When you think of a brand, what comes to mind?

Maybe it’s a particular colour scheme, logo, or tagline.

Maybe it’s a feeling of trust, quality, prestige or delightful customer experiences.

Whatever it is, that emotional reaction is what we call brand equity.

And while you might think that only big companies need to worry about building brand equity, that couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, small businesses often have an advantage when it comes to creating an emotive and meaningful connection with customers through a well thought out brand equity strategy.

What is brand equity

In business, the value of a good reputation is uncontested. It takes years to build a strong reputation, but only moments to lose it.

The same goes for brands. A brand is the perception that a customer has of a product, service, or company. Brand equity is the positive or negative value of that perception.

A brand with high equity is one that customers know and trust. They are willing to pay more for the product or service and recommend it to others.

On the other hand, a brand with low equity is one that customers are unfamiliar with or have negative associations with. This typically means customers will be less likely to pay more for the product or service, or may even avoid it altogether.

Building brand equity requires creating a positive customer experience and influencing customer perceptions through marketing campaigns, social media, user reviews, customer success efforts and other means.

It takes time, energy and investment to build brand equity. And it’s worth it in the long run.

The benefits of a high-value brand equity

A high-value brand equity indicates that a company has a strong, positive reputation with customers, employees, suppliers and partners. This can lead to a number of additional benefits for the business, including:

• A high return on investment.

A strong brand increases customer loyalty, attracts new customers, and boosts profits. This is because when customers have a positive opinion of a company, they are more likely to purchase its products or services. This can lead to higher profits for the business.

In addition, customers who are loyal to a particular brand are less likely to switch to a competitor, even if there is a price difference. This loyalty can be incredibly valuable to a company as it also leads to positive reviews, testimonials and referrals.

• Improved employer brand

A high-value brand equity reinforces an attractive and trusted employer brand, which helps a business attract and retain top talent. Employees who feel proud to work for a particular company are more likely to stay with the organization for the long term. They are also more likely to recommend the company to friends and family members who are high-value staff looking for new job opportunities. Especially in an era where businesses are negatively impacted by the ‘great resignation’ phenomena.

Examples of companies with great brand equity

Brand equity is the extra value a product or company has because of its name and reputation. It’s what sets a product apart from its competition and makes customers loyal. Some companies have worked hard to create a great brand equity. 

Nike, for example, is one of the most widely recognized brands in the world. The company’s slogan, Just Do It, has become part of popular culture.

Apple is another company with strong brand equity. Its products are known for their design and simplicity.

In South Africa, Motheo Construction is a company with great brand equity. The company has built a reputation for being one of the best black-owned construction companies in the country.

Pep Stores is another great South African company with strong brand equity. The company’s brightly coloured stores are a familiar sight in townships and rural areas across the country.

Shoprite Checkers is another South African company with well-established brand equity. The supermarket chain is known for its low prices and wide variety of products.

Discovery Limited is a South African company that has built up strong brand equity in the medical and financial services sectors. The company offers a range of products including health insurance, life insurance, banking and investments.

Tesla is an American company that has built up strong brand equity in the electric car market. The company’s cars are known for their high quality and performance.

How to create brand equity
Hopefully, after you have read this article, you should have a good understanding of what brand equity is and how it can benefit your company.

Now that you understand the importance of building brand equity, it’s time to start thinking about how to do it. Here are some high-level activities to reflect over as you consider getting started:

1. – Initiate change management centered around your brand equity improvement strategy.
2. – (Re)define your company vision, purpose and brand values.
3. – Formulate and launch your brand equity improvement strategy.
4. – Report against set targets and goals to measure the impact of your strategy.
5. – Adapt and optimize your strategy performance to achieve desired results over time.
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In conclusion

It should go without saying, but I’ll say it anyway; it’s critical that your brand equity aligns with your customer segments and specifically your customer personas, so you’re in a better position to develop compelling and unique value propositions that lead to product-market fit.

Lastly, you must establish a cohesive brand identity.

Should you need assistance with any of the above. Feel free to book a free consulting session with me via this link: https://meetings.hubspot.com/kkdiaz1

To your success.

KK Diaz

KK Diaz is a Business and Brand Strategist. His unique coaching style, series of training programmes, workshops, online courses, and books help business leaders and entrepreneurs gain a holistic view of strategy, marketing, sales and operations as a set of business processes that can and should be clearly defined, and therefore easily repeatable within the business for long-term growth and success.