Great Product is Not Good Enough

Just a few days ago, a friend and I stumbled upon a quiet restaurant that served delicious food. It was exceptionally good cooking. But we had never heard of it before. When we asked the waiter, we found out that the restaurant has apparently been around for quite a while. Looking at  the interior of the restaurant and the way the waiter was serving us, branding and advertising must've never been a priority. What a waste, right?

Great products are great. By all means, your product MUST be good. But is it enough? Maybe, ten-fifteen years ago.

The marketplace is crowded with competition. If you are not being loud enough, no one will know you're in it. And like what everybody's saying, you need to stand out from the crowd. To be different from the rest, you need to decide where your product stands in the market and who your best most-fitting customers are. People who would be interested in your product need to know about it. Otherwise, who's buying?

All products need branding. Especially in a big city like Surabaya, branding is crucial. Unless what you are selling is a cure for cancer, you definitely need branding.

Have strong brand image

Good brand image consists of powerful visual and philosophy.  A  good storytelling goes a long way in raising awareness of your product. This story needs to be carried throughout different medias where your customers might see: website, social media, the actual store, etc.

Social media is a great platform to raise brand awareness. It is fast and mostly free. The trick with social media is not to be on as many platforms as you can but be only on the suitable ones and stay active. You can build loyalty through social media and connect with your customers. You will grow to have a specific personality as you go and you can control it with a strong brand image that is consistent.

Think like your customers

Be a customer-minded brand owner. Think like your customers and know what they need. Again, social media is a great tool when it comes to understanding your customers. Make the right innovations. You can interact and get direct feedback from social media. Once you relate to your customers, your next move will more likely be effective. If you stay focused and are consistent with answering your customers' needs, you will be creating regular loyal customers as you go.

Service is also branding

Never forget that the way people feel when using your product adds up to the perception your customers have about your brand and that's branding, too! To most people in Surabaya, branding has always been about visual and what we all see on the social media without realizing instore experience also plays a big role in branding.

Ever been to an expensive restaurant people say serves delicious food that has beautiful Instagram feed but they mistook your order and took ages to serve? Yep, it is more than just a great product.