3 Habits of Highly Effective Brands and How We Can Emulate Them
Apple. Maggi.
Adidas. Coca Cola.
Just by the
mention of their name or a glance at their logos and you would know their branding,
the products and services they offer and their taglines by heart. These brands
are after all, the archetype of success. It is impossible to go around anywhere
without encountering any of these brands at least once a day.
From
billboards to the short Youtube ads shown before any video, these brands percolate
into our daily lives and subconscious mind. It is every advertising agency’s
dream to represent these brands under their account. The inclusion of these
brands under their portfolio may not only serve as a form of accolade but also
as a method of validating their capabilities to the eyes of the world.
 | |
| What links them all together? |
What do these four iconic brands have in
common? Apart from being raking in millions of dollars in earnings each year
and fortifying their position in their respective industry by either staying at
the top as the market leader or overtaking competitors by executing their
carefully-formulated business strategies, there are also a few other traits
that separate them from the rest of the brands that have tried to succeed
similarly.
Remember Your
Roots
Steve Jobs
and Steve Wozniak, the brains behind the legendary Apple,
started building high functioning and sophisticated personal computers from a
garage. Maggi was born after Julius Maggi took
over his father’s mill and started producing food to improve the nutritional
intake of worker families. Adi Dassler,
the creator of the brand Adidas began producing
sport shoes in his mother’s kitchen. Dr John Stith Pemberton first introduced Coca-Cola
to the masses at his local pharmacy. So that makes it: garage, mill, kitchen
and pharmacy, in that order. All these brands are born in places where you
least expect miracles to happen but that doesn’t stop them from happening to
people at all.
 |
| Earning $45.6 billion annually, Apple started from this. |
How FingerTec
ties in : The FingerTec brand began in
the year of 2000 by an ambitious visionary who had watched the nation in its
heydays of mining and agriculture. At a time when the idea of biometric
technology is limited to science fiction flicks (Mission Impossible and Minority
Report, anyone?), FingerTec has accepted the challenge and brought it to
life. In the eyes of the world, our main offerings are tin, palm oil and rubber.
All that has changed from that instance and it can be said that we are the
pioneers of advanced technology specializing in field of biometrics for time
attendance and access control.
 |
| Heeding the nation's call to pursue the ICT industry! |
Discover How
You Can Innovate
The products produced
by Apple, Maggi, Adidas and Coca-Cola are items that are readily available in
the market. Motorola conceived the first handheld mobile phone in 1970. Nissin
invented instant ramen in 1958. J.W. Foster and Sons designed and produced the
first running shoes in 1895. Joseph Priestly made the first publically
acclaimed glass of drinkable carbonated water in 1767. As you can see, all
these inventions are made by someone else beforehand. What we can observe is
how these creations which are then deemed as normal everyday items have been revolutionized
into something that is synonymous with the lifestyle of 21st
century.
While Apple
has first made it’s comeback through a line of portable media players (iPod and
iTouch) in 2001, it is nothing compared to the massive success that the
organization has achieved when they released the 1st generation of
iPhones in year 2007.
The same goes for Maggi, their instant noodles are a hit in Malaysia and India thanks to their variety of flavours which has experienced localization such as curry and asam laksa, apart from the usual offerings of chicken broth.
The same goes for Maggi, their instant noodles are a hit in Malaysia and India thanks to their variety of flavours which has experienced localization such as curry and asam laksa, apart from the usual offerings of chicken broth.
 | ||||
| The sneaker-head revolution has brought much innovation |
As for
Coca-Cola, it was first marketed as a ‘brain tonic’ and ‘temperance drink’,
claiming to cure headaches and anxiety.
Fortunately, in 1963, it has steered far and away from its medicinal livener
days and has improved market segmentation strategies by developing more unique
products to appeal specific groups. Hence, the introduction of caffeine-free
Coke and Diet Coke to attract soda drinkers who wish to reduce their caffeine
intake.
How FingerTec ties in : When FingerTec received their first million to develop the first ever fingerprint reader in Malaysia, FingerTec could have stopped and pat themselves on the back once the reader is readily available in the market and move on to focus on the manufacturing, marketing and logistics aspect of the business.
How FingerTec ties in : When FingerTec received their first million to develop the first ever fingerprint reader in Malaysia, FingerTec could have stopped and pat themselves on the back once the reader is readily available in the market and move on to focus on the manufacturing, marketing and logistics aspect of the business.
Instead,
FingerTec recruited more talents and extended their research in the advancement
of biometric technology as they pursue to produce and deliver products that will
be highly beneficial to the commercial sector of the industry. Their plan to diversify has paid off as apart
from fingerprint readers, FingerTec is now known for their sophisticated face
recognition attendance models such as Face ID 4d and user-friendly cloud-based
attendance solution such as TimeTec Cloud.
The take home
lesson: When others are already in the market selling the similar goods, try to
discover a way to distinguish from the rest. For resellers and distributors, get
ready to approach others and offer them a unique selling point that they can’t
resist.
For example, marvel them with the wonders of TimeTec Cloud and show them how a cloud-based attendance system can transform their workforce. The concept of TimeTec Cloud may sound complex and foreign to clients at first but once you have piqued their interest by highlighting the advantages such as the minimization of data and human error, the low subscription fee for only USD2per month, clients are more likely to follow suit and agree with the proposal provided by you.
For example, marvel them with the wonders of TimeTec Cloud and show them how a cloud-based attendance system can transform their workforce. The concept of TimeTec Cloud may sound complex and foreign to clients at first but once you have piqued their interest by highlighting the advantages such as the minimization of data and human error, the low subscription fee for only USD2per month, clients are more likely to follow suit and agree with the proposal provided by you.
 |
| NPOs get discounts too! How cool is that? |
In addition to that, you may inform them about FingerTec’s user support site and their dedicated multilingual after sales support and technical team. You may need to explain our products with a PowerPoint presentation materials but feel free to interject with some success stories to get potential clients to understand how certain products may benefit them.
Believe When
Others Won’t
Apple was on the verge of bankruptcy when Steve Jobs took over in 1997 and
initiated a 5-year solution that would help the company to stay afloat: by
partnering with the enemy, Microsoft. In the words of Steve Jobs “If we want to move forward and see Apple
healthy and prospering again, we have to let go of a few things here. We have
to let go of this notion that for Apple to win, Microsoft has to lose.”
“So, the era
of setting this up as a competition between Apple and Microsoft is over as far
as I'm concerned. This is about getting Apple healthy, this is about Apple
being able to make incredibly great contributions to the industry and to get
healthy and prosper again.” True enough, the audience immediate reaction was to
jeer at Job’s explanations and it took Apple more than a decade along with a few
good products (Final Cut Pro, iPod, iPhone and iPad) before the public placed
their confidence in Apple’s promise.
Suffering from the same fate, Adidas experienced near bankruptcy after the Dassler family has passed on and it is through Robert Louis-Dreyfus, a French businessman’s faith in the sport shoes brand that has revived the brand even when he could have chosen to rescued other far more lucrative businesses with his expertise. One of Adidas’s most memorable slogan from 1974, ‘Impossible Is Nothing’ serves to strengthen the brand’s philosophy and is used for nearly 3 decades as it embodies the vision of the company perfectly.
Maggi and
Coca-Cola have experienced the same treatment too when others have questioned
on their nutritional value and the notion that they will never replace the role
of traditional meals and drinks. After all, ‘sugared water’ and ‘2-minute
noodles’ is not exactly the most popular food and beverage choice in the 80s
whereby local fare is still the mainstay for any household.
These brands
had fought their wars carefully by implementing public relations campaigns to
educate the community on their products as well as to address the issues that
have been targeted towards them. For instance, Maggi had constantly gathered
traditional recipes and came out with an index to show the public how they can
incorporate their products in any occasion.
 |
| Definitely the default drink of choice for many |
Coca-Cola,
on the other hand, had emerged with the game plan of creating advertisements that
portray any festivities or celebrations is never complete without a bottle of
Coca-Cola in hand. These strategies had definitely paid off as their success in
overturning the odds have silenced those who have doubted them before.
How
FingerTec ties in: After 4 years of surviving in the biometric reader industry,
FingerTec experienced a snag in 2004 with a number of hardships ranging from a
high number of return rate to staff resignations. It is the usual norm for
organization to cut their losses and move on to the next project but FingerTec
soldiered on and continued believing in the dream of delivering products of
excellent quality and impeccable service to their potential customers. Though
the execution of a new sales strategy and constant product innovation,
FingerTec had risen like a phoenix from the ashes, trailblazing through the
past lapses and revitalize itself, stronger than ever.
The take
home lesson : Confidence, resilience and faith is the key to success. For
resellers and distributors who may be going through a rough patch, remember
that one must have patience and carry positive thoughts when it comes to
dealing with such situations. While TimeTec Cloud may be deemed as an idea that
is ahead of its time, it does not mean that we should be afraid of its
capabilities. As a matter of fact, we should embrace the future of cloud
computing and believe in the endless possibilities that one stand to gain from
adapting it into their daily lives.
 |
| Our microsite is made to assist you! |
Quoting Mahatma Gandhi ‘Strength does not come
from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.’ Once again, we would recommend reading
FingerTec’s annual
magazine or newsletters
for success stories to keep the fighting spirit alive. Sharing stories with
others through the network is also a sure-fire way of strengthening your
principles and resolve.
Need more
inspirational stories? Feel free to browse through our blog for a number of interesting
anecdotes and marketing tips contributed by our CEO, COO and fellow staff
members. We assure you that the content that has been curated will be worthy of
your time and effort.
About the Author : Ruxana Ridzuan is a fourth generation Java-Chinese, third wave feminist turned copywriter. Occasionally seeks inspiration from innovative user-generated content and is a habitual flashpacker.
About the Author : Ruxana Ridzuan is a fourth generation Java-Chinese, third wave feminist turned copywriter. Occasionally seeks inspiration from innovative user-generated content and is a habitual flashpacker.
0 comments: