Pretend you’re the CMO of “Big Company X” and over the last several weeks you and your marketing team have worked overtime to prepare the marketing plan and strategy for the next fiscal year. Then the day comes for you to present your plan to your fellow C-suite executives. You pour over the details of the marketing plan with enthusiasm, communicating what you think is the need for marketing dollars to be spent in this and that area. Then the CFO stands up and demands to know how your plan will create brand equity and value to customers and stockholders. How would you answer?
Well, you’re not the CMO of “Big Company X”. You’re the owner or proprietor of your own business. Being the chief marketer is just one of the hats you wear, along with chief financial guru. Franky, you too wonder what the concrete value your brand has, and you’re not sure what brand equity is.
Defining brand value and equity
Brand value is the dollars and cents of the brand or financial value shown on a balance sheet. Brand equity, while harder to define, is generally made up of your customers’ knowledge, attitude, perceptions and behaviors toward your brand. The better your brand equity is the more brand value you’ll bring to the bottom line.
How to increase brand value with brand equity
There are several steps you can put in place to increase your brand equity and value:
- Measure the results of your marketing campaigns, such as getting positive feedback on social media posts, blogs and print marketing efforts. If you are not getting the results you need or if they get stagnant, retool them for a more positive impact.
- Listen to your customers. What products or services most interest them? What do they get excited about and what do they not like? When they express passion about your brand, get them to open-up and share details. When they are dissatisfied, show humility, listen to them and then seek to overcome it.
- Make sure customers have channels to express their feedback. These can include comment cards, surveys, social media channels, comment areas on blog posts and web-sites, and asking them face-to-face what they think of your product and services.
- Storytelling – talk about your real customers’ experiences and what your products and services mean to them. Another aspect of storytelling is to show how your brand supports the community. Share images of both your customers with their story and pictures of your community involvement.
Back to the boardroom
The next time your CFO or the one wearing a CFO hat (you) questions your marketing budget and how you are going to go about creating brand equity and value, you’ll now be more equipped to answer that question. You’ll be able to put concrete plans in place to make your company more valuable.
How do we measure up?
Last, how are we creating value and equity in your brand? We at Serff Creative Group want to know how we measure up with you. Please take a few moments to jot down your thoughts on the comment section of this blog, call us at 303.537.8705, email us at info@serffcreative.com or post it on Facebook or Twitter.
