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We believe brands come from within, not from market research.
In terms of traditional marketing tenets, it's radical thinking: you should be
who you are, not who your customers want or expect you to be. The reasoning is
this: if everybody is looking out at the market and deciding who they should be
based on whom or what they think their customers want them to be, then
everybody will be striving for the same thing. And if you're the same as your
competitors, then you're not distinctive. ("If it's all basically the same,
we'll take the lowest price, thank you very much.") Ouch, you're generic.
Or (gasp!) a commodity.
You are who you are ... discover it, develop it, exploit it and then capitalize
on it.
A brand is not just distinction, it's evidence of that distinction.
Once you identify your distinction
(we'll show you how), you'll have a
Brand Constitution that will provide proof to back it up. You'll
be able to cite how you deliver on your brand promise and you'll be able to
shape corporate strategy to pledge allegiance to the brand constitution. You've
now planted a flag of differentiation that heralds clarity for your employees,
your partners, your customers and your audiences.
Brand is the corporate strategy, not a marketing initiative.
As an essentially organic part of who a company is today and what it will
become in the future, brand must be developed and evangelized from the very top
echelon of leadership. That means the chief executive, the COO, the CFO, the
president, the vice president of marketing and other ranking executives must
participate in defining, maturing and operationalizing the brand. It's strictly
a top-down process and we've found it's the only way to success.
Brand is more than elegant tactics, it's a holistic strategy.
If you believe, as we do, that brand is really the reason your company exists
and brand is what ultimately defines your company's complete worth, then you'll
realize that you have to manage it as the
asset it represents. You might start to consider the possibility that
by leveraging the company's brand through a planned effort, you can enhance
your ability to achieve the corporate strategy. You will develop a brand-driven
approach to business. |
Brand Asset Management is the approach management
should adopt to manage the brand as an asset, with every strategic and
investment decision an organization makes either impacting or being impacted by
the brand. A brand is a measurable, income-producing asset. The income
contribution of brand can and should be measured and managed over time.
-From Brand Asset Management: Driving Profitable
Growth Through Your Brand
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Brand-driven businesses think strategically.
Looking at critical business issues through a brand-informed approach to
strategy does mean embracing a shift and we realize that it often can be at
odds with short-term pressures and priorities. Yet if you apply that brand lens
to every strategic dialogue, to everything you do and everything you're
thinking about doing, it actually provides terrific clarity. It makes it easier
to study things when you know the right questions to ask. Things like, "Do we
have credibility in this category?" "How does our new presence in this category
affect our image in other categories?" and "How does this fit into the context
of our longer-term vision for the brand?"
Brand-driven businesses operationalize consistently.
Does everyone in your organization understand the role they play in delivering
your brand promise? Every point at which a customer is exposed to or interacts
with your company -- pre-sale, during the sales transaction and after the sale
-- is called a brand touchpoint. We can help you analyze how and what you are
communicating at these key points of interaction. Then, based on how your brand
is perceived, we'll work with you to develop programs to leverage these
opportunities to full advantage. And keep the brand messages and actions
consistent. We call it Brand
Enculturation™. We'll study the company's operational delivery and
recommend ways to overcome challenges, improve processes and enhance training
through the development of cross-functional teams that can drive solutions.
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