Building a brand should be like a muscle building, well-weighted process that focuses on maintaining long-lasting brand equity. Most people who have tried seriously to increase their muscles know there are two ways to increase your muscles:
1. By rapid growth, what can be achieved by pulling the beasts like a madman, gaining excessive weight, getting your body filled with all sorts of supplements ranging from innocent proteins to illegal anabolic steroids;
2. By slower but permanent growth, what can be achieved by carefully analyzing the possibilities of your body, and carefully plotting a plan to highlight them. Muscle mass grows evolutionarily, and instead of relying on supplements, the diet has to be changed to a varied and rich in protein.
Maybe you’re wondering now, what does this whole thing have to do with building a brand? Like muscle building, building a brand should be a well-established process focused on creating and maintaining long-term brand consistency. Though quick gains such as raising awareness or gaining market share from tactical measures such as proactive advertising, promotions and discounts do not help build a strong and lasting image of their own brand in the mind of the consumer.
Strong Brands take a long time to be built. As long as the organizations behind them have a long-lasting prospect of vision, trust and commitment. An example would be Grupo Modelo’s Corona beer brand. Despite the general impression that any beer from Mexico would automatically be inferior, Grupo Modelo managed to position Corona as a premium beer in the United States, where the number one import beer number is currently Corona. Corona was able to cultivate a picture of “Mexicanity” and “Vacations in a Glass” for which it is worth paying a special price.
However, Corona could have gone on another path and be subject to a discount policy, which would undoubtedly give Corona a certain portion of the market. But sustainably growing a brand can not be done only through promotions and discounts, but rather the brand needs to build relationships with consumers, inspire loyalty and persuade them to pay high prices for its products.
It is tempting to target fast gains and artificially inflate your brand muscles, but if you want to build a strong, long-term brand, it would be best to quit “steroids” and try a tuna sandwich.

Source: landor.com