Making a difference...
In markets contested by numerous brands, where products and services are increasingly identical, the influential purchasing criterion becomes the brand, the image and values it conveys through its communication, its points of sale, its employees, its products and its strategy. When products are no longer enough to make the difference, the brand becomes the No. 1 competitive weapon.
The brand is much more than a logo...
It would be a mistake to reduce a brand to advertising or a logo. A brand is a great idea, a promise made to the customer, an emotional link, an imprint left in the public mind, a signature. It makes the difference between two identical products. How do you explain that young people from the age of 10 want Nike sneakers and no other, even if they cost two or three times the price of a normal shoe? A large part of this success is down to the power of the brand!
The brand is the N°1 competitive weapon.
Faced with competitors who are always ready and quicker to imitate, copy new products and offer the lowest prices, and when the same quality can be manufactured at derisory costs in other countries, it's the brand that influences the act of buying, it's the brand that makes the difference. Because it exists beyond the product and its technical features. It's the brand that inspires dreams and reassures. Thus, if airlines like Air France can continue to exist in the face of charter companies, it's thanks to their brand: passengers no longer just buy a plane journey, they buy safety, comfort or pleasure through the promise of brands.
The brand is an essential lever for winning new customers and building loyalty.
It's an exclusive link with customers: it always embodies something unique and conveys a promise that only it can keep. For example, which water guarantees a dream body? Contrex, of course! And what's the water you buy when you're feeling flat and want to revitalize yourself? Vittel, of course!... And yet, there's nothing more identical than two flat waters. But it's the brand name, and the unique promise it conveys, that will encourage you to buy one water rather than another. With so many products to choose from, brand is the key to differentiation, to winning over customers and keeping them.
Branding is the essence of performance.
What makes some shampoos sell for more than others? It's the brand, the universe and the promise that people are willing to pay more for, "because it's worth it". In markets where products are identical, the brand will enable the company to generate higher margins because it justifies a higher price. In the face of price wars, it remains the fuel for performance, investment and future innovation.