Are you battling imports and losing market share? Has your product become an “unplanned commodity” as your sales negotiations with customers more and more revolve around price rather than value? Is your marketing team launching new products that support your brand and differentiate your company in the marketplace? Do you even know what impression your brand is making on customers?
These questions resonate within so many companies because the leaders of those companies continue to build their strategies only within the walls of their corporate headquarters and continue to view a brand primarily as the purview of their marketing departments. This internal, one-dimensional view of a brand — which is ultimately more wishful thinking than reality — cannot possibly maximize the impact of the brand on strategy or on the marketplace. Leaders have to help their companies adopt a three-dimensional view of their brands in which the company’s conversation across all levels and departments, and its conversation with customers and various other constituencies, help dynamically to co-create brand identity and strategy. To differentiate the company and garner competitive advantage, there must be a transition from mere brand consciousness to consistent brand articulation and brand behavior, both inside the company and “on the street.”
In the past, a customer’s primary link to any brand was through marketing and sales. Yet, most companies spend their time teaching their... To read the complete article, login or sign-up using the form below.
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