My experiences developing a brand plan

As you well know I am a marketing student at Cape Peninsula University of Technology. One of my assignments for my marketing subject we had to create a branding consultancy agency and create a brand plan for a small existing company. For those who don’t know a brand plan is a detailed outline of the business which includes detailed aspects of the business as well as recommendations on how to improve the business. We were called Bleep Branding.

We decided on a marketing research company with a very energetic and enthusiastic CEO which made interviewing and working with him very interesting. My first thought that came to mind when we received the assignment was “oh no we could potentially ruin someone’s business”. That fear I believe drove me to work harder on this assignment but the fact that I had a very capable team and a lecturer who is a branding expert eased my fear just a little.

We stared by researching the background of the company which gave us a good jumping off point. The only problem was the CEO was a big talker and usually strayed off topic a lot which required a lot of patience from our part but seeing his enthusiasm and interest in the marketing field was such an inspiration.

The most enjoyable and creative part of this assignment was probably the brand elements section. For those not in the know brand elements are the aspects of a business which allows consumers to recognise the company such as the logo, slogan, jingle, etc. getting the CEO to give up his idea of the slogan proved challenging but through subtle persuasion we got our way  that in itself was a lesson for me.

Going through this experience of working with a real life business and having the pressure turned up on full blast taught me that the marketing industry isn’t just about putting ideas on paper or shooting an advertisement but the ideas and strategies one comes up with could make or break a business.

The same can be said in real life. Labelling someone or even yourself incorrectly could negatively impact that life and could affect that person or yourself in the future. Think about that the next time you brand someone in a negative light or even subconsciously brand yourself in a bad light because it could haunt you in the future.

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