FEBRUARY 2024 5 BRAND MARKETING A company is often only as good as how the customer or consumer perceives it to be. It doesn’t even matter if the products or services have even been sampled—because, for the consumer, all that matters is whether what they have heard about the company, or that the new product is positive or negative. Welcome to social media, aka the 21st-century version of word-of-mouth. But for you, the retailer, word-of-mouth is probably not even close to being enough. There are ways you can improve upon what the consumer hears—you may even say that you can control it—which you can do to a certain degree. But it will take a bit of work, and if you aren’t willing to do that, then as you sow... It’s the concept of brand marketing, which, if you Google it, has multiple opinions on just what it is. Let’s see if we can narrow it down. For example, Amazon said, “Brand marketing is promoting a brand’s products or services in a way that elevates the brand as a whole.” It sounds pretty straightforward, but it doesn’t explain anything. The Amazon definition continues, however, stating that “it involves creating and maintaining brand-consumer relationships and marketing brand attributes— the traits that people think of when they picture a particular brand.” That’s better. What does the farming community think of when they see you—XYZ Company? Do they immediately think of a superior seed producer or a tractor dealer? They should, because that’s the ultimate goal of brand marketing. It is what will ensure brand loyalty. But let’s look at things closely. For one thing, branding and marketing are two completely different things. Increasing your company’s brand reputation A well-thought-out brand marketing campaign will help you grow and promote your brand. By Andrew Joseph, Editor Although marketing has nothing to do with branding, branding has something to do with marketing. When done correctly, brand marketing can take your company to the next level of success. Panuwat Dangsungnoen/iStock/Getty Images Plus photo
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