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how do i create brand recognition

dellecampbellsdellecampbells subscriber Posts: 11
edited January 2007 in Marketing
I am in a highly competetive industry called street vending and would like to expand my market share and amount of locations with brand marketing. We have solid quality food products and would like tips strategies and suggestions that will make our brand itself very marketable so that our reputation speaks for itself to other companies as well as present and potential customers. We can`t wait for your words !

Comments

  • ethosethos subscriber Posts: 1
    Raisecapital is right...compelling story is important to brand awareness.  Think of any company with a prominent brand identity...Apple, Nike, Coke, MicroSoft... you probably can tell me something about not only the product, but also the founder and/or the history of the company.  The company has told you their story, and you listened.
    Also, IMO, brand awareness is the culmination in doing a lot of things right.  In other words, it is the END RESULT of sound business fundamentals.  Excellent customer service, high product quality, reliability, meeting and exceeding expectations.  Those fundamentals have to be in place to achieve brand awareness.  You say you have good quality products, that`s a great start.
    How do your customers perceive you?  Are they pleased with your products, your quality, your customer service?  If so, start telling them your story.  Ask them to recommend you to their friends.  Word of mouth marketing is valuable and priceless and can go a long way toward brand awareness, if you`re telling your story compellingly.
  • InactiveMemberInactiveMember subscriber Posts: 12
    Forum posts are helpful for small problems but forum posts won`t help you understand the fundamentals of marketing. Go to a local college bookstore and buy a copy of their "Marketing 101" textbook. That should provide a great foundation.
    With respect to the advice already given:
    You can tell all the brand tories you want, but if your brand isn`t correctly focused, you`ll end up telling too many different stories. Then your brand will stand for nothing. If you don`t know anything about copywriting, you might tell the "right story" but you won`t communicate effectively. Then no one will understand the story you`re trying to tell. This is why you should learn marketing fundamentals before trying to learn about branding by itself. If you lack a basic understanding of how marketing works, you are likely to experience problems with brand development.
    If you still want to learn about branding, here`s a great, short book:
    22 Immutable Laws of Branding. Al & Laura Ries.
  • samdude3samdude3 subscriber Posts: 1
    Yah, I agree with CraigL. I also live in the Chicago-Land Area and Portillos is the place to eat! There is one located by Woodfield mall and there is a Police Squad Car Directing lunch traffic in and out of the parking lot! They took a small idea (hot dog stand) and eventually grew into a local dynasty by providing excellent service and providing quality food. It also has a very neat atmosphere which makes you feel like you are apart of something different. Thats how you can really seperate yourself from competitors. 
  • pmccordpmccord subscriber Posts: 1
    dellecampbells,
    You`ve gotten some good advice so far.  But there are a couple of things you need to take into consideration.
    First, based on your question, I`m not sure if you`re not more interested in name recognition than you are branding.  They are not the same--although a brand must have name recognition first.
    If your primary concern is name recognition, then traditional marketing such as banners, ads, fliers, etc. will work to get your name and a tag line out.  The object would be to become the dominate name in street vending in your city--and from there maybe a larger geographic area.
    But if you are looking to build a brand, brands don`t just happen.  They are created.  But, because they are intentionally created, there must be a definable purpose for creating the particular brand image.  Before you can seriously begin to create your brand, you have to decide what that brand image is going to be--and why.  Once you have decided that, you can begin to focus on how and where to begin the process of creating and building the image.  Building a brand requires different media than building name recognition (although, of course, there is overlap).  With a brand you`re going for more than just the recognition of your name and maybe remembering a tag line.  You`re going for a whole set of images and responses to your product. 
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