Who is in control of your brand?

BRAND(ing) is often a word used when it shouldn’t be for all kinds of reasons.

It gets me miffed when people say ‘we need to refresh our brand, so lets change our logo, or flyer or website’ when the brand is so much more than that.

And so Mark Earls has put out the challenge for people to go through Jan without using the ‘b-word’.

Sure it’s useful and sure it makes you feel (and seem to others) like a proper marketing bod, doesn’t it? Not least because everyone else likes to use it because…well,…everyone else likes to use it because etc etc etc.

But the word itself is a sloppy metaphor for a whole bunch of stuff (much of which isn’t entirely true) with the power to distract you from precise thinking, expression and action, (why ‘build the brand’ when you could be doing something really amazing with the service/product etc…?) so let it go…

In this instance, Wikipedia has pulled through with the goods on its definition of brand

A brand is a collection of symbols, experiences and associations connected with a product, a service, a person or any other artefact or entity.

Brands have become increasingly important components of culture and the economy, now being described as “cultural accessories and personal philosophies”.

I’ve made my pledge to not use the ‘b-word’ and now its your turn, jump over to his blog and put your name down!

Mark has released some tips to make it even easier:

1.take a deep breath whenever you feel the need to b****: count to 5 and only then speak/write
2. substitute another bword – ideally something silly like BNARD (silly encourages you to avoid)
or, of course you could try…

3. Saying more precisely what you mean…

UPDATE (12/01/2009)

Halfway though the test. So I’ve been travelling pretty well, only a couple of mentions, one in a post, BIG STUFF UP! And a couple of times in conversation, but each time I’ve corrected myself, sometimes its easy sometimes its hard. I’ve gone to write it in comments, but then changed it to things like organisation, logo, message, perception etc.

Mark Earls is avoiding it like this.

Fun times, see how we go for the next half of the month.

Your brand is defined by everything from answering the phone, store lighting, cost of product, advertising campaign, PR and much much more… Its a load of things that build up a perception in ones mind about a person or an organisation.

When any of these elements are out of whack the brand is damaged to some extent. Your marketing manager, marketing department or YOU may be responsible for managing this challenge.

Think about a person as a brand, and clothing as marketing activities.

What does this person mean to you? And what would you buy from them?

Source: flickr

Each piece of clothing on its own may be great (maybe not), but when considered together they clearly don’t work for the person in building a brand. Uncoordinated fashion = uncoordinated marketing. It’s like having a website and TV commercial that don’t match.

Consider these three very well constructed and considered brands.

Source: istockphoto This guy = professional, approachable

Source: photos.com This chick = funky, music, dance

This dude = travel, semi-alternative

Clearly each element has been considerd in relation to the others, coming together to build a clear and easy to consume brand. Now each of these brands may or may not appeal to you, but that’s not the point.

Having decided what your brand means is one thing, but is every single communication helping or is it fragmented?

It’s your job to:

1. Understand your target

2. Create a brand they’ll want to connect with

3. Establish a coordinated approach where each activity builds on the others

Some simple steps to becoming more coordinated:

1. If you outsource to more than one agency, get them talking to each other

2. Put all elements of your brand up on a wall/table, do they help each other?

3. Uncover hidden touch points, anytime someone interacts with your brand they’re building a perception. (word of mouth, customer service calls, invoicing, your furniture, shop locations, cars your staff drive, what it smells like in your store, twitter, facebook, shop fronts… to name a few)

4. And last but not least, ensure you’re clear about who you’re talking to, what’s important to them and how you intend to build your brand in their mind

PS First ask 10 customers what they want in life, what you mean to them and how you could improve you might learn something.

Last week a company launched a print and online ad campaign, taking the piss of mums using their babies as fasion accessories. Within 4 days the campaign was pulled as a result of angry Joe public. The brand posted this letter on their website’s homepage

“Nov 20th

So…it’s been almost 4 days since I apologized here for our Motrin advertising. What an unbelievable 4 days it’s been. Believe me when I say we’ve been taking our own headache medicine here lately! 

Btw – if you’re confused by this – we removed our Motrin ad campaign from the marketplace on Sunday because we realized through your feedback that we had missed the mark and insulted many moms. We didn’t mean to…but we did. We’ve been able to get most of the ads out of circulation, but those in magazines will, unfortunately, be out there for a while.

We are listening to you, and we know that’s the best place to start as we move ahead. More to come on that.

In the end, we have been reminded of age-old lessons that are tried and true:

          When you make a mistake – own up to it, and say you’re sorry.

          Learn from that mistake.

That’s all… for now. 

Sincerely, 
 
Kathy Widmer 
VP Marketing 
McNeil Consumer Healthcare”

You can read about it here http://adage.com/digital/article?article_id=132622

The brand (http://www.motrin.com/) have dealt with this in the best possible way and will probably get positive PR out of the stuff up. 

There are some key tips that can be gleaned from this case study:

1. Be aware and listen

If Mortin/their agency weren’t aware of the negative uproar they could’ve really annoyed some people

2. Be responsive

Mortin acted and within 4 days had resolved the issue

3. Be transparent

They didn’t try and excuse their actions or thoughts, they clearly stated the truth.

4. Your brand is under the microscope

People seem to have opinions and now within minutes they can express them broadly to the masses. Little slip ups aren’t allowed – be aware of and truely understand your audience, they’ve got more power than your advertising $s now.

5. Your brand is in social media – like it or not

Its your choice if you want to participate, so get in there and have a look around, warts and all, you can’t hide your demons in the closet, its unlocked and people want to set them free.

6. Get good PR advice that isn’t stupid

Like we learnt from NAB earlier this year, bad PR advice will exponentially grow your problem. Lots of PR agencies in Australia don’t know how social media works, if yours doesn’t get them to learn and add it to your campaign objectives or strategy in some way.

Go Mortin! Whoever they are.