Developing a Brand Essence

DEVELOPING A BRAND ESSENCE TO CAPTURE AND KEEP YOUR CLIENTS
Richard Earle
Affiliate
The Regis Group, Inc.
THE ENTERPRISE CENTER April 8, 2010

BRANDING
History
Outgrowth of “Positioning” (Trout & Reiss)
Basics
Categories:
Product
Corporate
Service Organizations

ORIGINS OF BRANDING
Outgrowth of “Positioning” —(Trout & Reiss)
“ Find out what they like and how they like it, and let them have it just that way!” — “Fats” Waller

BRANDING BASICS
Organization or Group Branding
Brand Equity Goal : Establish a strong impression of the group, its mission and its relative value in the minds of a carefully targeted a.udience
Impacts Recruiting, Consumer acceptance
Loyalty
Credibility
Funding
In today’s climate, only strong brands survive.

BRANDING BASICS
Aura
An expression of your core values, an almost spiritual component called Brand Essence.
Today, your Brand Essence must say:
You are Unique
You are Solid
You are Adapted, and Competitive
You are not going to go away

PRODUCT BRANDING
It promises that the act of purchasing and using a product enrolls you in a lifestyle.
It bestows a membership in the “coolest club of all.”
It is rarely about the utility or great taste or promised benefit of the product.

THE BRANDING EXPERTS
“ Is a brand products? No. I think it's a set of ideals, an aesthetic sensibility.” — Lance Jensen, Partner, Modernista Agency, New York Times Magazine
“ To establish a brand is to establish a tribe around the brand; a tingle of shared pleasure.” — John Leland, New York Times Magazine
What is Branding?

THE BRANDING EXPERTS
“ Establish(ing) lasting emotional ties with your customers that transcend your product or service . . . tapping in to an essence and an ethos that defines who you are to the folks that matter.” — Scott Bedbury, “A New Brand World”
“ We are inviting (them) to join a club.” — Ron Lawler, Creative Director, Arnold Worldwide, referring to Volkswagen “Driver’s Wanted” Campaign
What is Branding?

BRANDING EVOLUTION
Sprite “Rants” Frontline: “The Persuaders”
Objective: Obscure the Marketer’s Hand.
“ To teens, the marketer is the enemy!”
“ Spokesperson” Mis-step.
“ Hip-Hop” Raps.
Tenuous Product Connection.
But. . . . successful turn-around.

BRANDING ELEMENTS
Left Brain
“ Elevator Speech”
Length: “12 floors”
Brand Positioning Statement
Brand value proposition
Corporate Mantra (3 words)
Examples:
Nike: “Authentic Athletic Performance”
Disney: “Fun Family Entertainment”
Starbucks: “Rewarding Everyday Moments”

BRANDING ELEMENTS
Right Brain
Precise knowledge of psychological makeup of target group.
Creative use of imagery.
Create an Aura
Brand Essence
An emotional connection
If possible, all five senses
Use of icons, distinctive logos, unique theme lines, music.
Tone, style, personality, attitude.

EMOTIONS
Creating a Brand Essence
‘ I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing in perfect harmony” --- Bill Backer for Coke

THE FIVE SENSES
Christmas

BRANDING CHRISTMAS
Santa was once Green

BRANDING CHRISTMAS
Enter Coke
Santa turns Red

BRANDING BY COLOR
Pepsi, too

BRANDING BY COLOR
Altria (Philip Morris)
Use of color to circumvent new labeling
Can no longer say “Light”
Dr. Greg Connolly
New York Times
Use of gold color to imply it

BRANDING BY COLOR
Altria (Philip Morris)
Other Brands

BRANDING BY SHAPE
Coke

BRANDING BY SHAPE
Absolut

BRANDING BY SOUND
Southwest Airlines
(DING!)
You are now free to move about the country
Grab your bag. It’s on!

BRANDING BY TASTE
Colgate

BRANDING BY SMELL
Singapore Airlines
Distinctive Perfume

RECENT PRODUCT BRANDING
Prune Juice becomes Plum Smart

SUCCESSFUL BRANDING
Brand #1
Brand #2

MORE SUCCESSFUL BRANDING
Brand #3
Brand #4

SOME BRANDING COMMERCIALS
Don’t Expect the Hard Sell
Entertainment, Emotion, Attitude
American Dairy: “Aaron Burr”
Once again, make Milk an essential staple
Target: “A Sign of the Times”
A Discount Store for the Youthful, “Cool”
Volkswagon: “Dah-Dah-Dah”
A Lifestyle fit (“Drivers Wanted”)

BRANDING ELEMENTS
Logos
Typeface
Tag Line
Executional style
Photography, editing, music.
Attitude!!!

LOGOS
Logo #1

Logo #1
LOGOS

Logo #2
LOGOS

Logo #3
LOGOS

Cold Type can have a
Warm Aura!
TYPEFACE

Typeface #1
TYPEFACE Typeface #2

TAGLINE (MUST BE APPROPRIATE)
Tagline #1:
Life’s Better

TAGLINE EVALUTION
THE “HAMMERSTEIN GRID”

TAGLINE EVALUATION
“ Hart Smart”
Hip
Sexy
Clever
Double Entendres

TAGLINE EVALUATION
“ Hart Smart”
“ Pal Joey”
“ Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered”
I'll sing to him Each spring to him And worship the trousers that cling to him Bewitched, bothered and bewildered am I! When he talks he is seeking Words to get off his chest. Horizontally speaking He's at his very best. Vexed again Perplexed again Thank God I can be over-sexed again Bewitched, bothered and bewildered am I!

TAGLINE EVALUATION
“ Hammerstein Simple”
Simple, Direct
Story telling
Emotional
Involving
Inner meaning

TAGLINE EVALUATION
“ Hammerstein Simple”
“ Carousel”
“ What’s the use of Wond’rin’?”
Common sense may tell you That the endin’ will be sad, And now’s the time to break and run away But what’s the use of wond’rin’ If the endin’ will be sad He’s your feller and you love him— There’s nothin’ more to say!

Tagline #2
MORE TAGLINES Tagline #3

Tagline #4
Where the World checks in every day
MORE TAGLINES

Tagline #5
MORE TAGLINES “ Just . . . .”

Tagline #5
MORE TAGLINES “ Just Do It!”

THE WHOLE PACKAGE
Branding a State

THE MASTER

THE MASTER MILTON GLASER
Brooklyn Brewery
An homage to the Dodgers

Barron’s
Merging of tradition and optimism

Stony Brook University
Merging of tradition and aspiration

SOCIAL MARKETING BRANDING—ICONS
Don’t Litter
Douse Your Campfire
Buckle Up

BLINK!
Malcolm Gladwell
Rapid cognition
When you meet someone for the first time, or walk into a house you are thinking of buying, or read the first few sentences of a book, your mind takes about two seconds to jump to a series of conclusions . . . I think those instant conclusions that we reach are really powerful and really important.

CREATING YOUR BRAND
Key Steps
Ask some Questions
Do some research
Prepare a Creative Brief
Create an ownable emotional component; a unique Brand Essence.

CREATING YOUR BRAND
Questions:
Do you understand exactly what your Brand is?
Do you know how your consumers feel about your Brand?
Do you feel your Brand is as strong as it should be?
How would you evaluate your brand’s value proposition?
Does it clearly and compellingly deliver an important and single-minded benefit to the customer?

CREATING YOUR BRAND
Questions (Cont.):
Do you understand what your intangible brand characteristics are?
Who is watching over your brand at the company/organization? Do you have a chief brand officer?
What is your brand promise? Is that important to customers? Are you delivering it?
Is your brand promise in line with your organization’s core mission?

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
Can be expensive
Worth doing if you can
In a properly-facilitated group, the people don’t lie!

CREATIVE BRIEF ELEMENTS
1. Target
Whom do you want to talk to?
Multiple Targets?
What constituencies do you most need to reach?
What do we know about them? (Visualize!)
“ Face the Target”
Research

2. Competitive Climate
What other groups are out there, competing for the time, attention and commitment of your target?

3. Principal idea (Benefit)
What is the single most important thing that you want your target to know about you?

4. Support points
Why should people accept/believe us?
Facts which are an arsenal of proof to back up the principal idea or benefit.
Mission Statement
Web “About” pages

5. Tone & Style.
What is our tone of voice?
What is our attitude? (Hammerstein Simple)
Does it make an emotional connection? (remember the pictures)
Is this message presented in a serious or humorous fashion?
Is it “Real?” Reassuring? Startling?
THE MOST IMPORTANT SECTION OF ANY CREATIVE BRIEF!! NOTE ...

6. Desired Action
What do we want our target to do after they’ve received our message?
Avoid “Telling, not selling”

OBSERVATIONS & OPPORTUNITIES
Branding Strategy Construction Steps
Left Brain
Who are we?
Elevator Speech
Mission Statement
Characterize Targeted Individuals
Why do they need us ?

OBSERVATIONS & OPPORTUNITIES
Some Right Brain Stuff
Adjectives that best describe us
Favorite Color
Favorite Song
Favorite Movie
Cliché that best describes us
In the Movie, “The Man/Woman from (Your Organization)” - Who plays the lead?

CREATIVE BRIEF CONSISTENCY
Be certain you have the will & resources to maintain consistency of message
PR
Every communication must speak with the same voice
Every release must reflect the Creative Brief
Benefit,Tone and Attitude particularly important

BRANDING CLEAN ENERGY
A Case Study
A Cause Marketing Approach to Clean Energy Market Building

OUR CHALLENGES
Quantitative research consistently shows consumers willing to switch and pay more, but only marginal market activity and few early adopters
Lack of common language -
Is it green, clean, renewable, alternative?
An invisible product.

PROBING BEYOND THE OBVIOUS
Qualitative research - six groups in CT and MA of consumer, business and “opinion leaders.”
Recruited from all walks of life: urban, rural, upscale, downscale, Democratic, Republican, Independent.
Beyond the rational, what are the most powerful emotional hooks that could make clean energy important and desirable to the American public?

THE OBITUARY
If you want to find out how someone feels about something, take it away from them.
Respondents are asked to imagine fossil fuels on earth have died. Their task is to write an obituary, including:
What was the cause of death?
What will it be remembered for?
Who will take its place?
Who will miss it?

RESULTS
We uncovered some surprising beliefs about fossil fuels and clean energy.

FINDINGS
Fossil Fuels Make Our World Work; It’s Terrifying to Lose Them
People were far less critical of fossil fuels than we expected. It’s scary for them to imagine our world without them.

SAMPLE OBITUARY

NEXT, WE ASKED THEM TO DRAW “CLEAN ENERGY WORLD”
One way to encourage people to react at an emotional level is to take away their rational tool kit: their vocabulary.
We asked respondents to imagine that all the energy used to power their world is “clean,” and then draw what clean energy world looks like.
We asked them to name it, and date it.

THE CRUX OF THE MATTER: CLEAN ENERGY ISN’T SEEN AS READY
“ I’ve heard about this since elementary school.”
“ It’s more concept than product. I don’t see it in real life.”

THE GARDNER-NELSON AGENCY & CESA DEVELOPED A WIDE RANGE OF CONCEPTS
Self-sufficiency
Infinite/renewable
Closer than you think
The American spirit of ingenuity
Jobs
Control
Security
Innovative future
Good for health/environment

The images and facts that made clean energy seem powerful, real, and “closer than you think” triggered very positive reactions.

“ I had no idea. Is that true?”
If clean energy “already” makes enough to power big cities like Chicago, with all the lights they require, then it must be a lot closer than people think.
“ Let’s produce more” is a compelling thought –“Yeah, why not, let’s do it,” is the reaction.

CLEAN ENERGY BRANDING CREATIVE BRIEF
Objective: (Why are we advertising?)
To brand clean energy in a way that convinces Americans that more clean energy now is important, desirable and achievable.
Competetive Climate
Public perception that Clean Energy is science fiction; a future event
Knowledgeable about Clean Energy, but “kinks to be worked out.”
Target: (Whom are we talking to?)
First, the American public.
Second, opinion and business leaders who can be influential voices in signaling that clean energy is real.

CLEAN ENERGY BRANDING CREATIVE BRIEF
Principal Idea
Support: (Why should you believe us?)
Clean energy already supplies far more of America’s energy needs than you knew
Could Power 9.62% of America’s homes
Could Power every home in Eleven States
Could Run every factory in NY, NJ, Michigan and Illinois
Clean energy is more real than you think – making more can help make America energy self-sufficient
Tone and Style
Strong, Confident, Powerful
Sign up for Clean Energy
Desired Action

TAGLINE
“ It’s Real. It’s Here. It’s Working!”

Television Spot #1: “Houses”
15 Second Spot

Television Spot #2: “Factories”
15 Second Spot

ARE YOU BRANDED?
Have you created an ownable emotional component?
Do you have a unique Brand Essence?
Do you have a true “Aura?”

A BIT OF HISTORY
Branding before we heard the word

A BIT OF HISTORY
An Early Branding Icon—Iron Eyes Cody Keep America Beautiful

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Developing a Brand Essence

by Enterprise Center at Salem State University on Apr 09, 2010

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Developing a Brand Essence — Presentation Transcript