Where does your brand live?

Wednesday, 6th February 2008. Posted by phil in Brand, Brand strategy, Culture, Planning, Strategy, Values, Vision | Permalink | No Comments »

The traditional view that brand is a graphical representation of a product or company just won’t do any more. Research shows that as little as 15% of any brand is 'visual'. Indeed to take a purely visual approach to branding in the B2B sector would, we suggest, be an expensive waste of time, effort and resources. More importantly it doesn’t offer the edge that is required in an increasingly crowded marketplace. It’s no longer enough to just stand out in the crowd. To succeed in the 21st century, business must build long-term relationships with customers who return time and again. The Brand rubber really hits the road after the first sale is made.

Brand is: "The culmination of a person’s total experience of your organisation, good or bad. It is the effect on your stakeholders of all that your company says and does."

So brand is dynamic. Brand lives in the mind of your customer, your staff member and your shareholder. Brand is only truly yours when you take time to build, develop and manage it. Branding is about spending time below the waterline, positioning and maintaining the culture of a business. Branding is a lifetime activity.

Traditionally, branding has been seen as a marketing function. Because it has been limited to visuals, the focus within most organisations is on the ‘above-the-waterline’ stuff, much of which is strongly linked to strategic marketing activity. Given that 85% of brand is under the water however, there is a strong case for re-evaluating the status quo. Quality, service, efficiency, sales effectiveness et al. are certainly not marketing activities but belong firmly in the boardroom. This is the realm of strategy and long-term thinking.

What many business leaders fail to understand understand is that to build a brand takes perseverance, effort and focus in the boardroom. It’s when the strategy, direction and cultural references are clear that profitable brand-implementation can happen throughout the organisation.

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