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How a powerful branding program can remove the pain of an identity crisis in 27 simple steps

Guest post by: Keith Bates

Article Overview: CHARACTERISTICS OF AN IDENTITY CRISIS. * Poor market/product awareness * Weak client retention, no loyalty * Inadequate lead flow * Long selling cycles * Low company valuation, shareholder anxiety

How a powerful branding program can remove the pain of an identity crisis in 27 simple steps

CHARACTERISTICS OF AN IDENTITY CRISIS.
* Poor market/product awareness
* Weak client retention, no loyalty
* Inadequate lead flow
* Long selling cycles
* Low company valuation, shareholder anxiety
WHY IS BRANDING THE BEST SOLUTION?
* Few things endure. Today’s breakthrough product is quickly eclipsed by the next innovation or lost in a sea of clones. That’s why companies that succeed over time build relationships with customers that transcend product. THIS IS BRANDING!
* Brand management is the protector of profit margins, the preserver of high stock prices, and the cornerstone upon which brand equity is built.
* In a world of greater and greater choice branding becomes an incredibly important piece of a company’s competitive weaponry.
BRANDING. WHAT IT IS? The brand’s philosophy.
* “The brand is a promise, and it is a promise we must keep. There is no difference between who we are and what we sell” (James Taylor, Gateway Computers)
* Quote from Bill Gates, “Software comes and goes. What we’re selling is Microsoft, not the individual products.”
* “Emotions drive most, if not all, of our decisions.” (Scott Bedbury, Starbucks and Nike)
* It is important to remember that brands are beliefs that reside within customers. The whole purpose of a branding program is to influence these beliefs.
WHAT’S A BRAND, AND WHAT’S BRANDING?
* A “brand” is an icon used to differentiate a seller from their competitors. In the customer’s mind it’s a collection of memories.
* Brands bind the 4 key elements of the enterprise: customers, employees, management, shareholders
* “Branding” is the process whereby a sustainable relationship between customer and company is developed. It’s the art of developing trust.
* The challenge is managing brand identity so that brand image is an accurate reflection of the company as you desire it to be.
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN IMAGE AND IDENTITY?
* Image is how the marketplace perceives you. Identity is who you really are.
* An analogy: Just as the clothes you wear are an important (image), even distinguishing, part of your identity, you wouldn’t think to consider them the substance of who you are as a person.
* Defined: Image is appearance oriented, tactical; while identity is substance oriented, strategic.
IMMEDIATE GOAL IS TO ALIGN IMAGE AND IDENTITY.
* Best-practice companies excel at aligning brand strategy with business strategy
* First learn your image in marketplace, and how it’s not aligned with the identity you desire. Next, fix it with the resources you have available by developing a Unique Brand Personality (distinguishing characteristics or persona).
* Remember “Brands live longer than products.”
PRIMARY ROLES OF BRANDS.
* Legal protection for owners
* Rights to sell branded goods, or the brand itself
* Quality assurance to customers
* Warrants consistency, quality, assurance of origin
WHO’S THE BEST CARE-TAKER OF A COMPANY’S BRANDING?
* Marcom companies … according to Charlotte Beers, Chairman of J. Walter Thompson, and generally acknowledged as the most powerful woman ever to work Madison Avenue. To quote from a speech “Clients see people as consumers first, agencies see consumers as people first.”
EVER TAKEN A BRAND FITNESS EXAM? WHERE WOULD YOU FIT?
* Top shape, ready to go the distance - not much room for improvement
* Admirable performance, but could use more regular workouts
* Just getting by, too soft - need to develop a more disciplined regimen
* Flabby, weak brand, major fitness overhaul needed: consult with a specialist
WHAT IS BRAND EQUITY?
The activities of customers, channels, and company that enable brand to achieve greater margins than it could without the brand. The qualitative dimension that delivers values, beliefs, while the financial dimension increases valuation of assets.
* Research discovered that brand’s contribution to earnings vs. tangible assets, cross industry ranges from 0% for utilities to 70% for luxury goods. Information technology checks in at 20% … a margin worth protecting!
HOW DO BRANDS CREATE VALUE FOR OWNERS?
* Enable premium pricing
* Improves brand memorability
* Facilitates brand loyalty
* Creates competitive barriers to entry
* Provides organizational focus
* Permits product extension options
HOW DO BRANDS CREATE VALUE FOR CUSTOMERS?
* Provide authenticity of origin
* Simplifies marketplace decisions
* Delivers price/value equity
* Reduces need for purchase justification
* Supports buyer ego
* Reflection of buyers self worth
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT TO KEEP CUSTOMERS.
* Volatile technology life cycles create recurring revenue streams
* Lost customers dissuade others from buying (7:1 over persuading to buy)
* Replacing customers drains scarce marketing dollars
* Branding is driving the new revolution in customer management
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BRANDING AND ADVERTISING.
* “Brand Communication” encompasses all forms of communications, actions and activities that influence the impact and relationship between the customer and the brand.
* Customer-focused approach that differentiates brand management from advertising functions
* Customer focused, not product or service
* Relationships, not just selling
* Dialogue, not monologue
* Understanding perceptual, not just rational values
DESTROYING THE MYTHS. YOU MUST GIVE UP BELIEVING THAT…
* Branding is running an image ad campaign
* Branding is too ephemeral to measure
* Building great products alone will create a winning brand
* Branding is something you do after the product is launched
* Branding needs a large budget to be effective
THE DIFFICULTY OF MEASURING BRANDS.
* They’re an intangible asset, not on the balance sheet
* They are legally owned by the company …but their value is determined by the marketplace
* Brands are dynamic, variable, influenced by alternatives/competition and only marginally controllable
THE BRANDING PROCESS COMPONENTS… IN GENERAL.
* Internal decision team
* Internal research
o review existing materials
o interviews
o internal focus groups
* External research
o competitive analysis
o focus groups
6 STEPS TO BRANDING SUCCESS.
* Start with a customer perspective
* Follow up with a communications audit
* Meet customer needs without over-engineering
* Create a distinct brand identity
* Integrate all communications for image uniformity
* Commit to building the brand
COMPONENTS OF THE BRANDING PROCESS.
Brand communication includes all aspects, elements, activities and functions of the brand, including:
* product performance
* distribution, placement
* advertising
* customer service.
ONE YEAR GOALS.
* Core message internalized by management team
* Core message understood by internal audiences
* Convergence of product development research and brand research
* Core message absorbed by external partners
CUSTOMER ASSOCIATIONS WITH A BRAND INCLUDE:
* Brand attributes as personality trait
* The brand as symbolic
* The brand as product attributes
* Organizational quality attributes
FOUR CRITICAL BRAND REQUIREMENTS.
* Must be measured from customer, not corporate point of view
* Must be developed and communicated through perceptual value
* Must be evaluated on its contribution to business outcomes (income flows)
* Must become a reflection of the company itself - not just a marketing message
PITFALLS OF BRANDING EFFORTS.
* Confusing products with brands
* Lack of acceptable or enforceable brand strategy
* Decentralized R&D without regard to overall brand portfolio
* Weak grasp of autonomy vs. a disciplined brand structure
* Poor understanding of brand establishment requirements
SUMMARY
* It takes an entire company to make a brand succeed!
* Sustaining a launch requires shifting from integrating functions (ads, mail, PR) to integrating the brand.
* Technology is making it easier to fulfill the promises of truly great brands
* E-branding is a watershed marketing development, grab it!
* Great technology brands have close relationships with customers.
* Remember, the brand belongs to the customer.
CLOSING THOUGHT…
Branding happens – for better or worse. It’s what companies choose to do about it that makes the difference.
CREDITS:
* Keith Bates wants to thank the following organizations for their valuable
contributions to the preceding presentation:
o Marty Brandt and Grant Johnson’s book PowerBranding and their power branding seminar managed in conjunction with IDG, Griggs Anderson Research and ProBrand.
o Intelliquest’s Brand Tech Forum
o Don Schultz, Professor of Integrated Marketing Communications, Northwestern University; President of Agora consulting; and author of Measuring Brand Communication ROI with Jeffrey Walters.
IF YOU’RE HAVING TROUBLE…
* Differentiating your company from the competition
* Translating your branding message to persuasive copy and graphics
* Floundering with development of a Communications Support Plan
* Achieving focus for your product in look-alike markets
* Grasping the laws of branding, the power of simplicity
* Separating the wasted Marcom dollars from those that work
IN SHORT, IF YOU SUSPECT THAT YOUR BRANDING ISN’T UP TO PAR ASK KEITH BATES FOR A COPY OF THE BRAND FITNESS EXAM … AS A STARTING POINT JUST TO FIND OUT HOW BAD THE SITUATION IS.

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