Strategy & Brand

We are taking an industrial product to new, broader markets. Should we be  concerned with losing the confidence of our existing and loyal markets?

It is critical that you first understand the markets that support the product lines now to wisely interpret the direction, synergy, and prospective untapped markets moving forward.

Diversifying into new areas of business demands thoughtful consistency to avoid unintended consequences. Coherence emerges when brand owners and developers understand the target audience’s needs and point of decision preferences. Consistency maximizes and provokes awareness; assuring current markets while encouraging new target audiences to “try” your product. Consistency is the quality that evolves the past forward, ensuring that the history and diversity of time and change come together seamlessly; communicating dependability to customers. Assuming that you know who wants it and why, consistency will be the certain challenge to manage through market expansions.

We have a brand experience process; but we have a very different brand experience. How do we sync what we want done with what is done to deliver the promised and hoped for brand experience?

Executing a brand is a strategy.

Brand strategies may be “believed” by contributors but they still require integrated systems to be operationalized and delivered.

Systems are created to clarify direction, resolve challenges and satisfy needs.

Healthy integrated systems are guided by principles:

1.)   Define, revise and pursue the purpose (outcomes):

You’ll need a sound understanding of the outcomes, the challenges, and the disparities as well as the related and unintended consequences to focus sensible solutions. Don’t trust assumptions.

Encourage everyone involved to adopt an open attitude and a resolve to improve and revise processes. Involve all insiders and outside eyes.

2.)   Take account of the people:

Integrated systems consider everyone that is impacted or affected by the need to be met and the process that resolves the need: specifically those that experience, use and maintain the systems.

Never hand down a system or changes without the input of the very people that work it into a reality.

3.) Be creative and open to new approaches to old ways of doing things:

Entertain and devise effective solutions to the real problems rather than force the problems into canned solutions.

4.) Think holistic; start with the end in mind:

Rely on a long view and critical thinking to resolve the disparity. Imagine what can go wrong at every phase in an effort to achieve a healthy work environment and an exceptional user experience.

5.)    Work the system:

A well-designed system does what it should and doesn’t do what it should not for everyone. Put changes into action.

6.) Engage the relationships and manage the project:

Proactively reconcile the inevitable conflicts that arise. Encourage users to provide insights and feedback relating every real or imagined concern. Encourage everyone involved to adopt an open attitude and a resolve to improve and revise processes.

Garland Pollard, a writer, web editor and SEO consultant writes “Is there too much branding?

He continues, “… must we all be so concerned with branding? Isn’t a good brand really the result of a moral, well-run company? Isn’t it better that hospitals focus on patients, and let the “branding” speak for itself? Do churches really need to “brand” themselves, or is it better that they focus on saving souls? Do we really need for banks to have visual identities, or do we want them to treat us properly when we make a deposit? Is the most recent mania for branding yet another management fad that we use to obscure coercion, duplicity and manipulation?”

Taking those in bite size pieces:

“Is there too much branding?”

A.) No, there is not “too much branding” anymore than there are too many interesting, purpose driven people making honorable contributions to the world.  There is far too much talk about branding and too many quick fix, faux solutions applied that actually distort the power of brand.

“Must we all be so concerned with branding?”

B.) Yes, in global and competitive markets we should all be concerned with branding; differentiating our organizational value in a memorable way is critical to vitality.

“Isn’t a good brand really the result of a moral, well-run company?”

C.) Yes, exactly! A good brand is the result of a moral, well-run company. But how does a working community define a moral company and align a well-run company without a shared identity and concerted purpose?

“Isn’t it better that hospitals focus on patients, and let the “branding” speak for itself?”

D.) Yes, hospitals should focus on patients. Healthy “brand philosophies” align the operating objectives of hospitals with the patient needs and expectations.

Appreciating that everyone, from patients to our nation as a whole, expects more than just advanced health-care today demands that hospitals offer more than quality recovery.

E.) Strong brands rarely, if ever just emerge from the operational routine to speak explicitly and align strategically.

“Do churches really need to “brand” themselves, or is it better that they focus on saving souls?”

F.) This not an either or proposition. Churches most certainly need to distinguish one from another in an effort to save souls. Churches passionate about their “call” want to speak beyond the pulpit to the people that are hoping for a message of hope and membership. Pentecostal? Down-to-earth? Fiscally transparent and accountable? Humanitarian outreach focused? Missions supportive? What a church represents is a story worth telling.

“Do we really need for banks to have visual identities, or do we want them to treat us properly when we make a deposit?”

G.) Yes, yes, and yes. A compelling brand ensures that your teller will treat you properly when making a deposit. The goal is to align what you do and how you do it around a simple, relevant and meaningful concept (brand promise) that can be delivered consistently provokes interest and woos customers.

I attempted to make a deposit with the wrong paperwork just recently. A logo on the slip would have been time saving for everyone waiting in line.

“Is the most recent mania for branding yet another management fad that we use to obscure coercion, duplicity and manipulation?”

H.) Identity matters. Buyers report that a cohesive brand for a relevant product/service eliminates the mental tug of war that they face when they make buying decisions.

When you work with clients do you include in a proposal ongoing “marketing support” or is it more projects based?

Every company and project is different. Some Requests for Proposal (RFPs) request, and other contracts bind, a firm for ongoing marketing support for as long as 3 years. Some projects engage different firms for various phases and stages of brand development (writing multiple RFPs for audits, brand identity, web presence, communication strategies, and/or awareness campaigns).

The ideal brand RFP simply defines the need and delineates the broad outcomes (increase awareness and sales, etc) freeing brand houses to consider thoughtful and innovative approaches and methods.

What have you been wanting to brand but haven’t gotten a chance to yet?

A Public School (likely our next pro bono project). Every kid should know why they “attend” this place, what matters around here (authentically), what it means to belong “here”, what “we” collectively stand for, are made of and contribute to, and what the expectations and outcomes are beyond what everyone supposes is “obvious”.

Retirement Community

A triathlon with an interesting history and spirited purpose

A carnival in Brazil

Accountants

Water; a product or cause related campaign having anything (healthy) to do with water

Branded art that captures and expresses the sense of people and place that come together to action a significant purpose

A philharmonic or symphony

Peanut butter and jelly

A Brewery

Library system

An arts or not-for-profit cluster. Yes, Porter’s cluster theory can be applied to cultural and human services…

The City of Amsterdam

A life saving device

Parking garages

Bookstores

Cruise Ships

Advertising/sponsorship criteria for Oprah’s OWN network. Smart partners make for an indelible impact.

Extreme Sports Brand

Magazine

Surf Gear

A natural or man-made wonder of the world

Real toys

Tequila

The exterior and interior working space that inspires a community of renegades; function, look, and feel.  ”We shape our buildings and thereafter they shape us.” Winston Churchill

Something culinary

Ski’s

Visceral way-finding

Chocolate!

Something that teaches the world to sing

Mountain bikes

Cereal…This may be a pro bono project that we commandeer as a public service announcement one of these days. Not because we love cereal, but because we are unnerved by the blatant advertising deception embraced by the dirty few that ultimately misleads the busy many.

Check it out yourself…Read Serious Play for Serious Girl’s case study “General Mills: A Case Study on Corporate Values” http://www.seriousplayforseriousgirls.com/?p=601 or the Rudd Center’s original report: “Cereal FACTS: Evaluating the Nutrition Quality and Marketing of Children’s Cereals.” http://www.cerealfacts.org/media/Cereal_FACTS_Report.pdf

p.s. *We’d love to design William Gibson’s next book cover

Do you have a favorite brand book?

No, to paraphrase a famous tag line, “No one can read just one”. With that in mind here’s a short list of a few of our collective favorites:

It must be said that Marty Neumeier, Director of Transformation at Liquid Agency is “king” in the eyes of the strategist at BlackDog. We often pine and mourn the fact that Marty wrote the books that we like to think that we would have wrote.
Zag
The Brand Gap
The Designful Company

How Brands Become Icons: The Principles of Cultural Branding by Douglas B. Holt.

Beyond Branding: How the New Values of Transparency and Integrity Are Changing the World of Brands. Beyond Branding is a collaborative work pieced thoughtfully together by fourteen authors that have, oddly enough, formed an exclusive brand society: Nicholas Ind, Denzil Meyers, Johnnie Moore, Chris Macrae, Thomas Gad, John Caswell, Tim Kitchin, Julie Anixter, Simon Anholt, Sicco van Gelder, Ian Ryder, Jack Yan, Alan Mitchell, Malcolm Allan. This contribution addresses everything from sustainability, anthropology and the common good in a practical voice.

A New Brand World: Eight Principles for Achieving Brand Leadership in the Twenty-First Century by Scott Bedbury and Stephen Fenichell. We all remember loving Bedbury’s book, but couldn’t articulate why…it was a long time ago.

Brand Warfare: 10 Rules for Building the Killer Brand by David F. D’Alessandro and Michele Owens. D’Alessandro addresses the value of brand in conservative industries and clarifies the power and pitfalls of sponsorship intelligently.

OBD: Obsessive Branding Disorder by Lucas Conley. It is clear that Conley knows the difference between authentic brand and disingenuous fluff intended to distract (a.k.a. bullshit).

Brand Digital and Brand Simple by Allen P. Adamson

Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath

Socialnomics by Erik Quailman

No BlackDog book list would be complete without mentioning On Bullshit by Dr. Harry Frankfurt. On Bullshit is actually a philosophy book that so resonated with BlackDog’s partners and ideologies that we have adopted “We don’t brand bullshit” as our battle cry. It’s a quick and marvelous read that we’d like to teach the world to sing.

Why do I need a brand?

When I first read this question on January 3, 2011 my instinctive response was more haughty than informative.

Why do we need a sense of purpose?

Why do we need a personality?

Why do we need reputations, character, values, and credibility? A sense of style, belonging, history, and place in this world?

Today a new question specifies “Do I need a brand in industrial manufacturing?” that puts both questions in perspective.

The goal of a brand is to align what you do and how you do it around a simple, relevant and meaningful concept (brand promise) that can be delivered consistently, provokes interest, and woos customers.

With that definition in mind every manufacturer, company, utility, school, office/apartment complex, church, distributor, not-for-profit, television network, association, government agency, and auto dealership needs a brand.

I know many B2B industrial product manufacturers that compete in very narrow niches; they know who wants the product, what the needs are, what’s at risk, where to find the customer, and how to talk their language. Credibility, service, price, innovation, geography, and established relationship dominate the unemotional decision to buy rationale. In this niche brand awareness is only as reliable as the strength of the product endorsed.

However…

Well-defined brands can better carve an organizational niche through developed culture, operations, communications, and strategic relationships.

1.)   A brand guards the mission and customer-centric boundaries that inform major strategic decisions and operational decision making of leadership day in and day out. The brand focuses the in-house situational intelligence.

2.)   With the proper care and feeding contributors are equipped with an intimate sense of where the purpose-driven organization is and should go, how it should respond, and what it should not be distracted by, in every department and situation.

3.)   A brand relevant strategy has the power to elevate an organization of any size to greater levels of success; freeing small businesses to compete head-to-head with larger competitors with longer reputations and less passion.

4.)   If you’re an industry underdog or leader that wants to demonstrate your relevance after all these years, cultivate new uses and markets, humanize your industry, enhance your work place identity and culture, broaden the conversations, or woo sharp and innovative contributors to your company then a cohesive brand image is critical to launching and communicating the way forward.

5.)   If you have innovated a stronger, cheaper, more versatile, or less toxic product that doesn’t compromise the integrity of the industry standard solution a tough talking brand will be necessary to advantage the disruptive new market entrant.

6.)   There are countless exceptions and caveats, intended and unintended benefits of brand development and management; too many to itemize here. However, we put a body of research together in 2008 that we refer to in-house as “Brand Relevance” that we’ll publish on the BlackDog blog…check it out if you want more on this topic

Isn’t a brand simply a story that I make up to entice customers to buy?

“Brand is not what you say it is, it’s what they say it is.”1

Your brand is every real or imagined trait, nuance, story, impression, quirk, process, delay, sound, sneeze, perspective, dimension, sell tactic, experience, perk, odor, texture, feeling, and connection that makes the radar of your customer.

The amalgamation of those experiences either add significance, authenticity, style, and perceived value to what you have to offer…making your brand more valuable than the version that everyone else is offering…  Or not.

Your customer decides what is relevant…  Or isn’t.

(1) Marty Neumeier, The Brand Gap (2003)

I want to strengthen my brand, should I start by changing my logo?

Far too often, companies make the mistake of thinking that a visual refresh of their logo, website, collateral, etc. is the key step in strengthening their brand.  A logo is a visual reminder that represents your company.  It is not your brand (see #364).  Changing your logo is like dying your hair; you may look different the next time someone meets you, but you still have the same personality, mannerisms and beliefs.

In fact, changing your logo is likely the last step (if done at all) when trying to strengthen your brand.  Improving your brand is a thoughtful, planned decision that takes effort, research and commitment.  Brand development looks for the customer pain points in your organization and undertakes to turn them around. This typically requires functional changes, revised procedures, training programs, organizational development, and other process improvement efforts long before any changes to your brand identity.  If the changes to the organization are truly significant, a change to logo or tag line might be worth considering.

Here’s one plan…innovate a dynamic, new product; one that can change staid perspectives and whole industries…and then place it in the hands of people who only know and understand how to do what has always been done…and you will get predictable results.

Here’s another…innovate a dynamic, new product; one that can change staid perspectives and whole industries…one that explores the limits, plays at the boundaries, and harnesses the unique competencies that will disrupt business as usual creating new possibilities and offering a completely new experience.

In other words…“Stand out. Be conspicuous, at all cost. Make yourself a magnet of attention by appearing larger, more colorful, more mysterious than the bland and timid masses” (Robert Greene. The 48 Laws of Power) or blend into the blandness.

Inspired by functional design, engaged by practical innovation, and driven by a brand that sees the needs of people not a consumer market, truly innovative new products have the power to persuade and invigorate the tired, tried and true methodology with a bold approach that reinforces  uniqueness and sparks intrigue.

The humanizing nature of the offering itself, paired with a brand worth believing, and an introduction that dazzles should make room for whole markets and select buyers to find their own detailed story in the buying experience. Through and through the offering should stand apart and stick in the minds of ‘creatures of habit’ as an unapologetically,  vivid, healthy, sustainable, durable, and flexible departure from the mundane.

Ease the resistance, seduce, command attention, and never forget that everything is judged by appearance…so keep it real and dream big. When the stakes are high, timidity is risky business.  

So, are there examples of bold thinking… inspired moves… wildly successful crazy ideas?

• In 1950 Dunkin’ Donuts was born. Tim Hortons went live in 1964. One thing for sure… people loved their coffee, and paying a buck for a cup of joe was apparently right on the money. The market was happy… business was growing. So why would an entrepreneur in the early 80’s decide that a new category was possible, one that would change the coffee landscape forever? Because he was inspired by what he knew was possible. And out of that instinct to act, to be bold, came his mission statement: to inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup, and one neighborhood at a time. Starbucks knew it was different, and they were told it was crazy… it would never work. The naysayers questioned who the heck would pay $4 for a cup of coffee? Starbucks separated themselves from the pack and you know the rest of the story. Crazy. Inspired. Bold. Successful.
• A bra is a bra is a bra… so why start a lingerie store when bras and panties were available everywhere in 1977? Victoria Secrets’ products were not uniquely different, but placed in a comfortable, male-friendly environment, an amazing phenomenon was born. Stand-alone stores and the Internet of its day- mail order catalogs created the foundation for this $5B giant today. Crazy. Inspired. Bold. Successful.
• Everybody buys a vacuum cleaner at one time or another. And then they buy bags and more bags… often. The bag industry is a $500M business… why would anyone interfere  with the magic of the razor/razor blade, keep’em coming back for more, classic approach? It’s no surprise that when James Dyson invented a bag-less vacuum cleaner in the late 70s big manufacturers didn’t get turned on, but rather turned him and his design away. Dyson and his crazy, inspired and bold innovation threatened to destroy  dependable revenue streams. Today Dyson is a $10B behemoth and much bigger than the bag industry it threatened. Crazy. Inspired. Bold. Successful.

Crazy. Inspired. Bold. Successful.

First, they were crazy. Did anyone really believe that the human spirit was worth the cost of an expensive cup of coffee made from beans in distant and exotic lands? Did anyone really want to be seen buying the aura of sex in the form of underwear in a larger than life, too-hot-to-handle, glitzy lingerie showroom? And why do women pay twice as much for a “cyclone” vacuum cleaner in outrageous colors, designed around “ball technology” that redistributes the center of gravity for easier maneuverability that uses a filter rather than a bag? What is known is that these are great ideas turned break-a-way successes because the founders turned an audacious perspective into a larger than life reality that woos people to them.

Second, they were inspired. The inventors, the backers, the founders, the employees… and the market all wanted more than a dose of bitter reality on the way to work and under her suit. The Dyson vacuum worked for people that didn’t expect to suction bowling balls and did hope for a practical life in living color that rolled along smoothly. As it turns out wanting more and paying for it was exactly what a large market segment has hoping for all along in each category. People have been gravitating to products and brands that mine deep and go big in lieu of what has always been available and ordinary, time and time again.

Third, they were bold. They broke the rules, invented new ones and disrupted the market in grand style. They knew success meant sticking to their ideals. Undaunted by the popular world view; the successes that get talked about refuse to pay lip service to lofty missions or shallow pursuits. These are the visionaries that fearlessly parted from the herd and refused to be homogenized. They were different; they created value in a style that was all their own. They were the masters of their own experience and hence, the experience of others, driving  customer loyalty unlike any advertising scheme or shallow gimmick.

And then they became successful!  These geniuses created new categories because they were just crazy enough to do what they believed in despite the disbelievers, inspired enough by the possibilities and willing to act bold when the time was right. Success came because they did something different and weren’t  persuaded or engaged by those that see through the lens of what can’t be done.

We want to be a part of the crazy, inspired, bold, successful stories. All others need not apply.

A Bold Brand Is A Necessity

A Vague Brand Is A Liability

____________________________________________________