76 percent of brands lack a clear profile, according to brand managers, and only slightly more than 50 percent of companies have firmly defined brand goals. These are the results of a joint study by the German Design Council and GMK Markenberatung.
No wonder, then, that only 40 percent of the experts surveyed believe that their customers have a clear picture of what their own brand stands for.
Many companies underestimate that the definition of a brand positioning is "only" a target definition and thus only the first step in building a strong brand. Once the brand positioning has been adopted, the real work begins with internal and external brand implementation.
The "German Brand Monitor" is Germany's largest decision-maker study on the trends and success factors of modern brand management. A total of 207 brand managers with responsibility for the strategic management of one or more brands were surveyed. The authors of the study are Andrej Kupetz, Chief Executive Officer of the German Design Council, and Hans Meier-Kortwig, Managing Partner of GMK Markenberatung.
The "German Brand Monitor" is Germany's largest decision-maker study on the trends and success factors of modern brand management. A total of 207 brand managers with responsibility for the strategic management of one or more brands were surveyed. The authors of the study are Andrej Kupetz, Chief Executive Officer of the German Design Council, and Hans Meier-Kortwig, Managing Partner of GMK Markenberatung.
The brand is seen as the key to important corporate goals | For over 90 percent of decision-makers, the brand is a key factor for corporate success and is seen as the key to important corporate goals (such as differentiation from the competition, increasing quality perception, increasing customer loyalty, achieving a price premium) and therefore as an essential lever for market success. This applies to both B2C and B2B companies. 73 percent of brand experts also expect strategic brand management to continue to grow in importance.
Importance of brand management in day-to-day business still too low | However, just under 40 percent of the experts surveyed stated that brand management is currently still given too low a role in their company.
The biggest problems and challenges in brand management and brand implementation | Too little importance, a lack of brand knowledge and poor implementation of brand positioning: ensuring improvement here is one of the biggest challenges of successful brand management and brand implementation. Only in just under half of all companies does brand positioning have an influence on decisions and processes in day-to-day business.
76 percent of brands lack a clear profile According to brand managers, 76 percent of brands lack a clear profile and only just over 50 percent of companies have clearly defined brand objectives, so it is no wonder that only 40 percent of the experts surveyed believe that their customers have a clear picture of what their brand stands for.
Many companies underestimate that the definition of a brand positioning is "only" a target definition and thus only the first step in building a strong brand. Once the brand positioning has been adopted, the real work begins with internal and external brand implementation.
Brand positioning not known to all employees | In 63 percent of companies, not all employees are aware of the brand positioning. Of the brand managers surveyed, less than half (42 percent) said employees had a consistent picture of what their brand stood for. Documentation of brand positioning is available to all employees in only 54 percent of companies.
Employer branding is hardly used | Although 60 percent of respondents rate the importance of employee behavior for brand management as "high" or "very high" and even just under 70 percent of respondents expect a significant increase in the importance of "brand behavior," personnel development activities are influenced by the brand in only 34 percent of companies.
Companies miss out on opportunities to develop a strong employer brand | Just 32 percent of companies have a fixed strategy for developing an employer brand. It is also a cause for concern that brand management only has an influence on personnel development in 31 percent of the companies.
Companies lack design strategy | In 49 percent of German companies, both product design and appearance do not sufficiently reflect the brand strategy. When asked whether a brand-typical design language or a design model existed, 37 percent of all decision-makers answered in the negative.
The authors of the study are Andrej Kupetz, Chief Executive Officer of the German Design Council, and Hans Meier-Kortwig, Managing Partner of GMK Markenberatung.