Re: Branding and marketing

From: Rob Frankel <rob_at_robfrankel.com>
Date: Fri 23 Feb 2001 11:33:42 -0600

BRYCE WALKER <bryce_at_hotwebreviews.com> WROTE:

>The branding discussion has not focused enough on
>asking the question: What does the consumer associate
>with the brand?

That depends who you ask. If you ask me, I'm gonna tell you
that "Branding is not about getting your prospects to choose
you over your competition; it's about getting your prospects
to see you as the only solution to their problem."

Ask just about anyone else, and you'll get any number of
answers. More than anything else, the web has changed what
branding is and what it does. To merely assume that branding
is nothing more than an identity or a feeling is to say that
you, as a human being, are really nothing more than your name
and how people feel about you.

>Most of us have realized that the very term Dot Com has
>become a brand itself.

Ummm, no. It's a phrase. A generic colloquialism --
again, according to my own brand or branding....which may
not be suitable for everyone, I understand.

> Again, that's what the average consumer
>associates with the usage of the term Dot Com. Here's
>a test. Try on your emotions and expectations when I
>mention these brand names: NBA... The Far Side...
>Carnival... Victoria's Secret. Each have a very
>recognizable emotion and expectation associated with
>them. (By-the-way, I spotted all these brand names just
>looking around my office... OK, maybe not the last
>one.) I think its key to determine what expectations
>and emotions you want your consumers to associate with
>your brand.

I have a test, too, which I call the Ubiquitous Brand Test.
You simply look at everything you're doing and ask yourself,
"Are we doing this the <YOUR NAME HERE> way?" If you can answer
yes, you've probably got a culture -- a branded way of doing
things -- that permeates your enterprise. You're more likely
to be well-branded. And end users are far more likely to
recognize, appreciate - and most importantly, return to --
the <YOUR NAME HERE> way of doing things.

Rob Frankel, http://www.RobFrankel.com
Big Time Branding Guy and Author of "The Revenge of Brand X:
How to Build A Big Time Brand on the Web or Anywhere Else" &
"The Frankel Tapes -- Volume One" on sale now at
http://www.RevengeOfBrandX.com



Received on Fri Feb 23 2001 - 11:33:42 CST