BRANDS: Branding in the biscuit industry !

Now that you are well aware of the overall biscuit industry, its major players and how it impacts people feelings and judgments, let’s see first what it does really mean to brand in the biscuits market and then how to build strong brands in this industry!

For that purpose, we will focus on Bonne Maman and Michel & Augustin. 

But first what about branding? Everyone is talking about brands and branding but it does not always mean the same thing … So in this article and in the next ones, we will look more deeper into topics and concepts such as brand identity, brand personality, brand awareness and associations and how some brands are creating brand stories for enhancing more brand loyalty among their customers and how it leads customers - and of course, by customers I also mean us too! - to choose a brand instead of another. 

What we have to bear in mind is that a brand is more than just a name stamped on a product, more than just a lucky logo! A brand is “a name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a combination of them, intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competition” (American Marketing Association (AMA), 1960). It’s all about images, attitudes, feelings, associations, reputation but also about customer engagement and loyalty that will allow to assess the power of the brand.

  “A brand is an identifiable entity that makes specific promises of value”

The core brand promise is what lies at the heart of a brand. It’s what makes the difference with the competitors and inspire customers.

• For Michel & Augustin, their main promise to customers and therefore the soul of their brand is defined by the catch words: tasteful, out of the box, funny and 100% natural and authentic! 
• For Bonne Maman, their brand mantra and formula is more all about tradition and reassuring, tasty savours. 

That’s the brand identity these companies want the customers to believe in. This differs from the brand image. Indeed that’s what truly have in mind the customers –the immediate image- when they are thinking of these companies’products. 

For these two concepts to match but more importantly for succeeding in the biscuits market, a company needs to build a strong brand. We can distinguish different steps in this process according to Keller and its brand-resonance pyramid.

And you will discover more about this last concept and how well Bonne Maman and Michel & Augustin have succeeded to build strong brands in the specific market that is the one of biscuits in the articles that will follow. The different strategies of Michel & Augustin and Bonne Maman as well as their points of parity and points of difference and finally their brand resonance pyramids will be discussed in our next articles.

Sources:

- http://www.pauleycreative.co.uk/2011/04/building-strong-b2b-construction-brands/ Keller, A. G. (2008).

- Strategic Brand Management: A European Perspective. Keller, K. (2009). Brand Planning. Retrieved from Shoulders of Giants: www.sogiants.com 

Photo: 

http://brandbuildingjournal.com/building-brand-image/

 Author: Fraise