6 pillars of brand building

Building a strong brand is no easy feat, nor is it a straightforward or “one and done” process. 

We interviewed Udi Ledergor, Chief Marketing Officer at Gong, on our Inside Insights podcast where he shared some insight into the pillars of brand building he has relied on to help make Gong the successful software company it is today. 

In this article, we’ll break down his six pillars of brand building to serve as a guide on your journey to create a brand people love.

Udi kicks off the conversation with a big statement: Brand is too important to leave to marketing.

By this, Udi explains, he means that marketers need to remember that they don’t own the brand. Instead, as a marketer, you need to think of yourself as a steward of the brand. 

Your focus should be on adding to the fandom of the brand. And the best way to add fuel to the fandom is through content that generates different, fun and valuable experiences to your audience.  

“Provide relevant value 90% of the time so that you earn the right to ask for anything 10% of the time”

- Udi Ledergor, CMO at Gong

Udi notes that when churning out that content for your brand, you need to make sure that the majority of it is providing value. If you’re constantly trying to pitch the brand or services, you will start to lose fandom fast.

Think about it like a party where the host is only talking about themselves. Who’s going to want to stick around to hear them drone on about how great they are? Chances are, you’re going to grab a drink and look to start another conversation. 

As a steward, make sure you’re positioning the brand as the friend who’s interesting, funny and always entertains and educates.

The second, and rather significant, pillar of brand building is truly knowing your consumer. 

If you don’t, how can you ensure that content you’re creating is of any value to them? You need to know what they care about, where their pain points are and the relevant topics they’re discussing right now to get their attention. 

Your content needs to be valuable and relevant to your consumer, which is why you need to take the time to conduct research on what resonates with them. Turning to consumer insights data will give you feedback straight from your consumer (and also help to eliminate any “gut instinct” calls from stakeholders that could potentially damage your brand). 

Be consistent in showing up where your audience is. Can you think of a better way to show your consumer you understand them than by being present in the most relevant areas of their lives?

- Lauren Stafford-Webb

Udi admits even he has been guilty of leaning towards gut instinct, but once the ideas were tested and his pick didn’t come out on top, he and his team were able to move forward with confidence because their decision was backed by data. 

So whether you're testing brand colors or the CTA of your Super Bowl ad, make sure to always leave room for and respect the role of consumer insights. 

The more your consumer sees that you understand their wants and needs, the more they’ll begin to view your brand as one they can trust (and eventually choose to do business with).   

You should also conduct internal research before you get too far to make sure all the stakeholders are aligned on how you’re positioning the brand.

Try asking your stakeholders questions like:

• Who are we as a business?

• What do we sell? 

• Who do we sell to?

• Why do we do it?

Conducting research on your consumer is important in making any big business decision, but if you aren’t aligned on who you are as a company internally, it will prove difficult to build a solid brand anyone can trust.  

As we said earlier, building a strong brand isn’t a “one and done” process, so if you’re considering a brand relaunch or evolution of your existing brand, you should consider the following questions: 

• Are you the same company as when you launched? 

• Is your business model the same? 

• Do you have the same customers?

• Is your message the same? 

If the answer is a resounding “no” to the majority of these questions, then it might be worth moving forward in your rebranding process. 

However, this should be explored externally as well to better understand which aspects of your brand persona should stay, which should be modified and which should be thrown out.

And if you aren’t receiving a resounding “no,” remember that consumers don’t spend as much time on our brands as we do. So don’t push for a rebrand solely based on the notion that your assets need a refresh. 

If you keep switching it up, your brand will never be truly distinctive.

You may think this is obvious, but the data tells us that most of the brands you represent aren’t distinctive enough. They’re overly clever and underly distinct.

- Mark Ritson

Doing things just a little bit better than everyone else in your competitive set is difficult and doesn't necessarily make you stand out. But doing things differently from others in your industry will.

Of course there will always be “musts'' when it comes to events or spaces where your brand should be present — but what about the spaces where others in your industry are absent? It doesn’t make sense to be in the places your consumer absolutely is not, but think outside the box!  

As long as you’re clear with what the intended goal is (for Udi, it was long-term brand awareness, with possible short-term impact) and that it very well may just be an experiment, then it’s an idea worth exploring and pitching to stakeholders as a way to make your brand stand out. 

For the last pillar of brand building (which almost goes without saying, but has to be said), make sure you’re defining your metrics for success. 

Whether it's tracking website traffic or social amplification, and whether you review those metrics at three, six or 12 month intervals — you need to establish what your indicators for success are and when they will be reviewed. 

If you don't know why you succeeded, you're not going to be able to replicate it. And if you don't know why you failed, chances are you're going to again. So take the time to establish your success metrics beforehand. 

A lot goes into creating a strong brand. While these tips don’t cover every aspect of the process, we hope they can serve as a guide to help you through your journey. 

To watch Udi’s full masterclass on the pillars of brand building, start streaming his Inside Insights episode here.