The document discusses different definitions of what a brand is from experts in marketing and business. It argues that the best definition is "a brand is the sum of all the associations consumers have about your offering" because it is actionable, reflecting how the brain forms memories and associations, and brands with strong associations are more salient. The document outlines how understanding consumers' brand associations can help build desired associations through marketing to create preference and loyalty. It identifies 26 universal sources of associations that can be systematically explored to develop distinctive brand positions.

1. What Is A Brand?

2. Lots of great definitions
out there, by very smart
people

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David Aaker
3
“A set of assets and liabilities linked
to a brand’s name and symbol that
adds to or subtracts from the value
provided by a product or service to a
firm and/or that firm’s customers”.
David Aaker
Source: Marketing Week MiniMBA

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David Ogilvy
4
“The intangible sum of
a product’s attributes”.
David Ogilvy
Source: Marketing Week MiniMBA

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Seth Godin
5
“A brand is a set of expectations,
memories, stories and relationships
that, taken together, account for a
consumer’s decision t choose one
product or service over another”.
Seth Godin
Source: Marketing Week MiniMBA

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Jeff Bezos
6
“The brand is what other
people say about you when
you are not in the room”.
Jeff Bezos
Source: Marketing Week MiniMBA

7. The Problem?

8. They are not actionable

9. A better definition?

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A Better Definition
10
“A brand is the sum of
all the associations
consumers have about
your offering”.
Source: The Brand Positioning Workbook

11. Why better?

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1. It Is Actionable
12

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1. It Is Actionable & Clearly Defines The Role Of The Brand Team
13
Step 1: Understand what
consumers associate with your
brand and how strong those
associations are at driving the
business.
Step 2: Define what desired
associations consumers should
associate with your brand to
create preference, support a
price premium or generate
loyalty.
Step 3: Assess your marketing
plan by its ability to build those
desired brand associations

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2. It Reflects The Way The Brain Of Our Consumers Work
14
The human Connectome Project
A connectome (/kəˈnɛktoʊm/) is a
comprehensive map of neural connections in
the brain, and may be thought of as its
"wiring diagram". An organism's nervous
system is made up of neurons which
communicate through synapses. A
connectome is constructed by tracing the
neuron in a nervous system and mapping
where neurons are connected through
synapses.
Source: http://www.humanconnectomeproject.org/

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2. It Reflects The Way The Brain Of Our Consumers Work
15
“We have discovered that within the complete human connectome,
every brand has its own mini-network of associations composed of
every memory a customer has of the brand.
These accumulated memories, both positive and negative, form
what we call the Brand Connectome. Think of the brand as a tree
planting its roots in customers’ subconscious. As the brand grows, it
adds more associations and more branches to hold them.
And as the branches take root in our memories, the tree spans more
of the brain’s terrain”. Source: Michael Pratt, Wharton School od U of P

16. Would you trust the
prescription of a doctor
who doesn’t understand
the human body?

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3. Brands With Recognizable & Distinctive Brand Associations & Assets Are 52% More
Salient (Likely To Be Thought Of In A Buying Situation) Than Brands Without
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Source: Kantar, Brand Z
None or Weak
Brand Assets
Strong Brand
Assets
Brand Salience
+ 52%
+ 52%

18. There are 26 universal
sources of associations

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19
Gold Standard
Culture
Rituals
Application context
Category Conventions
Category Paradox
Adoption Barriers
Perceived Enemy
Origins
Frame of Reference
Creation Story
Scarcity/Exclusivity
Application context
Components/Ingredients
Product Workings
Defining Attributes
Perceived Weaknesses
Torture Test
Experts
Benefits Sensory Experience
Branded Rituals
Purpose
Shared Values
Brand’s Archetype
Rewards
Market Intelligence
BusinessObjectives
OpenMindset
Cross-Functional Team
A Systematic Exploration of The 26 Sources Of Brand Associations After A Rigorous
Discovery & Research Phase Leads To Better, More Distinctive Brand Positionings, Faster.

20. Three ways to experience
our methodology

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1. Buy The Award-Winning Book
21

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22
And The Best-Selling Cards

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2. Book The 1 Day Positioning Training Workshop
23
https://first-the-trousers.com/positioning-training/

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3. Hire First The Trousers Then The Shoes Inc. For A Project
24
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