How can MSMEs cut through the clutter?
The MSMEs sector in India is crowded. Enterprises are offering similar, if not the same, products or services that you have to offer. There are enterprises with already established customer loyalty and credibility in the market. Then how do you cut through this clutter and be visible – to your suppliers, vendors, customers, and other important stakeholders?
What if we tell you that there is a tool to tip the scale in your favour? A tool to help you disrupt the market?
Branding.
Perhaps you are thinking, yes branding is important to influence consumer behaviour, but why does it matter to our customers?
Gone are the days when businesses only focused on creating good products and services and relied on advertising and marketing to push those products and services to the target audience. The customers were lured by discounts and promises. Their purchasing decisions were influenced by price, quality, availability, or performance of the product or services. In simple terms, they believed what businesses told them.
This is not the case anymore.
Today’s customers are aware and intelligent. They prefer a business that will not just get the job done but also provide peace of mind. They want to work with a name that distinguishes them and puts them ahead of their competitors.
Branding Helps You Seal Your Status Quo in the Market
Nykaa, the e-commerce platform for cosmetics in India has Blue Dart as its courier partner. Why do you think they chose Blue Dart? Why is it, not the India Post? One would be mistaken if they think that the decision is just based on just one factor. Nykaa’s decision is influenced by all the cumulative perceptions regarding Blue Dart which weighs more than what other postal services have to offer.
Branding is this perception. It is the value that one sees, interprets, and understands when one sees a product or service. Branding is telling the world who you are and why you do what you do. It is not about just offering a unique product or exceptional service, it is building an army of supporters who represent your business, who pride in you, who believe in your cause, and whose vision aligns with yours. It is about maintaining an image and building a legacy that will surpass any products or services and can stand the test of time.
Branding is purely psychological. One cannot pinpoint why they prefer a certain business over others. It is a perception cemented consistently over time. Branding is about how you are viewed, reputed, and regarded in the market, all the time.
Branding Ensures Consistent Fulfillment of Expectations
The construction partner of Godrej Garden City (a housing project) in Ahmedabad is L&T. Godrej is a brand in itself. In addition to this, the project’s association with L&T Construction adds to Godrej’s already grandeur image and credibility. This resulted in increased trust and pride of investors in this project.
This is what branding is all about. It is an invisible, intangible, and uniform assurance that one is choosing the right thing. L&T’s standing as a leader in India’s private sector made it easier for people to believe that they would get the same top-notch service from this mammoth conglomerate.
With the rapid advancement of India’s digital economy and infrastructure, the MSME sector is poised for unprecedented growth in the coming decade. This implies a more competitive and expansive landscape that will be challenging to penetrate without a strategic branding approach. Thus, branding will become an indispensable tool for disseminating business ethos and building trust, credibility, and a legacy outside of your existing customer base.
If you are still reading and thinking about what kind of a brand you want to create, ask yourself if you would like to inspire the world. We, Morons, can help you take it from there.
