When you are branding, be thoughtful, thorough, and multi-faceted. Look at your branding from all sides. Think of all the different ways it will be used, viewed and maybe, booed! Don’t leave anything out because whatever is missing will stick out like a sore thumb. And it will open the door for a competitor with [...]
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Personal Brand Means Reputation
HOW’S YOUR BRAND?
Today the definition of the word brand has evolved to mean reputation, and even feelings about a product, service, organization, or person. This is especially true of so-called personal branding. We now regularly use terms such as, “That’s going to help (or hurt) their (a person’s) brand.” It’s like we were suddenly all running for [...]
Definition of the Word “Brand” – Revisited
MENTAL IMPRESSION TRUMPS LOGO
The word “brand” has evolved from the mark made by burning with a hot iron, to a logo or a trademark. But today a brand is the impression of a product in the minds of potential users or consumers. This shift from trademark to customer impression says it all. But the word “impression” is subject [...]
Word-of-Mouth Brand Building is a Double-Edged Sword
“HAVE YOU HEARD ABOUT…?”
Word-of-mouth is perhaps the best form of advertising. It’s far more than just another form of commercial communication. It’s a personal endorsement from someone you know or find credible. In an attempt to validate the brand’s promise and value, part of every brand building strategy is to garner third-party endorsements and accolades. These are then [...]
Consumer Brands are only as Good as Their Availability
OUT-OF -STOCKS CAN KILL GOOD BRANDS
With so much emphasis put on the logo, catch phrase, brand promise, brand story, and even matching corporate business cards, letterhead and envelopes, brand builders can forget the most important factor in any retail consumer brand’s success: staying in stock! Being out of stock is a killer of an otherwise fantastic brand. It’s better for [...]
A Brand’s Guarantee is a Bet on their Own Quality
THE EAGLE FLIES AT EAGLE CREEK
Guaranteeing your products is a powerful way to add value and credibility to your brand. When you guarantee your products, you send a message that your company stands behind them and that you will provide customer satisfaction at any cost. It also sends a message that you believe the quality of your product is going [...]
A Trademark Infringement – An Alternative Solution
OUT OF LEFT FIELD!
It’s easy to be so close to a problem that an out-of-the-box solution is hard to visualize. We have found that by closely examining the problem from all sides and comparing it to other challenges you face, you are more likely to discover the “elegant” solution – a simple solution that solves multiple problems. We [...]
6 Ways to Build your Brand at Trade Shows
HOW TO TAKE OVER A TRADE SHOW
Exhibiting at trade shows is a great way to build your brand, but it is expensive. So don’t just attend the show, make the most of it! We learned the hard way over a 20-year period, but if you use these tricks, you’ll immediately see the results. Here are 6 actions that will get you [...]
How Big Companies Can Become More Entrepreneurial – Part 7
THE SKUNK WORKS - A COMPANY WITHIN A COMPANY
Originally used by Lockheed Martin to identify a secret aircraft development group within the larger company, the term “Skunk Works” is used today to broadly describe an autonomous company within a company. The skunk works is usually a small group of people who are allowed to work on a project in an unconventional way, unhampered [...]
7 Ways Big Companies Can Become More Entrepreneurial – Part 6
RECRUIT, SOLICIT, AND AWARD FOR CREATIVITY
Today it seems like every big corporation wants to become more entrepreneurial. They envy the creativity and freedom of small start-ups, and they want that spirit in their own companies. In order to achieve the entrepreneurial spirit, they may have to think and act, even budget and organize, much like a small start-up. Every successful [...]
7 Ways Big Companies Can Become More Entrepreneurial – Part 5
LEGAL LICENSE TO KILL – CREATIVITY, THAT IS
One of the reasons it is difficult for larger companies to become more entrepreneurial is because many have given their legal departments too much control. In their well-meaning desire to mitigate liability and avoid litigation, compliance often gets the last word on anything creative or out of the ordinary, allowing the legal department to sit [...]
7 Ways Big Companies Can Become More Entrepreneurial – Part 4
DON’T LET JOB PRESERVATION SUPPRESS GENIUS
One of the biggest challenges to large corporations becoming more entrepreneurial is their very structure. Chains of command and divisions of labor designed for efficiency can actually block good ideas and discourage creativity. In this seven-part series, we examine ways that big business can learn from entrepreneurs, small businesses and start-ups. One of the advantages [...]
HBS Branding Blog by David Aaker
- Red Bull: The Ultimate Brand BuilderA pioneer in energy drinks three decades ago, Red Bull is now the world sales leader with estimated 2012 fiscal sales of over $3 billion, profits over $400 million, and a 43% leading US dollar market. To establish a new category in the face of Coke and Pepsi and then hold it for decades is very impressive. Four quick observations about Red Bull’s unique appr […]
- Higher Purpose Branding: 14 Brands Are Doing It RightSince I began this blog, about 10% of my posts have highlighted a brand whose branding and marketing programs have been, in my eyes, impressive. These dozen or so cases, most of which have demonstrable business success as well, all have something in common. They all have a higher purpose. Some have several. They offer a basis for a customer relationship that […]
- Dove: The Most Impressive Brand Builder in the Last 15 Years?What are the most impressive brand building efforts in last 15 years? In constructing such a list, it would be hard to leave out Dove. A $200 million soap brand in the early 1990s has grown into a brand that has been estimated to be nearly $4 billion dollars today. They play in an intensively competitive arena with large, smart and established competitors. A […]
Brand Week News And Features
- Goodby, Silverstein Brings the Funny for YouTube's First-Ever Comedy WeekTo hype its inaugural Comedy Week, which begins Sunday night at 8 p.m. ET, YouTube turned to an ad agency known for generating its share of laughs: Goodby, Silverstein & Partners. The San Francisco shop—which has done comical spots for Budweiser, "Got milk?", Sonic, Corona Light and many others—whipped up a load of ads (many of them :15s) that […]
- Former Publicis COO Richard Pinder on Reimagining Global NetworksFormer top Publicis exec Richard Pinder has spent his career at big networks like Grey, Ogilvy, and Leo Burnett before he became worldwide chief operating officer at Publicis Groupe's flagship agency. So after leaving that job in 2011, it was more than a little surprising to see him go public with a new entrepreneurial gig as a co-founder and CEO of The […]
- Better Eyewear Means Fewer Dead Cats, Says Amusing Specsavers AdThe best performance by a cat in a TV commercial this week goes to the fluffy mess in this new British spot for eyewear maker Specsavers. Not that the veterinarian here would know—he's not clear on what a cat is anymore. Specsavers, of course, has a long and proud history of offbeat commercials. The best mistaken-animal-identity spot, though, remains th […]
