In last week’s edition, we discussed brand positioning and entrepreneurship in the age of artificial intelligence (AI).
This was a build-up to this week’s conversation on the concept of entrepreneurship and brand association management in the age of AI.
Managing brand associations for African entrepreneurs today requires an adaptive strategy that combines AI technology with a deep understanding of local cultures and consumer needs.
By leveraging AI for insights, engagement, and personalised experiences, brands can cultivate strong, positive associations that resonate with diverse audiences across the continent.
Brand association refers to the various attributes, emotions, experiences and concepts consumers connect with a brand.
These connections are formed through marketing efforts, personal experiences, social influences, and cultural context.
The craft of building lasting brand associations that will leverage the brand into orbits of success ought to be pivoted on African entrepreneurs’ indigenous knowledge systems compared to any other organised formations under the sun.
These are lived realities of our unique existence as a people.
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This is what Coca-Cola did within the beverage category —spending time understanding the unique cultural realities of the African context and embedding them into the marketing strategy.
This pushes an aggressive communications and advertising mix of Africa to be part of the greater community that aspires to "success" like the entire human race.
This approach plays out when you consistently locate the involving projection of an African community, from lack to that of a critical player in the knowledge production and part of the broader connected humanity.
This reaches the climax with the inaugural host of the Soccer World Cup on African soil in South Africa.
As the tournament’s official sponsor, Coca-Cola promotes the sense of family and the Ubuntu concept that we are a vast continent like Africa but a single yet complex community.
This is how Coca-Cola builds and reinforces brand associations, moving from the spoken word to sounds like the famous “Brrr” advert that vibrates a connected sound from Africa to a diversity of cultures and peoples of the world.
In this article, we share some critical steps in forming and sustaining brand associations for African brands to compete within and without Africa.
The essence of these steps is that the process is equivalent to continuously telling the story of the brand:
Dissemination of the message:
Brands employ advertisements, social media, and other promotion methods.
These messages emphasise the brand’s unique qualities, such as its reliability, user-friendliness, or life-enhancing capabilities.
These messages establish the foundation for brand associations.
Actual experiences:
Have you ever had a positive experience with a product or service? This contributes to your perception of the brand.
Good associations are established when a brand fulfils its commitments.
It could be the delectable flavour of a beverage or the seamless operation of a device. Positive experiences significantly influence our perception of the brand.
The words of others:
As we have articulated, people generally don’t trust brands - they trust people!
The opinions of others regarding a brand are significant. Brand associations are further strengthened by favourable reviews and recommendations from friends, family, or online influencers.
A positive image of a brand is established when individuals hear positive words about it. However, the brand’s reputation may be adversely affected by negative discourse.
Therefore, providing a superior product or service is imperative relative to competing offerings.
Visual appearances are significant:
Colours, logos and other visual elements are significant. Upon encountering a logo like the golden arches, one’s mind is instantly drawn to a specific fast-food brand.
In your mind, these visual elements are associated with the brand. Strong brand associations are fostered by maintaining a consistent and memorable appearance.
Culture fit:
Brands frequently build linkages with advances in the cultural realm to ensure they are culturally compatible.
A brand can generate associations that resonate with customers when it is associated with something meaningful or appealing.
The incorporation of renowned influencers, the alignment with cultural norms, or referencing current events are all examples of things that could be done. Understanding cultural norms is beneficial to individuals since it makes remembering them easier.
Consequently, a brand’s communication, experiences, perceptions of others, appearance, and alignment with societal trends all contribute to establishing brand associations.
Involved in this process is the narration of a story about the brand that is both memorable and relatable to the target audience.
In the edition that will be published the following week, we will dive further into the challenges and opportunities associated with consolidating brand association management, as well as the most important things to take into consideration in this age of artificial intelligence.
In the context of AI, this will be discussed under the heading of The Future of Brand Associations Management in the Age of AI.
Before then, remember to think, eat, sleep, and dream about branding!
Till then, think, eat, sleep and dream branding!
*Farai Chigora is a businessman and academic. He is a senior lecturer at the Africa University’s College of Business, Peace, Leadership and Governance. Also a global business modelling practitioner. His doctoral research focused on Business Administration (Destination Marketing and Branding Major, Ukzn, SA).
He is into agribusiness and consults for many companies in Zimbabwe and Africa. He writes in his personal capacity and can be contacted for feedback and business at fariechigora@gmail.com, www.fachip.co.zw, WhatsApp mobile: +263772886871.
*Tabani Moyo is an extraordinary researcher with the University of North West, South Africa’s Social Transformation School. His holds Doctorate in Business Administration (Research focus on new media and corporate reputation management, UKZN), chartered marketer, fellow CIM, communications and reputation management expert based in Harare. He can be contacted at moyojz@gmail.com @TabaniMoyo (X)
