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Sintibale Zulu and Morris Mpala, MoB Capital (Pvt) Limited
IN order to empower and emancipate our communities, MoB Capital will be a running monthly series on branding. This will be once a month at the beginning of each month as we strive to bring out the best in our brands be it personal or business brands all in the name of visibility that will translate into revenues.

We are making the column for learning, engaging and sharing economic ideas as well as stirring debate on issues around us for us by us in a manner that nurtures our individual uniqueness for a better community beyond tomorrow through proper brand management.
Definition

Branding is a term business executives throw around every single day without a deep understanding of its genetics and impact. Brand Strategy is an important area of marketing. A brand cannot function without a strategy and the function of brand management is to implement that brand strategy.

The real battleground for every brand is in the customer’s mind. Brands win on this battleground when they create a unique and valuable position in the minds of customers. This occurs when brands prove themselves capable of creating, delivering and communicating compelling value for the customers they are choosing to serve. That is the true meaning of Brand Strategy!

In this series we’ll explore anchor sub-topics modelled around: the true meaning of a brand with examples, brand building process, impact of the internal brand on the external, importance of a brand story, brand elements, brand assets, brand terms, brand handbook and its function, significance of great design and branding strategies.

The over-arching impact of branding on individuals and businesses-big or small. The communication channels that effectively cart a brand to market.

Intermediary of Brand and MoB Capital’s Offer
The inspiration behind the brand series is a derivative of MoB Capital’s mission to develop and empower the citizenry through custom financial solutions that help solve problems in communities.

The financier and business advisory outfit facilitates the creation of a financially savvy generation of entrepreneurs who build international brands with pride of place and are in touch with community developmental issues.

MoB Capital’s philosophy is anchored on POSSIBILITY; but to attain possible, there must exist a plan of action; Brand is that plan of action and it triggers sustainable personal and business growth that drives all-round community advancement.

Why brand?
Why do big corporations like Coca-Cola and Microsoft seem to achieve global marketing success so easily? Why does it seem such an effort for others?

Why do we, as consumers, feel loyal to such brands that the mere sight of their logo has us excited and reaching into our pockets to purchase their products?

Brands are a means of differentiating a company’s products and services from those of its competitors. At an individual level it’s a means of differentiating a Mr Mpala-Brown from a Mr Malanda.

There is plenty of evidence to prove that customers will pay a substantial price premium for a good brand and remain loyal to that brand. It is important, therefore, to understand what brands are and why they are important.

What is a brand?
A brand is an emotional bond that connects people with products and services. Brands are visual, emotional, rational and cultural images that you associate with an individual company or product. A brand is your reputation. Ultimately, branding is the practice of building trust between a place or community and its collective audience — businesses, visitors, the local community, the press, etc.

Every action we make throughout each day as individuals and professionals either increases or decreases this trust.

Realising that branding is about building trust requires that we become more intentional in our brand management practices. Trust is not built on chance or by accident. Trust is earned by living up to the promises we make.

Leading brands understand trust is the key to on-going success. They make brand promises that directly connect with what is most important and relevant to the target markets that they want to form relationships with.

Once this is established, the brand focuses all of its energy on fulfilling those promises. How you market to this target market category is the key to developing a defined and positive image.

Weak brands are unsure of what to promise. Because they are confused, they confuse the marketplace as well. Brands that do not have a clearly defined promise are forced to live in a world of reaction instead of leadership.

In summary: A brand is “a blend of tangible and intangible attributes symbolised in a trademark, which, if properly managed, creates influence and generates value”.

The series take-out
The payload for our readers is the how-to grow businesses; be they small-to-medium enterprises or blue-chip, through a thought out and effectively executed brand strategy.

Secondly it’s how to express that brand using a cost effective channel strategy. Our readers and those that follow MoB Capital online will also notice some clear changes to our communication profile both offline and online as we showcase best practice in terms of brand expression from a communication perspective.

Our first article is light and introductory. On the next one we expand on the importance of brands. Let’s continue the conversation on the MoB Capital-(Pvt) Ltd Facebook Page and Twitter as we build the future of the next generation.

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About the authors
Sintibale Zulu is a brand maverick and a director at SintyZulu Brands a branding company, which is about building brands and keeping them above market clutter so they remain competitive and profitable on the local and global stage.

Morris Mpala is managing director of MoB Capital (Pvt) Limited, a microfinance institution offering loans, micro-insurance and advisory services to small to medium enterprises as well as individuals.