Building A World-Class Brand In the Masonry Industry Words: Garen GravesBuilding a World-Class BrandThe world is dominated by brands, from behemoths like Amazon and Coca-Cola to niche industry players like our team at Amerimix. Regardless of their scale, a strong brand is the key to unlocking product trials, customer preference, long-term loyalty, and—most importantly—the revenue to continue growing. The question is: how do you get a brand from upstart to household name?Brands are Built, Not BornGreat brands are not born overnight—they are built through years of carefully orchestrated moves. It’s crucial for brands to have a long-term vision for who they are, and more importantly, who they want to become. Do you want to be a leader or a follower? An innovator or an improver? Revenue-focused or product-focused? These aren’t easy questions to answer, but getting it right and deciding who you are is a must. To find the answer, great brands all turn to the same person: their customers.Know Your Customer, And Adapt AccordinglyWhether you’re seeking to connect with general contractors, architects, engineers, developers, or (more likely) a combination of many groups, knowing the customer starts with a few critical questions. - What are the biggest challenges they face? How can your product or service help solve those challenges? - How are they currently approaching these challenges? Which competitors are they using? - What messaging are your competitors using? Are they “differentiated” or telling the same story as everyone else in the market? - Are there gaps in the market’s understanding of how to design with, install, and use your product and services? Without clear answers to these questions, a brand is dead on arrival. If there is no plan to implement customer feedback, a brand will not thrive. All the advertising in the world isn't going to get customers to risk their hard-earned dollars on a brand that doesn’t understand their challenges and promise a real solution. Often the trick is to help your customers look at their problems in a new light. For example, consumers often think only about the up-front cost of a product: “Masonry is so expensive!” However, by helping them to think about the bigger picture, they might realize that a more expensive product can save them labor costs, reduce total life-cycle cost, or minimize long-term maintenance. There is a difference between “cost” and “value,” and providing value will earn customers’ trust. Being the expert on your product category—and on the industry at large—is a surefire way to build trust. Be a resource. Be a solution.Find – and Promote – Your Brand LoyalistsAdvertising is a powerful force in determining which brands rise to the top and which are forgotten to history. However, the single strongest influence on purchase decisions has always been word of mouth. We are psychologically more willing to accept the recommendation of a person that we trust than a brand viewed as having an ulterior motive. Therefore, finding those opinionated “believers”—and helping to promote their voices—is one of the most powerful tools at a brand’s disposal.Consider a few of the leading automotive brands in the world. Whether it’s Ford, Chevy, or Dodge, you’re getting a box with four wheels designed to get you from point A to point B. But a Ford loyalist would never dream of purchasing a four-wheeled box with Chevy stamped on it. Why is that? Are these feelings backed up by rigorous facts and data? More than likely, no.What drives buyers closer to becoming loyalists are great experiences with your brand, where their trust in you has been rewarded, and that can come at any point in the purchasing process. A great website that makes it easy to find technical data, a strong salesperson or business development person who’s able to answer every question the first time, a reliable dealer network who can always deliver on time, and—of course—a stellar product that always performs to spec are all critical avenues for building loyalty. Therefore, it’s crucial to interrogate every step of the purchase decision to ensure your brand isn’t missing a single opportunity to build loyalty.Never Stop ImprovingEven the most revered, historic brands must constantly reinvent themselves to stay current and relevant to the modern consumer. Reinvention doesn’t just mean changing your logo or updating your product offering—it’s a regular assessment of every piece of your brand experience. Consider the following steps:- Regular “voice of the customer” research helps refine your brand messaging, product portfolio, and competitive positioning. It is critical to have solid customer relationships to get honest feedback and keep moving forward.- Constant product improvement both in terms of individual products and the complete portfolio of services that you’re offering. Do more and be more for your customer.- Reinvestment in tools and resources—especially your digital properties—to maintain your “value adds” to the customer in the design, planning, bidding, and installation phases of the project. Great customer research will tell you where to focus.- Competitive monitoring keeps you abreast of what your competitors are saying about you, how their product portfolio is evolving, and what opportunities they’re taking advantage of that you’re missing. You want competitors to have a healthy respect for what you bring to the market.At the end of the day, these guidelines can help transform an “also-ran” into a true market leader. However, all of these steps cannot replace having a great product and strong and personal representation to bring it all together. But by analyzing every piece of your business together—and striving to continuously refine every piece of the puzzle—you too can build a world-class brand.About: MAP Partner
