Why your  product isn’t yet a brand

So you’ve been in business for many years. You’ve done all you can to make your product/service stand out, yet your organization is still non-descript. When you or your staff mentions your organization’s name in public, people stare as if you’re from Mars. Sales are down, customer base is shrinking, and the profit margin is non-existent. Looks like you’re in marshland. Here’s probably why:

1.      

      Product:

It is indeed a fine thing to offer goods and services to members of the public, but is what you are offering needed, or are you just doing it because everyone else is in that line of business? There’s a saying that the sky is wide enough to fit all bird species that need to fly, yet you should notice that the birds have variety. A woodpecker’s service/product is definitely different from that of say, a sparrow, an eagle or even the falcon. In essence, when you decide to go into the cutting edge world of business, you must create your own niche and not necessarily join the bandwagon.

Let’s use Ryanair and Easy Jet as examples. These airlines while providing travel services for the public, decided to modify their products by making theirs low-cost and no-on-board refreshment organization. So guess what? Let’s say I need to go from point A to point B, I have minimal funds and not overly fussy about having an on-board meal. What do you think I’d do? Right; go for a low cost carrier like the above. At the end of the day, it’s a win-win situation for both the organization and the client.  

The bottom line is ‘create your own niche and you’d have the world at your feet.’

2.      Research:

Ok; so you dived headlong into this business venture. You followed your intuition; yeah, everyone has that gut feeling. Unfortunately, that was all to it. So you spent thousands, probably millions to float this great idea of yours. You failed to conduct a detailed research about the field you’re delving into. You failed to know your target market, your publics, and the policies that could make or mar your organization’s existence.

Now, things have gone awry and you’re about to close shop. Not so fast though. Go ahead and do some research. Great brands would tell you that research is an on-going affair. Yes; great brands speak! Great brands have the ability to stand on their own, without the company name. That’s why when someone says ‘I want a Coke’, I don’t think of the Coca Cola Company. I don’t think of Fanta or Sprite.  So ‘Coke’ would tell you that her ability to stand tall through the years is because she has been ‘a work in progress’. When it looks like she’s resting on her oars, a change pops up, making her more attractive and ever-young to her lovers.

Research isn’t just conducted before a product/service is launched. It is conducted even when you’re the best in your field. This is because change is a constant thing; customers’ tastes change, policies change and even economies fluctuate and could be a deciding factor in keeping or kicking you out of business.