BY FARAI CHIGORA There comes a time when we feel that our business/enterprise has grown so much to be handled as a single entity or still offer the same products/services. Yes, that’s our dream as excelling home-grown entrepreneurs. All that we can do is take action. Surely it’s achievable through an effective brand strategy that accepts change and growth, where things will never be the same again. I can tell many of us have reached this stage where we need to rewire our systems in order to manage growth in line with the earned brand supremacy and visibility, thanks to the spearheading brand craftsmanship from previous editions. We can brag that there is now an overflow from market dominance to strategic partnerships. Those in business economics will agree that too much growth of a business can be a problem for sustainability.
In this edition we want to protect ourselves from such as we talk about portfolio brand management as a strategy for safeguarding our brand(s) as we grow and diversify our businesses. As once said by James Cash Penney that “growth is never by mere chance; it is the result of forces working together”. Here we intertwine the perfect forces of brand strategy that are compatible for our home-grown SMEs.
Of course, there is no one size that fits all as a way of managing brand portfolio as the business grows, but for the benefit of our SMEs we will look at a few strategies that might strengthen brand growth. To start with, we look at brand extension as a form of managing brand growth. Where we introduce a new brand as an add-on to the popular brand that we have leveraged on in the past. This is meant to serve a new market that did not exist in our strategic plan before. This is most appropriate when our current brand has successfully attracted a greater share of the market. In appreciation of this strategy I have seen some successful SMEs in the real estate/construction of homes expanding and having their brand extension to support interior design of homes. Yes, that’s worth talking as brand growth life stories through adding a new name that rides on the previous successful brand. Like from traditional Castle Lager to Castle Lite. Your critical role on this strategy is to have an in-depth understanding of the performance of your current brand before connecting it to the newer one (two wrongs don’t make a right). This needs to be done with caution since an expansion to a new brand might also speed the rate of failure of the founding brand or both. We have some local brands that have expanded into extinction. As their brand extended to almost every sector from pharmaceutical to furniture. So do it carefully.
As we grow also we should remember the customer as a key stakeholder who has taken us this far. It will always remain a fact that the customer is a king. This leads us to a strategy that is known as brand line extension. Where we add on the existing offerings/brand some features as requested and in response to the new needs of our customers (that is where CRM as customer-centric approach rewards the SME). It is never by serendipity to know the extra needs of the customers but through interaction and engagement. This has been the case in the automobile business across the world where we have seen the same Toyota brand offering both on the road (Toyota Corolla) and off road (Toyota Land Cruiser) vehicles in any shape and size depending on the specific needs of the customers. So it depends with the focus/orientation of your business. They sky is the limit as long as it is done right brand line extension can improve customer base and loyalty through convenience made by customisation of the represented offerings. Instead of helping the in competitors’ ability to take part of the market you should have served through compatibility and creativity. This approach can make your business a one-stop shop for all.
In some instances we grow to become corporates which is a positive outcome of our brand building and fame. Here there is need for then come up with a multi-product/family brand approach as a strategy. Where see wide range of offerings being represented by the same brand like water purification to sanitisation, chemicals and engineering. In this case, we defend our market dominance by using one brand for all these products. Like informed in previous editions our customers are risk averse. They feel comfortable consuming the same brand they have tried in a wider range of products. This is where brand identity matters most. In this way, they are engaged like with Coca-Cola stamping the same brand on all of its related beverages. You can also do the same whether in carpentry, sculpturing and so forth. This strategy helps in returning the brand equity brought by the inaugural brand by also transferring it to other different types of products/services. And to our SMEs, this is also an advantage as there are less costs associated with this strategy in comparison to starting from scratch in the brand architecture (from brand design to real publicity). Our experience so far can tell that it’s a process.
To sum up in this interesting perspective, it is always a reminder that in our growth as branded SMEs competition is inevitable. Yes, it is obvious that there will always be imitators for our products/services in the market(s) we serve. Hence, as we grow we should also strengthen our defence through a fighter brand strategy. One that can minimise interference by some market predators who might steal from our sweat. Of course, some can say that the reaction to such can just happen unconsciously from a personal brand to a corporate level. But I suggest that you plan for this as you grow. It is important to have a balance of the both offensive and defensive strategies for this achievement through continuously walking the talk with regards to the brand promises and exceeding quality. As Michelle Obama once said “Becoming isn’t about arriving somewhere or achieving a certain aim. I see it instead as forward motion, a means of evolving, a way to reach continuously toward a better self. The journey doesn’t end”. We are in this journey together!
- Dr Farai Chigora is a businessman and academic. He is the Head of Business Science at the Africa University’s College of Business, Peace, Leadership and Governance. He is into agribusiness and consults for many companies in Zimbabwe and Africa. He writes in his personal capacity and can be contacted for feedback and business at fariechigora@gmail.com, WhatsApp mobile: +263772886871.