Battle of the Brands

How do you create a global brand worth millions (or even billions!)?

It’s a question everyone working in business at any level has pondered at least once. Entrepreneurs often look for a magic formula or that one million dollar idea. This is all well and good, but maybe it’s a lot easier just to offer a simple service and do it very (very) well. Innovation and ground-breaking products are rare and take someone special to develop it over many years. A spark of genius can actually take decades to perfect. Instead, perhaps your business should just focus on doing the simple things better than anyone else.

TNT Global Express truck
photo credit: Ray Forster

Step 1 – have great Customer Service

This is a no-brainer; bad relationships with customers and potential customers will finish your business. This is why brands like TNT have invested so much effort and time into making sure their customers are 100% satisfied. TNT are pushing themselves as the ‘people network,’ demonstrating customer service as one of its core values. Customers drive any business so their feelings towards your brand are the most important thing.

Step 2 – have a desirable product/service

Starbucks is a great example of a company who took a very simple idea, a cup of coffee, and made it into a billion dollar empire. Why did this work? Because people love coffee and want to buy it. If your product isn’t desirable then it makes your marketing/advertising team’s job a lot harder and will eventually lead to you struggling to make any profit.

Step 3 – Innovate

Google and Apple have taken innovation to the next level, investing a huge budget into R&D. Many brands don’t take advantage of innovation but the results can be clear. The ipod wasn’t a ground-breaking idea, mp3 players had been around for years, however, Apple innovated this idea and created a product that was that little bit better, launching it into global stardom. Those of you familiar with Moore’s Law will know that we can continue to expect some big innovations in the tech world over the coming years.

Google on a Macbook Pro

Step 4 – Represent an Idea

This is where a company has to focus its attention if it wants to become a global brand. When we think of brands, we don’t necessarily think of a product, we think of what that brand represents. Ralph Lauren is more than just a clothing company, it’s a brand associated with luxury. Successful brands create an image they want to be associated with and it’s this image that we want to be associated with.

Creating an industry leading brand isn’t easy, but it’s not impossible, it just means doing the basics very (very) well. Whatever industry your business is involved in, by doing the business basics better than anyone else, you can slowly start to develop a brand and this can launch you forward on the global platform.