Category: Branding

Branding as Art

For those of you that didn’t see the Guy Kawasaki’s post yet titled The art of branding, here is a summary of main rules of branding:

1. Seize the high ground. Establish your brand on positive attributes
2. Create one message. It’s hard enough to create and communicate one branding message. You can pick one message, see if it works, and then try another. But you can’t try several at once.
3. Speak English. Not necessarily, English, but speak in non-jargonese.
4. Apply the opposite test. See if your competition uses the antonyms of the adjectives that you use to describe your product. If it doesn’t, your description is useless.
5. Cascade the message. The marketing department of many companies assume that once they’re put out the press release or run the ad, the entire world understands the message. It’s unlikely that even the entire company does. Start with your board of directors and work down to Trixie and Biff at the front desk and make sure every employee understands the branding.
6. Focus on PR, not advertising. Brands are built on what people are saying about you, not what you’re saying about yourself. People say good things about you when (a) you have a great product and (b) you get people to spread the word about it.
7. Strive for humanness. Great brands achieve a high level of humaness. They speak to you as an individual, not as part of a market.
8. Flow with the go. As much as a I love marketing, at the end of the day, customers ultimately determine what your brand means. Ultimately, you flow with what’s going, and you be thankful that it’s flowing at all.

Guy Kawasaky is author of book The Art of the Start : The Time-Tested, Battle-Hardened Guide for Anyone Starting Anything and video How to Drive Your Competition Crazy.

Read the full post: The Art of Branding

 

Posted on by Daniel

Best Marketing Book of 2005

strategy+business, published by the leading global management and technology firm Booz Allen Hamilton, has selected ProfitBrand: How to Increase the Profitability, Accountability and Sustainability of Brands by Nick Wreden as the best marketing book of 2005.

Mr. Wreden takes ambitious steps in explaining the significance of “sustainability” in customer relationships and the value of measuring marketing spending to establish accountability and profitability. Sustainability is critical, since by some estimates 80-95 per cent of products fail to become brands, he writes. Sustainability is also important because more than two-thirds of purchases are one-off buys. Only a brand focused on sustainability will take the steps that lead to second, third or even a lifetime of purchases.

ProfitBrand amplifies this concept, known in direct-marketing circles as the true value of a brand: “A brand is not built by acquiring customers; it is built by keeping them,” he writes. “Most competitive product advantages can be duplicated. The one advantage that cannot be duplicated is customer relationships.” Branding strategies that aim to make a company No. 1 in the market, for example, are doomed to failure, Mr. Wreden argues. That’s because brand sustainability can be achieved only on the basis of relationships formed on customer terms, not company terms.

Read the full review of the book here. (free registration required).

Other leading business books selected by the editors at Strategy + Business in marketing categories include:

Posted on by Daniel

10 New Rules of Branding

Simon Williams of branding consultancy Sterling Group argues, that in today’s Savvier-than-ever consumers environment, brands have to work that little bit harder and smarter to cut through. To achieve the cut through Simon proposes a new set of marketing rules. Interesting, not enough, but worth to be considered, here is the succinct list:

  1. Brands that influence culture sell more; culture is the new catalyst for growth.
  2. A brand with no point of view has no point; full-flavor branding is in, vanilla is out.
  3. Today’s consumer is leading from the front; this is the smartest generation to have ever walked the planet.
  4. Customize wherever and whenever you can; customization is tomorrow’s killer whale.
  5. Forget the transaction, just give me an experience; the mandate is simple: Wow them every day, every way.
  6. Deliver clarity at point of purchase; be obsessive about presentation.
  7. You are only as good as your weakest link; do you know where you’re vulnerable?
  8. Social responsibility is no longer an option; what’s your cause, what’s your contribution?
  9. Pulse, pace, and passion really make a difference; had your heartbeat checked recently?
  10. Innovation is the new boardroom favorite.

Read the full Chiefmarketer.com article

Tag: Branding Rules

Posted on by Daniel

More on Brand Loyalty

I had here earlier an article on brand loyalty and why brand loyalty is the ultimate goal a company sets for a branded product, on main reasons why brand loyalty is important and some action-steps to take in order to turn repeatead customers into brand-loyal customers.

Meanwhile I just find an interesting post on The Diva Marketing Blog, on the subject, which quoting Don Schultz, professor at Northwestern University and president of Agora Inc, lists several reasons why consumers are brand loyal, even though I would call them repeated customers in these cases:

  • The product is the only one available – such as in a monopoly marketplace situation
  • Consumer inertia – repetitive consumer behavior and the path of least resistance
  • Indifference – all available brands are considered alike, cost the same, are a commodity product
  • Customer satisfaction – customer believes there is good price/value relationship and the product or service is consistent over time
  • Brands are a badge of honor or identifier – customers want to be affiliated with the brand. Those reasons may range from ego to self confidence to being a member of a special group. Harley-Davdison is a great example. How many other brands do you know of where customers actually have a brand logo tattooed on their bodies?

My view is that brand loyalty doesn’t exist for many products and services, and is declining for those who have a modicum of it, because the marketing organization and the brand are not loyal to the customer. Brand loyalty is a reciprocal process, with both buyer and seller getting what they want.

The article is ending up with a question to consider if you have, or are thinking about developing a loyalty program:

Can you keep your promises? And what happens when you can’t?

Well I totally agree with that, with the the mention that branding is making promises and keeping them in the first place, and this question has its place before even starting your business or branding campaign.

Read full Brand Loyalty is a Two Way Street article.

Tag: Brand Loyalty

Posted on by Daniel

5 Benefits of Branding

Almost every business has a trading name, from the smallest market trader to the largest multi-national corporation. Only a minority of those businesses however, have what could be classed as a brand.

Branding is the process of creating distinctive and durable perceptions in the minds of consumers. A brand is a persistent, unique business identity intertwined with associations of personality, quality, origin, liking and more.

Although most people associate brands with big companies, the smallest of enterprises can use branding techniques with great rewards.

Recognition and Loyalty

The main benefit of branding is that customers are much more likely to remember your business. A strong brand name and logo/image helps to keep your company image in the mind of your potential customers.

If your business sells products that are often bought on impulse, a customer recognising your brand could mean the difference between no-sale and a sale. Even if the customer was not aware that you sell a particular product, if they trust your brand, they are likely to trust you with unfamiliar products. If a customer is happy with your products or services, a brand helps to build customer loyalty across your business.

Image of Size

A strong brand will project an image of a large and established business to your potential customers. People usually associate branding with larger businesses that have the money to spend on advertising and promotion. If you can create effective branding, then it can make your business appear to be much bigger than it really is.

An image of size and establishment can be especially important when a customer wants reassurance that you will still be around in a few years time.

Image of Quality

A strong brand projects an image of quality in your business, many people see the brand as a part of a product or service that helps to show its quality and value.

It is commonly said that if you show a person two identical products, only one of which is branded; they will almost always believe the branded item is higher quality.

If you can create effective branding, then over time the image of quality in your business will usually go up. Of course, branding cannot replace good quality, and bad publicity will damage a brand (and your businesses image), especially if it continues over a long period of time.

Image of Experience and Reliability

A strong brand creates an image of an established business that has been around for long enough to become well known. A branded business is more likely to be seen as experienced in their products or services, and will generally be seen as more reliable and trustworthy than an unbranded business.

Most people will believe that a business would be hesitant to put their brand name on something that was of poor quality.

Multiple Products

If your business has a strong brand, it allows you to link together several different products or ranges. You can put your brand name on every product or service you sell, meaning that customers for one product will be more likely to buy another product from you.

 

Read more on the subject:

 

Kellogg on Branding: The Marketing Faculty of The Kellogg School of Management
Breakthrough Branding: How Smart Entrepreneurs and Intrapreneurs Transform a Small Idea into a Big Brand
Brand Against the Machine: How to Build Your Brand, Cut Through the Marketing Noise, and Stand Out from the Competition

Posted on by Daniel 10

Branding, Online Ad’s Goal

PointRoll Inc., a leader in rich media technology and service, today announced the results of its first annual survey of creative online advertising professionals. Respondents from leading agencies worldwide detailed market trends, challenges and opportunities, illustrating a significant shift in the goals and measurement of online ads.

Key findings of the survey include:

  • Branding is the most important consideration for online ads, with 70 percent of respondents identifying it as the “most important” or “second most important” goal.
  • Interaction rate is the most important measurement of rich media performance. 53 percent of participants indicated that the best way to judge an ad is to measure the percent of users that interact with the unit.
  • Video is gaining ground. 79 percent of those surveyed have included video when creating rich media ads, which PointRoll’s metrics demonstrate boosts time-on-brand +16% versus the overall PointRoll average. 53 percent of participants think video should be 15 seconds or less, and many noted an increase in video created specifically for online use.

Tag: Online Advertising

Posted on by Daniel

8 Reasons for Branding

Marcia Yudkin is the author of 6 Steps to Free Publicity and ten other books hailed for outstanding creativity has an interesting post, presenting eight reasons for which even the smallest of enterprises have to jump in the branding wagon, and get back great rewards out of it.

Branding is the process of creating distinctive and durable perceptions in the minds of consumers. A brand is a persistent, unique business identity intertwined with associations of personality, quality, origin, liking and more.

Time, money and effort spent on branding comes back many times over when the process plays out intelligently. Here’s why:

  1. Memorability. It’s easier to remember the branded company than the “what’s its name?” one.
  2. Loyalty. When people have a positive experience with a memorable brand, they’re more likely to buy that product or service again than competing brands.
  3. Familiarity. Psychologists have shown that familiarity induces liking, and this makes even non-customers more likely to recommend a brand they know.
  4. Premium image, premium price. Branding can lift what you sell out of the realm of a commodity, with customers willing to pay more for the well-branded product or service.
  5. Extensions. With a well-established brand, you can spread the respect you’ve earned to a related new product, service or location more easily
  6. Greater company equity. Making your company into a brand usually means that you can get more money for the company when you decide to sell it.
  7. Lower marketing expenses. Although you must invest money to create a brand, once it’s created you get a bigger bang for every marketing buck using it.
  8. For consumers, less risk. People tend to choose the brand-name supplier over the no-name one when afraid of the consequences of a messup

Tag: Branding

Posted on by Daniel 1

Branding Trends

In all aspects of business, and branding makes no exception, are influenced nowadays by the trend of customization and personalization. Both are now hard to avoid and they are shaking hands with the new technologies.

The basic concept of branding will definetly remain unchanged — to create an emotional attachment between the consumer and a product — but the near future (or should I say present?) will demand from branding to adapt to consumers high demand for specialized – peronalized – customized products.

The new technologies are changing the way consumers interact with companies, or with other consumers for that matter, exchanging views, complaints, opinions and comments about products and services, about brands, about companies, about YOUR company.

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Posted on by Daniel

Drive Growth Through Branding

A brand is state of mind, a mental image that consumers have based on experiences with a company and its products. Successful branding is a process to determine how you can create your own state of mind with customers, and how that can drive growth — the ultimate reason for a brand.

Branding as a topic today is filled with clichés and buzzwords that can sometimes trivialize the real advantage of having a good brand. A brand is more than just hype communicated with heavy spending on advertising and promotion. That just creates awareness, which helps but being well known isn’t enough.

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Posted on by Daniel

Corporate Identity and Six Steps to Improve It

In a world full of confusion and contradictory messages, effective identity and brand can be the reasons why a consumer chooses one product over another. Market and production departments often pull in opposite directions. The competitive power of most companies are decreased because their [tag]corporate identity[/tag] is insufficiently defined.

Identity can be defined on two levels.

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Posted on by Daniel