Building a brand is not something that can be done overnight, and the mind is prone to losing focus, so building a brand requires continuous delivery of brand value. Fortunately, the life cycle of a brand can far exceed that of a product, and it can even be said to be timeless and “better with age”. “Chinese time-honored brands” and century-old stores can all be positive additions to a brand. In the field of cross-border e-commerce, the key points for continuous management of brand value include the following.
(1) Sales are the starting point, not the end point. In the field of cross-border e-commerce, we should especially emphasize “starting with the end in mind”, because the customer’s experience may be the best brand promotion. This is especially true in the B2B industry, where sample orders or small batch trial orders are often placed before large orders. We must have the mentality of supporting large customers and growing with them, so that brand value can be continuously delivered.
(2) Continuously deliver brand value before occupying the user’s mind. Sample orders, small batch trial orders, and first orders are all “on the way”, and repeat purchases and continuous increases in average order value are only precursors to occupying the user’s mind. For individual customers, our goal should be set as “loyal members”. In the main category, the signs of a brand’s popularity are sales volume, satisfaction, and repurchase rate.
(3) The next step to successfully occupy the user’s mind is to continuously innovate marketing to prevent the mind from losing focus.
When continuously managing brand value, pay special attention to the following traps.
(1) Over-innovation. This mainly refers to disruptive innovation that destroys the consistency of the brand’s value proposition. Rather than disruption, it is better to create a new brand.
(2) Frequent and large discounts. In essence, it is an act that destroys price consistency.
(3) Conservatism. Not all brands have the power to resist time and become “time-honored brands.” Especially for specific products, it is necessary to maintain innovation or at least ensure that the product is still viable. Under the general trend of smart phones, it is inappropriate to keep the functional positioning unchanged.