HOW A BRAND DIES OR HOW NOT TO LEAVE YOUR BRAND TO FATE

• What is image? It's the public perception, not what the company, product or service is, but how it is perceived. It lives, or doesn't, in the mind of your public.


• What creates this image? Everything from packaging to identity-these being the messengers affecting the marketplace's perception. PR and word-of-mouth are also soldiers in this battlefield.


• What is identity? Not to be confused with "corporate identity" or "brand identity," identity is how the company, product or service really is, before its message has ever been exported into the marketplace, i.e., your consumer's mind and senses.


• What is branding? These are the collective actions-design, packaging, message, color, personality, media-taken by a company, product or service to create its image. Not done pro-actively, the brand "just happens." This is where "brand management" mentioned in the above article comes into play.

Sin #1: The superior product fixation
In our global marketplace, the apparent differences between products has reached an all-time pinnacle of grey,
meaning the differences aren’t so black and white as they used to be.
So he who gets to the market first and stays present (and with online
media increasing every hour of each day, the battlefield is stiffer
than ever) can outsell a similar product that is vastly superior. With
the lines of communication around the globe literally a click of the
mouse away, one can no longer rest on one’s laurels for very long.

To “be better than” doesn’t mean as much as it used to. The solution
is first, creating a meaningful and relevant brand identity and reason
for being and second, ensuring that that image connects your
product—not simply it’s superior attributes— to your audience.
Successful examples of this are Nike’s “Just Do It” and Apple’s “Think
Different” campaigns.

Sin #2: The “no-one-can-touch-us” syndrome
This pitfall rears its ugly head whenever a company reaches any level of complacency.
The branding battelfield is strewn with caualties: Nike was outdone by
Under Armour. Electrolux and every other vacuum brand was outdone by
Dyson. Small hip cars were outdone by the Mini Cooper. Smart phones
were thrown a curve ball by the iPhone, leaving everyone scrambling to
catch up. If you start feeling complacent, take a fresh, honest look at
your brand and you'll find, like life, nothing stays level for long.

The son of IBM’s founder, Thomas Watson Jr., stated while chief of
IBM, “...We do not think that good design can make a product good....
But we are convinced that good design can materially help make a good
product reach its full potential.” Isn’t it time we all listened and
used the power of design?

Sin #3: The brand called “Fear”
Simply, if
you’re overly concerned about what associates think versus being overly
concerned about your brand, then getting anywhere near branding is a
bad career move for everyone involved. The opposite side of this coin
is a firm belief in one’s product, a willingness to deliver what’s
promised, and a strength of conviction. One doesn’t need to be an ogre,
but one must believe in one’s actions. That doesn’t include being
overly concerned with internal political popularity contests. Looking
over the best brands, the majority came into existence driven by one
person’s vision—and belief—in that brand’s potential and their
persistence in seeing it through.

This cousin to complacency—essentially an unwillingness to
investigate, face facts, evolve and challenge— has killed many possibly
great brands, leaving only the competition happier, and stronger.

Sin #4: Ignoring the design and image your brand conveys
You’ve
seen these products. You’ve maybe even bought them. They’re everywhere
as products...and nowhere as brands. Go into a store, any store, and
look. Simply look. You’ll find a gazillion products. You’ll also find
many great products but, with most ignoring their design and image,
only a handful have become great brands. The difference between ordinary and remarkable will found in the details of branding.

What part does image play in the real world of branding? Everything.
Fact: Minute Maid® found that other orange juice companies were
“borrowing” their signature black carton. What once was a point of
distinction had now become “generic.” Add to this the expanding choices
given to consumers—bottled waters, flavored waters, iced teas, and
bottled coffee beverages—and retaining marketshare had become a major
issue for Minute Maid. The answer? Revamp the Minute Maid packaging
line. The outcome? Volume sales increased more than 24%, with
convenience store sales exceeding 34%. When you’re dealing with 28
million servings per day, a mere one percent increase, 280,000 more
servings per day, is considerable.

Sin #5: Brand schizophrenia and anarchy
Imagine
this conversation: “Oh, you want to change the golden arches to day-glo
pink? Sure, no problem.” Not in this lifetime. You might as well print
a new resume and look for another job.

The confusion between building a brand, being consistent, keeping a
brand alive and reinventing a brand can be so mishmashed that disaster
strikes. Random change is not the same as planned evolution of a brand.
Just as true is that boring, stagnant messaging is not the same as
brand consistency.

A good rule of thumb is one laid down by Sir John Egan, chief
executive for the world’s leading international airport group,
“Defining the experience that customers want becomes a criterion by
which you can judge the design work you commission.”

Other points to consider are, “Does this effort contribute to our
brand image and equity? Does this dilute our brand position? Will this
enhance our consumers ‘experience’ of our brand?”

This is all based on the fact that there is a foundation to build a brand upon.
 

Sin #6: The human connection ratio
The frailty
of a brand is in direct ratio to the extent a brand fails to connect
with its consumer. Flaunting one’s wares is about as popular, and
effective, as cramming in a term paper in overnight. What’s good for
Visine sales (remember “Takes the red out”?) isn’t necessarily good for
the grade.

Every strong brand has in some way become a product that represents
what that customer is seeking: ease, convenience, power, stamina,
pride, beauty. But in each case, it’s the human factor that can be
missed. Every product does have, as its end use, a human who is buying
the product for a reason. Find the reason, keep it on personal terms,
and you’re well on your way to avoiding this pitfall.

Sin #7: Forgetting where brands live
If you were
to ask brand managers where brands live, they might say, “On the shelf
with our product. In our annual report. In our advertising.” Wrong.
Those are how a brand gets built, not where it lives.

Brands do not live anywhere but in the minds and hearts of the
consumers and prospects. The job of branding is to get your product to
the point of having an army of believers who stand by that brand, and
what it means, in their mind.

The job of branding is to get in the front door and become a
comfortable fixture in the mind of the consumer. Avoiding these seven
pitfalls will help.