Like many people, “branding” was not an easy term to define or explain. I’m not sure that I’ve ever had it explained to me thoroughly, but I’ve heard many people throw the term around almost aimlessly. I know that it is very important, but I could not put into words exactly why. So, I decided to do some research so that I could give a concise description of it the next time I was asked.
My research started by looking for examples of brand guidelines, or brand manuals. I found a fairly extensive one from Diebold, but it was a little too extensive and really did not explain much about the theory behind creating something like this. So I pressed on, eventually stumbling upon The Brand Gap. I’ve seen the book before in Borders, as I remember the cover design quite well. Why I never picked it up to look more into it is beyond me, but the book is currently on its way here right now. In the meantime, there is a visual presentation created by the author, Marty Neumeier, that was earth-shakingly revealing and world-rocking for me. The presentation below is 162 slides long, so I will give as brief of a summary as I can of its contents.
The Brand Gap
What is a “brand”?
Let’s start by indicating what a brand is not. A brand is not a logo, an identity system, a website, or a product. It is not even all of these things put together.
World-Rocking Point #1: A brand is the gut feeling of an individual [person] about a product, service, or organization.
Your company brand is not what you say it is, it is how every individual that comes into contact with it says it is. So, why even have brand guidelines? It isn’t like you can control or predict how every person in the world will “feel” about every aspect of your company. Or, can you?
Later on in the presentation, Marty made the point of how there is a natural reading sequence that occurs when a person looks at a product’s packaging. There is a natural reading sequence when a human interacts with anything; whether it be a website, product, brochure, commercial ad, etc., people are creatures of habit and there is a scientific way to predict or calculate how individuals on a collective basis will react. In the reading sequence particular to packaging, Marty’s last point was that the customer needs proof. So, they’re waiting for you to give them what they want to see, what they want to hear or know, before they make even the smallest investment in what you have to offer them.
Like the Bing commercials illustrate with their “Search Engine Overload” campaign, we are constantly bombarded with information. However, “Search Engine Overload” would never happen because our brains would never allow it to. They act as a filter, honing in on the information that is different from all the rest. (Anyone else automatically go back to Sesame Street for a split second there?)
World-Rocking Point #2: The main purpose of branding is to get more people to buy more stuff for more years at a higher price.
If your main business goal for 2010 is to get more customers and you are a little lost on how to exactly go about doing that, take a step back and ask yourself: how do my customers perceive my company? If you haven’t been following guidelines for how you present your company, chances are you aren’t being perceived in the way that you want to be. Or, you might be completely disconnected from how individuals feel about you.
World-Rocking Point #3: The Charismatic Brand is any product, service, or organization for which people believe there is no substitute.
Google, anyone? It is so much more than a search engine, it is quickly becoming a way of life for many people–myself included. Because I go through so many emails using a Gmail account, I now say “archive” in my head instead of “keep” while cleaning out the garage. While deciding on what phone to get, I passed over the very trendy “necessity” of the iPhone for one that integrates all of my Google services into one tiny package that I can take with me anywhere I go. Many small businesses are turning to Google because of its free services. And it isn’t just because they are free, mind you. It is because the quality at this point in time cannot be surpassed.
How do you persuade individuals to consider you as something that cannot be substituted for? Focus. Like the highest level of consciousness, it takes extensive research, planning, and insight into your target market and how you can best serve them. You might think that small businesses operating only out of one very small geographic area can never become “charismatic”, but this is far from the truth. Recently The Bean Cup, a coffee shop in Greenwood, closed down. Weeks later, people are still complaining about it. I still have yet to find a replacement for all that they had to offer. They had successfully created an atmosphere that was irreplaceable.
The 5 Disciplines of Building a Successful Brand
Differentiate
Because our brains act as filters, honing in on only the things that are different, the most important thing a company can do is be different. And I will reiterate that you need to find your focus. “Bad brand extensions are those that chase short-term profits at the expense of long-term brand value. Good brand extensions grow the value of a brand by reinforcing its focus.”
Collaborate
“It takes a village to build a brand.” You might be the best in your field of accounting, insurance, dry cleaning, flooring, or whatever it is that you do. Chances are, however, you don’t know much about design or how to effectively use it to your advantage. Collaborate with professionals that do.
World-Rocking Point #4: Myth: Wide experience leads to deep insights. Fact: Deep insights come from deep experience.
It isn’t the quantity of experience someone has had, it is what they have chosen to do with what they have learned.
Innovate
“Execution–not strategy–is where the rubber meets the road.”
As a designer, most people assume that I am a right-brained individual. And in some ways I am. However, having a computer programmer as a father, someone who was incredibly left-brained with most things, I still very much rely on logic and rationality to get me through my day. I chose design because was looking for a career in which I could use both sides of my brain. Strategy is generally a left-brained discipline, and to set yourself apart from your competition there needs to be an equal portion of creativity applied to what you do. Most business processes have historically been centered around left-brain thinking, but there is a tidal wave on the horizon of introducing creativity (i.e. innovation) into these processes. Most people are right- or left-brained, analytical or creative. And, going back to collaboration, there should always be an equal interaction between these ways of thinking if you want to become or remain innovative.
World-Rocking Point #5: When the competition zigs–you zag.
Question: How do you know when an idea is innovative? Answer: When it scares the hell out of everybody.
Validate
“Validation means bringing the audience into the creative process.”
When reading that quote I automatically think of a workshop I attended the other week regarding Dealing With Difficult People. The entire session was interactive, which made the few hours we spent together really rather fun. Opposed to the traditional method of lecturing or even preaching, the speaker engaged us with the material by getting us involved.
Involving your audience in the creative process these days is easy, simple, and free. Going back to my Using Social Media Effectively post, companies these days are using social networks and even entire websites as their own (free) Research & Development Departments. The most important thing that any of these companies are doing to make their efforts successful, however, is validating what their customers say. It isn’t enough to simply have a fan site or page up and running, you must converse with your audience. By responding to their concerns or comments, you validate their thoughts and feelings which makes them feel good about not only themselves, but about your company as well.
Cultivate
“Business is a process, not an entity.”
World-Rocking Point #6: A living brand is a pattern of behavior, not a stylistic veneer.
If life is a process, it only makes sense that business should be as well. A business lives and breathes, feeding its life from the people that are it’s foundation. “If people can change their clothes without changing their characters, why can’t brands?”
Quotes for Conclusion
“The more distributed a brand becomes, the stronger its management needs to be.”
“By mastering these principles, you build a sustainable competitive advantage.”