Year: 2007

Defining an Authentic Brand

In response on Pepita‘s comment here is an interesting reading:

Authentic brands are not about marketing. They are not products. They live inside the company. And they are held and enacted of the people, by the people and for the people!

Just like the Declaration of Independence created the foundation of a nation, so does your brand act as the foundation of your company. Its principles are the framework for thought and action by everyone in the company. Without it there is no consistency, no alignment between what you say and what you do, no synchronicity between who you are inside and the way you present yourself outside.

You may ask—“well isn’t that the same as culture?” The answer is yes and no. Authentic brands are in many ways the identity of the company culture. They help that culture become visible. They also embody the values and purpose of the company, giving all these things a face and a voice that can be seen and heard by everyone the company touches. But especially your employees. As the people who most keenly impact the day-to-day beliefs and actions of the company it is constantly amazing how little they are considered when brand is discussed.

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Posted on by Daniel 3

23 Elements of a Healthy Brand

A healthy strong brand has definitely has some other attributes than the best or the biggest. A healthy and a strong brand generates also more results than just bigger sales. A healthy strong brand sustain a product over time through consistency, excellent communication, providing value to its target customers. These and much more.

Here is a checklist of 23 brand health criterias as presented in Peter Cheverton’s excellent book Understanding Brands (Creating Success):

  1. is based on a proposition of genuine substance and value to the target customer
  2. communicates a clear and powerful brand definition
  3. communicates a clear ‘emotional charge’
  4. communicates an attractive and relevant personality
  5. wins, builds and retains customer loyalty
  6. is well known by the target customer
  7. is held in high esteem by the target customer
  8. communicates and evidences a unique match between the company’s capabilities and the customer’s needs
  9. is a source of competitive advantage
  10. is an investment of increasing value that others will want to own
  11. maintains its relevance over time by evolving in response to changing customer expectations and perceptions
  12. increases the profitability of the business is consistent with the business strategy
  13. makes sense within the business’s brand architecture
  14. provides a protective ‘halo’ for growth strategies
  15. provides a barrier to entry for new entrants or substitutes
  16. is uniquely positioned in the market and creates a relevant space in the customer’s mind
  17. communicates and demonstrates a clear sense of value
  18. interacts consistently with the customer on as many fronts and on as many occasions as possible
  19. cements the brand definition into the customer’s mind through interactions and positive associations
  20. is managed and supported consistently over time
  21. has values that can be applied consistently and successfully to all parts of the marketing
  22. mix and through all promotional media
  23. makes people want to get their hands on it
Posted on by Daniel 4

Consistency – The Most Important Aspect of Sucessful Branding

Consistency is considered to be the most important aspect of a succesful branding by branding experts and industry opinion leaders questioned in a an Interbrand’s survey made pubilc late January this year.

The experts cited understanding of Customer/Target frequently. This mirrors the finding in this report that metrics and brand research are key tools. Communication and Creative effectiveness were also frequently mentioned as critical aspects of successful branding.

These open-ended responses provide a useful counterpoint to the other findings in this report. They reflect the classic tenets of branding and marketing, which are focused on knowing the customer, maintaining a consistent brand in the marketplace, and delivering winning content and creative.

study says.

Here is the list of the top 10 aspects of successful branding, as resulted from the study:

  1. Consistency (36.0%)
  2. Understanding of Customer/Target (18.2%)
  3. Message/Communication (14.7%)
  4. Creative/Design/Brand ID (12.8%)
  5. Relevance (12.4%)
  6. Differentiation/Uniqueness (12.0%)
  7. Key Stakeholder Buy-In (10.9%)
  8. Positioning (9.7%)
  9. Clarity (8.9%)
  10. Connection to Customer/Target (8.9%)

Read the study here.

Posted on by Daniel 1

2007 – Interesting Year Start in Brands and Branding

2007 definitely started with a lot of agitation in some of the big brands courtyard.

I’d start with the Apple Computers who dropped computer from its name. The move is rather normal considering that iPod or iTunes are two of the main products of Apple Inc. and was announced in the same time with the buzzy launching of iPhone. Now, getting to this, cannot help myself not to admire the Apple capacity to create a buzz in the media, no matter that we’re talking about the internet of the classic mass media. The phone they launched is, I admit, a work of art and has a lot of great features but I wouldn’t hurry to name it neither a Blackberry killer, a computer or a smart phone. It’s more like a beautifully designed, big brand sustained swiss knife of mobiles.

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Posted on by Daniel

Millward Brown classification of Great Britain’s best-known brands in 2006

Google was the best-known brand in Great Britain in 2006, although it only spent EUR 2 million on advertising, a survey carried out by consultancy company Millward Brown indicates.

2006 was the first year when Google was included in the Millward Brown classification since 1998. The world’s most popular search engine has risen to the first place in the Great Britain top of brands; the position Google occupied comes counter to the connection Millward Brown usually set between the brands’ advertising expenses and the position in the top. Most of the EUR 2 million Google allocated to advertising last year went to online advertising, according to Nielsen Media Research data.

The second place in the top went to Microsoft, with EUR 59.6 million advertising budget; the next places went to McDonald’s (EUR 48.6 million), Nokia (EUR 26 million, the former first place in 2005) and Tesco. The remaining positions in the top ten went to Coca-Cola, Colgate, Nescaf�, Ford and Vodafone.

Millward Brown considers the brands with a potential for growth one should keep an eye on are Marks & Spencer and the Apple iPod, alongside Google, 3, Asda, Red Bull, O2, MySpace, Virgin Mobile and Starbucks. Despite the negative publicity brands such as McDonald’s and Coca-Cola were affected by in 2006, as a result of debates over obesity among children, both companies managed nevertheless to rank high in the top.

Posted on by Daniel 1

Google Tops Landor Associates Top Brands of 2006

Landor Associates, the world’s leading branding and design consultancy conducted a survey of the most popular brands among consumers, which rates the best and worst brands.

The rankings were compiled from more than 2,000 interviews carried out by a New York design agency, Landor Associates. Its managing director, Allen Adamson, said inclusivity was a critical factor for the year’s successes.

“One thing they’ve all got in common is that they appeal to multiple segments,” he said. “Google’s become the starting point for the internet experience of almost everyone – be it the chief executive or the head [lavatory] man. At Vegas, you’ve got families with kids sitting next to people who are there to escape from their families.”
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Posted on by Daniel 1

In Case You Missed It – Branding News Roundup

Since I had a quite long break from brand-blogging I thought I should point out some of the posts I found interesting in the branding blogosphere, just in case you missed them:

Marketing a Strong Nonprofit Brand

Laura Ries has run a list of 7 important things to consider when building a brand for the non-profit organizations:

1. The name
2. The spokesperson
3. The position
4. The enemy
5. PR, PR, PR
6. A signature event
7. Color and logo

What is your (personal) brand worth?

David Sandusky has an interesting list of questions people should ask themselves when they’re evaluating their own personal brands. What about you? What is your personal brand worth? How do people feel when dealing with you? Do they think of you when looking for an expert in your space? Do people hear from you only when you need something like a job; or are you making networking deposits regularly.

More, he has a 4 steps strategy to define and maintain a personal brand:

1. Define yourself
2. Understand your environment
3. Formulate a career and brand strategy
4. Execution

Branding to further boost economy

China plans to further boost its world economic status through branding.

“Branding is a decisive factor in the world’s economic development, and in some cases, an established world brand’s overall value is even bigger than that of a middle-sized country,” said Sun Bo, director of the quality management department of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, yesterday.

China now has seven products with six brands that are famous worldwide – Haier refrigerators and washing machines, Huawei programmed control switchboards, Zhongxing programmed control switchboards, Zhenhua container cranes, Gree air-conditioners and Sunshine worsted woollens.

The sales volume of the products ranks among the top five in their world markets.

“We will still have to make them even more recognized worldwide,” Sun said. He said the bureau would help enterprises upgrade quality insurance, measuring and testing systems, and encourage them to apply international rules and standards.

More here.

Seven Steps to Building a Strong Brand

1. Develop your benchmark.
2. Compare your organization to the various competitive choices available to your target market.
3. Analyze your SWOT.
4. Focus on the Opportunities.
5. Identify your message.
6. Time & Money. Layout the timetable. Identify your budget components.
7. Implement the branding tactics.

via

How to Write a Marketing Plan

Most businesspeople agree that good planning is essential for success. Even so, it’s surprising how many companies don’t create a thorough plan to generate and manage their customers.

1. Start with your annual goals
2. Highlight your competitive position, value proposition and brand strategy
3. Outline any plans for your products & services
4. Outline your major marketing campaigns
5. Develop your tactical sales plan
6. Develop a budget
7. Revisit your plan regularly

Posted on by Daniel 1

Popular Brands May Brand the Brain

A new study finds that familiar brands evoke faster, more positive responses in the brain than lesser-known brands.

In tests on young adults using real-time functional MRI, the logos of well-known auto and insurance companies “lit up” areas of the brain associated with warm emotions, reward and self-identity.

“Furthermore, strong brands were processed with less effort on the part of the brain,” said Dr. Christine Born, a radiologist at University Hospital, part of the Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich, Germany.

In contrast, less-recognized brands triggered more activity in brain regions associated with working memory and negative emotions — suggesting these products were less easy to “process” and accept.

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Gap To Review Its Brand Strategy

Gap, the company that helped make khaki beige a fashion statement, is to review its Gap and Old Navy brands after the retailer revealed disappointing sales in December and expected increased pressure in January.Total sales for December were down by 10% on results posted two years ago, at $2.34bn. The company has been in the middle of a two-year rebranding operation but has admitted it has failed and will review its strategy at the two divisions.

Gap has suffered in recent years and each new set of financial results have brought new problems as the San Francisco retailer finds competitors have emulated its essential casual style of T-shirts and khakis and at a cheaper price.

Alternative strategic decision, helped by ongoing speculation in the market, is that Gap Inc. is ever closer to a takeover is being stoked by a news report that the struggling retailer has hired the investment firm Goldman Sachs to consider such offers or other dramatic changes.

A story to follow…

Posted on by Daniel