Building a Brand

“Creating a Brand” was the subject of the talk (I didn’t attend). It reminded me how much I hate that terminology. I know, I am petty and need to work on that (I’ve been known to carry a grudge like a bucket...probably why I didn’t attend). This phrase does come up in conversation (at least the types I have) and shows up online and in the business press. And depending on usage, it can be just that, a terminology problem.

When I see this turn of phrase, it makes me think of the the internet boom era. In that heady time the perception was that if you had enough venture capital and a hot ad agency that you could make anything internet into a profitable brand. Crazy commercials ran during the Super Bowl, wild creative and logos, artsy landing pages. It was fun! Yet at its core it seemed contrived.

You can’t “create” a brand using ads and logos and spokesmodels. That is part of the equation, especially for larger companies. But it isn’t all of it. Coke has a great brand that is brought to market by the shape of its bottle, its color red, its fun commercials and its logo. Yet Coke’s brand has so many more ingredients that matter to the successful capturing and retaining of its customers. It’s history, it’s people, it’s business philosophy, it’s culture.

Now since the logo is fun, the colors are fun, the commercials are fun, we need to be aware not to focus all our attention on those, and make sure we consider all the attributes and elements of the brand. The identity or logo is not the brand. The identity and the graphics and message must reflect the brand and communicate it to prospects and customers who aren’t familiar (yet) with the company and its offerings.

Once we understand this we can properly develop the blocks that build the brand into a seamless, powerful motivator for customers, prospects, employees and investors.

That and a whole lot more on brands is what we’re talking about this month in the “Be a Genius” newsletter and webinar which are part of our subscription service. The Geek Ambassador pitched in with some insight about the internet and brand, as well.

If you have brand questions you’d like to discuss, please email me. We can do an analysis to help unpack your brand attributes and start to build the blocks to a powerful brand.

SLE