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Sounds simple, but it’s not that easy. Here are some of
compelling facts that result from religious brand building:
At a recent branding seminar which I attended, one of speaker’s provided some staggering numbers related to valuation of a few of largest global brands.
Coca Cola at #1 tells story: Total Valuation - $115 Billion (give or take) Brand value - $70.45 Billion (about 61%) (source: Business Week, 4 Aug 2003)
Anecdotally, Ford is said to have 75% brand valuation. You can guess what stats are for Microsoft, IBM, MacDonald’s, Nike, Intel, etc.
“So what?” you might be thinking, “I’m not in that league. I can focus on selling and networking. No need to spend time and money on that BRAND stuff.”
Certainly deep-pocket conglomerates have had plenty of time and money to build kind of numbers that take your breath away. But it’s not just advertising spend that got them there. They had to start and continue with a vision, products people wanted, service that satisfied and made their customers talk about them, creating more customers. That’s what brand is all about.
Brand Building on Any Budget: 1. Articulate your vision, and stick with it. No flip-flopping. No re-inventing every year. No re-naming to stay trendy. Take time to clarify who you are and what you offer. The exercise alone will be worth it. Then build your communication tools.
2. Deliver your products and services in a consistent way that satisfies people. They WILL talk about you. And according to David Thompson, CMO of Webex (“We’ve got to start meeting like this.”), only true brand measurement is this: Your customers are willing, nay, ANXIOUS to refer you to others. Amen.
3. Make sure your brand is communicated by everyone in your organization and anyone associated with you. Bad to say, “We are a high-touch service provider” and have someone call your phone number only to go into an endless, impersonal phone script hell. Be honest about your value.
4. Yes, it will also help if you develop a “look and feel”, those somewhat scary words that conjure up $$$$ and endless rounds of designers comps. It doesn’t have to be like that. The dot.bomb era should have weaned anyone of that notion if nothing else. Money was flying around paying for jazziest names, logos, taglines and websites. And it kept flying…far, far away. Famous? You want famous with out frill? Try “Hewlett-Packard”. “HP”. Two names. Two blue initials inside a curved frame. Starting in 1939 they didn’t launch ad campaigns, they instead delivered consistent innovation. Tagline: Invent.
5. Measure. Be persistent. And real, and sometimes creative. But, be yourself.
I’m going online to order some authentic Chattanooga, TN Moon Pies to be delivered, which I will then have with a Starbucks, not an RC, that I will have purchased from a Starbucks location, because brand experience is so much more rewarding there than at Albertson’s. (Where there is a Starbucks kiosk, but it is an extremely disappointing extension of brand.) Starbucks – are you listening?
Further reading along same lines: http://www.marketingprofs.com/4/layton1.asp
http://www.marketingprofs.com/3/arruda7.asp Small Business Branding: The Personal Connection
Brand history and fun facts sites: http://www.foodreference.com/html/fhellmansmayonnaise.html http://www.roadfood.com/Forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2879첥
Donna Lehman welcomes comments: dlehman@market-up.com
Ms. Lehman is Founder and Principal Consultant of MarketUP. She authors Knowbits, a monthly ezine of marketing tips for small business. MarketUP is a Berkeley, CA based consultancy for a number of startup and small-mid sized companies. Prior to MarketUP, Donna spent more than 17 years doing design, communication, and B2B marketing for start-ups and Global 100 conglomerates in various industry sectors.
