Branding to a Caveman

It's important to understand how the brain works if you want to build a lasting brand. Al Ries and Jack Trout wrote a number of books on this topic in the '90s. The 22 Immutable laws of Marketing and Positioning: The battle for your mind are my two favorite. Their major point: be first in the customer's mind -- first in the market or category and first in positioning into customer's mind. Why? Because most people won't remember the second as easily. There are a number of explains to support this theory. If you look at Coca-Cola ($28.9 billion of sales) and Pepsi ($39.5 billion of sales) today they are both successful in the same category and Coca-Cola is the "real thing" (first in the minds of consumers) but Pepsi had successfully position itself as the youthful coke as the "new generation" to carve a new category.

The human brain is an incredible machine. A new book, Kluge: The Haphazard Construction of the Human Mind, by New York University psychologist Gary Marcus tackles the idea that we have two thinking systems inside our skulls. He argues that human evolution has created two distinct ways of thinking - an ancestral system that is instinctual and reflexive, and a more modern, deliberative one that involves reasoning. He explains that humans developed "contextual memory", which means we pull things from our memory by using context or clues that hint at what we are looking for, therefore we are better at the quick retrieval of general information rather than specific details.
Examples of this are seen in branding everyday, where we take complex products and simplify them down to one meaning full word. i.e., Vehicle Safety = Volvo, Fights Cavities = Crest, Just do it = Nike, It tastes awful = Buckley's, King of beers = Budweiser

So what does this mean when building brands? That you should keep it simple - stupid proof! Synthesizing its position down to a single thought or word has a better chance of survival.
Another insight Marcus reveals is that most pleasures are attributed from the ancestral, reflexive system. This would explain why we are always distracted and are attracted to anecdotal and emotional hearsay that affect the way we see the world, filter information and make irrational decisions.

While we like to portray ourselves as highly evolved logical, reasonable bioforms, we are still tied to our basic instincts. Tapping into this insight, brands must have an infinity to the non rational side of the brain. This would explain a number of successful products who have built their brands on emotion and why the best products don't necessarily win.

As David Ogilvy's quote "The customer isn't a moron, it's your mother," should be rewritten to finish, "it's a caveperson."

Google - Top Global Brand

Google was recently rated as the top global brand by BRANDZ™ (a rating system developed by market research and consultancy Millward Brown.). I am not so sure it is top of my brand cellar. I use it because it’s just there and seems to be the best search engine tool. But it has no memorable experience with my palette. I don’t have any affinity to the brand nor do I know or feel much attachment to it. It’s a tool that gets me somewhere, if there was a better tool out there I would quickly move on with out any guilt. I have no ill-feelings towards the Google brand I don’t have any fond memories or lasting impression – more like water than wine. This brand has the risk of become relevant in the future if they don’t make a solid and meaningful connect to their consumer. Do you remember Netscape? I guess it’s irrelevant.

Score - 84

How important is the trademark® name and logo™ design?

No one and no brand can live with out a name. The musician Prince (born Prince Rogers Nelson) tried for five years and failed. The pop star dropped his name and requested to be referred to as the icon oat left, a symbol he devised, for which there is no pronunciation. What was wrong with “Prince”? I could understand it if he was called “Sue”. Left with no pronunciation the media called him "The Artist formerly known as Prince," which was eventually shortened to the acronym "TAFKAP." In the end TAFKAP went back to his original name Prince.

The first most important element to a brand is the name and/or logo design. You must have the word mark and/or design mark trademarked and legally protected both locally and internationally. This is the first priority. If you can’t protect it move on and find something you can. Investing millions of dollars on building a brand on a trade name or mark doesn’t make sense if someone else can use it.

There have been many trademark disputes of misuse. Toy maker Mattel Inc. is always going to court to protect its clean-cut Barbie doll brand against misuse. Most recently they took legal actions against a pornographic website.

During World War I, the American government seized Bayer's trademark rights and sold them off to Sterling Drug. In 1995 it took $1 billion dollars for Bayer AG to acquire the Bayer Aspirin line and the rights to the Bayer brand name and trademark in North America (Sterling Winthrop) from SmithKline Beecham. Today, it is one of the top recognizable pharmaceutical brands in North America and in the world.

Not only do we compartmentalize information in our brains by words (i.e., trademark names) we also associate strongly with images (i.e., design marks). Sometime the design mark is a visual interpretation of the brand name like the pecten in Shell Oil or the M (golden arches) in MacDonald’s, or the apple in Apple. Over time a brand name is loaded with the brand experience and the design mark (a simple visual element) can be interchangeable with the trademark name.

The Nike swoosh is a wonderful example of transferring the Nike brand experience to an elegant design mark. Remember the PGA Masters game in 2005 when Tiger was at the 16th hole with a chip onto the green. The ball reached the cup as if in slow motion then for an endless period of time it sits on the lip of the hole. The Nike logo in full view, as the ball finally drops into the hole. The crowd goes wild and again a winner is confirmed. You couldn’t buy this type of advertising in a million years.



Links
USA basic facts on registering a trademark http://www.uspto.gov/go/tac/doc/basic/
Canadian basic facts on registering a trademark http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/sc_mrksv/cipo/tm/tm_gd_main-e.html

Disney and Apple Pie

How can’t you love to savor this distinct brand? We all grew up to the Wonderful World of Disney every Sunday evening (now I am showing my age). Traditionally crafted, it’s an apple pie image of America. Always delivering a happy ending. How can a brand with the goal to make you happy not succeed? I guess when it fails to make you happy. Since 1923 this brand has turn out many fabulous vintages and memories from all of its entertainment vehicles. Most brands are lucky to share a few moments of time with their customers; but in this case, the relationship goes deep and rich to the core values of the customer. This is truly a memorable brand that has a long and lingering finish…one you just don’t want to end.

Score - 95

Why am I building a personal brand?

The purpose of this blog is two-fold.

It’s about building my personal brand and about building brands in general. Everything in life, be it, corporate or personal is about building a brand (you could easily interchange the word “reputation” in place of “brand”). Everything we do in communications contains components of branding.

I have over 25 years of experiences in building brands. I know there are millions of pages written on this topic already but like a human being a brand is complex. I am hoping my diverse background will add another unique viewpoint and insights that may help others with their branding opportunities. As human being we have a built-in DNA that gives us a starting point for projecting our brand. In a company you have the opportunity to shape many aspects of the brand and how the company is portrayed.

You will also notice a wine theme happening. Wine is also another passion of mine. Making great wine is as complex as building great brands. There is as much science as there is art in building both (and sometimes luck doesn’t hurt).

In starting my journey I searched the internet to learn from others on how to begin building an online personal brand. I have found two wonderful bloggers who have build unique online brands that I am using as my guides. Thank you guys for your support. There is no shortage of resources on the topic of personal branding should you contemplate building a personal brand.

As I begin to write this for all to see (assume someone will read it). I ask the question: should you consciously build a personal brand and what is the risk if you do or don’t? It is true that we are all brands - distinct personality but most of us go through life unaware of what their brand essence. Nor do we consciously accentuate our positive traits to further build our brand. Or do we?

I must say that I am rather skeptical about the community/network rage (i.e., Facebook, LinkedIn, Zoominfo, Naymz, MySpace). Do I need more communications? Do I need to be a part of an online community? I don’t know. So I am going to go head first into this to “learn by doing” (the 4-H motto).

But before I begin I must reconfirm what a brand is.

The brand definition

Here are some that I have learnt over the years:

The advertising guru of the 80’s David Ogilvy describes a brand as “the intangible sum of a product's attributes: its name, packaging, and price, its history, its reputation, and the way it's advertised.”

It’s a set of expectations based on past experiences. A brand is a promise that products, services and employees must live up to.

A brand is not an advertising campaign, a symbol or a logo.

A brand is a trusted, reliable old friend that you enjoy being associated with. It’s a positive relationship.

Brand architecture

As I recognize my brand and move it forward in a conscious manner I must be cognizant of the key components for a successful brand, which are:

Unique & memorable
Relevant & meaningful
Recognizable & clear
Consistent & actionable
Likeable

The brand audit

The first thing I did was step back and look at my brand. What was my promise? How am I perceived? These questions must be answered to understand my brand.

Fortunately (or unfortunately) I have research to fall back on to help answer these questions as I wasn’t sure I could objectively answer them myself. I mean really, who can objectively look into the mirror and analysis themselves?

Last year, I had a 360 degree assessment of my leadership skills. A 360 degree assessment is a survey conducted against your peers, boss, suppliers and direct reports. They have to rate you on a number of leadership skill areas and have the opportunity to provide both positive and negative feedback. From this I was able to pull out some key personality traits.

My brand audit begins with the traditional SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis.

Strengths	Weaknesses
Upbeat, positive and professional Excellent communicator Sensitive & respectful Good attitude & sense of humor Well organized Good at reading people A leader who can build great team spirit Excellent strategic thinker	Need to share more Seek out other opinions & viewpoints Solicit more feedback Doesn't always express his views Share his viewpoints more often
Threats	Opportunities
Keeping up with new technologies & new business models Time management Spread himself too thin to make a difference	Seek out more areas to influence Can make a positive contribution with his unique viewpoint

With this as the foundation, I now have to focus on the essence of my brand.

So what is my brand promise? What am I going to be first in to capture a place in my consumer’s mind?

As a connoisseur of fine brands, I will take my brand appreciation and insights and like a Sommeliers I will be eager to impart my knowledge and opinion in savoring the many brands that identify our lives. Brands define us and in return we define brands.

Starbuck...more than just coffee

Starbucks - the designer coffee. Also known as the coffee with an attitude. You can go to almost any major city around the world and get you grande, dry non-fat, extra hot, latte with sleeve prepared by a Barista.(check the latte lingo for more). Starbucks brand magic is the full sensory indulgency. It’s the ambience, the professional staff, the smells, the sounds (including its unique lingo) and finally the unique burnt taste, consistently executed every time, everywhere. Loyal customers proudly and daily carry their Starbuck status symbol in a form of a cup every where they go.

There are many lingering layers to Starbucks from its history, ethics and lasting aromas – a connoisseur’s delight!

Score - 97