Brand, this popular term in today's marketing sphere, is omnipresent throughout every corner of the world.
What exactly is a brand? This seems like a clear concept but one that constantly varies in its essence. It's a proposition that continuously swirls in the minds of everyone involved in branding. To consumers, it might appear that brands are those bombarded in television advertisements—belonging exclusively to leading corporations and large enterprises. However, as marketers, including professionals within companies and individual proprietors, we should clearly understand that a brand is not merely the name of a product; rather, it encompasses the culture and image of a company, the quality and service of products, among various other aspects. Moreover, a brand isn't just the domain of large companies.
For any enterprise, be it a large corporation, a small or medium-sized enterprise (SME), or even a chain store, brand building is an indispensable key element. In reality, many SMEs believe that brand building is only for large enterprises. Consequently, during the early stages of establishment, they don't prioritize branding and fail to consider the philosophy and image of their brand. When they reach a certain level of growth, they begin massive advertising campaigns, mistakenly believing this to be brand building. Unbeknownst to them, this approach often results in mere short-term exposure without establishing a coherent brand image.
In fact, any major brand started from small enterprises, workshops, or even family factories. Successful large enterprises have also gone through the development phase of SMEs and periods of capital accumulation. How they perceive brand building is crucial to the long-term growth of the enterprise. In today’s era of brand competition, enterprises survive through brands, and nations thrive through them. The intangible value that brands possess can bring enormous economic benefits to enterprises.
In a small town in Jiangsu province, there was a private paint company that began producing paint coatings in the early 1980s. The reform and opening-up policy brought about the take-off of Jiangsu's economy, and the rapid growth of the construction industry also propelled the growth of this paint factory. Despite being a small factory with only around a hundred employees, over a decade of dedicated operation, the factory's products captured 20% of the provincial market share and enjoyed a prestigious reputation in Jiangsu. However, due to outdated concepts, the management was solely immersed in the joy brought by their glorious achievements within the province, continuing the basic cycle of production and sales.
In a neighboring province, Zhejiang, there was another private paint company that quickly grew under the favorable conditions of reform and opening-up. It captured 25% of the Zhejiang market share, and its products were sold in major cities across the country. Its growth momentum was significant. The CEO of this company was sociable and once learned during a chamber of commerce meeting that foreign coatings were priced 2-3 times higher than domestic products in the Chinese market. This made him realize why his products, despite having good sales, only generated profits one-third or less of what foreign brands earned. Following this realization, the business owner initiated research and promotion of new products. At the time, the country was advocating environmental protection, and more people were becoming health-conscious. The company timely introduced the concept of eco-friendly and healthy paint, making environmental health the core of its product quality. All products revolved around the concept of environmental health in terms of production and promotion, targeting mid-level consumers. Indeed, within half a year of the product launch, as the first domestic company to produce eco-friendly and healthy paint, the company's product sales skyrocketed, quickly capturing 30% of the national market share for eco-friendly paint.
By the mid-to-late 1990s, after entering China for a decade, the regional giant in the Asia-Pacific coatings industry, Boysen Paints, had transformed from an unfamiliar foreign brand into an industry leader with three wholly-owned factories and one joint venture factory. Its unique brand operation methods and strong promotional efforts quickly made it a household name, dominating the high-end market domestically.
At this point, the small private factory in Jiangsu realized the importance and necessity of brand creation. However, on one side, it faced competition from Zhejiang's eco-friendly and healthy paint brand, and on the other, pressure from foreign brands. After several price wars, the private factory in Jiangsu had no choice but to announce its shutdown. Meanwhile, the private enterprise in Zhejiang, through years of promoting the concept of environmental protection, had developed a certain level of consumer loyalty and established a relatively stable market network. The high-end competition from Boysen Paints did not affect their normal operations.
Through the above case, we can see that the brand creation of SMEs directly impacts the rise and fall of the enterprise. Brands with weak foundations often lack long-term growth objectives, focusing solely on transactions while neglecting the enterprise itself. Without a brand, there is naturally no consumer loyalty. Once competition arises, such enterprises can only passively engage in price wars—a brand-deficient SME will inevitably have limited vitality.
A brand is the most powerful guarantee for an enterprise's sustainable growth. As long as an enterprise exists, it needs to create a brand. Many SMEs struggling at the bottom of the market only become aware of the importance of brand creation when they encounter bottlenecks in their growth path, realizing that even small enterprises need to establish brands. Reality has proven that enterprises that set long-term brand strategy goals during their early growth stages have greater and broader opportunities for development.
How SMEs Create Brands
The insufficient brand competitiveness of China's SMEs has become the most significant bottleneck hindering their growth and strength. The lack of brand competitiveness in SMEs is an undeniable fact. Creating a brand means adding weight to the competitive scale. However, many SMEs attempt to build brands by simply increasing advertising investment, reducing brand creation to a large-scale advertising campaign instead of a long-term strategy. Unknown to them, hastily-built brands may fade away like meteors. So, how should SMEs establish a unified brand plan and growth mindset?
Firstly, creating a brand starts with the product.
A good product is the foundation for the survival of a brand. For SMEs, the focus of brand building should primarily be on the product. Without a good product, there can be no talk of a brand. A quality product is the most critical factor in establishing consumer loyalty. Consumers purchase [1] [2] [3] Next Page
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