SMEs And Startups Must Consider The Following Ideas In Building A Strong Brand Identity

The business world today provides small and bigger organizations with enormous opportunities to develop and grow astrong brand identity for products and services that can compete favourably in the ever complex and unpredictable market driven by modern technology.

However, it equally presents a lot of challenges in the form of stiffcompetition and threat of survival for SMEs and Startups in Ghana. The panacea to correcting this unfair competition whilst creating a sustainability planfor products and services of SMEs and Startups will be for them to adopt and build a strong brand identity.

A strong brand identity as expressed by many schools of thought has one thing in common in relation to the purpose why most successful organizations create a strong brand identity as part of their winning strategy. A strong brand identity is designed to make products or services relevant in terms of competitiveness and having a large market share ahead of similar products or services in the same market space.

But for the purposes of this write up,a strong brand identity isa process that involves designing a product or service built in part on a competitive position and, in turn, communicates that position to its intended audience. In the world of business today, how far your products or services can appeal to a wider audience on the international market , will largely hinge on the strategies that will drive the strong brand identity an organization decides to carve out for its products or services .

The everyday business mantra “competition is fierce and the market share for some products and services are narrowing by the passing minute of the day is true .”Most of the globally accepted and leading products or services areprovided by the big firms in the world. They continue to dominate in terms of market share, growth and sustainability of the products or services they offer.

This is possible largely because of the time and effort these organizations have invested into building a strong brand identity for their products or services .Take for instance a product like Apple Phone or IPAD “ remains one of the most sought-after product on the tech market today.

The apple brand will continue to remain a market leader in the tech market because the team at Apple has been able to build a strong brand identity around the product. This singular marketing strategy adoptedby Apple and other leading service providers in the business world, presents useful lessons for existing and emerging organizations whose services are continually threatened by fierce competition and the ever- changing consumer preferences and demands to learn some ideas that have worked for these big giant and how these ideas can influence SMEs and Startups in building a strong brand identity for their products and services, that will position them strategically and make them relevant in the face of stiff competition.

This article is seeking to make a case for Small-to Medium-Sized Enterprises and Startups that are either designing a product or providing services to a wider consumer market .Research has it that, most SMEs and Startups collapse after two years of operations.

The reasons accounting for why most SMEs and Startups do not survive after two years of operations are varied and sometimes difficult to pinpoint , however from a marketing perspective , the inability of SMEsand Startups to create a distinctive strong brand identity for their products or services that can make them competitive and sustainable, accounts for why products or services offered by SMEs and Startups fail to compete favorably after two years of operations especially when competition and consumer preferences begin to change. SMEs and Startups must begin to learn some useful lessons and adopt strategies from organizations like Apple, Canon, Toyota , KFC, Twitter, Coca Cola that have been successful in creating a strong brand identity for their products and services.

Research on the target market for the particular products or services being offered to consumers: Consumer target research is a critical component in building a strong brand identity for most SMEs and Startups .Sadly most SMEs and Startups pay little or in some cases no attention to this core function that can help shape and position them to be competitive for a long time.

Most SMEs and Startups start operating without investing time and resources into research that will clearly define the preferences, taste and demands of their prospective consumers. This accounts for a major reason why SMEs and Startups come out with products or services that fizzle out when competition sets in after two years of operations .Building a strong brand identity should not be considered a last option but a critical component in product or service design..Any organization that fails to invest into target consumer research is bound to fail and fallout of the market when competition gets tough.

SMEs and Startups who want to remain relevant and compete favorably in the market whether they are products or services being offered to a wider market , must begin to rethink and pay more closer attention to consumer research .Most SMEs and Startups that have been able to transition from a small to a big organization , took particular interest in consumer research hence providing them with ideas that, they have used successfully in building a strong brand identity for their products and services .SMEs and Startups in Ghana must take research on consumer preference serious .It must be the first step SMEs and Startups must consider before they even begin operations .

SMEs and Startups must involve and engage professionals in creating a strong brand identity .One of the biggest reasons why SMEs and Startups in Ghana fail to build a strong brand identity for products and services that are able to gain a good market share while positioning them to compete favorable is largely due to the fact that , most SMEs and Startups fail to engage the services of professional marketing consultants , whose ideas and experience can help create a strong brand identity from the mission and vision statements of SMEs and Startups .In Ghana , hiring the services of consultants is seen as a waste of money and resources, but what most SMEs and Startups fail to understand is that , in the world of business today , becoming a market leader does not come on a silver platter , experience and proven strategic techniques are critical ingredients for developing a strong brand identity for products and services .These professional services can only come from an experienced marketing consultants who have gained a lot of experience working with similar organizations in developing a strong brand identity .When the services of a marketing consultant comes into force , SMEs and Startups can be sure of a final product or service outlook that will appeal to a wider market and establish it as a market leader. Big corporations like Google, Toyota , Yahoo, Samsung have all had to some point in time rely on the services of consultants to help them in building a strong brandidentity for their products or services .SMEs and Startups must take steps to get professional marketing advice from the experts in the course of building a strong brand identity.

SMEs and Startups must learn , adopt and implement best practices in their operations.SMEs and Startups will remain relevant and competitive for long , if they are able to infuse best practices ideas from the examples of industry players like Apple, Multi Choice , Toyota,LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter , ALIBABA etc. in building a strong brand identity for their products and services. Theinability of SMEs and Startups to do broader consultation in ideas sharing and knowledge acquisition in areas other have been successful in building a strong brand identity accounts for the non-competitiveness of their products and services on the market.SMEs must appreciate that , the only way they can get competitive and gain a significant market share , is for them to continually engage in a learning process , that allows for new ideas sharing and implementation of best organizational practices as part of their operational strategy .

Finally SME’s and Startups must consider retooling and paying more attention to the marketing department.SMEs and Startups must strengthen their marketing department, since it provides the platform towards building a strong brand identity .A resourced marketing department is a sure proof engine that will generate ideas and strategies towards building a strong brand identity for products and services for SMEs and Startups. An effective marketing department that has a team of professionals who are able to turn ideas into creative concepts , is on the right path towards building a strong brand identity for its products or services.

For SMEs and Startups to remain competitive and survive beyond two years of operation , They need to pay closer attention to the above solutions that have been shared as a critical step towards helping them build a strong brand identity that is able to strategically position their products or services beyond the local market .SMEs and Startups play an important role in the economic development of the every country .The success of SMEs and Startups firms in the country will help boost economy activities whilst creating a more competitive business environment for the growth of other SMEs and Startups .It is against this back drop that SMEs and Startups must begin to take the issues of building a strong brand identity serious , since it has the potential of growing and sustaining the business. Some of the ideas espoused in this article, should serve as a blueprint for SMEs and Startups to adopt a more robust strategy in buildinga strong brand identity that will position their products and services on the global market.

Long live SMEsand Start Ups in Ghana!!!
Van-Ess Alootey.
The writer is a communications and marketing consultant .He runs a private communications and advertising firm, Universal Marketing Consultancy ltd .An organization committed to providing top notch marketing and communications solutions to the business community especially SMEs and Startups in Northern Ghana. The writer can be reached on the following

Twitter:@AlooteyVanEss
Facebook: web.facebook.com/alootey/