Jun 25, 2007 04:28 PM
1182 Views
In today’s world where there is a virtual explosion of information on the topic of branding, this book provides a simple, clear, and interesting approach towards new ideas, insights, and guidelines for marketers to identify an enduring method of building and sustaining the most precious asset of any organization – its brand equity. The book is a collection of papers and articles presents different perspectives on branding inspiring those who are looking forward to manage brands and processes in a richer and more effective way.
Modern day branding has a come a long way from the days of applying hot iron rods to cattle to depict ownership. It is about creating a differentiating mark, made in the minds of the consumers and audiences with the intent of establishing and maintaining a relationship between an ‘offering’ and its audience that can be leveraged to a commercial end. Strong brands are driven by the genuine intent of the brand custodian to provide an offering of value to the audience. Despite branding seeming to be an extremely complex subject, many have built brands with little or no formal knowledge of the subject. Much of the branding is commonsensical as has been demonstrated by brands like Disney, Wal-Mart and Dell. These are all brands that were started by ambitious entrepreneurs with no formal ‘brand’ training – only sound values and genuine intent.
The clear and concise observations, made by the author provide valuable, thought-provoking, practical insights and guidelines that has been important for building the sustainable brands of the future. The observations on different perspectives of branding given by the author has been summarized in the following few paragraphs.
Brand managers for branding have used Story-telling technique. Newspapers, magazines and tabloids are replete with true and sometimes not-very-true stories on film stars, rock stars and the like that add to these stars’ appeal. The knowledge that Coca Cola was apparently once promoted as a tonic makes for interesting information as it is not know to many consumers and adds to the strong sense of heritage and reinforces the association of Coca Cola with the evolution of America. A watch that defied the ravages of sea water for ten years, a battery that miraculously kept a clock going for twelve years, are some true records and these are tales that some brands can tell. These tales aid recall value and are good for word-of-mouth publicity. These tales make the consumers look at the brand with a newfound respect.
A brand that can create traditions that become a part of popular culture arguably has the potential to last as long as the culture does. Brand traditions can be simple yet very effective. For e.g. Ben & Jerry’s offers free ice cream on Free Cone Day. This tradition started by the brand despite the number of free cones running in to over three hundred thousand in a year continues and has become an integral part of the brand’s identity. The decision to create a tradition, however, must be taken carefully because withdrawing a brand tradition after it has been maintained for some time can have negative repercussions for the brand.
The versatility that technology provides, the ease of operation that the web offers, the immense amount of relevant information that can be communicated simply yet with full impact give brand custodians good reasons to set up websites for their brands. One of the articles in the book give twenty such steps to create powerful brand websites. These include expressing brand’s personality, providing meaningful content, emphasizing differentiation, presenting brand’s values and information about the brand, providing product specifications and suggesting more uses for the brand, etc. The decision to set up a website for a brand is strategic decision and requires commitment and attention to make the effort successful. A website backed by insufficient resources could be counterproductive to the brand.
The article on internal branding highlights a few ways that brands can use to attract and retain the right kind of people. Brand building amongst existing and prospective employees can depress costs, increase productivity, and strengthen brand equity not just with existing and prospective employees but with the general public as well. Brand building truly starts with the employees. Another paper from the book focuses on how advocacy works for brands. Advocacy is inextricably linked with the clarity of the brand promise and the brand’s ability to deliver on this promise. The more the satisfaction, the more positive the advocacy is. Brands must look at building brand advocacy as an offshoot of the brand equity.
The paper on ‘Branding for Non-Profits’ articulates how the scarcity of resources makes branding for non-profit organizations extremely important as it helps them in increasing revenue and depressing costs. Certain things like the ignorance of branding and the philosophy in many non-profits, that they are above branding and that branding requires large advertising budgets prove as major hindrances from becoming strong brands like Red Cross, CRY and United Way. The biggest challenge for non-profits is to understand and embrace branding in its true spirit. Similarly, there are articles that provide some good observations on how some nations have effectively built their brand image based on their values, culture, etc.
Another article discusses the inefficient branding process of most pharma industries, which has affected their brands’ credibility. Branding of pharma products or services requires immense rigour and a thorough knowledge of the principles of branding. The corporate brand – its mission, vision, values, goals and processes – helps in creating credibility. For e.g. Pfizer proclaims in its mission ‘ We dedicate ourselves to humanity’s quest for longer, healthier, happier lives through innovation in pharmaceutical, consumer, and animal-health products’. The results of this company itself prove of its success and credibility. It is important for corporate pharma brands to have missions to have missions that are inspiring and personalities that are liked. One of the papers also highlights the benefits of using emotion to build and strengthen brand equity. Brands that are consumed over a period of time develop a great emotional relationship with their consumers who value the good times that they have had while consuming the brand and associate these with the brand. People who grew up drinking Coke were distressed when Coca Cola withdrew Coke from the market to launch New Coke as this rudely cut them off from their memories. If consumers don’t feel the emotional value of brands, then the branding is in danger of losing its relevance. The benefits of heritage branding are also highlighted with few interesting examples.
