by strategy. "People who have no long-term worries must have near worries." Solving strategic problems is the basic condition for brand development. [Edit this paragraph] Single brand strategy Single brand is also called unified brand, which refers to the situation that all products produced by an enterprise use one brand at the same time. In this way, a kind of strongest brand structure synergy is formed between different products of the enterprise, so that brand assets can be fully enjoyed in a complete sense. The advantages of a single brand strategy are self-evident. Merchants can concentrate on shaping a brand image, let a successful brand accompany several products, and let each product enjoy the advantages of the brand. For example, the well-known "Haier" is the representative of a single brand strategy. Haier brand topped the list for four consecutive years with a brand value of 70.2 billion yuan in 2005, which was 22.2 billion higher than the second place. In 2005, Haier ranked 89th among the top 500 brands in the world. Haier Group began to promote private brand strategy from 1984, from product brand to enterprise brand to social brand, and has now successfully established a well-known image of "Haier". Haier's products have developed from a single refrigerator in 1984 to more than 96 categories of products in 15 100 specifications, including white goods, black goods and beige goods, and have been exported to more than 100 countries and regions all using a single "Haier" brand. Not only that, Haier has also been used as a corporate name and domain name, achieving a "trinity". As consumers, we can extend Haier's concept of "sincerity forever" to any commodity under its name. A successful Haier brand has made thousands of Haier products famous, and the advantages of a single brand strategy have been fully demonstrated. Another advantage of a single brand is the low cost of brand promotion. The cost here not only refers to the cost of marketing and advertising, but also includes the cost of brand management and the clarity of consumers' cognition. A single brand can better reflect the will of enterprises, easily form the core elements of market competition, avoid confusion among consumers, and also need coordination among brands. Of course, as a single brand strategy, there are certain risks. There is the advantage of "one glory * * * glory", and there is also the danger of "one loss and one loss". If there is a problem with a commodity under a certain brand name, then other commodities attached to the brand will inevitably be implicated, and the whole product system may face a major disaster. As a single brand, it lacks differentiation and difference, and it is often impossible to distinguish the unique characteristics of different products, which is not conducive to the development of different types of products by merchants, nor is it convenient for consumers to make targeted choices. Therefore, "sub-brands" often appear in a single brand. [Edit this paragraph] The specific way to adopt the sub-brand strategy is to take a successful brand as the main brand, cover a series of products of the enterprise, and at the same time give different products a charming name as a sub-brand to highlight the individual image of the products. Take Haier as an example. Although Haier uses the same trademark on all products, in order to distinguish each other's characteristics, it is divided into the "pilot series" of variable frequency door-to-door refrigerators. Frequency conversion refrigerators "Prince Charming Series" and "Color Crystal Series"; Computer refrigerators "Digital Prince Series" and "Space Prince Series"; Mechanical refrigerators "Super Energy Saving Series", "Golden Commander Series" and so on. Therefore, there are 15 sub-brands under Haier's name alone. Using sub-brands in household appliances industry has become a common practice in the industry, effectively dividing the functions and characteristics of different products, making the characteristics of each group of goods show their respective capabilities, and at the same time making up for the shortcomings that a single brand is too simple and not vivid. [Edit this paragraph] Multi-brand strategy refers to the multi-brand strategy when an enterprise operates two or more independent and unrelated brands at the same time. As we all know, the function of trademarks is to distinguish different commodity producers or service providers for the same commodity or service. An enterprise that uses multiple brands, of course, not only has the function of distinguishing other commodity producers, but also has the function of distinguishing its own different commodities. Multi-brand strategy has created an independent growth space for each brand. The advantages of multi-brand are obvious. It can divide products according to different functions or prices, which is beneficial for enterprises to occupy more market share and face more consumers. They seem to be competitive, but in fact it is very likely to strengthen the overall competitive strength and increase the overall market share; Avoiding the influence of product performance, such as extending the brand of sanitary products to food, is psychologically difficult for consumers to accept. Moreover, multi-brands can spread risks, and if one commodity has problems, it can avoid hurting other commodities. Its disadvantages are: high publicity cost, financial resources and manpower are needed to build a well-known brand, and high investment is needed if multiple brands are to be successfully built; Self-competition among multiple brands; The cost of brand management is too high, which is easy to cause confusion among consumers. The representative who adopts multi-brand strategy is Procter & Gamble. The principle of P&G is: If there is still room in a certain market, it is best that those "other brands" are also P&G products. Therefore, P&G's multi-brand strategy makes it have a very high market share in various industries. For example, in the American market, P&G has 8 brands of washing powder, 6 brands of soap, 4 brands of shampoo and 3 brands of toothpaste, and each brand has different characteristics. Taking shampoo as an example, the familiar "Rejoice" is characterized by softness; Pan Ting attracts the public with comprehensive nutrition; Head & Shoulders has a good anti-dandruff effect; Sassoon emphasizes brightness. Different consumers can choose freely on the shelf of shampoo, but they are not separated from P&G products. Procter & gamble's strategy is not only to use different trademarks on different kinds of goods, but also to use different trademarks on the same kind of goods because of different functions. Of course, she also paid a high market cost and management cost. However, it cannot be said that P&G is successful. With a glorious history of nearly 170 years and about 300 brands, it cannot be said that it has created a miracle of brand strategy. In the multi-brand strategy, some enterprises do not use functional division, but grade division, that is, the same commodity uses different brands, but the quality and grade are not the same. For example, L 'Oré al chose to distinguish based on rank. Lancome and biotherm are its high-end products, while Yuxi and Maybelline are its relatively low-end products. Perhaps even the ladies who are keen on make-up may not know that the four brands mentioned above belong to L 'Oreal, and they all occupy their own market share and have different levels of consumers. Some people can't help asking why we all know that Rejoice, Pan Ting and Head & Shoulders are all products of P&G, but few people know the relationship between Lancome, biotherm, Yuxi and Maybelline. The reason is that P&G used the "endorsement brand". [Edit this paragraph] Recognized brand strategy P&G will not forget to point out "quality products with soft use" when using its brand. Endorsement brand is attached to the product and runs through the whole company brand and project brand. The management of endorsement brands is implemented in all aspects of the value chain to ensure that development projects can become the distinctive features of the company that distinguish it from other brands. Why does P&G use endorsement brands, but L 'Oré al doesn't? In fact, careful analysis shows that not all P&G brands adopt brand endorsement. SK-II and Olay are also P&G products in the field of beauty, but they don't need to endorse brands. It is because Procter & Gamble has become the representative of mass consumer goods in people's minds, and it appears in many fields such as washing and bathroom. If used in high-end cosmetics, it is likely to affect the value of these products. For another example, Pinke potato chips are also products of P&G, and it will not use the endorsement trademark of P&G here, because it will remind consumers of well-known P&G products such as shampoo and washing powder when buying potato chips, which is likely to affect their image in the public. So is L 'Oré al. L 'Oré al Paris can only be regarded as a mid-range brand in the field of cosmetics. It is obviously inappropriate to endorse it on high-end products such as Lancome. Therefore, in this case, merchants adopt the strategy of diluting the overall brand, so that these high-end brands can establish their own image and build their own territory with a better image. Through this strategy, the overall competitive strength has been enhanced, and consumers of different grades have also been taken care of. [Edit this paragraph] Matters needing attention for enterprises to create their own brands 1. Brand positioning. Good brand positioning is half the success of a brand. Brand positioning is to let consumers clearly identify and remember the characteristics and core values of the brand. In product research and development, packaging design, advertising design and other aspects, we should pay attention to brand positioning. For example, Shufujia's brand positioning is "sterilization". For years, Shu Fujia's advertisement has been "sterilization". By deepening the memory of consumers again and again, we finally achieve the goal of choosing Shufujia if we want to "sterilize". 2. Strategic planning. Enterprises should enhance their brand image through brand planning and strategic planning, improve consumers' awareness and loyalty to products, and establish a good brand image of enterprises. First of all, quality strategy is the key and core of brand strategy, quality is the life of products, and strict quality management is the primary condition for developing, maintaining and developing famous brands. Secondly, the market strategy is the basis of implementing the famous brand strategy, and the market-oriented concept must be established to implement the market strategy. From product development to marketing, we must firmly grasp the theme of market changes and meet customer needs to the greatest extent. 3. Vigorously publicize. For small and medium-sized enterprises, it is very important for consumers to identify with their brands in a short time through publicity. In the process of publicity, it is necessary to highlight brand positioning and core values, identify the emotional intersection between products and consumers, and let consumers have a sense of cognition about products in a very short time. In short, in the process of choosing brand strategy, enterprises should fully consider their own advantages and characteristics and choose the brand that is most suitable for enterprise development. Only in this way can they embark on the road of successful brand management.