Branding and Physical Availability

Branding is about mental and physical availability through which options are retrieved by buyers to make a purchase decision. Branding certainty affects our buying decisions.

Branding is of paramount importance to an enterprise. We have discussed that branding will optimize our enterprise value in the age of disruptive technological change in our past blog. 

Since Singapore is a small country with a land area of 734 sq km, the number of physical outlets seem not as important. Just because Singapore is small, however, off-line shopping has always been something Singaporean shoppers enjoy doing in their spare time with their friends.

In my recent EDG projects on branding with a few food & beverage companies, many one or two-outlet restaurants want to expand overseas instead of enhancing their local presence. They quoted to me the high rental cost, labor shortage, intense local competition and Singaporeans travelling to Johor during weekends were some of the concerns expanding their stores in Singapore.

When consumers have the impulse to meet with friends for a meal, what will come up in their minds on the choice of cuisine and locations? Branding is about enhancement of space in the memory of the consumers. Which brands will hit the consumers when they think of chilly crab, mala steamboat, sushi, and fish and chips?

Once consumers have decided which cuisine and food to have for their dinner, they will think of the physical outlet that is convenient to them and their friends. Though Singapore is small, consumers are time-conscious, and few want to spend two hours travelling to and fro the outlet to enjoy an hour meal.

In addition, some SMEs have had bad experience of opening an outlet on the "wrong" side of the island and find that they are not welcome there even if the food was as good as the main outlet. Once they have made a bad choice on the location, they will suffer great loss for penalty on breaking a long-term rental contract, poor word of mouth, demoralized staff across the chain of stores...Some may become cautious by opening smaller outlets in selected districts to try out.

While we are planning a smooth on-line off-line marketing strategy, let's examine the needs to open multiple outlets in Singapore. We need to understand our customers' behaviors and the margin of preference for them to choose this store instead of our competitors.

Before we go overseas, let's be sure we have reached the optimum number of stores/outlets in Singapore.

Both mental and physical availability are critical to branding!