branding 101, understanding branding basics and fundamentals

Why. Our brands, important, let's. Take a look at, one of the best brands, in the world coca-cola, the. Total, market value of the company is around, a hundred and seventy five billion dollars, but. One asset, in particular makes, up about 75. Billion of that and it's. Not the secret recipe it's. The brand, brands. Are both a strategic as, well as a financial, asset a strong. Brand creates customer, loyalty and, that, increases. The value of your company, value. Which can grow if you continue, to invest in the brand there. Are many other benefits of brands brands. Allow you to set higher prices, for your products and services people. Associate. Higher quality, to branded products and they'll, pay more than for a generic, version even when the two products, are identical, why. Because. They trust the branded, product more brands. Make and keep. Their, promises. Once. Your product is branded, you typically, earn a higher market, share while, lowering, your cost of sales, loyal. Customers, don't need to be marketed to as much with. An established, brand it's easier, to launch new products when. Consumers, see the brand's logo on, a new product they, instantly. Associate the brand promise to, that new product from day one. There. Are other benefits of brands than just the marketing, advantages, for. Example studies show that companies. With great brands, have lower employee, turnover. Popular. Brands, help companies recruit, the most talented, and passionate employees. Brands. Creates status, and esteem, for your company, in the minds of industry. Leaders community. Leaders the. Media and financial. Markets, like Wall Street but. Despite, all these benefits it, may not make sense for you to create a brand there. Are certain business, situations, where, it would be a waste of money for. Example, in completely. New markets, where there are very few if any customers. You'd. Be smarter to invest your resources in, growing awareness, and interest in the category, first if you're. Already the, a leader with most of the market share, creating. A brand probably, won't, pay off if. You're, in a highly fragmented, industry with hundreds, or even thousands. Of small competitors, a brand. May not be able to reach enough customers to, make it worthwhile if, you're. A business, is such that you have only a handful, of customers, perhaps. Even one customer, like the government, branding. Won't do much, so. Take a look at your situation, before you jump right into it but. If your business depends. On creating, loyal repeat. Customers, a strong. Brand is the surest way to do it. You. The. Branding process has five steps. First. We have to define, the brand and everything. That goes into it a brand. Is a promise, so. We have to clearly define what, that promise, is and the, core values behind. It think. Of the values, as the, DNA. Of the brand at. This step we also define, how the brand links, to your overall business and other, brands that you may have. Brands. Don't exist in isolation so we have to give them a home so to speak, somewhere. In your portfolio, we. Also have to define what are called brand drivers, brand. Drivers, define, how the core, values, will be manifested. Into the marketing mix or key, business processes that support the brand it's. All the things associated, with, a brand, that help you translate, its value into actions. The. Next step of the branding process is to position, the brand, essentially. We are shaping how customers, think, about the brand we. Identify, who those, customers, are what. Benefits, they seek from your products and services and what, they currently believe, about those products, and services versus. The competition, at. This step we're making the direct, link between the, products, value, proposition, and the, brand promise. Once. You define the, brand promise and how its position, in the market place you. Need to express. The brand. Imagine. The brand as a person. A person. Needs a name a personality. In an, identity, in terms of what they look like you. Do the same for brands at. This step we, create brand names and logos to help customers, easily, recognize, the brand and, remember.

The Promise, that it delivers, at. This stage it's time to build awareness, of the brand and put it to work for you we, do that by communicating it. And we, do that both internally. To our own organization. As well. As externally. To the market why. Internally. Your. Employees, and distributors, play a critical, role in delivering the promise they. Create, and deliver, products and services that, deliver benefits, that, customers. Expect given. The promise the brand has made keeping. A brand strong means we have to communicate continuously. And most. Importantly. Consistently. To reinforce, the promise in people's, minds. If you. Don't brands. Lose their value and that. Leads us to the final step of the brand building process, measure, you. Want to measure the value of the brand or what we call brand, equity, it's. What you accrue when, you develop, promote. And deliver. An authentic, brand promise as brand. Equity, increases, company. Value increases, you. Also measure the brand's performance, is it. Living up to the promise and isn't. Doing what you expected, it to for your business, the. Brand building process takes time and money but. If you do it right you'll, create strong healthy. Brands that make your business more successful. Let's. Start building a brand, first. We have to identify the, values. Of the brand, remember. That a brand is a promise and underneath. That promise, must be a supporting, set of values, they're, like a foundation. Underneath, a home for example if I, make a promise to you it's, because I believe certain things are important, otherwise. I wouldn't, make the promise the. Same is true of brands, that we created marketing, think. Of brand values, as the key behaviors. Or virtues, of the brand that need to be expressed, consistently. Day, in and day out. Taken. Together these. Values, form the essence, or the theme of the brand they're, like a belief system of the brand. Determining. The brand values, starts, by understanding the. Overall marketing, strategy of, your business, what. Kind of products and services do you offer, what. Are the key trends, and new opportunities. In your markets who, are your customers and who. Are your competitors. Given. That what, is your overall, value. Proposition. In the marketplace, you've. Got to have a solid, marketing strategy, before you can build a solid branding. Strategy, the. Two are closely, linked, for, this course I'm, going to use a hypothetical. Company that, wants to create a brand for one of its new products, let's. Assume we're in the watch business we're. Coming out with the new line of smart watches that, integrate, with other tech products like smart phones let's. Say that our strategy, is to create a watch, ideally. Suited for families. But. Not just families, in general we, are targeting, the parents, specifically, we. Want to position our watch as the ideal, watch for moms and dads, for. Now let's, call it the parent watch, remember. That's the name of the brand not, necessarily. The name of the product itself, now. Given, our marketing strategy, we, want to create a brand that delivers, this promise, of being the ideal. Watch for parents, we. Start by identifying the. Key values, that this new brand must have for, this promise, to have any meaning, to it so. I start by listing beliefs, that people might have about parents, for. Example parents. Are special, being. A parent is an important, role in the life of many moms and dads being. A parent is hard work, parents. Do everything. They can to help their families, by. Creating. This list I'm looking. For one or a collection, of some of these to shape and form the. Main theme, of my new brand I want, to create a sentence, that conveys what, the brand is all about. Let's. Try this the. Parent, watch celebrates. Parenthood, by, helping, parents be the very best they can be, I like. This it's. Aspirational, it's. Linked directly to my strategy, and it. Has a strong, emotional, appeal we. Can always revise and, fine-tune, this later but, for now let's, stick with this as the core purpose of the parent, watch brand both, why, it exists, and what. It believes. Take. A look at the brand's you have now or the, brand you want to create ask. Yourself. These questions. What. Is the belief system, underneath, those brands is it. Linked to your marketing, strategy, is it. Clear, what this brand stands for now and what, it wants to be in the future. Building. A strong foundation is. The crucial, first step to bring your brand to life. A brand's. Values, form, the foundation, of the brand but, now on top of that foundation you, need to build more about, the definition, of the brand think. Of it as expanding. And stretching, it out you. Do that by creating brand. Drivers. Brand. Drivers, are more detailed, in descriptive, aspects. Of the brand they, come in different forms, they could, be attributes.

Of The brand itself, they, could be functional. Or emotional. Benefits, that the brand delivers they. Could be self. Expressive, benefits, in other, words what the customer, is saying about themselves, when, they consume, the brand, to. Create brand drivers, make. An exhaustive. List of phrases. Or sentences, about. The brand that stretched. The brand's core purpose, don't. Worry too much about the wording, of these and don't, try to filter them later. On you'll group them into similar, categories, and that's where you'll edit them to get the most relevant brand, drivers. Let's. Go back to our case study the. New brand for a SmartWatch, that's ideal, for moms, and dads we. Call it the parent watch its. Core value, is the. Parent, watch celebrates. Parenthood, by helping parents be the very best they can be. Given. That what, else might this new brand be about, let's. Start with the list we had already. Parent. Watch believes that parents. Are special being. A parent may be the most important, role in a person's life being. A parent is hard work. Parents. Do everything, they can to, help their families, let's. Create more by asking ourselves what. Else goes into being a great parent, let's. Write these from, the parents, point of view. Parent. Watch helps. Me do the impossible, by balancing, tasks, and getting, it all done in the day it. Helps me protect, my family, it, helps, me perform, my duties, at home work. And everywhere. Else it. Helps me stay connected, to my kids, it. Helps, me teach my kids important, life lessons, it. May said fun to be a mom or dead. Wearing. Parent, watch tells, the world that I care about my family above, all else. Do. You see what's going on here we're. Creating, a list of specific, things that are important, to our target audience then. We take those and turn them into attributes. Of the brand itself or, a benefit, that the brand delivers, when. You do this for your brand you, should have several, dozen of these try. To create as long, a list, as possible then. Group into categories. Such as functional. Benefits, the, basic job that the product does. Emotional. Benefits how, a product, makes a consumer, feel. Economic. Benefits, how, a product saves time and money, self. Expressive benefits, how, a product makes us appear, to others, other. Types of benefits such as benefits. To society, or to the environment, now. Once they're grouped into categories we, look for ways to refine, or combine, them into a more coherent, list for. Example these. Two drivers. Parent. Watch helps me do the impossible by balancing, tasks, and getting, it all done in a day and. Parent. Watch helps me perform, my duties at home work. And everywhere. Else it. Seems similar, perhaps. I could tighten, these up into one, phrase such, as. Parent. Watch helps, me balance multiple, tasks at work home, and everywhere. Else. Brand. Drivers, put more meaning into the brand we, call them drivers, because, these are the ideas, that you use to express and communicate what. Your brand is all, about. You. So, what, is it that you actually brand, well. That's, kind of a trick question, you, don't brand things, rather. You, create, a brand with its core promise, and list of associations. As we did in the last two videos, then. You. Attach, something to that brand promise like, a product or a company, name by. Attaching, that, product, or a company name to the brand your, customers. Associated. With, the brand, now. I know that may seem like a subtle point but here's why I make it don't. Think of branding, like taking, an iron, and burning. It onto the side of a product or it's packaged like Cowboys, do when they brand livestock, that's. The single most common, mistake people make when, doing branding, they, think you can just slap, a logo, and a clever name on the side of a product and voila. Here's my new brand, to. Be a savvy branding, professional, you, want to avoid this mistake and, instead, follow, a discipline, step. By step process, with, a set of tools to, create and manage your brand's that's. What this course is all about, now. Once. You've created the core brand promise and list of associations. The, correct, question to ask is what, kinds, of things can, I attach, to the brand the. Answer may surprise you. We've. Already mentioned products. Inside. This bottle is fizzy. Brown water with the syrupy, sweet taste when. We associate. It with the coca-cola brand, the, consumer, memorizes. This association, for future reference, every. Time a consumer drinks, what's inside here they, instantly, recall, the brand promise and, subconsciously.

Think To themselves, promise. Made, promise. Kept that's. Why we sometimes call, a brand a locus. Of emotions, it's, all the emotions, inside that are triggered, by a brand that define it a brand. Is a memory, jugger a shortcut. So to speak to. Make that memory, jogging a bit easier, we, give the brand a certain look and sometimes. A name when. You wrap that name and look around the product consumers. Have a much easier time making. That connection, maybe. That's why it feels like we are branding. A product like using a branding iron on livestock, it's. Not only products, that can be branded, you. Might want to brand just one feature of that product Hertz. The, car rental company brands, it's gold club an exclusive. Club for loyal customers. You, can also brand a single, ingredient within, the product my, favorite example is when Intel. Created. The now iconic, Intel. Inside, brand, most, people have no idea what, the Intel thing actually did or how it worked, it, didn't matter as long, as the computer they, were about to buy had Intel. Inside they. Were satisfied. Promise. Made promise. Kept if your. Product has a unique technology, especially, if, it's something you own perhaps, with patents you, can also associated, it with a brand, Toyota. For example, branded, its hybrid, synergy drive as, part, of its fleet of eco-friendly, cars. Can. You brand services. Absolutely. A service. Is the same as a product, in that they are both benefit. Delivery vehicles. Google. For example offers, a wide, range of services, that, are branded in fact. An entire, company, can be branded take. Starbucks, for example, you. Can also create a string, of brands for. Example. Amazon. Kindle. Delivers. Books using whisper. Net technology. A branded. Company a product. And Technology. All-in-one. You. May be thinking hey wait, a minute what. If you take this too far, that's. A good question, if you're, not careful you, may end up with what I call brand, chaos, where. Your brand too many things in a way that might, confuse, the customer. To. Avoid that take. A look at your current brands, or brands, you want to create then. Try. To identify what. You've actually branded, a product. A feature. And so. On. Good, brand builders then start to think about how these different brands, exist, together to, deliver value for, the customer. Brands. Need a home a place. To live they. Not only need, a place to live but you also need, to determine the relationship, the brand has with other brands, in that home you. Do this by. Creating a, brand architecture.

Think. Of architecture the same as you would when building a house the. Architect, decides, how, many rooms you'll have where. They're situated in, the overall structure of the home and the, role of each room bathroom. Kitchen, and so on to. Create a brand, architecture we. Do the same thing now. There are many formats, and models for this but, here's a general, way to think about your options when. Building a brand, architecture. First. You, could create what's called a house of brands each. Brand, stands, on its own and has no relationship, with the others. Consumers. Know the names of the brands but they don't know the name of the company that owns them in. Other words they, don't know the name of the house itself, your. Company, but just the rooms inside. The. Procter, & Gamble Company is, probably the best example of this it owns, many, familiar, brands. That we use every day like, Crest, toothpaste Tide. Laundry detergent. And Febreze. But. Most consumers, won't know that P&G, owns these brands, or that these brands are owned by the same company at. The. Other end of the spectrum is, the branded. House in this. Approach the company, is the brand all, products. And services, within, that company are associated. With that single, company, brand but. They themselves don't. Exist, as a brand, when. You think about a company like caterpillar, your. Mind conjures. Up images of tractors. And, heavy equipment but. You probably can't, think of a product brand within, caterpillar. It's. What we call a master, brand, because. It governs, over, all the company's products, and services. BMW. Is another great example, now. In between these two architectures, is a third. It's called, a blended house, think. Of it as a mix of the two a little. Bit of a master, brand with, a few, individual. Brands connected, to it a good. Example is Marriott. International the. Hospitality, company. It has. A strong. Master. Brand Marriott. Along. With 18, sub, brands, like courtyard. And Residence. Inn it's. A nice approach because, consumers. Associate. Many, good qualities with, the Marriott name but. Then each, Hotel property, has its own brand, promise, for, specific, market segments, when. You combine these with the master, brand Courtyard. By Marriott. Consumers. Instantly. Understand, that, unique promise pretty. Cool, so. Which approach is best well.

It Depends on your strategy the. Brand that house approach is more, cost-effective because, you're spending money to build one, single, brand but. This limits, where you can expand, it'd. Be strange if caterpillar, wanted to go into the food business for example a house. Of brands is expensive. Because you have to build each brand, from scratch but. Then you, have total freedom to go into any new market without affecting, the other brands. P&G. For example, can expand into just about anything. Many. Companies use, the blended approach to. Give themselves the best of both, worlds. Building. The brand architecture helps, customers, understand. Your brands the way you want, them to and that's. A real advantage to, building, brand equity. Brands. Can take on a life of their own almost. To the point where they seem like a person and just. Like us they. Can have their own unique. Personality. Our. Final, step in the define stage of the brand building process, is to create this personality, or what, we call a brand, persona. Given. The brand's promise you, give the brand a set of human-like, characteristics, that, your customers, would expect, from someone who, keeps this promise, now. Why does this matter, well. Your target, audience will better understand, your brand if they can associate, it with or think, of it as a human, being, brands. With a personality. Stand out more we. Tend to like them more and most. Importantly, we, want to maintain a relationship with. It in marketing. That's a huge advantage because, that relationship causes. Customers, to be more loyal and that's, what valuable, brands do, to. Create a brand persona, you have to create a list of personality. Traits that shape, the overall personality. Of our brand now. Various researchers. In the field of marketing have, studied, brand personalities. To, find out what kinds of traits might be available to use one. Of the most recognized, in this field is dr., Jennifer occur in her. Classic, research report, titled, dimensions. Of brand personality, she. Outlines, a framework of personality. Traits that brands can take on, the. Five core, dimensions, are, sincerity. Excitement. Competence. Sophistication. And, ruggedness. Now. Within each of these are more detailed, traits for. Example under sincerity. We, would find down-to-earth. Honest. Genuine. And, friendly. Now. These traits are further broken down into sub, traits, for. Example under the trait friendly, we, would find the sub traits of warm. Happy. Cheerful. And caring. Now. Out of this long list of dozens, of personality. Traits our goal. Is to select. A handful, that create. This unique, brand, persona, let's. Go back to our case study the. Parent, watch, let's. Take a look at our core value the. Parent, watch celebrates. Parenthood, by, helping moms and dads be the very best they can be, you. Also want to look at your long list of brand drivers.

Taken. Together ask, yourself. If, parent. Watch was a person, how. Would you describe its personality, I, selected. The following traits. Family. Oriented, caring. Intelligent. Reliable. Strong. Wholesome. Spirited. And. Of course fun, now. Keep in mind that these are not intended, to be the traits of an ideal, super. Mom or dad rather. These, are the traits of a brand that helps, parents become the ideal, super mom or dad do. You see the difference, your. Brand may have traits that are similar, to your target audiences, what's. Most important, is that the, brand has traits, consistent. With someone who, would make and keep its promise, that. Makes the brand more trusted, in, authentic. Speaking. Of authenticity and trust where. Your customers, believe these traits just because you pick them from a list, they. Will as long as, you carefully, selected, them to, define, someone, else besides the brand that, someone. Else is you. And perhaps your colleagues, the, people who ultimately make. And keep. The, promise. Authentic. Brands are those that reflect, the characteristics, of the people who deliver, value. To the marketplace now. That's great, brand. Building. You. Creating. And defining your brand is only the first step of the brand building process, at, this, point the brand is still an empty vessel. Empty. Because you haven't made or kept any promises, to customers, remember. That a brand is a promise kept, over. And over, to a target, audience to the point that they believe and trust it trust. Builds, loyalty and, that. Is your next step to, identify, the specific, customers. That, you want your brand to be relevant to, for. That we. Use a marketing, technique called, segmentation. Segmentation. Means dividing. The market of potential, customers into, similar, groupings, there. Are four ways to do it. Demographic. Segmentation, focuses. On physical, characteristics, of customers, like gender. Age, they're. Hided weight even. Hair color it's. A very useful way to segment, especially. If your brand's, promise, delivers. On something related. To a customer, characteristic. If you're. Marketing, shampoo. For redheads for example, then, you'd want to group your customers, by hair color, closely. Related to demographic. Segmentation, is Geographic. Use. This approach when, you want to group people by where they live or where they work it. Can also include, things like where, they go for certain activities or, where. They just hang out if your. Brand promise, is related, to that location, this. Way of grouping customers, makes the most sense. Next. Is behavioral. Segmentation, here. We focus on things that potential, customers do, or, how they behave, it. Includes things like purchase, behavior, lifestyles. And things, like how customers, use a product, once. Again it's, the right way to segment customers if your brand delivers, something of value related. To this behavior, for. Example people, who want to drive fast are going to appreciate brands. That promise speed. Finally. Is, attitudinal. Segmentation. This. Is what goes on in the customers, head about, the benefits, they seek, group. Customers, by their needs or benefits, they're looking for is extremely. Powerful, because. It gets right to the core of your, brand's, promise, for. Example if you're, building a new brand for an automobile you'd. Want to group customers, around benefits, such as fuel, economy, luxury. Eco-friendly. Or status.

Selecting. The right segmentation. Approach is critical because it helps you with the next two steps of the brand building process. Express. And communicate. Branding. Is about making and, keeping, a promise over. And over to the point where consumers. Trust you and they. Become loyal, what. Do you promise and when. Do you promise it you. Answer, these questions, by analyzing. Your potential, customers, when. People buy products, and services, they're, buying a collection. Of benefits. You can categorize, these, benefits, into three types. Functional. Benefits, refer to a product's, physical, performance, for. Example when. Buying a car, functional. Benefits, include, size. Of the engine, passenger. Seating, or how the car handles. Economic. Benefits, are related, to saving, money or saving. Time with. The car economic. Benefits would include the miles per gallon, annual. Maintenance cost, or, the cars reliability. Finally. Our emotional. Benefits, these. Are related to the psychological, feelings. You get when using a product, for. A car it, would include things like status. Or self, esteem. Customers. Buy things for, a mix of these benefits, but. Some are more important, than others if you. Know what's most important, to them you, can appeal to that need when, deciding on your brand, promise, you. Can also raise, this sense of importance, they place on another factor, and focus. Your brand on that instead. You. Also want to understand, the steps customers. Take when buying something that will, help you shape the overall experience, they have with your brand and decide. The best point to make the promise, typically. Those, steps are as follows. First. Is, need. Recognition, phase, this. Is where customers realize. That they want something the. Next step is information. Search once. Customers feel, a need to have something they start gathering information about, solutions. For that need, once. A customer gathers. The information they. Go to the next step which is to evaluate, the alternatives. Customers. Make choices based, on what features are, important, in which. Brand, does the best job in delivering, those, features, it's. Critical, that you communicate, your brand's promise, at this point. Eventually. The customer, will narrow their choices down, to one brand and go, to the purchase phase, finally. Is the post, purchase behavior phase, once. Customers start, using the product or service they, compare, the results, with their expectations, that. The brand deliver on the promise how. Did the product make them feel when they used it this. Phase is also critical, because customers. Will form opinions, about your brand and share. Their experiences, good, or bad with. Other customers. Great. Brand builders know they have a role to play in each, step of the customer, buying process, they, know where these steps take place when. They take place and who's, involved, with. These insights, you're, ready to develop an effective, brand. Experience. Perhaps. The most central, idea, in all, of marketing, is that of, positioning. A company's. Value, proposition. Is the single-minded. Claim that it makes to change the customers, mind and cause, them to do something that, something. Could be to buy a product or to, try a product or. To pay a certain price or. To visit a website or. Just, to think about your brand and its benefits, in a certain way, how. You position your product in the market will ultimately, determine the, overall, promise, you make to create your brand, now. Let's make a distinction, here in a. Marketing, plan you, create a value, proposition that, is this central piece of your marketing, strategy so how, does that relate to brand, positioning, are, they the same well. Not necessarily but, they're closely related, the. Brand promise is essentially. Your overall. Value, proposition, it's, a broad, definitive. Statement, of the bundle, of benefits, to customers by, the brand it's, a clear articulation of. Precisely. What. It is that gives the brand an edge, over competitors. Think. Of brand positioning. As the long-term, strategic positioning. Your. Marketing, strategy, value proposition, is more, like a short-term, tactical.

Positioning. Let's. Do an example to see this connection, using. Our case study of the parent, watch we. Know that our overall, brand positioning, is, the. Parent, watch celebrates. Parenthood, by helping, moms and dads be, the very best they can be, now. By design, we've, set that at a pretty high level but. What if you're about to launch a new product or perhaps, just introduce, a new feature on an existing product for. That you, need a more tactical, short-term. Positioning. For. Example, let's, assume our parent, watch has a new feature that allows us to SMS. People, automatically, moms. Or dads can, use it to create reminders, for their kids that come directly from them via, text messaging, I'm. Not sure kids would like it but, I bet parents would so. How do we position this, new feature, for. Ideas, on that you, go back to your brand, drivers. Recall. That brand drivers, are more detailed, in descriptive, aspects, of the brand so. Let's look over our list created in Chapter two now. Here's one that might work parent. Watch helps. Me stay connected to my kids, nice. Our, new. SMS, feature becomes, a credible, reason, to believe this value, proposition, and. Therein. Lies the connection, between brand, strategy, and marketing. Strategy, think. Of these value, propositions. Designed, around your brand drivers, as RT. B's or reasons. To believe for, the overall, brand strategy. Promises. Made promises. Kept. So. Take a look at your brand's what, features, and benefits, of your products, and services are, you emphasizing in. Your marketing strategy, then. Look, at your brand drivers, to find the ones that connect best to those benefits, that. Helps your target, audience believe, the brand is doing its job well and can. Be trusted to, do it in the future. You. At this. Point in the brand-building process, you've, defined, the brand in terms of its values, drivers, and persona you've. Positioned the brand in the market and linked, it to your marketing strategy, now. You're ready to move into the next phase which is how you express, the brand to. Do that you. Create a name a visual. Look and feel for the brand and you. Create a total, customer. Experience, for the target audience when.

They Encounter, the brand in this. Video I'll review. The important, considerations, you make when, naming, the brand. The. Name you select, for your brand should do the following, reflect. The values, and purpose, of the brand. Create. An association. With the brand's persona, be. Easy to say, be. Unique and memorable. Now. Before, coming up with names you need to consider what, it is that you're branding, a company. A product. Or service, a feature. Within, that product or service or perhaps. A technology. How. Do all your brand's fit together in, other words what is your brand architecture, which we covered in Chapter two let's. Do an example with our case study for. This example, I need to create a hypothetical, company that I'll call the California, watch, company, it makes. A variety of watches, in these categories. Luxury. High-end watches. Sport. Watches for running, biking and so on, smart. Watches for, technology. Lovers and. Family. Lifestyle, watches, my. Brand architecture is, house, of brands so, these four, categories of watches are branded, independently. Of each other and not, connected, with the main company name, let's. Focus on, our new line of family, lifestyle. Watches, beginning, with our first entry into the market the, parent, watch helping. Moms and dads be the very best they can be, my. Product, is a SmartWatch that, connects with a customer's, smartphone, so. It can do a lot of things my. Strategy, is to offer one, model of watch but, in different styles, and colors. Customers. Can load different functions, into the watch depending, on the ages of their children, apps. For babies toddlers, and, so on pretty, cool watch, do. You remember the brand's persona, one. Of the traits was intelligent. That, seems to fit, so. Given, the tight connection, between my, brand and the product that delivers, on the promise I'd. Be smart to name my product, the same as my brand in this, case that. Makes the most sense for my target audience once. They understand, my brand's, promise, they'll, associate, that promise with the watch itself, if I name it the same otherwise. They, might get confused. The. Name parent, watch is connected, to the values, and purpose, it's, unique, and easy, to say and, it seems to fit my brand's personality. The. Name strikes me as strong reliable. But. At the same time fun, I like. It there. Are times though when it makes sense to come up with a name that is completely. New with no literal. Meaning the. Name Sony, is a completely, made-up name the. Name Apple also. Has no connection, with the company's products, and services, in that, case you, have to select the name then. Communicate. The name in its Associated, values, and purpose. So, that people start to make the connection. It's. Usually harder. And more expensive to do but, it can yield a powerful, brand name that sticks, in the minds of consumers and, that's. An effective, way to create and keep customers. The. Look and feel of the brand is what consumers, see when they encounter it it's, like a visual, identity, system, a way, for customers to instantly, recognize, when, the brand is present, to. Create the visual identity of the brand you'll, need the following elements. First. You'll want some type of distinctive. Logo or symbol, a logo. Can take many forms it. Can be an object that represents your, brand a good. Example is the Apple, logo it. Can be an abstract, symbol like the Nike swoosh, or it, can be a word mark which, is the words of your company, or brand name set. In a specific way, the. Google logo is considered. A word, mark, to. Create a logo it's, best to hire the services of a professional, graphic designer. The. Designer will need to know the brand, values, the. Core promise the. Brand drivers, the, persona, and of. Course the brand name. Taken. Together these, elements will help the designer create. A graphic, look that matches, what the brand stands for, once. The logo is created, you'll, need to have your designer, create, different, versions, of it we. Call these logo. Lockups, while. Your master. Logo should always be, rendered, consistently. You. Need variations, of it for different placements, and usage, for. Example, you, may need color and black. And white variations, or you. May need versions, for small, spaces like a business, card or a, large, version for, the side of a building. Your. Designer, should also create a color palette for the brand some. Of these colors are used for the logo itself but, you should also have complementary. Colors that, can be used along, with the logo these. Complementary. Colors might be used in advertising. Or perhaps, in product, packaging, or even, used for the product itself, your.

Designer, Should also help you select specific typefaces. For the brand a distinctive. Font helps, strengthen, the identity, of the brand along. With the. You should also have standard. Typographic. Treatments, your, typographic. Identity, should include specific, ways of handling key. Types of texts, such. As headlines, or how, you write URL. Addresses, your. Brand identity should. Include a consistent. Style for images, all photos. And images used, with the brand logo should, have a consistent. Look and feel image. Guidelines. Should also define when, and how certain types of images are used, will. You use photography or. Illustrations. Or both will. They be black and white or color, Nike. For example, relies, on large. Close-up. High contrast. Images, to capture attention and create, a distinctive. Feel. Finally. You wanted to find a consistent, tone, for, the way you say, things it's. Like creating a voice for the brand this. Applies to everything, from headlines, in a printed to, the tone of a press release. Outline. The specific, language and words, that can be used, for. Example should. The tone be formal, or more, conversational. That. Depends, of course on your, brand's persona. So. Take a look at the brand's you manage, and check, to see that each of these elements are in sync with, your overall brand essence, these. Elements, must work together in harmony to, create a winning brand, identity. When. Your customers, buy your products, and services they. Go through a distinct, set of steps sort. Of a process we. Call it the customer, experience, or sometimes, the brand experience when, it's related to a brand each. Step, of the experience, is called a touch point where. You can figuratively. Speaking touch, the customer, and reinforce. The brand promise this. Forms a tighter more loyal relationship, with the customer, the. First step is to define the touch points for the typical customer first. Is need, recognition, this, is where the customers, realize, they want something the. Next step is information. Search where, they gather information from, a wide variety of sources this. Is a critical, step because, this is when a customer, is most receptive, to your brand message, once. A customer gathers, information they, evaluate, the alternatives based. On what features are most important, and which. Brand does the best job in delivering those features. Eventually. They go to the purchase phase where, they actually buy the product, now. You might, think that the buying process ends, here with the final purchase but. There's one last step called the post, purchase behavior phase, once. Customers start, using the product they, compare, the results, with their expectations, that, the product work is expected, how. Did the product make them feel when they used it what. Do they say to others, about their experience. Once. We define the touch points we go back to our list of brand drivers, our. Goal is to select, a driver from the list that we can emphasize at, each touch point, we. Have to decide where, the touch point happens when. It happens and what to say to the customer, that, relates to that brand driver now. It's a bit tricky but it's a key ingredient, of successful. Brand building let's. Try it with our case study the, parent, watch, for. The need recognition step, I want, to use the driver, being. A parent, may be the most important, role in a person's life I'll. Use, this driver in my advertising, because, of the strong, emotional, message within it for.

Information, Search and evaluate. The alternatives I'm. Going to emphasize all, the benefits, of the parent watch like, protecting, my family, stay. Connected to my kids and so on I'll, do this on the brand's website, when. Customers, buy the product, I'll emphasize that, parents. Are special. We'll. Create a store environment in a shopping, experience that makes moms and dads feel great, about, being a parent and, finally. In the post purchase phase I'll drive home the message wearing. Parent watch tells, the world that I care about my family above. All else, perhaps. I'll do this with text messages, directly to the parent watch or, perhaps follow, up with direct mail I want. To reinforce that, the customer, made, a smart choice, great. Marketers, know they have a role to play in each step of the customer, experience they. Know where these steps take place when, they take place and who's, involved with, these insights, you're, ready to communicate the, brand to, the marketplace. You. Branding. Is all about making and, keeping. A promise as a. Brand, builder you're, the one who makes the promise but. Who keeps it is it. The product, service. Well. If so then who, is it that stands behind your, products and services it's. Your employees, and partners, like distributors. Who keep the promise, brand. Delivery, boils down to people and if, they don't understand, the brand they're, likely, to struggle trying, to keep that promise. Employees. Have to believe in the brand and live, it every time they come in contact with a customer, in this. Video let, me share with you some, ways to effectively, communicate your brand internally. There. Are two parts to this first. You have to train your team and then. You, need to consistently, reinforce. It otherwise. People, stop believing that the brand is important, when. You develop, training, programs about. The brand you. Should consider developing different, programs, for different types of employees.

Frontline. Employees, for example deal, with customers, every day the. Training, program for them will be much different than for people back at headquarters including, your, senior executives. Ideally. Every, employee is trained new, ones and especially, old ones, existing. Employees, might, have to change their mindset a lot to embrace and believe, in the brand take. An airline next. Time you fly watch. The Airlines employees. Listen. To what they say. Imagine. How training. On the brand would be different, for pilots, flight. Attendants, baggage. Handlers, as well. As reservation. Agents who sell tickets. Every. Job in every contact, with customers is different so, the training should match that so. What do you train. Employees. Need to know the. Brand promise how. It links to the company's values. The. Drivers, customers, will experience, when they encounter, the brand the. Brand identity, including. Look and feel the. Name and of. Course the persona. Importantly, they, need to know how they should think, feel. And act, what. Words come, out of their mouth what. Actions, do they take to deliver the promise. You. Have to help them make that bridge from, the brand promise to, their actions or they won't be able to truly live, the brand. Training. Is important, but it's not enough you. Must reinforce. It to keep the brand closely. Tied to the culture of the company, first. Of all make, sure the, brand identity, is visible, throughout, the company, later. I'll talk about how to create, branded, spaces, like, your company's front lobby as a way to reinforce, the brand every. Time the employee walks through it they're. Reminded, of the brand. Most. Companies appoint. A brand champion, and a team of brand ambassadors. These. Are the influential. Company, employees, who, represent, what the brand stands for they. Can help others understand. How their words and deeds linked. To, the brand and its drivers. Speaking. Of employees, many, companies, focus on hiring the right people from the very start, given. The characteristics, of the brand what, characteristics. Of potential, employees, would, best align, with, the brand your. Human Resources partner. May be able to help you with that perhaps. The best way to reinforce. The brand internally. Is to, do a great job delivering, on the promise externally. When. Employees, see that the company, consistently. Lives up to its promises, even, in tough times it, strengthens. Their resolve and commitment to. The brand. So. Take a look at how your company communicates. Internally. To its employees, good. Brand builders look for these everyday, opportunities. To, reinforce, the brand. One. Of the most important, steps in the brand building process, is to, create a brand book just. As the name implies the, brand book is the complete story of the brand and all the elements that go into it it, establishes, strict, guidelines, on every, aspect of how a company's, brand will be managed, this. Affects everything from how the logo can be used the, look of your website how. Social, media is used, advertising. Product, design and so on a, basic. Brand, book should include an overview. Of brand. Values, the, core promise, the, drivers, and persona. Low. Those specifications. And examples. Of how to use it logo. Lock ups for different uses the. Color palette, font. Styles. Typography. Image. And photography. Guidelines, and, writing. Style and the tone of voice, now. A good, brand book is a reference, document to help employees, and your, marketing agencies, execute. The brand properly, that's. Why it's sometimes called a style, guide you. Might also include things like, brochure. Guidelines. Specifications. For signage, and outdoor advertising. Design. Layouts, for a print and web based projects, your. Store design, social. Media, guidelines even your. Letterhead and business, card design, now. Be sure to include visual, or written, examples, of each of these the. More detailed, information you include in the brand book the more helpful, that will be to make sure the brand is managed, consistently. While. These guidelines are important, a great, brand book goes even further it. Could be used to train your entire team. It, could help employees, understand, the brand's essence it. Could be created, in a way that inspires people, to believe, in the brand it might, include stories, about the brand and how it served its customers, it.

Could Outline brand, goals and how, it links to the company's overall, strategy, a brand. Book can help employees, know what it means to, live the brand day, in and day out. Great. Branding is about May and keeping. Promises in a consistent, way a brand. Book is an essential, tool to help you do just that. A very. Important, component of branding, is the. Product or service that you put in the marketplace they. Need to do their jobs in delivering, the benefits that, were promised now. Keep in mind they're not the only things that have to live up to the brand's promise every. Touchpoint, in the customer, experience can. Potentially, play a role but. It's usually the, products or services that are the focal, point of your branding, effort that. Means you, must teach the people who create your products and services about, the brand take. A look at your current products you. May notice perhaps the most common, problem, when getting into brand building the, benefits, that your products, deliver currently, are not the same ones promised, by the brand, oops. In. Other, words there's, a gap between product. Performance and the, brand and it. Can happen in two ways your. Product may be under, featured or, it, may be over, featured, here's. How to find out make. A list of all the key features, on your product or service, then. For each feature write, down the main benefit, that the feature delivers. Remember. That benefits, come in different forms functional. Economic. Emotional. Self. Expressive and so on then. With, that list of benefits take, out your long list of brand drivers, for, each benefit, try. To connect, it with at least one of the drivers, ask. Yourself, does, the benefit, link to or somehow support, any one of the brand drivers. Let's. Do a quick example with our case study the, parent, watch, let's. Imagine the, watch has an app that, automatically. Sends SMS, text, messages, to kids to, remind them to do their homework I can. Scan down the list of our brand drivers and yes, I see. Two on the list that seemed to connect with this feature the. Parent, watch helps, me stay connected to my kids and the. Other driver that fits it is this, parents. Do everything, they can to help their families. Now. If you find that many, of your features and benefits, do not connect, to your brand drivers you, have a problem your. Product, is over featured, with unrelated. Benefits, and this, will confuse, your customers, in this. Case you need to go back to your development, team and start. Creating a new version of the product that closes. This gap you may, find that the features and benefits on, the product only cover a small number of drivers once. Again you have a gap that needs to be closed and you do that with new product development, take. A look at your product, development pipeline and do the same analysis, you. May be able to collaborate with your development, team to modify, these products, now to, be more aligned with the brand promise if, so. Those, products, will do a better job at keeping the promise that the brand has made now. Don't forget that when I say the word product the, same applies to any service, that you offer in the marketplace a, well-developed. Brand, informs. How your products and services will, perform what. They look like and how they, deliver an, experience, consistent. With, the brand's S's. You. To, make a promise you have to communicate it the, key is to select those communication. Channels, that are most consistent, with the essence, of the brand it's, authentic. Persona, a simple. Framework for this is answering. The questions, who, what. Why. Where. And how. First. You have to decide on why you want to communicate are. You telling the market, your overall, strategic brand, positioning, the, core brand promise, or. Are you building tactical, awareness around some new feature or benefit of the product if. So this, type of campaign would link directly, to your tactical, marketing positioning. During. The positioning, step of the brand building process, we, answered the next question who. That.

Of Course is your target, audience you identify. The specific, customers. That you want your brand message to be relevant to you. Group your customers, using one of four segmentation. Approaches. Demographic. Geographic. Behavioral. Or attitudinal. The. One you use depends, on what you're about to communicate, if, it's a new feature you may want to use behavioral, segmentation if, it's, about an emotional benefit, of your brand, attitudinal. Is likely the best choice. Narrowing. Your target, audience makes, your communications. Campaign, more efficient. Next. Is what, you are communicating, and for, that you need to refer to your long list of brand drivers, the, brand drivers give ideas about, the specific, message, you want to include in the communications. Pick. The brand driver that is best suited for what you're announcing to the market and the, target audience you've selected. Using. Brand drivers, this way in all your, communications. Reinforces. The brand promise and builds, brand, equity. Where. You communicate depends. On several factors. Remember. The customer experience, touch points and the steps of the buying process in Chapter four, select. Which step is most relevant to the brand driver, and what, you're announcing to the market you, may want to reach the target audience in their homes places. Of work during. Leisure time or perhaps, online. The entire customer, experience gives. You many options and finally. Is how, you communicate. The, media channel you select depends, on the target audience how. Many of them you want to reach the, complexity. Of the message you're sending and how. Frequently they, need to hear the message, marketers. Have a wide choice of, traditional, media including. Television, radio. Print advertising. Outdoor. Billboards, and digital. Medium which includes social. Media websites. And mobile, channels. Each. Type of media has advantages, and disadvantages. TV. Commercials, for example can reach millions of people but. It's expensive. Billboards. On the other hand are not that expensive but. They're limited in what they can achieve it'd. Be hard to explain how to use a complicated. Product in a billboard. Whichever. Channel you use be, sure to, refer to your brand book to make sure all the design elements and tone. Of the communication, are on, brand. Social. Media is an essential, part of any brand, building effort no, matter what business you're in, consumers. Expect, a way to learn about your products and share, their experiences, with others online, social. Media is a powerful, way to communicate, your value proposition and, enhance, your brand the. Most valuable, and respected brands. In the world use. Digital channels, for brand building coca-cola. For example, uses, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. Tumblr. And other, channels and these, are all integrated, around, its main social, platform, a website. Called coke journey, according. To coke its, mission is to inspire. Moments, of optimism, and happiness. And build, our brands to. Use digital channels, effectively, follow, these guidelines, first. Make, sure all the sites have a common, look and feel they. Don't have to be identical in, their design, but, they must adhere to the standards, defined in your brand book that, means all logos, trademarks. Colors, font. Styles, and typography, are exactly, per standard otherwise. You, may confuse customers if a social media site doesn't. Look like the brand. Second. Be, sure all sites use the same voice of the brand the, tone and style of writing should be consistent, with the brand's, personality.

Third. Be, sure to define who can and cannot. Post things to, the various social media sites it's. Essential, they be properly, trained on the brand and how, to communicate the brand's values and how. To comply with the company's social, media policies. Finally. Be sure to specify the, role of each social media site. Overall. They exist to support the core brand promise, but. Individually, they might each have a different role and for. That you, need to refer to your list of brand drivers, each, social, media site is another, touch point in the customer experience, and just. As you do with your other touch points you. Can link each social, media touch point to, a different brand, driver, let's. Do an example. With our case study the, parent, watch our. Overall, brand, promises, the. Parent, watch celebrates. Parenthood, by helping moms and dads be the very best they can be but. I'm going to create my brand's, Facebook, page to be all about this, brand driver how. Busy, parents, do the impossible by. Balancing, tasks and getting. It all done in a day it'll. Be full of helpful tips on all the things parents do the. Brand's Twitter feed will, be about high profile, moms and dads and their successes, the. Pinterest, board on the other hand will be full of inspirational. Quotes about parents. And how, important, they are to their families I'll. Also create a mobile campaign, where moms and dads can opt-in to receive helpful. Tips on teaching. Their kids important. Life, lessons, pretty, cool so. Take a look at your digital channels make. Sure they adhere to the brand book that, they have a specific role tied, to a brand driver and that. They are properly managed, taken. Together social. Media sites create a community, of brand, loyal customers, who interact. With each other and with. Your company, that's. The foundation, for, a strong, customer relationship. The. Packaging, around your product is another great way to communicate your, brand and build, equity it's. One touch point within, the total customer, experience, but, packaging. Is such an important, touch point because, it may be the first physical, encounter, your customer, has with the brand it, may, also be the last physical encounter, they have right before they buy the product, it's, that last 10 seconds, right, before the consumer decides to buy that. Makes it so important, to get the design of your packaging, right as a. Brand builder you'll, want to work closely with your internal. Or external design, team and you'll. Need to give them guidance on these three, factors, first. What, is the functional, role of the packaging, a products. Packaging, can do a lot of work it, can protect the product that's inside while, it's in the store or warehouse while. It's being shipped as well. As when the products in your customer's home or work location. The. Packaging, can explain important, information about how to use the product or any warnings, that might apply it. Could explain how to store, or care for the product what, ingredients, are inside or, the price of the product the, packaging might, have other roles such as making the product easy to find in a store serving. As a gift box or, being, easy to dispose of or recycle. Next. You need to decide the, key brand and promotional. Messages, to, go on the packaging, take. A look at your value proposition, and reasons, to believe also. Take a look at your list of brand drivers, and review. The functional, economic. And emotional, benefits, that the packaging, may be able to convey, use. The packaging, to reinforce. Your positioning, and the brand promise, here's. An example from coca-cola look. At the various images on the can a beach. Ball, sunglasses. Surfboard. Barbecue. Grill hmm, I get, it coke, means fun, at the beach that. Brand driver is communicated. Very nicely by this simple, and clever, design, finally. You need to give guidance around the design, of the packaging and for. This take. A look at your brand book the. Packaging most likely, will have the brand name and tagline it, should have the brand's visual, identity, including, logos, and color schemes but. Also look at the brand persona, what. Are the personality, traits of the brand and how, can the packaging, be designed to embody these traits, for.

Example Take, a look at this packaging, from Gatorade. Even. The bottle itself looks, like the distinctive, G, and the word Gatorade, very. Clever, take. A look at your current product packaging and compare it to the guidelines in your brand book is the. Packaging, living, up to all the expectations of, the brand could. Your packaging, take on more responsibility. In the customer experience. Great. Packaging, is much more than a slick protective, wrapper around, your product, packaging. Design offers a unique opportunity in, both a consumer and business. To business markets, to influence, customers, and brand, perceptions. Leverage. To its fullest it can work hard to create and maintain long, term brand, loyalty. You. To, keep your brands healthy you, need to measure their performance on several, factors, first. What is the basic, awareness, of the brand you need, to conduct market research to, measure the percentage of people that recognize the brand when shown the logo or hear. The name of the brand, basic. Awareness is, especially important. Within your target audience so be sure to direct, your marketing research efforts to those specific, customers, after. A basic, awareness you also want to measure how well the target audience understands, the brand can. They tell you what the brand stands for do. They understand, its distinctive, qualities, and characteristics. What. Do they associate, the brand with and how, closely does, it match with your core promise and brand, drivers you. May have very broad awareness of the brand but, if customers, aren't understanding, it the right way then, you need to go back and either sharpen. The drivers or, communicate. Your brand more, effectively. Finally. You want to measure how well the brand is creating, customer. Loyalty and, for, this you measure customer, retention rates, or repeat. Purchases, or, you might measure how likely, they are to recommend, the brand to others if, you find yourself slipping. And customer, loyalty it. Could be a sign of several, things first. The brand may be losing its relevance it, might not be delivering, benefits that are important, anymore to the customer, or the, brand lacks differentiation. The. Degree, to which customers perceive, the brand to have a differentiated. Positioning, distinctive. From the competition, or, finally, it could be a problem with consistency. In terms of, how well the brand delivers, across all the, touch points if, you're, inconsistent. And keeping the promise, people. Lose trust, now. These, are all the external, factors that you measure out in the marketplace, you, should also measure a few, key, internal. Indicators, for. Example, measure. The clarity, that employees. Have about what the brand stands for and its values, and positioning. How. Well do your employees understand, the target audience, customer. Insights and brand drivers, your. Employees, are the ones who keep the promise so. They have to have a clear, understanding of, it be. Sure to measure the commitment, your company, has to the brand in terms of how much support it gets is it.

Getting Its share of the budgets and investments. Needed to keep it strong our. Key individuals devoting. Enough time to it versus other brands, or programs, finally. Try, to assess how well protected the brand is are other. Companies infringing. On your trademarks, or designs, or. Others taking, unfair advantage, of, your brand by violating, your patents, or proprietary. Methods and materials, hey. You've invested, a lot to create and manage the brand so. It's essential, that you keep others from diluting, it, measurement. Is important, if you measure these factors, routinely you'll, be able to spot trends and head off any problems, with your brand before, they happen. Measuring. Brand performance, is not, enough you've. Got to actively, manage, the health of the brand and keep, brand equity, growing. But. Things in the world around you change and if you're not prepared, your, branding, strategy, may derail and you, end up losing ground in the marketplace. Sometimes. Those unexpected events, happen internally. The, priorities, in any organization. Are constantly. Shifting a change. In leadership a new, acquisition a, change. In strategy or. Perhaps. A sudden downturn in financial, results, might impact, your branding, efforts a lot. Disruptions. Can occur externally. As well new. Competitors, emerge new, regulations, or legal, actions might affect your ability to market a product a bad. Customer, experience or, a product recall may, be going viral on social media, sites, consumer. Trends, change and all, of these things might. Affect your ability to address the brand from moving forward so. Here, are some tips to help you cope with these types of challenges and manage. Your brand's effectively, first. All brands. Should have a brand steward, which, is the single individual. Responsible, for managing, brand compliance, within an organization, everything, from product development, to, brand identity, what. Often happens, in a company is that employees. Drift. Away from the brand standards they're. Not doing it intentionally but they might create, a new version of the logo or color palette to fit what they need at that moment in time a brand. Stored watches, over the organization and reigns, in any initiatives. That aren't in compliance, that's. Why many companies have the CEO or, others, senior officer of the company serve. As the brand steward. Along. With brand stewards, you need brand champions, people. To represent, the brand throughout. The organization. And, there should be one from each cross-functional. Department of the company not, just marketing these. Brand, champions, form, a committee that should hold regular brand, review meetings they. Had the job of reviewing. Brand performance, measures. And recommending. Ways to improve performance the. Committee should review and update the brand drivers cutting. Out the ones that are less relevant and creating. New ones that better reflect, the trends in the market at least, once a year the, brand champions, should conduct a brand audit how. Is the brand performing, on all measures, both internally. And externally. What. Trends, are encouraging, and which, ones caused some concern. Fi

2018-10-03 23:57

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