The Disciplines Of Branding

 

The 5 disciplines of branding:

Differentiate

a.       What are you?

b.      What do you do?

c.       Why does it matter?

Collaborate: building a brand is a collaborative project

a.       The One-Stop Shop: contains the resources to develop and steward the brand

b.      The Brand Agency: hire the best firm to develop the brand

c.       Integrated marketing team: managed internally

Innovate: You know that an idea is innovative when its scares the hell out of everybody

Validate: bringing the audience into the creative process

a.       If your audience cant verbalize your concept, you’ve failed to communicate it

Cultivate

Brand Extensions:

-          Bad Brand Extensions: are those that chase short-term profits at the expense of long-term brand value

-          Good Brand Extensions: grow the value of a brand by reinforcing its focus

Dont Be A Follower

I was shocked yesterday when one of the “brand managers” of a local company in Jeddah asked me to develop a BTL Campaign for highlight the promotion/offer on a product without having a visual of the product highlighted. What kind of logic is this? This is why a lot of companies will not grow in the middle east. They make irrational decisions.

As a marketer you should always aim to find something in your company where you can boast and pride yourself about. Something that your competitors do not have. It is not enough to be ip better than you competitors. Your goal is to be the first. Its what Al Ries calls the law of leadership.

Finally, its better to be first than it is to be better because this way its much easier to get into the mind of you consumer. Being recognized for something very unique and distinct