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DEVELOPING A BRAND ESSENCE TO CAPTURE AND KEEP YOUR CLIENTSRichard EarleAffiliateThe Regis Group, Inc.

THE ENTERPRISE CENTERApril 8, 2010

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BRANDING•History

•Outgrowth of “Positioning” (Trout & Reiss)

•Basics

•Categories:

•Product

•Corporate

•Service Organizations

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ORIGINS OF BRANDING•Outgrowth of “Positioning”—(Trout & Reiss)

•“Find out what they like and how they like it, and let them have it just that way!”— “Fats” Waller

BRANDING BASICS•Organization or Group Branding•Brand Equity Goal: Establish a strong impression of the group, its mission and its relative value in the minds of a carefully targeted a.udience

•Impacts Recruiting, Consumer acceptance

•Loyalty

•Credibility

•Funding

•In today’s climate, only strong brands survive.

BRANDING BASICS •Aura

•An expression of your core values, an almost spiritual component called Brand Essence.

•Today, your Brand Essence must say:

• You are Unique

•You are Solid

•You are Adapted, and Competitive

• You are not going to go away

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PRODUCT BRANDING•It promises that the act of purchasing and using a product enrolls you in a lifestyle.

•It bestows a membership in the “coolest club of all.”

•It is rarely about the utility or great taste or promised benefit of the product.

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THE BRANDING EXPERTS

•“Is a brand products? No. I think it's a set of ideals, an aesthetic sensibility.”—Lance Jensen, Partner, Modernista Agency, New York Times Magazine

•“To establish a brand is to establish a tribe around the brand; a tingle of shared pleasure.”—John Leland, New York Times Magazine

•What is Branding?

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THE BRANDING EXPERTS

•“Establish(ing) lasting emotional ties with your customers that transcend your product or service . . . tapping in to an essence and an ethos that defines who you are to the folks that matter.”—Scott Bedbury, “A New Brand World”

•“We are inviting (them) to join a club.” —Ron Lawler, Creative Director, Arnold Worldwide, referring to Volkswagen “Driver’s Wanted” Campaign

•What is Branding?

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BRANDING EVOLUTION •Sprite “Rants” Frontline: “The Persuaders”

• Objective: Obscure the Marketer’s Hand.

• “To teens, the marketer is the enemy!”

• “Spokesperson” Mis-step.

• “Hip-Hop” Raps.

• Tenuous Product Connection.

• But. . . . successful turn-around.

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BRANDING ELEMENTS Left Brain

“Elevator Speech”

Length: “12 floors”

Brand Positioning Statement

Brand value proposition

Corporate Mantra (3 words)

Examples:

Nike: “Authentic Athletic Performance”

Disney: “Fun Family Entertainment”

Starbucks: “Rewarding Everyday Moments”

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BRANDING ELEMENTS Right Brain

Precise knowledge of psychological makeup of target group.

Creative use of imagery. Create an Aura Brand Essence

An emotional connection If possible, all five senses

Use of icons, distinctive logos, unique theme lines, music.

Tone, style, personality, attitude.

EMOTIONS• Creating a Brand Essence

• ‘I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing in perfect harmony” ---Bill Backer for Coke

THE FIVE SENSES

Christmas

BRANDING CHRISTMAS

• Santa was once Green

BRANDING CHRISTMAS

• Enter Coke

• Santa turns Red

BRANDING BY COLOR

•Pepsi, too

BRANDING BY COLOR•Altria (Philip Morris)

• Use of color to circumvent new labeling

• Can no longer say “Light”

• Dr. Greg Connolly

• New York Times

• Use of gold color to imply it

BRANDING BY COLOR•Altria (Philip Morris)

•Other Brands

BRANDING BY SHAPE

•Coke

BRANDING BY SHAPE

•Absolut

BRANDING BY SOUND

• Southwest Airlines

• (DING!)

• You are now free to move about the country

• Grab your bag. It’s on!

BRANDING BY TASTE

•Colgate

BRANDING BY SMELL

• Singapore Airlines

• Distinctive Perfume

RECENT PRODUCT BRANDING•Prune Juice

becomes Plum Smart

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SUCCESSFUL BRANDING

•Brand #1

•Brand #2

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MORE SUCCESSFUL BRANDING

Brand #3

Brand #4

SOME BRANDING COMMERCIALS

•Don’t Expect the Hard Sell

•Entertainment, Emotion, Attitude

• American Dairy: “Aaron Burr”

• Once again, make Milk an essential staple

• Target: “A Sign of the Times”

• A Discount Store for the Youthful, “Cool”

• Volkswagon: “Dah-Dah-Dah”

• A Lifestyle fit (“Drivers Wanted”)

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BRANDING ELEMENTSLogos

Typeface

Tag Line

Executional style

Photography, editing, music.

Attitude!!!

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LOGOS

Logo #1

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Logo #1

LOGOS

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Logo #2

LOGOS

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Logo #3

LOGOS

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Cold Type can have a

Warm Aura!

TYPEFACE

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Typeface #1

TYPEFACE

Typeface #2

TAGLINE (MUST BE APPROPRIATE)

Tagline #1:Life’s Better

TAGLINE EVALUTION

THE “HAMMERSTEIN GRID”

TAGLINE EVALUATION

•“Hart Smart”-Hip-Sexy-Clever-Double Entendres

TAGLINE EVALUATION

“Hart Smart”“Pal Joey”“Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered”

I'll sing to himEach spring to himAnd worship the trousers that cling to himBewitched, bothered and bewildered am I!

When he talks he is seekingWords to get off his chest.Horizontally speakingHe's at his very best.

Vexed againPerplexed again Thank God I can be over-sexed againBewitched, bothered and bewildered am I!

TAGLINE EVALUATION

•“Hammerstein Simple”-Simple, Direct-Story telling-Emotional-Involving-Inner meaning

TAGLINE EVALUATION

“Hammerstein Simple”“Carousel”“What’s the use of Wond’rin’?”

Common sense may tell youThat the endin’ will be sad,And now’s the time to break and run awayBut what’s the use of wond’rin’If the endin’ will be sadHe’s your feller and you love him— There’s nothin’ more to say!

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Tagline #2

MORE TAGLINES

Tagline #3

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Tagline #4

Where the World checks in every day

MORE TAGLINES

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Tagline #5

MORE TAGLINES

“Just . . . .”

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Tagline #5

MORE TAGLINES

“Just Do It!”

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THE WHOLE PACKAGE

Branding a State

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THE WHOLE PACKAGE

Branding a State

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THE MASTER

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THE MASTERMILTON GLASER

Brooklyn BreweryAn homage to the Dodgers

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THE MASTERMILTON GLASER

Barron’sMerging of tradition and optimism

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•THE MASTERMILTON GLASER

Stony Brook UniversityMerging of tradition and aspiration

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SOCIAL MARKETING BRANDING—ICONS

Don’t Litter

Douse Your Campfire

Buckle Up

BLINK!• Malcolm Gladwell

• Rapid cognition

• When you meet someone for the first time, or walk into a house you are thinking of buying, or read the first few sentences of a book, your mind takes about two seconds to jump to a series of conclusions . . . I think those instant conclusions that we reach are really powerful and really important.

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CREATING YOUR BRAND•Key Steps•Ask some Questions

•Do some research

•Prepare a Creative Brief

•Create an ownable emotional component; a unique Brand Essence.

CREATING YOUR BRAND•Questions:

•Do you understand exactly what your Brand is?

•Do you know how your consumers feel about your Brand?

•Do you feel your Brand is as strong as it should be?

•How would you evaluate your brand’s value proposition?

• Does it clearly and compellingly deliver an important and single-minded benefit to the customer?

CREATING YOUR BRAND•Questions (Cont.):

•Do you understand what your intangible brand characteristics are?

•Who is watching over your brand at the company/organization? Do you have a chief brand officer?

•What is your brand promise? Is that important to customers? Are you delivering it?

•Is your brand promise in line with your organization’s core mission?

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QUALITATIVE RESEARCH•Can be expensive

•Worth doing if you can

•In a properly-facilitated group, the people don’t lie!

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CREATIVE BRIEF ELEMENTS•1. Target

•Whom do you want to talk to?

•Multiple Targets?

•What constituencies do you most need to reach?

•What do we know about them? (Visualize!)

•“Face the Target”

•Research

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CREATIVE BRIEF ELEMENTS

•2. Competitive Climate

•What other groups are out there, competing for the time, attention and commitment of your target?

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CREATIVE BRIEF ELEMENTS

•3. Principal idea (Benefit)

•What is the single most important thing that you want your target to know about you?

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CREATIVE BRIEF ELEMENTS

•4. Support points

•Why should people accept/believe us?

•Facts which are an arsenal of proof to back up the principal idea or benefit.

•Mission Statement

•Web “About” pages

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CREATIVE BRIEF ELEMENTS •5. Tone & Style.

•What is our tone of voice?

•What is our attitude? (Hammerstein Simple)

•Does it make an emotional connection? (remember the pictures)

•Is this message presented in a serious or humorous fashion?

•Is it “Real?” Reassuring? Startling?

THE MOST IMPORTANT SECTION OF ANY CREATIVE BRIEF!!

NOTE...

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CREATIVE BRIEF ELEMENTS

• 6. Desired Action

•What do we want our target to do after they’ve received our message?

•Avoid “Telling, not selling”

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OBSERVATIONS & OPPORTUNITIES•Branding Strategy Construction Steps

• Left Brain

•Who are we?

• Elevator Speech

• Mission Statement

•Characterize Targeted Individuals

• Why do they need us?

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OBSERVATIONS & OPPORTUNITIES•Some Right Brain Stuff

•Adjectives that best describe us

•Favorite Color

•Favorite Song

•Favorite Movie

•Cliché that best describes us

•In the Movie, “The Man/Woman from (Your Organization)” - Who plays the lead?

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CREATIVE BRIEF CONSISTENCY•Be certain you have the will &

resources to maintain consistency of message

•PR

•Every communication must speak with the same voice

•Every release must reflect the Creative Brief

•Benefit,Tone and Attitude particularly important

BRANDING CLEAN ENERGY•A Case Study

•A Cause Marketing Approach to Clean Energy Market Building

OUR CHALLENGES•Quantitative research consistently shows consumers willing to switch and pay more, but only marginal market activity and few early adopters

•Lack of common language -

•Is it green, clean, renewable, alternative?

•An invisible product.

PROBING BEYOND THE OBVIOUS

•Qualitative research - six groups in CT and MA of consumer, business and “opinion leaders.”

•Recruited from all walks of life: urban, rural, upscale, downscale, Democratic, Republican, Independent.

•Beyond the rational, what are the most powerful emotional hooks that could make clean energy important and desirable to the American public?

THE OBITUARY•If you want to find out how someone feels about something, take it away from them.

•Respondents are asked to imagine fossil fuels on earth have died. Their task is to write an obituary, including:

•What was the cause of death?

•What will it be remembered for?

•Who will take its place?

•Who will miss it?

RESULTS•We uncovered some surprising beliefs about fossilfuels and clean energy.

FINDINGS•Fossil Fuels Make Our World Work; It’s Terrifying to Lose Them

•People were far less critical of fossil fuels than we expected. It’s scary for them to imagine our world without them. 

SAMPLE OBITUARY

NEXT, WE ASKED THEM TO DRAW “CLEAN ENERGY WORLD”•One way to encourage people to react at an emotional level is to take away their rational tool kit: their vocabulary.

•We asked respondents to imagine that all the energy used to power their world is “clean,” and then draw what clean energy world looks like.

•We asked them to name it, and date it.

THE CRUX OF THE MATTER: CLEAN ENERGY ISN’T SEEN AS

READY•“I’ve heard about this since elementary school.”

•“It’s more concept than product. I don’t see it in real life.”

THE GARDNER-NELSON AGENCY & CESA DEVELOPED A WIDE RANGE OF

CONCEPTS•Self-sufficiency•Infinite/renewable•Closer than you think •The American spirit of ingenuity•Jobs•Control •Security•Innovative future•Good for health/environment

The images and facts that made clean energy seem powerful, real, and “closer than you think” triggered very positive reactions.

•“I had no idea. Is that true?”

•If clean energy “already” makes enough to power big cities like Chicago, with all the lights they require, then it must be a lot closer than people think.

•“Let’s produce more” is a compelling thought –“Yeah, why not, let’s do it,” is the reaction.

CLEAN ENERGY BRANDING CREATIVE BRIEF•Objective: (Why are we advertising?)

•To brand clean energy in a way that convinces Americans that more clean energy now is important, desirable and achievable.

•Competetive Climate•Public perception that Clean Energy is science fiction; a future event

•Knowledgeable about Clean Energy, but “kinks to be worked out.”

•Target: (Whom are we talking to?) •First, the American public. • Second, opinion and business leaders who can be influential voices in signaling that clean energy is real.

CLEAN ENERGY BRANDING CREATIVE BRIEF•Principal Idea

•Support: (Why should you believe us?)•Clean energy already supplies far more of America’s energy needs than you knew•Could Power 9.62% of America’s homes•Could Power every home in Eleven States•Could Run every factory in NY, NJ, Michigan and Illinois

•Clean energy is more real than you think – making more can help make America energy self-sufficient

•Tone and Style•Strong, Confident, Powerful

•Sign up for Clean Energy•Desired Action

TAGLINE

•“It’s Real. It’s Here. It’s Working!”

LOGO

Television Spot #1: “Houses”

• 15 Second Spot

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Television Spot #2: “Factories”

• 15 Second Spot

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ARE YOU BRANDED?

•Have you created an ownable emotional component?

•Do you have a unique Brand Essence?

•Do you have a true “Aura?”

•A BIT OF HISTORYBranding before we heard the

word

•A BIT OF HISTORYAn Early Branding Icon—Iron Eyes

CodyKeep America Beautiful