What is Brand Analysis?

Opinions, good instincts, and creative thinking are not enough when it comes to brand analysis.  Brand analysis involves sizing up a business situation and deciding on a strategy.  Two major concerns of brand analysis are the industry and the existing competitive conditions.  These assessments are necessary essentials of brand analysis.  They ensure the availability of long-term direction, establishing appropriate objectives, and essentially crating an effective strategy.  Brand analysis includes knowing what a specific industry’s dominant economic features are.  Also, brand analysis examines what existing industry competition is like and how strong each of the industry’s competitive forces is.

Effective brand analysis is achieved through an analytical sequence of strategic appraisals of a business’ external and internal environment, to establish issues, evaluate alternatives, and create a strategy.  If these crucial assessments are not executed, a business may find that the brand it developed does not fit well with the environment of its intended industry and will not be capable of establishing and maintaining a competitive advantage for the business.  Brand analysis requires a strategic evaluation of a business’ ecosystem.  Any decisions should be based on sound analysis of a business’ external and internal structure.

In order to successfully establish a business’ brand, an evaluation of dominant economic features in an industry must be carried out.  Industry, in this context, refers to several businesses with the same or similar product or service competing for the same customers.  When evaluating an industry’s economic features, some common factors should be focused on.  Some of these economic factors include the market size, the scope of competitive rivalry, the growth rate of the industry, the current growth cycle of the industry, the number of competitors and their relative size, the number of customers and their relative size, and the kinds of distribution channels used to access existing and potential customers.

Having evaluated and established the industry’s dominant economic features, it is time to assess the competition and the existing competitive forces.  An important part of brand analysis is examining how exactly competition works in an existing industry and what are the competitive strengths.  Although every industry’s environment will vary slightly from the other, the competitive processes at work within each industry are generally the same.  These competitive processes are usually made up of five competitive forces.  These five competitive forces include the rivalry among competing businesses in an industry, the market attempts of businesses to win over potential buyers; the likeliness of new emerging competitors, the bargaining power and leverage of suppliers, and the bargaining power and leverage of existing buyers.

The bottom line to brand analysis is the need to evaluate a business within its industry to assess its competitive standing so that an effective branding strategy can be delivered.  Brand analysis is done to ensure that the developed branding strategy effectively protects its long-term competitiveness and profitability, and establishes if the pricing of products and services are right.  A fundamental industry and competition assessment is essential to ensure a good branding strategy.  Successful businesses use their brand analysis to establish and implement shrewd strategies that match the industry’s environment.