March 6, 2008
Promises are still powerful. So powerful, in fact, that when a promise is actually delivered it is unexpected; a surprise. On the flip-side, the disappointment generated by a broken promise may be even more powerful. When a promise is delivered, it reinforces your Brand Core. When a promise is broken, it creates a gap that no amount of advertising can fix. In either scenario, the consumer is empowered (if they so choose) to talk to 1000s.
This is why the details matter so much; why your “brand” really boils down to the interaction between your marketing promises and your actual customer experience.
Brand Leadership
March 2, 2008
Valeria Maltoni has an excellent post on her “Conversation Agent” blog called “Leading Brands Lead”. She breaks down 3 areas that truly make “brand leaders”. I’ll add my two cents to what in means to be a brand leader:
- Listen - not just analyze data.
- Start on the inside - a common trait of almost every brand leader is happy, excited employees.
- Be transparent - this is rapidly becoming a cliche, but it still is important to have a culture of openness.
Bottom line: leadership is a characteristic of greatness - including great brands.
Shiny Objects
February 19, 2008
One of the worst things a brand executive/marketer can do is to create advertising or marketing that is a distraction from the Brand Core. This distraction comes in many forms - cheap tag lines, discount offerings, reward gimmicks, shock/entertainment - all things that are unnecessary if you have properly communicated the original simple idea that is your Brand Core. In short, sell what you are.
Branding :: Old v New
February 19, 2008
Here is a great article from Harvard Business on “The Shrinking Advantage of Brands”. The article points out what we have been saying for a while:
- The power/advantage now belongs to the consumer. (Although I’m not a fan of his term “cheap interaction”).
- The largest brand in the world got there with zero dollars spent on advertising.
The article also talks about how that impact of traditional branding is lessening. This is based on the definition of brand as ” … a promise: information from a firm promising you a set of costs and benefits from the consumption of a good or service. Brands shape your expected value.” Based on this definition, I would agree that traditional branding is less important and effective.
However, I think the definition of “brand” is actually changing to something new. I would offer this definition: Brand is how you are perceived in the marketplace. In other words, it is your presence in the marketplace. This presence can be initiated by advertising, but because of rising media costs and media fragmentation maintaining a presence is virtually impossible to maintain. Instead, companies must focus on creating great customer experiences, phenomenal products, and 1:1 relationships with the audience on a mass scale - all which is not related to traditional branding or marketing.
If we are right, then branding is the most critical thing to work on, short of having a great product. Because in this era, being known is not enough, you have to be loved.
The Brand Wishing-Well
February 17, 2008
This entry was inspired by an excellent article from Ron Shevlin.
Most efforts to “brand” are really just external ad campaigns. At best, brand “awareness” is created. If the result is just awareness, CMOs better hope and pray it leads to sales. Unfortunately for them, the days of products that are advertised the most also being the ones purchased the most are over.
True branding starts internally, with a desire for greatness (as defined by Jim Collins) and a desire for a multi-generational brand and sustained shareholder value. If the goal is just to make money and get out, then the issue of branding is pretty simple. You only need enough people right now to sustain your business model. And that is actually pretty easy. What is hard is to create a brand that becomes great, then maintains that greatness through economic, generational, and technology trends.
Brand Core
February 15, 2008
The first step is to distill your brand down to an idea; to a simple, beautiful concept - something that becomes a core doctrine that ignites a fire in the hearts of your customers and employees. This step is also the most difficult because it requires introspection and honesty. It starts with listening - to your instincts, your team, and your audience.
