Helping good people build great brands.
Within your company, who really builds the brand? Which department is responsible for brand-building?
Trick question! The answer is “All of them.” Everyone plays a part in delivering on the brand positioning and bringing the brand to life.
Let’s use a hypothetical consumer packaged goods company as an example of “who does what” (the parallels to your own company should be easy to see):
I recently came across a quote from 8-time Mr. Olympia Ronnie Coleman that made me think about brand building blocks. The guy’s undeniably got a way with words:
“Everybody wants to be a bodybuilder. But nobody wants to lift no heavy-ass weights.”
When I present to or train brand leaders, I’ll often ask them what they hope to achieve with their branding efforts. Almost always, I’ll hear some variation of the following:
Continue reading “Heavy-Ass Weights & Brand Building Blocks”
After a recent presentation, an audience member asked for my opinion on the most common misconception about branding.
It was an easy question to answer. It’s the idea that branding is an initiative. That it’s something that requires a brief investment of attention and time, and can then be moved down the priority list. This way of thinking suggests that branding is a sprint. But it’s not. It’s more like marathon. It’s a commitment for the long haul. Continue reading “The Long Haul of Branding”
“I want to build my brand!” declares Tom confidently.
I ask Tom what he means, exactly. I’m pretty sure I know what to expect, and he doesn’t disappoint.
“I want my company to be the one everybody knows – the one that leaps to mind when they need products like ours!”
Sally’s goal is to turn her product into a brand. For her, branding is all about sales: “The stronger my brand, the more I sell,” she explains. Continue reading “So You Want to Build Your Brand?”
Meet Stan. Stan works over in accounting. He is, you might say, a little buttoned-up. His shirts are so well-starched that they deflect bullets. On Casual Friday, he lets loose by wearing jeans – with crisply ironed pleats. He has a picture of Rush Limbaugh in his office, which is so immaculate it makes his co-workers anxious. And a hair out of place? Not on Stan’s head.
But one Monday morning, Stan arrives looking like he missed the bus to Bonnaroo. He’s wearing baggy hemp clothing, his hair resembles a bird’s nest, and he hasn’t seen the working end of his razor in days. Barack has replaced Rush in the frame on his desk. Continue reading “Three Kinds of Brand Consistency”
Imagine you’ve made an appointment with your family doctor to discuss the shooting pangs in your chest and the fact that your left arm is going numb five or six times a day.
You’re waiting in an examination room in one of those flattering gowns. Suddenly, your doctor pops in wearing in a polka-dotted clown suit, a conical cap and a red rubber nose, laughing maniacally as he hoses you down with his seltzer bottle. Continue reading “Of Consistency and Clown Doctors”