Interview with Carlos Corral, CEO of Baud in MarketigDirecto.com
They won a gold and a silver in the second edition of the Awards
AEBRAND with your project for Clarel, could you tell us about the
award-winning initiative?
The draft repositioning of the Clarel brand made by Baud is
an example of how to transform and revalue a retail brand that was not being able to compete in its category due to the entry into Household of large retailers.
Our focus has been competitiveness, being able to generate relevant connections with new audiences and preparing the Clarel brand to strengthen and continue its path of growth. We accompany Clarel in his comprehensive transformation from a local drugstore to a concept of personal care that reaches every corner of Spain.
We realized that there is a public (especially from neighborhoods and rural areas) that travels many kilometers to access a beauty and care store, and the capillarity of Clarel in the territory offered us the opportunity to respond to that forgotten demand.
We work from the conceptualization to the execution of new stores, rethinking their philosophy and approach to the customer, redefining your business model to offer a comprehensive, premium and differentiated experience.
What was the objective of this project? What challenges did you face?
during the development process?
Clarel faces the challenge of innovating and redefining its business model to not only maintain its current audience but also enhance its relevance and differentiation among new generations. It is not enough to sell products, it is also important to promote a lifestyle that reflects the aspirations of customers and enhances their well-being.
Among the objectives, it was sought:
- Consolidate the positioning of Clarel as a specialist brand in beauty and personal and home care. This involved both the inclusion of services and products aligned with consumer trends as a specialized brand, and the definition of a coherent brand concept that transmits this evolution.
- Rejuvenate the brand, achieving be attractive to new generations. Since the lack of differential experience and the absence of an omnichannel strategy limited its ability to attract new audiences with new needs.
- Because their current experience was closely related to the conventional supermarket image, it was necessary to generate a differentiated and effective experience.
Clarel had to translate its full potential, evolving its business model, modifying its positioning to continue taking care of its customers: from a local drugstore to a care and beauty store.
What benefits can a good branding strategy offer?
executed?
From my point of view, the greatest benefit that a well-executed brand strategy can offer is business growth, due to the strong connection that can be created with people. To achieve this business growth, it is obvious that this strategy must provide us with a competitive differentiation that explains why we are unique and why we do things differently.
When you achieve this strong connection with audiences and differentiation from others, our perceived value will increase, as well as the intangible value of our brand, which will translate into an inevitable increase in turnover if we do not fail in other areas.
To achieve ambitious objectives, a comprehensive vision executed from senior management is necessary, since these drastic increases cannot be achieved either with changes in visual identity or with opportunistic advertising actions.
Do you think branding can help a brand stand out in a
saturated and competitive market?
From my point of view, a good strategy is the only way to compete in a saturated market.
It is obvious that we can grow a lot through a product or a basic value proposition in relation to quality/price, if we are a challenger player. But we all know that this can help us in a short-term way, but we are missing the opportunity for growth exponential that comes from being a desired brand.
Every time I see a marketing action or an advertising spot that is not supported by a company vision and a transversal strategy, I see it as a great lost opportunity and a lot of money invested in vain.
Having a good branding strategy is a very economical way to optimize all the efforts that my organization will make from now on to the future. Anyone who is not very clear about who they are as a brand, where they want to go, and why people will want to relate to them is literally wasting money.
What are the pillars of a well-executed branding strategy?
In my view, every company must have a unique value proposition to be valuable. Furthermore, it is key to have a clear vision that our entire organization must know and that must be transmitted with a solid culture. If we are able to deliver that vision in the form of relevant experiences to our audiences, our brands will be unstoppable.
How important will branding be in 2024?
I think 2024 will be a before and after.
Every day more, branding is crucial for organizations, and it is on everyone's lips. Everyone is clear about the theory (which is a great advance) and everything it covers (which is extremely important) can be gone unnoticed.
However, every day I see more that little time or resources are dedicated to it, or it is delegated to unsuitable professionals or the wrong dialogue is provided to a job that is going to involve the heart and future of our organization.
A part of our own sector has also been relegated to secondary dialogue and jobs that end up in desk drawers. At Baud we are working very hard to change that and Clarel is a clear example of brand work in each and every area of the company.
What are the biggest opportunities for branding today?
The great opportunity to integrate branding in all areas of the company It is one of the greatest opportunities that I see in companies, especially Spanish ones.
The cost-benefit ratio is very high if you work properly and above all, you work in each and every area of the company (senior management, human resources, marketing, operations, etc.)
Within these areas I would highlight:
- Personalization of experiences through data to be able to make the best impacts and connect more deeply.
- La omnichannel understood as a tool to coherently transmit everything we can do for our clients and society.
- La digitalization and emerging technology to create immersive and personalized brand experiences (both employee and customer).
- Sustainability as a transversal pillar of our business and capable of energizing our companies with new generations through a purpose that makes us all feel more relevant in the world.
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