Generic Brand Communication in Today’s Global Market

Just as all human beings have names that represent their unique identity in society, similarly companies give unique brand names for their products to facilitate their distinction from the competitor’s brands.

TOSSE 2019 VISITOR INFORMATION

Branding and marketing communication today have created a massive product globalization and glocalization. A large number of generic brand’s product are available, but not all brands are liked by consumers as choice is highly influenced by the product but also the manufacturer.

Brand identity is essential in competition because without it there is no way of making a choice. The selection of a brand name is considered an art form because it is born out of the creative interpretation of research. The following should be considered before settling for a brand name:

Easy to pronounce
Product benefits
Registered trade mark.

Effective generic consumer engagement involves effective packaging which when effectively done proffer a high return on investment in terms of sales volumes. Innovative packaging helps increase consumer patronage and consumer scope. These are all important aspects of brand communication and packaging as a whole

The value of a **brand** rises and falls
with its **communication**

Apr 09

Creating Virtual Opportunities in Business During Lockdown

Quite a number of places had some degree of lockdown imposed on them in the light of the Covid-19 pandemic. This has sorely affected most businesses, big or small. In a previous article, we visited the possibilities of making social media a veritable tool for your business marketing and visibility. This article will discuss important steps to digitise your business.

Working from home has gained popularity over time, however, it has been a slow process. Running a virtual business has numerous benefits, not least of which is that it costs arguably less to run. Despite reservations about the idea from many, it has become a necessity for businesses to explore this mode of running a business as the restrictions to movement lingers. The following are some steps that can be followed in creating a virtual workspace.

Create Online Awareness

This is a very obvious step, so it goes right on top. For the same reason you would expect your physical business to be known around its physical location (unless you run a shady business of course 😉), your virtual business can do with online publicity. Social media remains a primary tool for this. This space gives you visibility and engagements, as has been discussed earlier.

Social media does not do it all, though. Your business needs its own private space, space where all your offerings and information can be seen. You need an up-to-date website that is easy to navigate. Websites do not personalise your business, however. For this reason, it is encouraged to run a blog also. Blogs provide a personal feeling about your business. People are more likely to patronise you if they feel there is a person behind it and not just a “mindless bot”.

Create a Business Plan

You need to identify what your business offers in terms of goods and services – what your business CAN offer. You need also to have a clear vision and set boundaries, create an effective working process, and have realistic targets. This helps you and members of your team to be able to be effective and have the best possible ROI in the shortest possible time.

Let all employees understand how working remotely differs from working in an office environment. Be selective when picking members of your team; not all are well suited for remote assignments and not all tasks can be handled by all members of your team.

Keep the Communication Line Open

This works for both customers and employees. There should be an open channel of communication across the designated hierarchy of your organisation. All members of your team should be comfortable coming up with ideas and putting them to those higher up the ladder. This gives them a feeling of belonging and drastically improves their input as they feel like a part of the system and not a misfit.

Regular meetings should also be set up. This will help to keep tabs on the progress of the team, communicate new plans to all, and maintain a personal relationship. Virtual meetings can be held using various platforms. Popular ones include Zoom, Skype for Business, Slack, Zoho Meeting, and WhatsApp.

Measure Productivity

Your business must first and foremost be productive. So you must have set down metrics to analyse the productivity of your business. Try not to only focus on the final outcome of a particular process. Evaluate various stages of the process. Use quantifiable data to measure how well you are doing. Analyse key performance indicators (KPIs) diligently and be willing to make changes to certain areas that seem to be lagging.

For every observation, you need to be willing to train members of your team to make them improve in that area. Do not stop at measuring the team as a whole, observe individual members of the team and help any such who might be behind to keep up. Make sure to have a rewards system as well as extra motivation.

Be Realistic

It will not be easy getting used to the remote working system for sure. There might be some losses along the way, maybe more. But with proper planning and determination, a virtual workspace will yield dividends. Overall, it’ll pay off!

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Mar 03

Running A Successful Business In A Fluctuating Economy

With the economy fluctuating these days, making a profit from businesses has become considerably harder. This is even more so for small/medium scale businesses that do not have the financial stability to weather the storm. How then can these small businesses not only survive but also thrive? What can the owners do about it? The following tips might be helpful in running a business in a fluctuating economy.

Leverage on existing clients

Existing clients and customers are an important key to surviving a fluctuating economy. They are a means of generating steady income while incurring minimal costs in the process of finding a new customer.

Focus on the existing clients. Tailor your products to their needs. This will give you much more sales opportunities. You might also want to build customer loyalty. Look for cost-effective rewards to endear these customers to your business. Remember, however, that the quality of products/services offered is the major selling point, so focus on improving their quality to retain clients.

Cut down unnecessary costs

In order to stay afloat, it is necessary to be wary about spending on trivial or unwanted items. Be sure to do regular analysis to determine what products sell better and which does not, and then refrain from stocking up on products that do not give any real value of sorts.

Review your inventory management practices. Could there be a way to get your wares at a cheaper rate without reducing the quality? Can you get shipping alternatives that are efficient yet cost-effective? You are under no obligation to stick to the one supplier, be ready to explore other options.

Be different from competitors

However important old clients are, you are always going to need new ones to boost income. Thus, you need to research your competitors. If you are going to stand out in order to gain new clients, you are going to have to do things differently from your competitors.

Find out how they operate and look for ways to better their processes. Identify opportunities to entice prospective customers into becoming your customers.

Focus on core competencies

While it is encouraged to diversify, it will serve you far better to focus your attention on goods/services you excel at. Diversification just for the sake of it is generally a waste of time and resources. It can damage your core business by taking money and time away from what you do best and could possibly ruin your reputation.
Focus your attention on your core competencies. Any diversification should be well-calculated to achieve a particular purpose.

Do more marketing

When trying to cut costs, most businesses first slash marketing costs, at times dropping it altogether. This is the wrong approach. In times of economic fluctuations, consumers are usually restless and are looking for new options to purchase from. This provides a perfect opportunity to put your business in their faces. So don’t stop marketing. If possible, up the ante and do more marketing.

Apr 19

How to maximize your Brand presence at Exhibitions

It takes a lot of marketing efforts to sell-out innovative products/services to key decision makers in most sectors.

Event hosts will propose a value driven partnership that will offer your organisation different opportunities, but you must also know what you want to achieve with your marketing objectives.

Here is a checklist to help you maximize your brand presence at exhibitions, trade shows and seminars and generate .

Branding of Seminar Room: With sponsorship, your organisation has the opportunity to brand any of the seminar rooms making your brand visible to thousands of participants and other exhibitors at the event.
Official Bag Branding: Your organisation’s logo on official bags to be given to all participants. The below-the-line advertising keeps your brand name in the minds of the audience.
3m by 3m Well-located Stand: Your organization should be allocated a 3 meters by 3 meters exhibition stand in a unique position that is open to the traffic of visitors and prospective clients.
Presentation Opportunity: In-event speaking engagement to boost your brand equity. It is best practice to get a time slot to make a sales pitch to thousands of participants at the event.
Press Conference Right: A special mention and participation at the exhibition’s press briefing will further put your brand out there to the prying eyes of the media.
Ushers Branding Right: Your Company’s logo at the back of the T-Shirt of all Ushers will give your brand 360 degree awareness at the event.
Pre and Post Event Advisory Service: Get pre/post event advisory services on how to better chart your path in the Education sector for greater customer conversion.
Pre and Post Event Brand Publicity: Pre-event offline and online promotional campaign for brand presence at the event will drive footfall to your exhibition stand. This will create some form of familiarity between your brand and prospective clients.

Get access to over 7000 attendees at Africa’s biggest education show, register here

The list is not exhaustible but your organization can use this checklist to negotiate for the best deals that will maximize your brand presence at exhibitions which will ultimately convert to quality leads for your business.

Furthermore, organizations also need to recognize the value of leads acquired to put that information into use after events. You can read more about this here.

To exhibit at TOSSE 2022, register here to apply for stand.