In the increasingly complex world of modern business, there are a number of factors that can help to transform the standing of any particular brand. They can include price, for example. And that doesn’t necessarily mean how low the overall cost might be. If a brand new Ferrari was selling for half the usual cost, it would inevitably reduce the impact of the brand in the eyes of many a connoisseur. Although the company would of course sell more units.
On the other side of the coin, if a sausage roll at Greggs costs ten pounds, the company’s traditional customer base would avoid it like a mouse avoids a cat. Setting the right price for a product – any type of product – can in some ways represent one of the essential ingredients of that item. The cost to the consumer has to be just right, and it has to say something very specific about how that product is to be marketed, and to whom.
One of the many reasons why a Ferrari would cost more than most cars is the fact that the brand is trusted. If you were to have the wherewithal to splash out on a brand new, shiny red SF90 Spider, for example, you would already be fully aware of what you’re about to get. You’ll know it will be beautiful, responsive, sleek, fast and that it will turn heads. You’ll also know that very few other people will be able to afford what you can afford.
And part of the reason for this is that Ferrari is a trusted brand. The fact that it’s an expensive product is, in this case, immaterial. Trusted brands can be extremely inexpensive. A Big Mac is a trusted brand. You could actually buy 150,395 Big Macs for the price of a Ferrari SF90 Spider (Yes, I looked it up), but that’s beside the point. Brand-wise, trust doesn’t have a price at all. Heinz Baked Beans is a trusted brand. So are Bisto, Monster Munch, Coca-Cola, Nescafe, Lego, Cadbury and many more.
A litre of trust, please…
Of course, trust is something of a difficult thing to quantify, but it’s all around us in the market-place. If your company has a brand that’s trusted by the buying public, you already have a ten-metre start in the race against your competitors. You may not even be aware of that fact, but it’s true nonetheless. If you have any doubt about it, take a walk around any given supermarket on a Saturday morning and watch what people put into their trollies. You’ll probably be amazed.
If you’re a business owner and you’re looking to create a brand that people can trust, where do you even start? The good news is that it can be achieved… the bad news is that it won’t happen in a hurry. Take another look at the trusted brands mentioned earlier and think about when they were established: Ferrari 1947… Coca-Cola 1892… Cadbury 1824… Lego 1932… Heinz 1869… Nescafe 1938… Bisto 1908… even Monster Munch fans have been munching monsters since 1977.
Building trust in your brand can and will take time, but for now you have to do all you can to speed up the process. That means you have to offer the very best customer service, a product that’s consistently perfect, a sincere and respectful approach to your consumers and a thorough understanding of your target audience. And these days, don’t forget the importance of social media. If Twitter had been around in 1892, you can be sure that Coca-Cola’s marketing people would have been all over it.
Rose Media Group is based in West Sussex, and was founded by Aneela Rose in 2004. We take a special interest in brand awareness and marketing. To find out more about us, call 01444 241 341 today.
