Page 316 - Marketing Management

CRAFTING THE BRAND POSITIONING | CHAPTER 10 293

Positioning and Branding

a Small Business

Building brands for a small business is a challenge because these firms have limited re-
sources and budgets. Nevertheless, numerous success stories exist of entrepreneurs
who have built their brands up essentially from scratch to become powerhouse brands.

vitaminwater In 1996, J. Darius Bickoff launched an electrolyte-
enhanced line of bottled water called smartwater, followed by the introduction
of vitaminwater, a vitamin-enhanced and flavored alternative to plain bottled
water, two years later, and fruitwater two years after that. Clever marketing
including endorsement deals with rapper 50 Cent, singer Kelly Clarkson,
actress Jennifer Aniston, and football star Tom Brady helped to drive success. Less than
10 years after its launch, Bickoff’s Energy Brands company, also known as Glacéau, was
sold to the Coca-Cola company for $4.2 billion in cash. 45

In general, with limited resources behind the brand, both focus and consistency in
marketing programs are critically important. Creativity is also paramount—finding With a unique formulation and
new ways to market new ideas about products to consumers. Some specific branding guidelines for shrewd marketing, vitaminwater
small businesses are as follows. made a splash in the beverage
market.
• Creatively conduct low-cost marketing research. There are a variety of low-cost marketing
research methods that help small businesses connect with customers and study competitors.
One way is to set up course projects at local colleges and universities to access the expertise of
both students and professors.
• Focus on building one or two strong brands based on one or two key associations. Small
businesses often must rely on only one or two brands and key associations as points of differ-
ence for those brands. These associations must be consistently reinforced across the marketing
program and over time. Rooted in the snowboarding and surfing cultures, Volcom has
adopted a “Youth Against Establishment” credo that has resulted in steady sales of its music,
athletic apparel, and jewelry.
• Employ a well-integrated set of brand elements. Tactically, it is important for small busi-
nesses to maximize the contribution of each of the three main sets of brand equity drivers.
First, they should develop a distinctive, well-integrated set of brand elements that enhances Some hard-core fans of Mozilla
both brand awareness and brand image. Brand elements should be memorable and meaning- Firefox carved out a massive logo
ful, with as much creative potential as possible. Innovative packaging can substitute for ad for the brand in the fields outside
campaigns by capturing attention at the point of purchase. Portland, Oregon.
SMARTFOOD introduced its first product without any adver-
tising by means of both a unique package that served as a strong
visual symbol on the shelf and an extensive sampling program
that encouraged trial. Proper names or family names, which
often characterize small businesses, may provide some distinctive-
ness but can suffer in terms of pronounceability, meaningful-
ness, memorability, or other branding considerations. If these
deficiencies are too great, explore alternative brand elements.
• Create buzz and a loyal brand community. Because small
businesses often must rely on word of mouth to establish their
positioning, public relations, social networking, and low-cost pro-
motions and sponsorship can be inexpensive alternatives. As dis-
cussed in Chapter 9, creating a vibrant brand community among
current and prospective customers can also be a cost-effective way
to reinforce loyalty and help spread the word to new prospects.
Web browser Mozilla Firefox is able to compete with Microsoft’s
Internet Explorer in part because of its dedicated volunteer group