OK, so we all know what a brand is, right?
Hmmm. So many definitions.
David Beckham and Posh Spice are brands.
Brangelina (remember them?) was a co-brand, though it didn’t seem to have any purpose.
We’ll come back to purpose.
Burberry is a brand. So is Aston Martin, and Apple, and beats by Dr. Dre.
If you own any of the above it says something about you. That’s the point.
There’s an old expression that defines success: “make a name for yourself”. It means ‘to become famous or well-known as a result of doing a particular thing’.
That’s what brands aspire to do. Our job is to help them get better at it.
The biggest challenge is always the same: getting noticed.
A brand is a licence to make a profit, so everyone wants one. Every imaginable niche is swimming in brands. Or drowning.
The answer is always the same too: ‘Creativity makes space in the market’.
(Thanks Derek.)
So, how do you become famous for doing a particular thing?
First do it very well indeed. For a long time.
Start-ups: find things you love that aren’t being done very well and do those better. Explain why.
You are now ready to make a name for yourself.
Your BRAND NAME® can help enormously if it expresses your purpose.
innocent, Bonne Maman, BrewDog, Black Lives Matter.
Perhaps your name doesn’t mean anything.
A logo is ‘a specific and unique way of writing your name’. A signature on steroids.
It’s usually your biggest asset. Make it with love, treat it with respect.
A symbol is something that represents a quality or idea. Says a lot without words.
The strength of a lion.
The majesty of an eagle.
The unlikelihood of a red cow with earrings.
Now we’re getting somewhere.
Different beats better. Every time.
It gets you noticed. It gets you re-cognition.
Recognition is your brain thinking, reasoning, remembering and imagining.
Once you have achieved ‘different’ and ‘recognised’, stay aggressively the same.
Just one more thing and you’re rocking it…
People don’t buy brands. They buy products, services and experiences.
People don’t care about (most) brands, but that’s OK, because YOU do.
It’s your job to be obsessed with every last detail of product performance, service excellence and experiential wonderfulness.
These things are your brand.
It’s our job to give your obsession a name, a logo, a symbol, a colour palette, a photography style, a tone of voice, a pay-off, a jingle, a cuddly toy…
These things are the way people recognise and remember your brand.
Here’s how we created recognition for a brand of cheese for cooking.
And for a brand that promises a good gut feeling.
We hope you enjoyed this edition of Unpredictable.
Feel free to share it.
Of course there’s more to branding than our story above. Storytelling, for instance.
But that’s a whole new chapter. See you next month. The End.