After one month of incubation in the Innovative Academy, we now enter the fifth week, where Rakhmat Ganda Wirawan, a Professional Marketeer, was invited to share his expertise. Ganda discussed the differences between brands and products and how to build a brand. In product development, the brand plays a crucial role, including in the strategy and development activities.
There are several stages involved in creating a brand. The first phase is Market Research. It is essential to conduct detailed research, as many people tend to overlook this step. However, research provides fundamental insights for the future, making market research the most crucial stage in the branding process.
The next stage is Brand Strategy, which involves identifying the target market and the elements used to determine it. Each product has its own unique style of communication, so it is necessary to determine which category the product falls into to establish its market segmentation.
Following that is Brand Identity, where the focus is on how the product is conveyed and how to shape public perception of the brand. It involves creating awareness among the public so that the brand becomes recognizable to the community. Ganda shared these insights on “Brand Building: How to Build Branding and Positioning” during the online mentorship session of the Innovative Academy incubation program on April 1st.
Ganda also emphasized the importance of having a Unique Selling Proposition (USP) with specific criteria: target audience (the prospects for the product), brand (the brand or product being marketed), frame of reference (the category in which the product can compete), benefit (what makes the product superior to competitors), and reason to believe (promising evidence about the product). The USP plays a significant role in marketing and branding efforts.
The key insight from this week’s mentorship is that in addition to developing a quality product, startup founders should also focus on creating an attractive product brand. This will help draw attention and make it memorable, as the principle of brand positioning emphasizes being “more in the mind than in the market.”