BRIDGING THE BRAND GAP: HOW ORGANIZATIONS CAN STAND OUT AND MAKE LASTING IMPRESSION
By Ishola Ayodele
In today's competitive marketplace, businesses must continuously strive to stand out and make a lasting impression on consumers especially given that customers experience is now the new gold mine in this digital age where the ability to generate electronic word of mouth can exponentially increase sales so much so that 89% of businesses compete primarily on the basis of customer experience because we have come to know that when served with a positive customer experience, 72% of consumers tend to share it with at least six other customers. Therefore, the studies that found that customer experience is a deciding factor when customers are making purchase decisions is on point.
Having said that, many
organizations often find it difficult to compete favourably in the market place
because they have not been able to move their product and service above the
crowded options and alternatives in the market. The reason for this is because
they have not been able to bridge the brand gap. This "brand gap,"
can lead to ineffective marketing campaigns, poor product design, and
ultimately, a failure to reach business goals.
Some of the causes of ‘brand
gap’ include failure to link business strategy to product design, lack of
communication and collaboration between the business and design teams and lack
of clear and consistent brand identity. Oftentimes, the management team
develops the business strategy while the design department is the
responsibility for developing the product as a different department without
proper collaboration, aggregation or fusion of ideas. This usually lead to a
disconnection between the two teams, with the design team working on projects
that may not align with the organization's overall goals and objectives.
To bridge the brand gap,
organizations must
1. Align business strategy with design:
This
means that design decisions should be informed by the organization's overall
goals and objectives, rather than being made in isolation. This alignment can
be achieved by embarking on what experts called ‘design thinking.’ This is a
problem-solving approach that puts the customer at the center of the process.
By involving the design team in the early stages of the business strategy
development, organizations can ensure that design decisions are informed by
customer insights, stakeholder concerns in alignment with the organization's overall
business goals. A study conducted by the design firm Continuum, revealed that
products that were developed with a deep understanding of customer needs and
behaviors had a 73% chance of success in the market, compared to a 27% chance
for products developed without customer insights.
Aligning
business strategy with product design will help an organization achieve three
things viz (a) Prodcut-Market fit (b) successfully testing new product (c)
Innovation. I will expand this line of thought in subsequent write up on this.
Prodcut-Market
fit
Product-market fit refers to the process of ensuring that a
product or service value proposition effectively meets the needs and wants of a
specific target market. It is the point at which a product or service perfectly
addresses the pain point of the targeted market and customers are willing to
pay for it. Achieving product-market fit is crucial for the success of any
business, as it ensures that the product or service is relevant and valuable to
the target market. Failure to achieve product-market fit can lead to low sales,
customer dissatisfaction, and ultimately, the failure of the business.
A great example of an organization that has achieved Product-market
fit by successfully aligned its business strategy with its product design by
incorporating customer feedback into the decision process is Moniepoint.
In 2018, Tosin the CEO of a fintech called TeamApt observed that the Nigeria’s financial inclusion numbers were very low and thought his company could help improve this situation by servicing Nigeria’s largely unbanked and underbanked people leveraging their market expertise to build a better agency called Moniepoint. TeamApt wasn’t new to agency banking. The company had been building Point of Sale (POS) terminal applications for some of the biggest Payment Terminal Service Providers (PTSPs) in the Nigeria according to Tobi Amira, the Vice President of Loans at TeamApt.
1. The problem of reconciliation for POS agents: Agents
don’t have access to their transaction history, they had to print two receipts. One for the customer’s copy and the
other is the merchant’s copy. They would have to manually check
each receipt after the close of business to make sure everything corresponded.
It was strenuous.
2.
Issue of
stability: POS agents were always at loggerhead with customers due to bad
connectivity because whenever NIBSS was down, nothing would work.
Many a time the transaction will show failed and the customer will be debited.
3. Lack of transparency in the commission in the
distribution network: Cluster managers and aggregators with the
POS operators in the market had no way of confirming whether they were being
paid the correct commissions or not.
Based on these
feedbacks, TeamApt decided to incorporate several key features in the
Moniepoint App. For instance,
To solve the issue of reconciliation, they
added another leg to the transaction process flow where once NIBSS sends
confirmation of the transaction to the POS, the terminal sends the transaction
to Moniepoint. This allowed agents to get real-time reports of the transactions
they have made.
To tackle the issue of stability, Tobi revealed that, TeamApt had to bring on board the Moniepoint team, an engineer who had been working on their
payment switch called Aptent to help upgrade Moniepoint by ensuring better
connectivity with banks.
And to address
the lack of transparency in commission, Moniepoint ensures Everyone
could track what they earned, and how they earned it which incentivized agents
to work hard at processing more transactions and delivering the best service to
their customers.
Additional, Moniepoint built out a
hyperlocal support system for the agents that was very personal. And CEO
realizing that Moniepoint has a great potential of becoming a big business
refocused 80% of the entire TeamApt team on Moniepoint alone.
Today, Moniepoint is
helping over 600,000 businesses to process about 7 trillion Naira monthly and processing $170 billion in
annual run-rate transaction value. And Moniepoint
has become Nigeria's largest business payments
platform, recognized by the Central Bank of Nigeria as the most inclusive
payment platform in the country. Moniepoint got its
Microfinance Bank license in February 2022.
Overall, by Moneypoint as a product was able to record astronomical adoption because of its Prodcut-Market fit which was as a result of Moniepoint ability to align business strategy with product design. And this corroborated the great Steve Jobs, Founder of the iconic brand, Apple assertion that, “You’ve got to start with the customer experience and work back toward the technology, not the other way around.”
Successfully testing New product
In
the early 2000s, McDonald's was facing decline in sales and increase in
customer complaints about the appearance and cleanliness of their restaurants.
In response, the company conducted extensive customer research to understand
their customers' perceptions of the brand and identified areas for improvement.
Based
on these insights, McDonald's made several changes to their restaurants,
including introducing more natural and modern decor, incorporating comfortable
seating, and increasing the focus on cleanliness. Additionally, they also
introduced a more extensive and varied menu, with options such as salads and
fruit, to appeal to customers who wanted healthier options.
These
changes helped McDonald's to improve their brand image, increase customer
loyalty and improve overall sales. According to a study by the American
Marketing Association, McDonald's brand equity increased by 18% after
implementing these changes, and customer satisfaction increased by 5%.
Innovation
A great example of an organization that has achieved Innovation by successfully aligned its business strategy with its product design by incorporating customer feedback into the decision process is LEGO. LEGO created a mini-site where its enthusiasts can easily submit their own designs. The projects that gather more than 10,000 votes from the community undergo LEGO review and are turned into new sets if the review is favourable. This process is not only limited to collecting and analyzing customers’ feedbacks but also allows for customers to be the complete designers of their products.
In Summary,
Business strategy and
product design are two core elements of any successful business. Aligning them can
result in numerous benefits for businesses including increased efficiency by
utilizing fewer resources and time to achieve their goals, enhancing customer
satisfaction by enabling businesses to create products that better meet their
customer's needs, boosting revenue because customers who are satisfied with the
product are more likely to make repeat purchases, and Improving competitiveness
by helping the product to compete favourable since it is designed with the
customers’ need in mind and it also addresses the customers’ pain-point.
2. Foster collaboration and effective communication
between the business and design teams:
This
can be achieved by regularly holding meetings and workshops, where both teams
can share their perspectives and work together to develop a cohesive strategy.
This has been corroborated by several studies like the one by McKinsey &
Company which discovered that organizations that prioritize collaboration and
communication across departments and functions outperform the ones that did not
prioritize collaboration and communication across departments and functions by
20% in terms of financial performance.
Again
a study published in the Harvard Business Review found that companies that
foster collaboration and communication across teams and departments are ‘four
times’ more likely to be innovative and nimble in the face of disruption.
For
example, in the early 2000s, Apple was struggling to compete with other
technology companies such as Dell and HP. In response, the company restructured
its internal communication and collaboration systems. They created cross-functional
teams that were responsible for product development and marketing, and they
established clear lines of communication between these teams. Additionally,
they also implemented regular meetings and brainstorming sessions to encourage
collaboration among employees.
These
changes helped Apple to improve the quality of their products and increase
their brand equity. According to a study by Interbrand, Apple's brand equity
increased by 84% between 2000 and 2010. Additionally, the company also introduced
several successful products such as the iPod, iPhone, and iPad, which helped to
solidify Apple's position as a leader in the technology industry
3. Have clear and consistent brand identity:
This
means ensuring that all design efforts, from product design to packaging,
advertising, and social media, align with the organization's overall brand
identity. A consistent brand identity helps to create a lasting impression on
consumers and ensures that all design efforts are working towards the same
goal. Siegel+Gale (A brand Agency) conducted a research that revealed that that
companies with a clear and consistent brand identity outperform their peers by
23% in terms of brand equity.
Apple is known for its sleek and minimalist design, which is consistent across all of its products and marketing materials. This strong brand identity has helped Apple to build a loyal customer base and establish itself as a leader in the technology industry. Additionally, Apple has been able to maintain its brand identity while still innovating and releasing new products, which has helped it to stay ahead of its competitors. This consistency in design and messaging has helped Apple to build a strong brand that resonates with consumers.
In conclusion, bridging the brand gap requires a combination of understanding the importance of aligning business strategy with design, utilizing design thinking, fostering collaboration and communication between teams, and having a consistent brand identity. By taking these steps, organizations can ensure that their design efforts are aligned with their overall goals and objectives, ultimately leading to more effective marketing campaigns, successful product design, and achieving business targets.
Comments
Post a Comment