Brand values are important for SMEs

The perils of being a well-known brand are amply demonstrated as supermarket giant Tesco continues what is turning out to be an “annus horribilis”.
Arguably, however, there could be an element of hubris and complacency that has led to the current situation and even small businesses can benefit from this lesson, as SMEs are normally managing their own brand albeit in a much smaller pond.
Building a reputation for reliability, quality of service, availability and being a good company to deal with can bring significant benefits to any SME. These are all ingredients of a brand.
It helps to build a long term relationship with customers, which relieves the pressure to be constantly searching for new ones and improves the security of the business, and like any strong brand these qualities justify premium prices.
A good example of the benefits of a brand with strong values is the pain relief medication Ibuprofen. Sold under its generic name, a pack of 16 or so Ibuprofen tablets retails for around 30p, but sold as the brand Nurofen the same package fetches over £2.
This logic can apply to a wide range of goods and services but crucially only if it is backed up by an offering that does the job along with all brand values that small businesses often do much better than a larger ones.