Build Brand Value BIG Time

Ask your self this question, In which business are we really in? And stay far from the dark world of commodities...

I am astonished!!! I just witness how in three days a clan of marketers - brand managers, advertisers, researchers - drove a brand into the huge world of commodities, these people approach the brand building process as a conjunction of ideas- do not matter if the ideas were good or bad- and were clearly afraid to innovate and challenge the rules of their game.

If you are planning to maintain your brand as far as you can from the dark world of commodities, why not innovate by reconsider the category in which you compete and create your own rules.

As Theodor Levits from Harvard business school once exemplified it: "The once- powerful railroads were blindsided first by automobiles and then by airlines. This happens because railroad companies define them selves too narrowly as being in the railroad business rather than the transportation business."

But redefining your industry does not mean hiring a new ad agency to think a fancy new slogan ad and spend millions of dollars communicating it.. To make it work, you have to approach your brand building process strategically and communicate it each day in every interaction with your consumer, offering high-quality products and services that your customers rally want and that will reinforce the values offered by your brand and expand the emotional connections your customers fell with it.

When Steve Jobs came back to Apple with the mission of bringing back the brand from the darkness the first thing he did was redefine his business. "What Apple is about, is not making boxes for people to get their jobs done, although we do that very well. Apple is about more than that. What Apple is about, its core value is that we believe people with passion can change the world for the better. That is what we believe." Excerpt form Steve Jobs' speech to software developers

That day Apple created its own game, and became something more, since then Apple has launched products like the i-Mac and G4, and most recently has become the center of the digital music world with the iPod and i-Tunes store.

James Dyson invented his own game when he created the Dyson vacuum cleaner, a vacuum with a unique shape and a clear collector bin, so you can watch the dirt cycloning around. He made fun the vacuum cleaning experience.

If you speak to Richard Branson he would tell you that his business is to create FUNKY business, I wonder who competes with Virgin in this business

Yes, you can think this could be risky if you already are by far the #1 in your industry, but Howard Shultz is trying to transform Starbucks into the largest digital music retailer in the world, he most be crazy.

But maybe brand building is about being rationally crazy .

To measure how strong your brand is copy and paste: (http://brandidentityguru.com/bightml/brandmasterpiece.html). Then click "Take the brand strength test". This is a short survey that measures the strength of any company's brand. It's a great tool to see where you are today.

Scott White is President of Brand Identity Guru (http://www.brandidentityguru.com), a leading brand consulting and market research firm located in Easton, Massachusetts, USA, near Boston.

Brand Identity Guru specializes in creating corporate and product brands that increase sales, market share, customer loyalty, and brand valuation. Over the course of his 15-year branding career, Scott White has worked in a wide variety of industries: high-tech, manufacturing, computer hardware and software, telecommunications, banking, restaurants, fashion, healthcare, Internet, retail, and service businesses, as well as numerous non-profit organizations.

Brand Identity Guru clients include: Sun Life Financial, Coca Cola, HP, Sun, Nordstrom, American Federal Mortgage, Simon (America's largest shopping mall manager) and many others, including numerous emerging growth companies.

Scott White is a very enthusiastic speaker and has the gift of being able to explain the principles of branding in a compelling and entertaining manner so that people at all levels can understand.

More Resources

Unable to open RSS Feed $XMLfilename with error HTTP ERROR: 404, exiting

More Branding Information:

Related Articles

Getting Started in the Mail Order Business. How Much Does It Cost?
INTRODUCTION To get any business started successfully takes many ingredients. All requirements fall into one of the following four key categories: 1.
Branding Strategy - Brand Identity
Today, in many organizations around the world, branding is treated as a cosmetic exercise only, and regarded merely as a new name, logo, stationary and possibly a new advertising campaign. But, to associate your "brand" with such superficial cosmetics is like saying that people are really only the sum of their name, face and sometimes their clothingBut branding is a thoughtful discipline that strongly belongs to the long-term strategy of an organization; brand strategy is, or should be, business strategy, and vice versa.
Trademark: Do I Need One for My Business Name and Logo?
Wondering if a trademark is important to you as a business owner? Let's start with the basics. A trademark is a word, phrase, symbol, or logo that distinguishes and identifies the source of goods of one company or person from another.
Build Brand Identity - Brand Identity Guru
Successful Guru marketers have a secret weapon that they use every single time they communicate about their businesses. It's one of those intangibles that are easily misunderstood.
Putting You and Your Company in Position to Own Your Market
Americans have always liked their coffee hot. But then Starbucksmade hot coffee desirable, in demand, and extraordinarilyprofitable.
Fast Forwarding Your Business
If you think only big corporate names need to think about things like brand names, think again. Your brand says a lot about you and your business, and that's as true for a one person home-based operation as it is for a multinational conglomerate.
How To Create A Brand That Sticks
Most people, when they hear the word branding, think logos - but in fact, branding is really much more than that. A brand involves blending the image, purpose, and focus of your business, with your core marketing message, and coming up with something which will stick in the minds of people who encounter it.
Blonds Have More Fun!
In the book, The Blond Knight of Germany, American authors Toliver and Constable detail the life of the greatest fighter pilot to ever fly, Germany's Erich Hartmann. During WWII, Hartmann recorded 352 confirmed in-flight victories.
Brand Building 101
Building your brand into a brand leader isn't easy. There are 2 areas that can really help you grow your brand, passion and consistency.
Corporate Branding - Dont Forget Your CDs!
Companies have been branding their collateral materials such as letterhead, envelopes, business cards, etc. for years.
Brand Building 201: Finding The Ideal Way
The strongest and longest lasting brands branch off of anexisting category. Branching takes patience and time.
The Art of Successful Branding
Branding: it's a term that carries great weight in the world of advertising. Successful branding is best illustrated by the world's most prominent corporations, but it's no less important to the small business owner.
Does Your Message Pass the Test?
Develop an effective benefit message and you're well on your way to building your company's entire marketing program. After all, you need focus to create success.
Brand Love, Part 2
Last issue, I talked about increasing your Brand Love-- meaning to increase the affection that prospects and customers feel toward your business.Why?Because increasing "affection" will build relationships.
Power Your Word for Profit
Discovering and owning a powerful word that reflects you and your business is the true key of successful branding.Some organisations invest fortunes in this endeavour but there's nothing stopping any of us from doing the same at a fraction of the cost.
Brand Equity - Brand Identity Guru
7 Qualities Of A Strong Brand:1. Commands premium pricing while retaining loyalty2.
The Trust Issue In Marketing
One of the prime motivating factors in the purchase decision making process is "trust". A consumer will at some point for however long or short of a time, ask the question, "Can I trust this company/person/product?"In today's ever-changing world of marketing, electronic media, email, and advertising innovations and intrusions, companies, and businesses are marketing to an ever increasingly suspicious consumer, who is conflicted between their desire not to be "sold" to and their desire to consume.
Image is EVERYTHING
The absolute foundation of your small business is your image. The way potential clients and/or customers perceive your business sets the stage for the way your product or service is recognized and ultimately judged.
The Big Uneasy: Clearing the Clouds of Guess
People often come to me to assist them with developing their brand because they are unable to accomplish the business success they desire. They're experiencing what we call the Big Uneasy--the state of being when things are hard.
Strategy and Tips for a Successful Logo Design
Visual processing is the most important way for gathering information for all human beings. A good design or graphics work is remembered for ages and that is what drives the multinational companies to spend millions of dollars on developing their logo and other branding material.