Brand development
What is Brand Development?
Brand development refers to the process within a company aimed at successfully creating and establishing a brand positively with its customers over the long term. This process includes brand naming to distinguish it from competitors, brand positioning to highlight product and service uniqueness, a detailed description of the target group and their needs, a marketing strategy to position the brand with consumers and other relevant target groups, and a unique, consistent visual identity to reinforce the brand.
Key Components of Brand Development
- Brand Naming
A strong brand name is essential for commercial success and has significant strategic importance. What specific roles must a brand name fulfil? It should consistently convey the identity of the company or its products, ensuring easy recognisability. Memorable brand names leave a distinctive impression, enabling the brand to communicate its core message effectively, even as target groups, trends, or cultural contexts evolve. The name should also be adaptable internationally, facilitating the brand’s expansion into new markets and regions. - Brand Positioning
Effective brand positioning is critical for differentiating the brand from competitors. By focusing on the unique and relevant benefits to consumers, the positioning creates a distinctive and recognisable brand profile. Concentrating on key success factors is vital—for instance, Tesla is synonymous with the electrification of an entire industry, while Bosch represents innovation-driven leadership over more than a century. - Target Group Definition
Not every product or service is relevant to all consumers. Therefore, a clear definition and description of potential target groups is of strategic importance for a brand’s success. Here, the focus should not solely be on sociodemographic factors but on the needs, attitudes, and behaviours of consumers. Based on these target personas, customised customer journeys and tailored communication content can be successfully developed.
- Marketing Strategy
To effectively reach the defined target groups, a long-term marketing strategy is essential, outlining strategic goals and operationalising the required activities. Key questions to address include:
1. Which product/market segments will the brand serve?
2. In which countries is the brand relevant?
3. What market share should be achieved?
4. What price points can be set?
5. How well-known should the brand be in different markets?
6. What is the brand’s image among its target group?
7. How satisfied are customers with the brand?
8. Which communication channels and content will best reach the target groups?
- Brand Appearance/Corporate Design
A brand’s perception is heavily influenced by its visual identity, including logo design, typography, defined colours, and visual language. These design elements ideally result in strong recognisability and increasing brand awareness within the target group. Examples include IKEA’s distinctive colour scheme or Mercedes’ unique typography. The growth of communication channels in recent years has significantly increased the challenges for brand managers. Modern brands must have a flexible and far-reaching visual identity to ensure consistent recognisability across all media platforms.
Approaches to Brand Development and Management
Brand development and management strategies can be categorised into competition-oriented, impact-driven, and identity-based approaches, each reflecting the marketing philosophy of the time. Since the mid-1990s, brands have predominantly been developed and managed based on identity. Factors driving this shift include the increasing similarity of products and services, the explosion of available information, the rapid digitalisation of communication, and the dramatic rise in the number of brands being introduced globally.
Contact
For an informal discussion about brand development, feel free to contact brand expert Alexander Biesalski at +49 89 273 73 54 01 or via email at biesalski@biesalski-company.com.
More information on Biesalski & Company’s strategic brand development services can be found here.
Sources & Recommended Reading
- Esch, F.-R. (2005). Moderne Markenführung: Grundlagen
– Innovative Ansätze – Praktische Umsetzungen (4th ed.). Gabler Verlag. Schade, M. (2011/2012). Identitätsbasierende Markenführung professioneller Sportvereine (1st ed.). Gabler Verlag.
Miller, B. (2014, March 30). Brand Design: 7 Tricks to Create the Right Brand Name.
Burmann, C. Identity-Based Brand Management.
Förster, B. Corporate Design Blog.
