What is brand equity and how do you build it?

A brand is an element that identifies a company and builds its competitive advantage in the market. How consumers perceive us and what associations and experiences they have are crucial to raising the value of the brand capital as a whole. In this article, you will learn what makes up brand equity and how you can build it!

What is brand equity?

Brand equity is a concept that is critical to a brand’s value, making it unique, recognizable, and worthy in the eyes of customers. Positive brand equity also shows the strength of a company’s competitive advantage and increases the chances of higher sales of goods or services.

What makes up brand equity?

The elements that matter in building brand equity are:

• Loyalty – do customers come back, do they buy our product, or service again?
• Awareness – are we recognized in the market, do consumers know our brand?
• Image (associations) – what feelings, qualities, and images do consumers associate us with? Maybe they with trust and reliability, or maybe because of a recent advertisement that made them laugh?
• Value – can be intangible (how we are perceived by consumers) and tangible (it is the amount of money customers can and want to spend for the purchase of a product, or service).

How do you build brand equity?

Below we will point out some aspects you need to pay attention to when building positive equity in your brand.

1. Establish brand awareness

Your potential customers need to know that a company like yours even exists in the market and offers solutions that can meet their needs, and give some value (USP). This is an important element in building trust and a long-term relationship with the consumer. Above all, be present in the places where your potential audience is – i.e. social media, for example.

Remember though that there are many channels of communication, and your target audience may use different forms of them. Therefore, at the very beginning, gather information about the people you want to sell to – who they are, what they do, what they like to do, how they communicate, etc. Based on this, it will be easier for you to choose the most effective forms of contact with them. You can also expand brand awareness through valuable materials describing your products (e.g., in the form of Youtube videos, shorter formats on Tik Tok, blog articles, free e-books, and more).

2. Try storytelling

This applies not only to the presentation of the genesis and origins of the company but also to a tool for marketing communications. In this way, you can arouse a lot of emotions in the audience, interest and engage them. With the help of stories, you can build a positive brand image, share expertise, dispel customer doubts, and what follows – create a relationship.

3. Pay attention to the data

Quantitative and qualitative data can provide a lot of information about your customers, their buying behavior as well as their attitude toward your brand. That’s why it’s worthwhile for you to pay attention to data analytics and draw the correct conclusions from it. You can do this by tracking conversions on your website or conducting research in the form of surveys or focus studies.

4. Increase commitment and trust

An engaged customer will be more likely to purchase your products. Focus on improving the quality of service, which often determines whether a customer will return to you. Establish interactions through social media, answer consumer questions regularly, and share content that will interest your audience. Apply tools that allow you to measure KPIs, create loyalty programs, offer discounts, etc.

5. Take care of the Customer Experience

Customer Experience is the experience of the customer from the moment of contact with the brand. It is an extremely vital part of building its capital because depending on how the interaction goes, it affects the further relationship with the consumer. Even though you offer the best product, if there is an error on the website making it impossible to place an order – you’ll face customer dissatisfaction.

Sometimes even the complete abandonment of the use of your services in the future. On the other hand, if, for example, there is a mistake during order picking and the wrong goods go to the customer, but you react quickly enough and correct your mistake – the consumer, despite some inconvenience, will most likely appreciate that you resolved the matter efficiently and will positively associate the interaction.

An example of positive brand equity

Examples of companies that are successfully building positive brand equity include:

NIKE

Nike is known not only for its products, which have become a part of our culture for good, but also for its advertisements, focusing on, among other things, promoting sports, motivation, and achieving goals. These are values that many consumers want to identify with. Its logo and the slogan Just Do It are also widely recognized. In addition, they also cooperate with many, famous athletes who, by lending their image in advertising, positively influence Nike’s brand equity. It is thanks to these factors that the company boasts great success, and in 2022 it was ranked 13th in the ranking of the world’s most valuable brands (Kantar BrandZ Most Valuable Global Brands report).

Example of negative brand equity

The case of Toyota, on the other hand, shows how certain circumstances can affect the creation of negative brand equity (even if it is temporary).

TOYOTA

The scandal involving Toyota erupted in 2010 when problems with malfunctioning gas pedals in its cars began to be reported. The media quickly publicized the whole affair, contributing to a sharp loss of confidence in the company. Toyota had to recall 8 million cars from the market, and in the process paid hefty fines totaling $50 million, and some 400 lawsuits were filed against it. However, a little later, a study by the U.S. Highway Traffic Safety Agency found that the accusations were wrong and no irregularities in the system were detected. Despite this, the media vilification had a significant impact on the brand’s image and capital, contributing to a 16% drop in the company’s value.

Summary

The opinion and perception of your brand by consumers have a direct bearing on the success of your business. Especially nowadays, brand equity, reputation, and credibility are of particular importance and when developing a business, it is worth keeping these issues in mind. After all, a positive image enhances your market advantage over competitors and increases the value of your company.

Read also: How to turn failure into success? 3 entrepreneurs share the best advice

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