Highlights from the Terra HINT BRAND Series Seminar: How to Build a Powerful Brand

            For those who missed the Terra HINT BRAND Series: How to Build a Powerful Brand, I can only say it’s a ‘shame’. The six experts shared their knowledge openly, making us regret even more that the time was so limited. This seminar aimed to guide participants on how to create a powerful and valuable brand in the minds of consumers, focusing on clearing up the questions in their minds, such as:

  • Why build a brand?
  • The importance of Brand Loyalty that goes beyond just customers recommending it.
  • A good brand must tell a story because a brand is not just about advertising.
  • How do we measure a good brand?
  • Understanding branding is important, but following up is crucial.

TerraBKK would like to summarize the key insights from the six experts from various fields, all aligning with the core principles of brand building.

Professor Witthawat Rungreungpol, Faculty of Commerce and Accountancy, Thammasat University

         He began by introducing techniques for checking a brand's health, with the highlight being an example from the song “Suddenly, You Appear in My Heart” by the artist ‘Pijika’, which reflects how to create a good brand in an easily understandable way, akin to the song's content.

“You are not the person I’ve been waiting for; you are not the one I dreamed of. But necessity brought us closer. I don’t know what to do; every time I look at you, I don’t feel a connection. All the time, I even felt dislike. But one day, which I don’t know when, I forgot to close the door to my heart.”

“Suddenly, you are the only one appearing in my heart. Suddenly, I don’t know why I think of you all day. From disliking you, it turned into love, becoming the answer to my heart. The bond increases, never decreases. I love you so much.”

            Ultimately, the heart of brand building is brand loyalty. Professor Witthawat distilled it into key components: quality, loyalty based on mutual benefits, trust, and finally, ‘service’. In an era where producers can access technology equally and produce comparable products, ‘service’ becomes the heart of building Brand Loyalty: Service is the new brand loyalty.

Thanapand Wongchinsee, Managing Director, Penguin Digital Co., Ltd

The charming young owner of Penguin Eat Shabu, who has built a successful brand amidst various challenges, and is a consultant in digital branding, focused on the Terra HINT BRAND Series: How to Build a Powerful Brand, emphasizing that creating a brand requires feeling, storytelling, and creating memorable images. Accessing the Pain Points of the target audience specifically will stimulate action.

He summarized the principles of targeting as follows:

1. Know who your customers are.

2. Know yourself.

3. Forget about the selling points; focus on the buying points of the target audience.

4. Reach the personalization of each customer group, making them feel special.

5. Techniques are not as important as good content, which must reach the Pain Points of customers and create the same hope as ours.

6. Everything must be measurable.

7. Big Data is important, but don’t forget Small Data, as this is what will help you reach customers more effectively.

Jarut Thamrongwattana, CONTENT MARKETING DIRECTOR, Corporate Communications and Digital Marketing, Sansiri Public Company Limited

 

Building a brand in the Sansiri style is complex and profound, but the key principle is to try to reach as many micro-moments of consumers as possible to create a connection between the brand and the consumer. He compared current brand building to Building A Magnetic, which requires three factors: Point of View, Personal Relevance, and Personality.

“Marketing and branding today have reached a point of being more about micro-moments. Therefore, to build a good brand, it must connect with consumers, making them feel part of the brand and creating shared experiences.”

Khun Chanthanit Phanthumasut, Senior Director, Kantar Millward Brown, Thailand

 

As a representative of a consulting firm with experience in consumer research for major national brands, he highlighted the meaning of Brand Equity, which is not just about creating Brand Image but the brand's ability to create demand that reflects back to consumers, making them use your products and services.

Brand building has changed today due to technology making it easier to access information. However, despite the abundance of technology, one should not rely solely on statistics. Khun Chanthanit shared three simple reminders for brand building:

1) Knowing Brand Equity is not enough... it’s essential to understand the overall picture.

2) Don’t assume that the factors influencing purchasing decisions are the same across categories.

3) Don’t judge Brand Equity solely by using KPIs, as Brand Equity is most effective when used alongside your marketing strategy.

Dr. Wasupol Treesobhakul, Managing Director, U Research Co., Ltd

 

It is evident that every brand building effort aims to reach consumers, and research consultants play a crucial role. U Research emphasizes that today’s marketing trend is not about the 4Ps but about accessing the Customer Journey. There is no one-size-fits-all formula for branding; each brand has its unique way of designing its Journey. The fundamental basis is to reach Consumer Insight.

Gaining true insight means the brand must act like “Mystique”, a character that can transform into anyone in the X-Men universe. This means the brand must know how to adapt continuously and speak the same language as customers. Ultimately, accessing the Customer Journey requires many tools, but the most important tool is observation, understanding their lives, and analyzing every action of the target group.

         “For example, conducting a good focus group requires asking questions in the real environment of the target group, using as many open-ended questions as possible, as sometimes we may get unexpected answers.”

Sumitra Wongphakdee, Managing Director, Terra Media and Consulting Co., Ltd

 

She presented the research findings on “Powerful Real Estate Brands of 2018” (read the research results at click) before illustrating how consumer behavior has changed significantly due to rapidly developing technology. Therefore, entrepreneurs and new business owners must adapt to new trends, especially in creating brands that feel different and add value beyond competitors in the market.

“What constitutes a brand is not just a logo, slogan, or beautiful advertisement. Simply put, a brand is about ‘what you do, how you communicate it, and how customers feel about your brand.’ When these two aspects come together perfectly, it creates Brand Power that impacts sales or revenue. The key is to know who you are selling to and make them love you for who you are.”

5 Steps to Building a Brand by TerraBKK

            “Knowing how to think differently and linking the brand with data, analyzing customer survey data, and then integrating it with technology for organizational application. We are not suggesting that real estate should invest in technology because technology changes rapidly. We don’t need to create new technology, but the brand must have movement to adapt to the times and consumers. It’s time for real estate executives to meet customers directly, as this shows sincerity, just like Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, does. What customers want from a brand is sincerity.”

            This is just a glimpse of the knowledge shared at this seminar. In the future, Terra HINT BRAND Series will present new topics to refresh ideas that will help ignite business endeavors. Stay tuned; you won’t be disappointed.