A Quest For Branding

ABSTRACT

“A Quest For Branding” represents a personal journey to reposition my career as an insightful and technology-aware branding strategist who helps small and medium enterprises (SME) to develop brand competitiveness in a global market. Currently, the new economy has changed the business panorama dramatically. Enterprises struggle to stand out in aggressive competitions. Small and medium enterprises have entered a new era in which they either reinvent themselves or fade away in a dynamic market.  It is of vital importance that they use all resources available for restructuring their businesses and adapting to higher performance standards established by customers. Working with a brand strategist consultant makes coping with this transition easier. A branding professional is capable of creating priceless brand experiences that connect customers to companies in emotional ways and develop brand commitment and loyalty, which transform into a higher return on investment. Through the use of a consultancy, SMEs can innovate their products and services, revolutionize their business models, and understand the customer agenda and their unmet needs. Consultants assist enterprises to create strategies that predict trends and evolve into future-oriented companies that foster meaningful conversations utilizing new channels and technologies. In order to accomplish this task, my consultancy will be insightful of the new customer agenda, technology, and business innovation, as well as the art of branding. This project consists of the design and development of a website that showcases my professional branding consultancy.

Key concepts: SME, technology, innovation, branding consultancy, customer-oriented, future-oriented company, e-business, branding strategies.

INTRODUCTION

THIS CAPTAIN’S LOGBOOK presents the essential ideas that will lead me through my personal journey to reposition my career, from a graphic designer to a branding strategist. I have called this adventure: “A quest for branding”, in which I will explore the art of consultancy for small and medium enterprises (SME) in the web 2.0 context. Through this logbook I will record the distance traveled in this journey with respect to the start position, and I will develop a set of design criteria that will inspire my final project outcome. At the same time, I will take the reader through a story that will help him/her understand the evolvement of events that influence companies towards establishing a new positioning in extremely aggressive markets. Not only do SMEs need to innovate their business, but also myself, as an individual who aspires to compete in global markets by making the best use of new technologies.

MY SHIP will navigate in a new globalized world that allows individuals and SMEs to compete globally in the context of globalization 3.0, which I will explain later.  It will dock at important ports called: personal branding and new positioning, innovation for SMEs, new technologies that allow connecting with people, and the art of consultancy.  I will also present briefly the methodology used to guide this ship and the expected outcome of the project.

THE AIM of this journey is to gain significant insights to develop a professional branding consultancy. By creating relevant branding strategies, this consultancy will help SMEs to transform the traditional paradigm of business thinking into the new vision of design thinking to innovate their businesses, understand changes in technology, and use them to create conversations and brand loyalties with customers through the web and its applications.

THROUGH this essay, I will explore the art of consultancy and discuss what makes a professional branding consultancy. At the same time I will be the concepts and ideas that will inspire my branding consultancy’s philosophy and manifesto. I believe that there is a valuable treasure inside the heart of every small and medium enterprise, and I will help them to find it.

CHAPTER ONE: TARGETING A NEW POSITIONING

POSITIONING aims to create a unique place in the mind of customers and communicates the essence of a brand by expressing its attributes and dimensions into a “positioning statement”. It is what helps to distinguish one brand from another in a saturated market. Ries and Trout (1991) define positioning as “the art of designing the company’s offerings and image to occupy a distinctive place in the mind of the target market”. Likewise, Interbrand (2007) explains positioning statement as “the articulation of the positioning strategy that can be an inspirational, persuasive, or powerful set of words or images that creates a common understanding and aligns beliefs and actions. It becomes the platform of all brand communication” (pp. 96-97). A clear positioning helps customers to understand what a brand stands for, and at the same time lead them to identify themselves with brands in a personal pursuit for self-expression and identity.  Gobé (2001) remarks the importance of understanding how people feel about brands when he asks: “-Where does the brand hit the consumer the most? Through the head, the heart, or the gut? ... By understanding the emotional relevance of a brand, corporations can build an aspirational brand vision” (p. 271).

FROM TIME TO TIME, it is important to evaluate the positioning of a company, a brand, or an individual that aspires to outstand in a marketplace.  And when needed, create a new positioning to adjust markets demands. This process is called “repositioning” and according to Interbrand, it involves “changing the position of a product or service in the mind of customers, either because the original was failure, or because of changes in the marketplace, or to allow for a new product introduction”.  This clearly explains the reasons for a new positioning, however, I think the most important reason to reposition is because we want to remain competitive in a dynamic marketplace and in the end to win.  But to win what? Well, the mind, heart, and soul of our customers (Yap, 2010). This is relevant for my branding consultancy; as well as for the SMEs I will be providing my consultancy service.

AS CEO of my branding consultancy, I am the brand of my company. Therefore, my new positioning statement is “to assist SMEs to compete in a global market, I am a branding strategist that innovates their businesses”. Because I understand that branding is not only the graphic design and the aesthetics of a brand, but it also includes designing business strategies, as part of its core activities. Furthermore, in order to build significant strategies, I have to gain deep insight of the context in which SMEs interact with customers, the limitations and challenges they face, customer’s agenda, design thinking, and new changes in technology that will inform my processes to innovate SMEs businesses.

CHAPTER TWO: IT'S A NEW WORLD

THE ECONOMY has evolved gradually into what we know these days. According to Pine and Gilmore (1999), the economy has continuously developed its offerings by adjusting to different lifestyle conditions throughout human history.  At first, agrarian economy provided products extracted from the land, or mere commodities traded in markets. Later on, as technology evolved with the introduction of new machinery: industrial economy took place; goods were manufactured and sold to users. Afterwards, the service economy revolutionized the industry by creating intangible offerings that were customized and delivered on demand to clients. It was until now that many companies have come to the understanding that by creating significant experiences, they can engage their customers and provide them personal and memorable offerings. This is the experience economy.  To put it in Pine and Gilmore’s (1999) words, “an experience occurs when a company intentionally uses services as a stage, and goods as props, to engage individual customers in a way that creates a memorable event” (p. 98).

SIMILARLY, companies are changing from factory-based to customer-based business models. Instead of creating commodities and manufacturing products, companies now are listening and trying to understand their customers in order to deliver them meaningful brand experiences (Gobé, 2001). Enterprises are avoiding fabrication processes and focusing their efforts to create brand value, equity, and customer loyalty by using models that outsource manual labor and production capabilities (Doblin, 2010). In this process, businesses have to adapt to high-demand expectations, not only from aggressive market environments, but also from customers that require specialized attention. In spite of its size, enterprises that aspire to become brand-led businesses should use a comparable approach; however, considering the vast amount of SMEs they are the most exhorted to transform. SMEs now face a new challenge: either they reinvent their business or disappear in an extremely competitive market. 

THE NEW ECONOMY has created new societies. In a dynamic market with rapid exchange activities, new kinds of relationships emerge between companies and individuals. Customers demand more value for their money, and expect amazing brand experiences. This transformation of expectations obeys a psychological evolution of human needs. Maslow (1943) explains in his “hierarchy of needs” that there are human needs that are more important than others, for example breathing is more important than thirst, and thirst more important than hunger. He stated that after satisfying a basic need, the following need of the hierarchy would arise according to its prepotency. As many countries have strengthened their economies and developed sources of wealth creation, many of the basic needs are covered now. When that happens, people begin to climb the pyramid by taking for granted physiological, safety, or belonging needs; and seek to satisfy their self-esteem and self-actualization by exploring new experiences, realizing emotional needs, and trying to make their dreams come true. When many individuals aspire this same thing, then it becomes a “dream society”.  Jensen (1999) describes the dream society as “a new society in which businesses, communities, and people as individuals will thrive on the basis of their stories, not just on data and information” (p. 1).  And he goes on to explain that a dream society could replace current information society in the same way that industrial society replaced agricultural society.  What will come next after information society is uncertain, however the pattern in evolution shows that people are transforming their environments to satisfy personal, emotional, and individual needs.

LIKEWISE, the Internet has transformed the business panorama into something not experienced before, and now the world is connected in such a dynamic way that only few years ago it was unimaginable. Nowadays, the context for companies is globalization 3.0, which is closely related to the widespread use of the Internet. The World Wide Web has helped disappear many of the physical barriers that existed between countries, companies, and individuals, who have now become competitive in an international market. According to Friedman (2005), people from all countries in the world have a more active participation in this globalized economy, and can access better opportunities to compete and collaborate with others just by using Internet as a business tool. A massive access to information allows people to communicate, interact, exchanges ideas, but specially has created new opportunities to expand businesses. SMEs can make the best use of these information technologies to innovate and adapt their business to come in close competition with big companies. This, as a consequence, has an enormous impact on economy. The Internet has become the new market in which commercial activities take place and at the same time has established new rules in the competition game.

THE PURPOSE of this chapter is not to discuss in deep detail what globalization or economy is, or what their implications are; but to present a wide panorama of the context in which SMEs are competing now, and what kind of demands they face to remain competitive. 

CHAPTER THREE: LET'S CALL IT REINVENTION

SMALL AND MEDIUM enterprises represent a big opportunity for the development of many countries because they have a high percentage of participation in gross domestic product (GDP) of these countries’ economies. The GDP is a way to measure the countries’ economy related to the value in the market of its internal production and services over a period of time, usually one year  (Investors Words, n.d.). In Latin America, the percentage of SME’s participation in the GDP varies from 50% to 86% according to the country (Garmendia, 2006). In European countries, SMEs have also a vital contribution in the economy; they constitute an important source of jobs, foster competitiveness and self-employment, as well as contribute to stimulate the entrepreneurial spirit and business innovation.  But specially, they promote investment, economic growth, and wealth creation (European Commission, 2003). Comparatively, China is a country that has had a huge growth in its GDP over the last 20 years. This development is closely related the volume of exportation and international business participation (Hall, 2007).

DESPITE THE FACT that many SMEs are competing in a globalized economy, there does not exist an international official definition for SMEs that can be applied to study and describe their characteristics using standardized parameters. However, in order to understand them better, according to Fernández and Firpo (2006), SMEs can be described using qualitative and quantitative criteria. A qualitative perspective of SMEs define them as a personally owned and managed business, this means that the owner makes the most important decisions, receives the return on investment, and assumes all responsibility for his administration. The Ministry of Economic Development in New Zealand (2009) adds to this definition that an SME does not belong to a large business or group of companies with access to managerial expertise. This indicates that SMEs have to deal with all of their administrative issues in spite of many owners’ lack of management skills. Whereas, a quantitative perspective classifies SMEs according to a specific staff headcount, annual turnover, assets value, sales and production, and so on.  Since every country regulates its own SMEs, definitions and parameters change from one country to another. The small and medium enterprise description, in a way, encompasses individual countries’ economies, populations, as well as social and cultural contexts (Ministry of Economic Development, 2009).  Consequently, SMEs from different countries cannot be compared directly. For instance, Chinese SMEs, with a staff headcount between 300 and 2,000 employees, are much bigger than those of The United States with a staff headcount between 100 and 500 employees; and even bigger than those of the European Union with 250 employees (Hall, 2007; United States Small Business Administration (SBA), n.d.; European Commission, 2003).

SMALL AND MEDIUM enterprises exist in two different contexts, internal and external, and in both they experience different challenges. Internally, there are those related to administrative issues, many business owners may not have a professional knowledge on business management or deal with different tasks at the same time. Additionally, they face financial needs and struggle to find investors, credit, or capital money to work with.  Moreover, creating marketing and design strategies becomes a complex task to achieve; because of SME owner’s weak understanding of business strategies, brand identity, and brand value concepts, as well as their sales oriented business thinking. This includes a poor comprehension of their target markets, customers and technological changes.  Comparatively, external challenges represent a big issue to take into account for SMEs owners due to the fact that they have to cope with changes in global economy, world’s financial crisis, market demands, aggressive competitors, and client’s preferences and perceptions. As a result, companies have to adjust effectively and efficiently to an ever-changing business environment.  Furthermore, SMEs procedures have to observe many regulatory demands and legal aspects. Changes in information technologies, new trends and tendencies also affect SMEs, if they do not harness or understand them well (New Zealand Centre for Small & Medium Enterprise Research Massey University, 2005).

IN ORDER TO deal with these many challenges, SMEs are constantly looking for business assistance from different kind of sources. A study made by the New Zealand Centre for Small & Medium Enterprise Research Massey University (2005) revealed that the use of business assistance helps to improve SMEs conditions as well as grows countries’ economies. The research showed that cooperation between SME’s owners and both private and public business support providers is perceived as “worthwhile and a valuable investment”(p. 3).  Some of the most frequent sources that support SME’s management are: accountants, seminars and trainings, banks, books/magazines, family, lawyers, and others. The least used are local economic development agencies and Ministry of Economic Development. The issues that mainly motivated SME’s owners/managers to seek professional assistance were those related to managing the firm, financial funds, human resources, planning their future, strategic issues, and problem-driven affairs. By understanding what drives SME’s needs, how they perceive “business assistance infrastructures”, what barriers they find to seek assistance, and how they acknowledge every source of information they consult; I, as a branding strategist, can develop different approaches to offer a solution to their specific demands. In that way, my consultancy will be providing customer-centered services.

CONSIDERING this overview, SMEs have to think deeply about restructuring their businesses and reinventing their positioning. It is a moment of significant uncertainty for companies; the world’s economic crisis is forcing them to explore alternative paths to transform their traditional ways to do business. It is of great importance that they understand precisely the context in which they exist and find new ways to create valuable offerings. This is a new era of changes driven by new technologies and its transformations, imaginative ways of doing business, futuristic products and offerings, refreshing ways of connecting with people.  This is the era of innovation and it is in every aspect of the business world. It is the time to discover what makes successful a company and consolidates a brand. Companies have to change their paradigms and create new points of reference; because business thinking makes average companies, but design thinking companies can transform entire industries and create new categories that outstand in competitive markets. Moreover, they can build valuable brands that stick in the mind of customers, but especially in their heart. It is only by customer’s loyalty and commitment that a company can become trustworthy and at the same time get higher revenue than average companies.

INCORPORATING design thinking as part of the company’s strategic approach is not an easy decision to make for an SME owner. This is understandable considering the fact that many companies ignore that using good design can be a strategy in itself. The implementation of good design in a company’s value chain, or service, is a powerful tool for them to develop competitive advantages and create a distinctive positioning in a category. Kotler and Rath (1984) explain it in following way: “One of the few hopes companies have to “stand out from the crowd” is to produce superiorly designed products for their target market”. Despite the date this concept was proposed, it is still valid and of significant consideration. Nevertheless, this idea of using design as part of a business strategy has grown throughout recent decades and has transformed into the systematized and complex concept of “design thinking”. Brown (n.d.) describes design thinking as “an approach that uses the designer’s sensibility and methods for problem solving to meet people’s needs in a technologically feasible and commercially viable way. In other words, design thinking is human-centered innovation.”  Comparatively the use of design in business has evolved dramatically and integrated elements such as: customers, innovation, methodology, business, and technology. But, what can design do for a company? Brown (2010) answers this question by establishing that exceptional design thinking creates solutions (in this case offerings) that are functional and emotionally satisfying, where people attribute value and assign meaning through their emotional connections.

THE PROCESS of innovating a company, in the first instance, has to be gradual and it should refresh as many aspects of the enterprise as possible. According to Doblin (2010), by exploring and using different kinds of innovation, a company can develop strong and unimaginable offerings that not only are difficult to copy, but also generate higher return on investment.  Doblin Research (2010) has identified a set of “ten types of innovation” in the following areas of the organization. A summary is presented bellow:

Finance: utilizing business models that revolutionize the industry and network in strategic associations with suppliers.

Process: to make use of processes that enable better revenues and core processes that make company’s activities more efficient.

Offerings: innovate in product performance and attributes, find new ways to create product systems, and develop services that care about people.

Delivery: deliver remarkable customer experiences, build strong branding, and become accessible understanding channels that people use.

FURTHERMORE, Sawhney, Wolcott, & Arroniz (2006) argue that companies that try to compete in the same “battle field” end up with similar solutions, and what is worst, many of them do not have the vision to innovate their own companies, but instead copy from their competitors those market strategies that work well, and leave no space for innovation.  At the same time, Sawhney, Wolcott, & Arroniz (2006) insist that “viewing innovation too narrowly blinds companies opportunities and leaves them vulnerable to competitors with broader perspectives”(p. 75). In this, I find that a company has reached a turning point in its life when it acknowledges the importance of transforming its businesses and understands all elements included in this complex but amazing concept of “design thinking”.

AS A BRAND EXPERT, a branding consultant can help SMEs to discover all their potential to reinvent their offerings and help them explore the vast possibilities they have to innovate the industry and the category in which they participate. There is a positive effect for SME when investing in business assistance. The study made by the New Zealand Centre for Small & Medium Enterprise Research Massey University (2005) shows that the majority of SME owners recognized that using business assistance offers a favorable impact to the enterprise; and by integrating different sources of information, SME’s owners received better benefits and notable improvements in their business. The research also states that many SMEs had a good experience when using assistance and that fact stimulates companies to seek help more often and explore new supportive sources to incorporate into their business activities.  When asked how they felt about “committing resources to seeking assistance” (p. 17), the results show that the majority of SMEs interviewed “were willing to pay for business assistance” (p. 17); some of them discovered “a positive relationship between paying for information/assistance and the subsequent quality of it.” Only some SMEs “would not be prepared to pay” (pp. 17-18). Kotler and Rath (1984) explain that many companies think that incorporating design into their business is more expensive than what they can afford.  Nevertheless, “bad design can cost even more money”. They suggest, “having an internal designer or outside design consultant pays for itself many times not only in avoiding costly errors but in creating a positive image for the company”(p. 18).

BUSINESS INNOVATION and good design should be accessible to any company because design thinking, in itself, offers solutions to any kind of budget. Not only aesthetic solutions such as “creating a positive image for a company”, as Kotler and Rath (1984) suggest; but also help companies to renovate, redirect, and redesign their businesses by incorporating substantiated strategies.  Such approaches can lead enterprises to innovative ideas that, when applied to real contexts, can transform business models and offerings, and in the long term, revolutionize the whole industry.  Innovating a business does not mean that it only has to be beautiful; it also involves elements of innovation that add complexity and depth. Sawhney, Wolcott, & Arroniz (2006) define business innovation as “the creation of substantial new value for customers and the firm by creatively changing one or more dimensions of the business system” (p. 76). They also state three important characterizations of business innovation. First, “Business innovation is about new value, not new things. Innovation is relevant only if it creates value for customers – and therefore for the firm”, because it is people who considers if an offering is worthwhile or not.  Second, it “comes in many flavors”, this reinforces Doblin’s (2010) concept about finding opportunities to innovate in different areas of a business. And third, “Business innovation is systemic”, it involves analyzing carefully the relationship and participation of all elements in the business system (pp. 76-77).

CHAPTER FOUR: THE GOLDEN TREASURE

IT IS TIME for SMEs to follow the map and find their buried treasures. But to find the treasure is not an easy task to accomplish, rather they have to create smart strategies and apply useful tools. The best place to begin the search is deep inside their hearts, by creating effective business strategies.

A BUSINESS STRATEGY is a systematic process that a company uses to establish clear ideas to do business and it will be the platform for every brand building effort. A strategic planning process leads all operations and activities within a company. It has to be constantly revised in order to keep it accurate to the market demands (Canzer, 2003). A business strategy, according to Gelder (2003), involves three main elements: inspiration, justification, and substantiation. First, inspiration refers to considerations about the future of the company. Justification defines what the company is aiming to accomplish and the way it will achieve it. And finally, substantiation refers to what a company needs to do and the resources available to complete the strategy.  By understanding how these elements interact, a branding strategist can help to structure SMEs from its core identity, activities, and procedures; and afterwards develop branding strategies that are sound and consistent with what the company represents.

A BRAND STRATEGY is directly related to the business strategy, and begins with a clear understanding of it.  According to Gelder (2003) “a brand is the translation of the business strategy into a consumer experience that brings about specific consumer behavior”(p. 16).  A brand should have coherence with the overall business activity and should be the expression of it. Customers perceive the spirit of the company when its brand strategy becomes tangible and flourishes on products and services, because they are the means a company uses to deliver their brand experience. Additionally, markets will regulate prices, but customers will assign value because these products and services will “speak” customer’s emotional languages. If successful in a marketplace, they will engage customers and provide them “something else” besides just a mere commodity. As a result, brands will become part of people’s self-expression, search for identity, and an essential part of their lives. What is more, in the end, despite markets regulations, a company will be able to charge premium prices for their services and products; because people will be willing to pay more for an amazing and thoughtful experience, instead of wasting money in unsubstantial commodities (Jensen, 1999; Gobé, 2001; Doblin, 2010).

ONE OF THE MOST important strategies SMEs should look forward to develop is to create brand equity. Interbrand (2007) defines brand equity as “the sum of a brand’s distinguish qualities, and is sometimes referred to as reputational capital. A product or service with a great deal of brand equity enjoys a competitive advantage that sometimes allow for premium pricing” (p.15). According to Kania (2001), brand equity is a perceived value that customers assign to brands when they compare one to another, and discover significant differences that they find more valuable and are wiling to pay higher prices.  These qualities that lead customers to prefer one brand over the others is the brand equity, which means that it transforms perceptions into an increment in sales due to higher prices of products or services, and customer’s repetitive purchases. “Brand equity and its impact on profitability are the true measure of a branding strategy’s success” (Kania, 2001).

WHY? Because the “Loyalty Effect” says: “keeping customers is more profitable than acquiring new customers” (Reichheld, 1996). For that reason, when a company gains customer’s hearts, they inspire them trust. When customers find trustworthy companies they prefer their brands, which consequently, increases a company’s sales. And by retaining customers, an enterprise can decrease its communication costs because people are willing to risk their own reputation and recommend this brand to their friends and family through viral marketing.  This word-of-mouth spreads faster through the web and its social network applications, and unfolds into long-term relationships with customers that “love” their brands (Kania, 2001).

AS A BRANDING STRATEGIST my everyday challenge will be to help SMEs to discover different ways to connect with people and come up with extraordinary business and brand strategies to innovate their companies. In other words, what I expect to do is help SMEs to build brand equity, customer’s loyalty, and brand awareness by incorporating design thinking and customer-centered strategic branding into their businesses models.

CHAPTER FIVE: CONNECTING WITH PEOPLE

COMPANIES, nowadays, are navigating on a deep sea of technological opportunities. Most of the people they serve belong to a new era of communication where information is accessible to anyone at the speed of a “click”. Internet has allowed people to interact in virtual places, such as blogs, websites, social network applications, and so on.  Virtual cities are being built fast and expanding even faster. Moreover, the web offers all kind of services, from shopping to banking, booking a flight to renting a car, and even watching sports games and sharing personal stories. As a consequence, it seems the Internet has transformed people’s everyday activities and the way they interact with other people, but especially with companies. Likewise, Internet and its new technologies have allowed products and services to provide customer experiences in a new, different, and exciting way.  With these transformations, new opportunities for companies come along as well. It is necessary that SMEs understand what new changes and tendencies have occurred in new web technologies and how they can capture implement them for the benefit of the company. 

TRANSFORMING a traditional business model into an electronic business (e-business), or just including electronic commerce (e-commerce), as part of a company’s business model is not an easy decision to make, for it will depend mainly on a company’s expansive business strategy and goals. Canzer (2003) defines e-business as “an organized effort of individuals to produce and sell, for a profit, products and services that satisfy society’s needs through the facilities available on the Internet” (p. 4). And at the same time, he makes a distinction between e-business and e-commerce: “E-commerce is part of e-business: the term refers only to the activities involved in buying and selling on line. These activities may include identifying suppliers, selecting products or services, making purchase commitments, completing financial transactions, and obtaining service” (p. 5). An e-business model, according to Canzer (2003) is “a descriptive representation of the fundamental components of a business that operates partially or completely on the Internet” (p.119). There are many e-business models an SME can use to include electronic operations as part of its activities. Canzer (2003) proposes the following models:

Business-to-Business: companies that serve other companies through the Internet.

Business-to-consumer: companies focused on attending individual consumers online.

Consumer-to-Consumer: a company that “facilitates the exchange of data directly between individuals over the Internet using peer-to-peer software” (p. 16).

Advertising: companies that make a profit by displaying advertisements on its website.

Subscription: companies that offer accesses to its website content only by a membership and a subscription fee. They present partial information so that people get interested and subscribe to the website.

Pay-per-view: “access to a site is controlled by a charge to view single items” (p.123).

Membership: “access to a site is controlled by membership fees” (p.123).

Distribution channel member: “includes activities of retailers, wholesalers, and manufacturers carrying on business through the Internet” (p.123).

DUE TO the scope of this essay, I present only the outline of the models, which will be developed into more detail in my Design Project paper next semester.

 WEB 2.0 offers a wide space for SME to do business in a rich and multi-sensorial environment that allows participation of individuals from all over the world. Funk (2009) explains that web 2.0 “is a social transformation that has put more interactivity and control of content into the hands of regular users, not just big site owners” (p. xv).  This means that customers now have a stronger involvement in companies’ activities and they can contribute enormously to grow these firms, especially SMEs. Through customers’ participation in electronic channels and social networks, they can give opinions about products or services, provide first hand solutions that help companies improve their products, or ideas that help innovate them, and of course create personal profiles that allow companies know their customers in a unique way. Technology is not an end but a means to communicate, listen, and get in touch with people. Shuen (2008) argues that web 2.0 “is not about the underlying technology, but about the new ways that it enables large numbers of people to come together to work, share, and build. The network effects…are at the heart of Web 2.0 business opportunities” (p. xviii).

THERE ARE many features that make Web 2.0 accessible and favorable for SMEs business activities.  First, Internet new technologies are affordable for SMEs, they do not have to make big investments in expensive technology thus connection prices are low and information spreads fast and freely through the web. Second, new media allows creating meaningful conversations and receiving feedback from customers. People recommend products and services through social networks and interact with their favorite companies. Third, customers are highly active because they explore the web through interlinked activities and participate in entertaining websites. Forth, subscriptions to websites allow collecting individual data as well as creating customized client’s profiles and people are willing to modify its content. Finally, new technologies integrate multiple channels and devices, so that people are always aware of what is going on with their favorite brands (Kania, 2001; Shuen, 2008; Funk, 2009).

A COMPANY is not an island. It depends on its many relationships with all the stakeholders it interacts everyday during all its activities, the most important of which are its customers. Customers are what companies work for everyday because without customers, a company has no reason of existence. Therefore, enterprises are looking forward to create new ways to nourish client’s relationships. Mckeown (2001) comments: “-relationships cannot be bought, traded or owned. They can only be built between two groups who want to move beyond transactions” (p. 31). Using technology is the best way a company can connect with people, listen to their stories, and integrate them in their business decisions. Understanding customer’s agenda is what fosters brand strategies when they are created from a human-centered and design thinking approach. It is vital that a company does its best in order to please, know, understand, and communicate with its customers, because they are the key of successful brands.

UNDERSTANDING customers begin by understanding their demographic and psychological profiles, it also includes gaining deep insights about their feelings, yearnings, interests, unmet needs, dreams and desires to be satisfied. It is about knowing them from different perspectives such as:

GENERATIONAL PROFILE, which describes the features of the generation they were born in and the aspects of society, politics, economy, and history that affected them. Generationally, customers can be classified the following way:

Matures: the “gray market” and a traditional generation.

Baby boomers: never to become old, in constant search for youth and adventure.

Generation X: revels that have now grown up into more mature, independent persons.

Generation Y: sophisticated and aware of the world, with an unprecedented access to technology and sensitive to global issues.

Generation Z: the new coming generation of young children, technology savvy, environmentally responsible, with more qualifications than previous generations, and different problems to cope with.

TO KNOW CUSTOMERS it is also important to acknowledge different types of classification that consider other demographic profiles such as:

Women: a potential emotion consumer, with more economical power and influential decision maker.

Men: a group that has transformed their buying habits due to many social changes.

Gay and Lesbian: a growing group that demands to be addressed with respect.

Ethnicity: different cultural aspects that influence their needs and demands. They also have an enormous impact in global economy.

BESIDES these considerations, there are many others perspectives and theories that describe customers taking into account different aspects such as:

Emotion consumption: emotional response to products and services (Richins, 2008).

Tribes: need to belong and identify one to another (Corva & Kozintets, 2007).

E-customer: the new technology savvy customer who cannot be limited to demographic classification (McKeown, 2001)

THE E-CUSTOMER has evolved by the use of technology; he/she cannot be understood using traditional demographics because there are many situations that affect their behavior. According to McKeown (2001), e-customers can be understood through different attitudes. They are “anarchists” because if a company does not win their heart, they will “Google” a better option and find thousand of alternatives to their needs. They are “omniscient” because their unlimited access to information in the web. They are also “ever-changing” and transform around new fashions and trends. Moreover, the e-customer is “influential of their social networks” because they have become “the new online authorities”. They have high demands and expectations. Some of them can be “reluctant” to use new technologies; in this case a company has to find the way to reach these people. And most important of all, e-customers can “sabotage your business” in the web (McKeown, 2001). My consultancy will provide up-to-date insights of these human factors to SMEs to help them stay competitive in the new economy, and develop offerings that adjust to human needs and emotions.

CHAPTER SIX: THE ART OF CONSULTANCY

DURING THIS JOURNEY I have gained deep insights into all the elements and knowledge that require navigating in the challenging seas of leading SMEs to successful outcomes. I aspire to become the captain of my consultancy, one that can offer great solutions based on design thinking, innovation, and customer-centric approaches. In order to do so, here I establish a set of criteria that will work as a guideline to what this branding consultancy desires to become.

A CONSULTANT is an individual that offers professional advice on a particular subject. Murray and Mavrokefalos (2004) define it as “an entity that is retained by a client for a fee to give, usually specialized, advice or to carry out design or management services” (p.1). As a consultant, the most valuable offering I can propose to SMEs is my expertise in and insights into innovation, technology, trends, design, e-business models, and most importantly branding strategies. Research will be one of the strongest offerings of my consultancy because this will allow it to stand out from average consultancies. Additionally, a research-based consultancy can provide solutions that are more accurate to specific SMEs contexts and can find innovative solutions to their problems. This is because most branding consultancy focus their services in offering the aesthetic part of branding: graphic design. However, I have discovered that behind a great graphic design project, there has to be a great brand strategy that backs up the design, assigns meaning, and offers better solutions to a problem.

MY CONSULTANCY will make a profound analysis when designing its service strategies because it will propose a thoughtful customer-based service. The Office of Government Commerce of Great Britain (2007) defines service as “a means of delivering value to customers by facilitating outcomes customers want to achieve without the ownership of specific costs and risks”(p. 11).  My consultancy will offer value to my clients by designing an integral approach to SME’s branding, one that includes the following considerations:

1. THE DESIGN of management practices is important for all operative activities within a company.  It is fundamental for a company to have a clear perspective of its business strategy, thus this will be reflected in all its operations, services and products, but especially in its brands.  The process of creating branding strategies will begin with a reorganization of the SME’s structure; it will also include innovation of business models, incorporation of social responsibility programs, ethical practices, creation of business and environmentally sustainable strategies. The purpose is to design companies that are trustworthy, customer-centered, and care about doing business in a responsible way.

2. THE EVALUATION, creation, and modification of products and services will be included when developing strategies that respond to current market needs. It will be part of the strategy to incorporate excellent quality in every product performance and the charming effect of a thoughtful service at every touch point, because a great brand has to be backed up with great offerings in order to avoid disappointing customer experiences. Operative and production processes will be analyzed to find the best way to incorporate good design in the value chain and this will be a key factor in the iterative design thinking process. Developing memorable and valuable emotional experiences through the use of SMEs’ products and services will be one of the main objectives of this consultancy.

3. THE CREATION of brand strategies that are sound will begin with a deep insight of customers unmet needs. Products, services, and specially brands will incorporate the art of storytelling. These stories will be transformed into a beautifully designed visual language that expresses all attributes of the brands, and will be told and adapted to different channels, media, and technological devises in order to create meaningful touch points. Effective communication strategies will be created to deliver customers brand value in a great experience. My consultancy understands that a brand is more than a logotype, icon, or graphic design.  It is about capturing the heart and soul of the customer by providing them engaging brand experiences.

4. THE INSPIRATION will come form an exhaustive research of customer’s unmet needs and their profiles, market tendencies, and trends in product design. The purpose of using research is to create future-oriented brands that are accurate to markets’ demands, but specially knows personally their customers, what they think about their products and services, and how they feel about their life, dreams, desires, needs, and yearnings.  It will be part of the research process to create customers’ profiles that thoroughly describe physiological, gregarious, and technological characteristics. Competitors will be researched to keep track of what they are proposing in order to differentiate my clients, not to follow or respond to what they are doing.  Instead, to find innovative solutions inspired by people.

5. THE CONNECTION with customers will be established in every touch point, through the use of new Web 2.0 technologies. It will be an essential component of the communication and branding strategy for every SME to incorporate their businesses to social networks. However, it will be more important to help them create their own social network tools because the more time clients spend visiting SME’s website, the better relationships they create with their brands. The strategy will include finding the best ways to keep a constant interaction through these social networks with their customers and develop customers’ participation in product and service design. Last but not least, the strategy will involve transforming traditional business models into e-business models or including them partially in a company’s operative process.

CHAPTER SEVEN: LEADING THE SHIP

THE METHODOLOGICAL approach for this research project is systems thinking because this project requires a functional study in order to structure and organize all elements of my branding consultancy. Basically the project has been divided into three stages.

THE FIRST STAGE is research based, and will feed the system with an analytical literature review process that provides an input of the information required to design a branding consultancy firm. There are three objectives in this stage: First, to gain deep understanding about SME’s contexts, organizations, business models, and challenges. Second, to inform branding strategies, its elements and core concepts in order to create strategic branding. And third, to harness new Web 2.0 technologies by understanding new changes and opportunities it provides.  Here I will develop my branding consultancy’s structure, business strategy, mission, vision, values, philosophy, and manifesto.          

THE SECOND STAGE is analysis based and will identify existing branding methods, evaluate, and apply them to create a unique process to my consultancy. The purpose of this stage is to gain knowledge by applying the information collected in previous stages. Here is where the branding and sustainability strategies will be proposed.

THE THIRD STAGE is synthesis based; it means that I will theorize about creating brand for SMEs by developing, proposing, and designing branding methods that respond to the SME’s business needs for differentiating and developing competitive advantages. This stage will use the method “Process Mapping” to represent the process of the service provided when designing branding strategies and the method “Organizational Cybernetics” to create and present the structure of my consultancy.

THE FIRST OUTCOME of this project will be to create a website that showcases a professional branding consultancy able to compete internationally.  It will present the structure of the company, the offerings and services, design thinking approach, and other characteristics that will be defined in the second semester of the Master of Design in the Design Project paper.

THE SECOND OUTCOME of the project will be to define and structure my branding consultancy’s own methodology to approach the creation of SME’s branding strategies.  These strategies will include a sustainability and marketing. This part will also be defined in the second semester of the Master of Design, in the Merchandising and Branding Strategy paper and Sustainability Design paper.

CONCLUSION: DOCKING

EXPOSED TO dramatic changes in the new economy, small and medium enterprises face big challenges when competing against large organizations in global markets. SMEs find that the game rules have changed and they have to adjust to new market demands that go beyond commodities: services or products. Nowadays, the power is in hands of the customer and it is him/her who establishes these new demands.  Customer’s expectations, now, are about experiencing brands that have been designed considering their unmet needs and that touch their emotional fibers. In order to do so, companies have to discover and use new channels to connect with and listen to their customers. The Internet and its new interactive applications offer valuable opportunities for SMEs to get closer to their customers and know them personally.  By innovating, transforming, and reinventing their business, SMEs can make the best use of those opportunities.

THIS INNOVATION is an every day search that transforms enterprises into outstanding brands in their markets and disrupting companies in their industries. This transformation involves the use of good design in all processes of the company, and includes not only redesigning products and services, but also business models. 

A BRANDING expert can help SMEs to understand and develop their full potential to compete in new markets by assisting them to implement strategic design thinking into their businesses. The introduction of design thinking and the new Web 2.0 interactive applications into SMEs’ management represents a revolution in traditional business.  Very few advertising and branding agencies understand that developing strong brands begins with listening to people and connecting emotionally with them. New technologies make this task much easier, especially for SMEs that can make the best use of their small size to take time and make their best effort to listen, understand, and please their customers. In doing so, SMEs are creating valuable offerings and brand equity, but most importantly, they are transforming themselves into companies that are trustworthy. At the same time, they are increasing their sales and revenues by creating customer’s loyalty and commitment to their brands.

THROUGH this essay, I have established some of the design criteria that will lead the final outcome and inspire the creation of my own branding consultancy. My consultancy stands for: the understanding of SMEs’ needs and challenges, the incorporation of design thinking into SMEs value chain, the development of valuable offerings, the creation of relevant branding strategies, the use of good design inspired by people, and especially the creation of meaningful conversations with customers through the Web 2.0 applications.  By designing my own branding consultancy, I expect to apply all knowledge gained during this Master of Design program to a company (my consultancy) that is an SME, exists in the Internet, and uses Web 2.0 new technologies.

BY THE END of this project I, as a researcher, expect to identify and understand what elements of the design thinking contribute to create brand value for SMEs, and how to develop strategies that enhance branding experiences to customers when interacting with this companies through the Web 2.0 new technologies. On the other hand, as a student, I expect to gain deep theoretical and practical knowledge that helps me to reposition my career from a graphic designer to a branding strategist. In doing so, I expect to develop self-confidence, expertise, and professionalism in branding consultancy for SMEs.

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