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Knowbits 
April 2004
To Brand or Not to Brand: That Is NOT the Question
Think you
can't afford to pay attention to branding? That it's only for the rich
and largest? Think again. No matter what size company you are - you really
have no choice. Your brand exists in some shape or form and if you don't
invest in managing your brand, it will manage you, perhaps to oblivion.
Before we get into convincing hard numbers and business cases, let's do
something a little fun. I propose that brand is so pervasive that you
can actually use it to identify where someone is from. Kind of like an
accent or inflection of speech. It is, after all, our experiences with
a brand that shape it.
Take this "From Where In the U.S.?" quiz:
Let's start with something near and dear to most of us: food.
What mayonnaise would you swear is the best and search for in the market?
A. Hellman's
B. Best Foods
C. Miracle Whip
D. None of the above
If you answered:
A. You're likely from the east coast states
and refuse to call it Best
Foods, even
if you move to California.
B. You are from one of the states west
of the Rockies. You've never even
heard of
Hellman's, so why does they're label look the same?
Because they
are the same.
C. You're likely from the Midwest, Missouri in
particular, and you make
really sweet
potato salad. (Sorry Grandma)
D. Can't tell where you're from. Maybe you hate mayonnaise.
As a kid, one of your favorite
sweet snacks after school was:
A. Hostess Ding-dongs
B. Drake's Ring Dings
C. Moon Pies
D. Scooter Pies
E. None of the above
This tells me that:
A. You're from St. Louis all the way west to
California.
If you know them
instead as King Dons, then the east coast.
If you recognize
the name Big Wheels, you're from someplace else.
B. You're from the east coast - NY/NJ - and think
that DingDongs
are rip-offs.
C. You grew up in the south, especially Tennessee,
and typically ate
these with an “RC
Cola” to wash it down. Talk about sugar overload…
Moon
Pie History
D. You’re from the eastern seaboard, and
wondered what in the heck a
“Moon Pie”
was.
E. You're from Canada and ate something called
"Wagon Wheels".
And for a non-food one that gets so specific
you'll think I'm psychic...
You need to get new clothes for the whole family, something nice to wear
to Grandma's birthday (where you will not mention the too-sweet potato
salad), and you want reasonable selection, affordable prices. You head
to the nearest:
A. Famous-Barr
B. Robinsons-May
C. Filene's
D. Kauffman's
E. Foley's
F. Hecht's
G. Meier & Frank
H. The Bay
And I will gaze into my crystal ball and pinpoint your location as:
A. Specifically Midwest - WI, MO, IL, IN, KY
B. The Wild West only - CA, NV, AZ, UT. Showdown,
anyone?
C. New England. And don’t let any of your
friends drag you into Filene’s
basement in Boston…you
won’t come out alive.
D. The industrial/coal belt - NY, PA, OH, WV.
E. The Texas, NM, OK, LA kinda' south.
F. Mid-Atlantic states where they have soft drawls
and soft-shell crabs
– MD, VA,
NC, and parts of TN.
G. Northwest Territory - WA, OR.
H. Canada - where they eat Wagon Wheels. And
are only in this
poll because I
have a primary research source. (husband)
Maps available at: The
May Stores
How was that for brand identification?
All of these brands started
locally, without the war chests of advertising dollars that people think
are needed today. They are memorable because of the experience we had
with them – which was consistent and positive - so we told our neighbors.
And we developed strong loyalties.
If I could turn MarketUP into the Moon Pie of the small business marketing world -
well, let's just say my Tennessee Grandpa would be proud.
Sounds simple, but it's not that easy.
Here are some of the compelling facts that result from religious brand
building:
At a recent branding seminar which I
attended, one of the speaker’s provided some staggering numbers
related to valuation of a few of the largest global brands.
Coca Cola at #1 tells the 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
the 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 the deep-pocket conglomerates have had plenty of time and money
to build the kind of numbers that take your breath away. But it's not
just the 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.
Building Brand 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 the 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."), the 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 the 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
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.
Get with the program
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 the 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 the
brand.) Starbucks – are you listening?
Further reading on this subject:
Marketing Profs
Small Business Branding: The
Personal Connection Brand
History of Hellman's
Fun Facts on Food
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