Brand Management Definition: What Is Brand Management?

Brand management is the ongoing process of buttressing a company's brand equity, image, and overall reputation. Effective brand management includes a wide range of objectives and strategies.

• Enhancing brand awareness: Brand managers seek to expand brand recognition among the general public so that when potential customers see the brand logo, signature fonts, or color scheme, they are reminded of the brand’s sales pitch. Managers work to expand awareness via TV advertising, digital marketing, and word-of-mouth campaigns.
• Honing brand positioning: Brand positioning is a marketing strategy focused on building a unique brand identity that differentiates a company from its competitors in consumers' minds. The goal of a brand positioning strategy is to make the target market view the brand in a distinct way and to clearly communicate how the brand has a competitive advantage in the market.
• Maintaining branding consistency: A worthwhile brand image must be consistent throughout various contexts. Brand managers can develop brand guidelines, brand voice guides, mission statements, core values statements, and signature slogans to keep branding consistent throughout an array of platforms and situations.
• Encouraging brand loyalty: Maintaining good relationships with a base of loyal customers involves creating a positive customer experience, offering brand consistency, providing stellar customer support, and rolling out new products to keep the customer base engaged. If marketing departments serve the need of bringing new customers into a company, the product and service departments must do their part by keeping those customers satisfied.
• Preserving brand assets: Brand management is a form of asset management. A brand's assets may include its intellectual property, human resources, and physical resources as well as its core brand message and brand name. Successful brand management teams recognize the value of these assets and take the steps necessary to preserve them.

Few companies endure over the long term without a strong brand management strategy.

1. 1. A strong brand identity needs constant maintenance. Global brands become multinational household names by developing marketing strategies that continually enhance their brand image and tap into an emotional connection with their target audience. Successful brand management involves regularly conducting market research and refining the messaging to keep the brand’s value proposition at the front of customers' minds.
2. 2. Brand management spurs innovation. Product development and innovation go hand-in-hand with good brand management. Successful brands keep up with customer needs and remain relevant by extending the usefulness of the research they conduct for marketing purposes.
3. 3. Good brand management encourages customer loyalty. Brand managers devise initiatives to make longtime customers feel valued and offer them new reasons to stay engaged with the company.
4. 4. Strong brand management can provide valuable insights. In some cases, the process of evaluating the brand can generate valuable self-reflection within the company itself. It can reveal which tangible elements (like a product line or creative team) and intangible elements (like employee morale and core values) ultimately make the brand successful. Over the long term, internal brand perception can be just as important as public brand perception.

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