Brand: A brand is something that lives in your head; "it" resides in the mind. It’s the mental association that represents a particular product or service. The brand's idea must be simple to understand (clear and concise) but above of all has to be meaningful.
Often not considered, but equally as important, is the degree in which the product or service is "relevant" to the consumer. Although it’s critical to establish a point of brand difference (how often do we here this?), more often then not the degree of relevance is overlooked. Relevance is about talking to the primary consumers and calculating the number of consumers you need to appeal to in order to make a profit. The best brands all started small, with a select group of adopters, created a niche brand, and expanded from there. And in doing so, they became big, iconic-brands.
I. Apple
II. Mercedes Benz
III. McDonald’s
IV. Nike
v. Blackberry
v. Blackberry
Consider this, sometimes it is better to be a niche brand and command hefty margins, from an elite group of buyers than to be all things to all people and put yourself in a commodity position; having only to fight a price war for profit.
Key Thoughts When Developing Brand Identities:
1. Innovation: A MUST! However, a lot of brands have developed products without assessing relevance. All that’s created is an identity crisis or “innovation gone bad.”
a. Segway (supposed to sell million but only sold in the thousands)
b. New Coke (why change the old formula; particularly when you’re the world leader)
c. Crystal Clear Pepsi (ahhh we all remember this one)
c. Crystal Clear Pepsi (ahhh we all remember this one)
2. Differentiation: Difference for the sake of being different won’t get a brand anywhere. Keeping in mind that even the best and well designed mouse trap in the world is "no bueno" unless it actually catches mice, yes?
3. Research: Research isn’t a panacea (not a fan of "paralysis by analysis") - know that: Consumers behave differently when facing a purchase decision than when they’re in a focus group. Leverage deeply your experience and intuition (often you'll know best). This is what happened when Wendy's offered fruit with their hamburger. The CEO later stated in an interview that the participants in their focus groups "just lied."
Assessment – Key Questions:
Lastly, it's imperative to to clearly understand what other brands occupy the same perceptual space in the mind.
Is your brand....
1. Innovative, Chic, and Useful
2. Conservative and Safe (white line)
3. Could it be on its way out???
Last note: being able to see and study the brand constellations, as opposed to staring at stars, is critical to the brand's future...not to mention it could also be a healthy dose of "reality check."
