17.1    Brand Management

First, in order to avoid
any confusion, we will look at
what we mean by the term 'brand management'.

The one thing that you have to remember is that your retail store, your store name, your logo, and everything else associated with it forms part of your brand.

However, you also need to remember that people will begin to associate certain feelings, thoughts,
and opinions to your store simply based on how they perceive you either from what they have heard, what they see, or what they have personally experienced.

Therefore, there is a need to carefully
manage the public perception of your business
since that will have a direct impact on how people feel about spending money with you. This can sound rather complex,
but there are basic steps that any business can take to portray themselves in the best possible light, and considering how tough the market can be, this could be what pushes you above all of your competitors.

To better summarise this concept we should look at the following key points. Brand management focuses
on how your brand is perceived

You need to focus on developing the correct opinion and awareness
of your store and do so in a way that best reflects what you are about. Understanding how you are perceived in your market is essential
if you are to ever be a success as a company.
You must be aware of what people think about you and if necessary, alter your marketing
to change people's
opinion.

Think about how you perceive
certain brands. Do you see them as being wonderful? Which brand names do you see as perhaps being cheap rubbish that you would avoid? Clearly, with the latter, the company
behind it is not doing a good enough job of its brand management as you already have this perception of it being poor and not worthy of buying anything. Is that the kind of brand that you want to be known as? Of course not, which is why brand management
is so important.

It focuses on everything about your business

Brand management covers every single aspect of your store even down to the way in which your logo appears on the bags that people carry around after they have made a purchase. This means the way that products are displayed, how clean the store is, how friendly
the staff are to the customers, how you deal with complaints, availability of products;
the list is pretty much endless. If it is connected to your business,
then it is part of your brand.

It ties you in with your target market

A key point that has to be discussed
is that this is going to help tie your store in with your target market. You need to understand what it is that your target market is looking for when they come to you and also what they expect as soon as they walk in the door.

For example

A hip and cool clothes store has to create a brand identity that reflects that very feeling. You would hardly have Frank Sinatra
playing in this situation and nor would your store appear to be stuck in a bygone era. Understand your target market and your brand management and marketing will then follow.

It could be easy for you to be caught up in a rather complex situation
when it comes to managing
your brand, but there is absolutely no need for that to be the case. Instead,
with careful planning
and a clear understanding of your aims and the market that you need to target,
it will ultimately lead to you being able to create the perfect brand strategy for your store. In addition,
just as with retail marketing, this is something
that does not have to cost you a fortune,
but only if you are wise and plan ahead on how to push your brand forward in the correct direction.

17.2    The Keys to Successfully Managing
Your Brand

Next, we focus on the keys to make a success of managing
your brand.

Now, we do accept that there may
be some differences considering the market or industry that you are working in,
but generally speaking there are certain points that any business has to employ
to portray their brand in the best possible light.

You do not need to spend a
fortune when it comes to brand management as it is often the case that merely
having a clear understanding of what you are all about is going to be enough to
put you on the right track. However, there is a need to spend some considerable
time trying to get to grips with what your customers want from you and how you
can best deliver on those wants or needs.

Build that connection

The absolute key to managing your brand successfully is to make sure that you build that connection
between your store and your customers.

Do that, and you will have a loyal customer
base that will ultimately work for you all on their own and spread the world as to how amazing you are. For this, you need to be known for your wonderful
customer service, for being helpful,
for having great prices, and everything else that makes people want to come to you. Deliver on your promises
to your customers every single time and your brand will be seen in a positive
light, which is what we are after.

Fully understand your customers

The only way in which a brand is ever going to be  successful 
is  by  showing 
that  they  fully understand their customers to begin with. By this, we do not mean narrowing it down to small groups that you can market to, but general sections
of society that would likely be interested in what you are doing. For example,
if you are selling clothes,
then what gender 
and  age  range 
are  you looking at? Where are those people located?
What are they looking for in you? Do you supply that?These are all things that you should have included
in your business plan so it should hardly come as a surprise to you.

Continually adapt
your strategy

Another key to managing your brand is to make sure that you are willing to constantly adapt the strategy
that you employ to keep your brand ahead of your competition. Those brands that stand still will be left floundering as markets change, and what your customers
expect from you will also alter. You must remember
that thanks to the Internet,
there is now more choice than ever before, so you need to make sure that your brand stands out from all others. Look at how the market is moving regarding expectations and move with it.

Look at the possibility of trademark

One important aspect of brand management is also brand protection. Do you have anything that is worthy of being trademarked? It may be your logo or your name or both, and the surprising
thing is that if people see that this has been trademarked, then they start to feel better about potentially using you. This is a wonderful example of not so much brand management, but brand protection
and it is always worth your while checking to see if you can protect yourself
in any possible way.

Consider sponsorship

Have you ever wondered
why certain brands
will be associated with certain sports
teams or events?

On the one hand it is clearly
connected to marketing,
and getting their name out there is a rather specialised form of advertising, but on the other hand it is also about brand management. For example, if you offer high-end goods in your store, then sponsoring or running a high-end event will mean that people will associate
your brand with that type of market.

What we are trying to emphasise is that there is a need for you to constantly work on your brand management and never see it as being a done deal. Understand the strategy that you are going to employ and be prepared
to spend a considerable amount of time on building
that connection and relationship with your customers.
Remember, it is the relationship here and the thoughts that go through the mind of your customers that are the most important
aspects of all when it comes to managing your brand. You do not want them to have the wrong impression of you, so it is essential that you explore every way in which the customer can interact with you, or even just see your presence
to make sure that the correct message is being put across.

FACT

WHSmith sells 1.1 million magazines
every week; 18,000 magazines each hour that their stores are open

Source: whsmithplc.co.uk

17.3   
The Key Mistakes to Avoid Making when Managing
Your Brand

When you are dealing with managing your brand, there is always the possibility of making mistakes,
but hopefully they will not have a major detrimental effect on your retail outlet.

However, it is important that you take the time to correctly
identify the key areas where mistakes are often made to try to avoid making them in the first place.

You do not conduct enough research

This has to be the biggest possible
failing and can lead to disastrous consequences. There is such a need for you to conduct
research into your brand and market that failing to do so means that you are failing your entire store.

You did not start the store without an adequate
business plan, or we hope not, and the same applies here.

You refuse to adapt

Even the largest brands in the world are able to adapt to a certain extent in order to reflect the current
market trends or what their customers want from them. Those retail managers that have their sights set firmly on what they believe to be right are only going to fail in their approach
because markets and your customers
change so you have to follow suit. Even though in some situations being stubborn is a wonderful
thing to be, this is not one of those times and you will only turn people away and destroy your brand in the process.

Think about damage control

This is something
that has to be discussed
even though there is a hope that you will never have to entertain
the idea, but you need to think about damage control with your brand should something
go wrong. We are not talking about trying to cover things up when something goes wrong, but rather an acceptance that something happened and there being a need to show your customers that you accept mistakes and are willing to rectify
them. The 'burying
your head in the sand' method does not work and will only continue
to show your brand in the wrong light.

You fail to accept you were wrong early on in the process

Stores make mistakes
of varying degrees.
However, it is the way in which you accept that you made a mistake that is going to make a huge difference in the way that your brand is perceived. An individual who is guilty of not accepting that they were wrong will only build resentment within their target
market and because of this they will see the perception of their brand diminish in front of them. Accept that you made a mistake and make it clear that you have taken comments
on board and you will turn a negative into a positive
on most occasions.

As you can see, at this point the main areas where you can make mistakes all stem from the way in which you handle situations, or to be more precise your failure to handle situations.

Brand management is all about largely manipulating the way in which you are perceived
in the eyes of those that are most important
to you, your customers. There is nothing wrong with this form of manipulation and indeed it is expected.

17.4    Where to Find Resources to Help You

The final part of this module is going to focus on finding resources
that can help you make the most out of your brand management and to hopefully
get the best possible return in the process.

We are not saying that this is a foolproof
way of doing things and the information that is available
from these sources
will not be helpful to every single person, but there should be snippets
that will prove to be rather useful to the majority of people.

As we mentioned
at the outset, it is difficult for us to cover every industry and how that type of store should
manage itself and the way in which it is perceived by its customers, so we recommend
the following points to make things clearer for you.

Research
your industry on the Internet

The best thing that you can do is to take the points that we have covered here and study your actual industry on the Internet
for further pointers
on what would be expected
from you in these situations. How do others manage their brand? How do clothes stores deal with it? How about stores that deal with food? You need to be prepared
to spend a considerable amount of time getting to grips with your industry
to fully understand your brand management.

Revert
back to your business plan

Another important point that is often overlooked
is the need for you to go back to your original
business plan and see how you viewed your brand and market before you were even able to begin. Your business plan should be fluid and capable of being adjusted,
so why would your brand management idea not be the same?

Hire a specialist

If you do have the budget available,
then there are marketing experts out there who can advise you on a case by case basis regarding your brand management. However, if you do go with this option, it is essential
that you find individuals who specialise in brand management rather than marketing
in general. You must remember
that marketing is about getting people into your store, whereas management is about controlling the way in which you are perceived. They may be closely related,
but they are also very different in their approach
and end aims. Ideally, you should seek to become an expert in both.

Local business
enterprise

Depending on your location, it may also be possible
for you to get help with brand management from your local business enterprise scheme. They may not have anybody there who can directly help you,but they will often have links to people in the area that they know and trust and perhaps have a good offer for those who use the enterprise scheme.
This kind of enterprise scheme is normally
free and there should be one in your area. Furthermore, they may also be able to tell you of grants that could be available for either brand management or marketing reasons.