In order to develop the right sort of brand added values, marketers need to be aware of some of the factors which can affect their future. Some of these are –
The Shift From Strategy to Tactics
With the increasing pressure to generate ever-improving profitability, it is often considered a luxury for managers to develop long-term strategic plans. This is further exacerbated by short-term goal setting, which is frequently designed primarily for the convenience G; the financial community.
A consequence of this is that organizations adopt a ‘crisis management’ attitude. This short-sightedness is dangerous, since successful brands have evolved through long-term commitments to brand support. Furthermore, it illustrates a rather naive managerial style which is incapable of responding appropriately to crises.
Developing and Protecting Your Brand
Customers in today’s market are increasingly bombarded with brands. As markets mature and consumers become savvier, it is increasingly important for companies to seek ways to differentiate their brands. Yet as companies spend more on branding, not many protect this investment at the outset. A company may only look to protect its investment at a later stage when problems arise.
Banks, lenders and other financial services companies have similarities with many other businesses in that they will own and use brands, which are important to protect, maintain and exploit.
Avoiding Infringing Others’ Rights the key to developing a brand knows your market – you should consider whether, deliberately or not, you might have ‘borrowed’ other companies’ indicia (language, logos or pictures) in developing your new brand. Other people have also spent time and money developing their brand – it is a small world and inspiration is often sought from other companies branding.
One way of ensuring you are not infringing others’ rights is to undertake a clearance search on your proposed brand. Professional advice should be sought for this, as trademarks are registered in classes, and infringements can arise if you use a trademark in a sector that is similar, but not the same as, a sector in which it is registered.
Searches should be carried out according to where you are going to use your brand – if you have a European presence, you should carry out the search for the European countries in which you trade. Remember that registered trademarks are territorial, and therefore a competing company’s brand may be registered in one country but not in another.
Protect Your Investment
Creating a brand can cost a significant sum of money – that money is investment in the future, goodwill of the business and needs protecting. There are a couple of ways of protecting a new brand –
- Registering a trade mark (most common)
- Registering a design
If the brand is unregistered, whether by default or by choice, the only way a company will be able to protect its brand is through the law of ‘passing off’. This is a right to seek redress through the courts where competitors are using the same or similar brand, giving rise to confusion in the minds of customers. This confusion can be difficult to establish, so it is usually worth- while registering the trademark.
Registered Trade Mark
Words, logos and pictures can be registered as trademarks. A company can make a trademark application if its chosen brand is –
- Distinctive for the goods or services for which the company is applying to register it
- Not illegal or immoral
- Not similar or identical to any earlier marks for the same or similar goods or services.
Trademarks have a great advantage compared to other intellectual property rights, because as long as you keep paying renewal fees (payable every ten years), they last forever.
Registered Design
A registered design is a registered right for the appearance of a product (its shape, colours, materials or any ornamentation applied). Examples include a particular font, the design of a web page or a logo.
Registered design rights can also protect what are commonly trademarks. For example, a logo can be registered both as a design and as a trademark. It is useful to bear this in mind because if a brand does not meet the requirements for trade- mark registration, a design registration may be possible. Furthermore, if you are looking to protect the appearance of website pages, a trademark cannot help but a registered design can.
There are two main requirements for design registration. It must –
- Be novel (for instance not have been in the public domain for more than 12 months)
- Have individual character.
A registered designs right lasts for a maximum of 25 years as long as the owner keeps paying renewal fees (payable every 5 years).
