MY SPAR MY BRAND: GROWTH STRATEGIES

“Brand Strategy is a long-term plan for the development of a successful brand in order to achieve specific goals”. A well-defined and executed brand strategy affects all aspects of a business and is directly connected to consumer needs, emotions, and competitive environments.

There are quite a number of strategies that can be used by products developers to grow their brands. Strategies a brand can use to grow their brand(s) are;

To launch a new brand
Extension strategies
Multi-brand strategies
Endorsement strategies.

If I am to be given an opportunity to pitch a potential growth strategy for SPAR the below are strategies I will propose to my client.

Extension Strategies

Brand extension strategy is where by a company which is already branded in the market make use of the same brand name to market a different product category. By using the new product category linked with the existing brand name, the market reach of the new product can be easy.

Brand Extension

“Brand Extension strategy happens when an existing brand creates a new product in a different category”. The product will be new but the brand will remain the same. SPAR could produce many of their own branded products (SPAR brands) since the name resonates well with its consumers. SPAR is an already known brand and as such there is an element of trust. Customers tend to trust any product by the name Spar. Strong brands with a good reputation are used internationally to launch new products.

Another strategy which SPAR could adopt to extend their brand to other markets is by supplying small rural retailers with SPAR brands. This is meant to push SPAR brand in far fetching areas as well as to increase the sales.

Who ever thought retailers such as Pick ‘n Pay will get into clothing line business? More and more supermarkets got in to the clothing business to grow their brand and of course to push their brands. SPAR should not be an exemption should they want to grow their brand.

B) Multi Brand Strategy

SPAR should seriously consider using an existing manufactures brand in their operations. With this strategy they will be using a manufactures brand to facilitate market growth, for example CELLPHONE Kiosk where they sell cellphone, or provide cellphone service for a specific cellphone network they would have entered into a partnership with. Customers need to own cellphones or to at least upgrade on what they already have, therefore retailers are the perfect places to provide such a one stop shop. SPAR cells airtime and many other consumables. Why not electronics like cellphones?

Endorsement Strategies

Celebrity endorsements is a form of marketing strategy/brand extension strategy which involves using celebrities/well known people to promote a product. Endorsement strategies are used hoping that the positive image celebrities they possess will be passed on to products. SPAR should consider using local celebrities as brand testimonials in their marketing campaigns. This will definitely make the targeted audience to want to associate with the brand.

Future Benefits of these Strategies

SPAR strives to operate a sustainable business by continuing to prosper in an increasingly pressured and volatile environment – and in doing so actively growing its capital. All this is could be possible through the implementation of the proposed strategies in growing the Spar brand.

The proposed strategies brings into the table lots and lots of benefits to the brand, among them being to expand the SPAR brand and to create new foot prints where it could not reach and create new relevance to its new consumers as well as to provide alternative options in product offering, i.e. cellphone business.