...let’s get back to the text I reproduced. What is my disagreement? For a common reader, the sentence reduces branding to Logo art – a popular misconception. The American Marketing Association (AMA) defines a brand as "a name, term, sign, symbol or design, or combination of them intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitors." Small wonder, then, that branding is often misunderstood or disregarded, since it's equated with the more tangible marketing communications elements that are used to support it. The most common misperception managers have about the definition of a brand goes back to what most of us are familiar with – a variety of tactics. For example, a brand is:
- A tagline, like “We bring good things to life”
- A symbol, like the Nike swoosh;
- A shape, like the Coke bottle;
- A jingle, like “The taste that gets you started up…”;
Yes, all of these things help to bring the brand to life and into your stream of consciousness, but in reality, they are simply examples of well-executed marketing tactics.
So, what really is a brand? A brand represents a set of promises – the Brand Promise. And this brand promise needs to be backed up and delivered by what the company sells (products or services), what the company does (operations) and what the company is (vision & values). A brand implies trust, consistency, and a defined set of expectations. The strongest brands in the world own a position in the consumer’s mind that is unique to that brand and can universally be articulated by almost everyone. Brand 3M means innovation, FedEx means guaranteed delivery – almost everything these companies do and sell are aligned to deliver their brand promise. “Ultimately, a brand is the things people say about you when you’re not there,” says Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon.com
A successful brand has a well grounded marketing strategy. The brand strategy and the brand promise are natural outcomes or elements of the marketing strategy. In delivering the brand promise first the marketing and brand strategy needs to be in sync – the objective of the marketing strategy is to identify profitable opportunities, products or services, for the corporation that will help build its market share and market position. Once identified, these products or services need to be differentiated and positioned based on the competitive landscape leading to the brand strategy and brand promise that will build mindshare with potential buyers. Once these are in place, prospective buyers to whom these products or services were initially created, need to be targeted and communicated to, leading to the communication and promotional plan that contain media plans & campaigns – the print, TV, web ads that we all see.
So how does a company deliver on its brand promise? Simple, by aligning its resources around that promise! Easier said than done! Why? Due to the complexity of activities and resources in an organization that can be summarized using the classic organizational pyramid – strategic, operational and tactical. Strategy determines what position to take, what market opportunities the organization wants to pursue and what promises to be made and is operationalized through different layers and functions in the organization thereby aligning its resources to pursue that strategy and deliver on its promises. Take the example of Hutch in India, where ever you go our network follows. If they were to deliver on this promise their network and coverage had to be widespread which would lead to investment decisions on their mobile network infrastructure.
Another example is that of a recent experience I had with Bank of Baroda. The bank just went through a re-branding exercise and now calls itself India’s international Bank. It also got a brand new logo and Rahul Dravid (top Indian cricketer) as its brand ambassador. When I submitted an online request for a loan on their website – all I got was an automated email acknowledgement, not once but thrice! It said someone from the bank would call me and follow-up on my request. A classic example of focusing on visual elements of branding. But what about their operations? Shouldn’t it be geared to back that tall claim of being India’s international bank? What does it take to be an international bank? Looks to me like they just hired an agency to change the wrapper or packaging (as most managers call it) without giving much thought on how they need to re-organize their operations to be the bank they actually want to be. And I’m still waiting for that elusive call from the bank!
Customers come in touch with companies at more than one place or instance. And every interaction that they have at these touch-points determines their customer experience. This experience has a direct bearing on the brand and the brand promise of the company. It is every important that companies deliver a consistent customer experience across these touch-points, an experience that backs-up their brand promise. Take the example of a call center, every customer interaction it handles influences the perception of the brand in the customers mind.
Who is responsible for the brand, marketing? But what about a customer who gets a bill (finance), or the customer who has a question (customer service), or the customer whose opinion is valued (market research), or the customer who needs personal contact before buying (sales)? The customer’s knowledge and perception of the brand will be formed by every employee’s actions, behaviors, activities, and contacts. Indeed, the brand is owned and should be managed by every employee in the organization.
So, what really is a brand? A brand represents a set of promises – the Brand Promise. And this brand promise needs to be backed up and delivered by what the company sells (products or services), what the company does (operations) and what the company is (vision & values). A brand implies trust, consistency, and a defined set of expectations. The strongest brands in the world own a position in the consumer’s mind that is unique to that brand and can universally be articulated by almost everyone. Brand 3M means innovation, FedEx means guaranteed delivery – almost everything these companies do and sell are aligned to deliver their brand promise. “Ultimately, a brand is the things people say about you when you’re not there,” says Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon.com
A successful brand has a well grounded marketing strategy. The brand strategy and the brand promise are natural outcomes or elements of the marketing strategy. In delivering the brand promise first the marketing and brand strategy needs to be in sync – the objective of the marketing strategy is to identify profitable opportunities, products or services, for the corporation that will help build its market share and market position. Once identified, these products or services need to be differentiated and positioned based on the competitive landscape leading to the brand strategy and brand promise that will build mindshare with potential buyers. Once these are in place, prospective buyers to whom these products or services were initially created, need to be targeted and communicated to, leading to the communication and promotional plan that contain media plans & campaigns – the print, TV, web ads that we all see.
So how does a company deliver on its brand promise? Simple, by aligning its resources around that promise! Easier said than done! Why? Due to the complexity of activities and resources in an organization that can be summarized using the classic organizational pyramid – strategic, operational and tactical. Strategy determines what position to take, what market opportunities the organization wants to pursue and what promises to be made and is operationalized through different layers and functions in the organization thereby aligning its resources to pursue that strategy and deliver on its promises. Take the example of Hutch in India, where ever you go our network follows. If they were to deliver on this promise their network and coverage had to be widespread which would lead to investment decisions on their mobile network infrastructure.
Another example is that of a recent experience I had with Bank of Baroda. The bank just went through a re-branding exercise and now calls itself India’s international Bank. It also got a brand new logo and Rahul Dravid (top Indian cricketer) as its brand ambassador. When I submitted an online request for a loan on their website – all I got was an automated email acknowledgement, not once but thrice! It said someone from the bank would call me and follow-up on my request. A classic example of focusing on visual elements of branding. But what about their operations? Shouldn’t it be geared to back that tall claim of being India’s international bank? What does it take to be an international bank? Looks to me like they just hired an agency to change the wrapper or packaging (as most managers call it) without giving much thought on how they need to re-organize their operations to be the bank they actually want to be. And I’m still waiting for that elusive call from the bank!
Customers come in touch with companies at more than one place or instance. And every interaction that they have at these touch-points determines their customer experience. This experience has a direct bearing on the brand and the brand promise of the company. It is every important that companies deliver a consistent customer experience across these touch-points, an experience that backs-up their brand promise. Take the example of a call center, every customer interaction it handles influences the perception of the brand in the customers mind.
Who is responsible for the brand, marketing? But what about a customer who gets a bill (finance), or the customer who has a question (customer service), or the customer whose opinion is valued (market research), or the customer who needs personal contact before buying (sales)? The customer’s knowledge and perception of the brand will be formed by every employee’s actions, behaviors, activities, and contacts. Indeed, the brand is owned and should be managed by every employee in the organization.
