How to build an enduring brand

Building a lasting brand has been the major challenge of business organisations.

In his, How to build an enduring brand like a boss, Christopher Jan Benitez noted: “If you want to build a successful business, you first have to build a strong brand. An awesome product at a competitive price is great and needed, but those two things alone won’t get you the sales you need to be a profitable business for the long haul—but a strong brand will.”

Benitez noted brands that have made memorable impacts must have done something special? “Maybe they have a memorable character, like Mr. Clean or Mayhem, or maybe it’s a catchy slogan, like “Just do it” or “Because you’re worth it.” Perhaps they use humor in their marketing methods, like Old Spice’s funny TV commercial and Tweets, or they could simply talk to customers like normal people and provide exceptional customer service.”

This exactly is what Peak did at the launch of its recent campaign, ‘generation to generation’, indirectly bidding knee-jerk marketing a goodbye for good.

“No brand in the category gets any close to this historical record,” said Sunday Ogunniyi, a market analyst and communications expert.

“This is just one of the unique properties that could be enjoyed by the Peak brand alone,” Ogunniy surmised.

According to him, there’s no point in spending copious amounts of time and money developing a brand without first understanding what’s going to resonate with your target audience.

It has also transformed itself to a strong cultural brand, appealing to different people across different socio-cultural groups. It is known as ‘Milki Olope’ by the Yoruba in the West and ‘Madara n’kwakwa’ by the Northern Hausa. The consumers also see the brand elements as symbolic and essential differentiator, which has built enduring emotional connections between the consumers and the brand across the country.

The strongest asset in trying to build a lasting brand is its quality and pedigree. So, anytime it intends to throw a technical jab on competition, it reminds them that ‘I have it, and you don’t’.

Since it berthed in the country in 1954, the brand has been catering for the nutritional needs of the consumers across different generations. Part of the pedigree is the ‘all-round first’ the brand has always enjoyed; the first mover advantage when it became the first dairy brand in the country, the first dairy brand to be fortified with 28 vitamins and minerals; and the first to be extra-fortified for stronger bodies and sharper minds.

And for over 60 years, the brand has been consistent in content and quality, justifying its description as ‘rich & creamy’.

Brand experts say the brand has built on the culture of top quality and excellent nourishment. It offers them the highest level of quality.

In the words of Segun Okunola, a brand strategist: “The logo represents a symbol of success, the premium nature of the brand and an active personality that can be depended upon. The overlaying blue sky depicts hope, calmness and healing, which underscores the harmless nature of milk. The palm tree is a symbol of nutrition and growth.”

The multiple trees of different sizes with lush green leaves represent family with siblings across generations; while mountain symbolize performance and the ultimate top position which is in perpetual alliance with the name of the brand and aspiration of the consumers.

All these brand elements have been carefully etched out and nurtured from the inception of the brand, and now drawn out and creatively deployed in a new campaign. The campaign once again displays Peak reaffirming its leadership position in the dairy market; and winning big applause for the Peak brand.

Today, the brand has spread its rich historical pedigree across different products, catering for the nutritional needs of everybody within the family since 1958, giving them stronger bodies and sharper minds, Peak is indeed a family brand.

It has built close connections with its consumers, who now buy almost anything it puts out, from tin to sachet. The brand has continued to be strong throughout the several changes in the market and consistently nourish Nigerians with quality dairy nutrition in order to reach their Peak.

It has won industry recognition as an innovative and trendsetting brand that delivers superior dairy nutrition across life-stages. The brand succeeds because it always connects with its consumers, supports its key business partners and helps the general public to pursue their aspirations and reach for their Peak!

To surprise loyal consumers, based on research and their expectation, Peak Evaporated Milk now comes in new packaging as well as a lid that opens and closes easily. It is called ‘Peak Easy Open’.

Peak Easy Open is specifically designed to meet the needs of consumers who consciously seek convenience and are looking for packaging solutions that fit their busy lifestyles.”

When the company launched, ‘The Future is Bright; Reach for Your Peak’, the focus was strongly on the emotional characteristics and values that consumers link to Peak.