The Art of Branding

Guy Kawasaki | April 21st, 2009 - 06:00 AM
(95) Found this useful. Do you? Yes

keys1

In this Web 2.0, user-generated, Open-Source, social-networking world, it’s so easy to forget that just because something can be done doesn’t mean it should be done. All branding, no matter whether it’s on a billboard, blog, website, or Twitter, should adhere to these simple principles. Here are nine keys to the art of branding.

Seize the high ground. Great branding positions your company along the lines of doing good, empowering people, increasing efficiency, and fostering creativity. There’s nothing about screwing the competition or making a lot of money. Think about it: When have you ever bought a product to hurt its competition?
Create one message. Volvo stands for safety. Toyota stands for value. Audi stand for four-wheel drive. Ferrari stands for sexiness. You should be so lucky that your brand stands for one thing. Trying to make it stand for more is futile, stupid, and downright dangerous. Apple will never stand for corporate computing, for example, no matter how hard it tries.
Speak English. Not so much English per se, but speak without jargonese. Your, and your employee’s, fluency with technology terms and acronyms doesn’t transfer to the rest of the world. At most, people walk into Best Buy wanting a HDTV; how many come in asking for 1080i with HDMI connectors?
Strive for humanness. People relate to brands in “warm and fuzzy” social terms: does it make me feel happy, safe, secure, cool, or sexy? Brands thrive along emotional parameters and not bits, bytes, and dpi. For all the steel, rubber, and glass that a Harley Davidson represents, the brand comes down to being powerful and cool.
Apply the opposite test. Most companies describe their products or services as if they have the sole marketing message out there. “Our gizmo is fast, secure, and easy to use” they say. It’s as if every competitor is saying, “Our gizmo is slow, hackable, and hard to use.” Therefore, take the opposite test: Is what you’re saying the opposite of what your competition is saying? If not, you’re both saying the same thing, and your branding isn’t effective.
Cascade the message. Let’s just say that you have created the ultimate branding message. Hallelujah, your work is done, right? Nope, not at all. Obviously, you have to spread the word, but you have to cascade it too starting from the CEO all the way down to the the summer hire in the mail room. And don’t forget your board of directors.
Focus on PR and word of mouth, not advertising. Many companies don’t have much money to advertise these days, but advertising isn’t the most effective way to establish a brand. Truly, branding starts with the quality of what you make. Then PR, word of mouth, and other less formal and cheaper channels (like Twitter) take over.
Examine the bounce back. After you’ve cascaded the message and spread it externally too, listen to what bounces back because people might not have heard, understood, and accepted what you said. You may think that your brand stands for sexy, but if people still think it stands for safe, your branding isn’t working.
Flow with the go. Ultimately, your customers, not you, decide what your brand stands for so when you get the bounce back, consider altering your branding. (Or, if you have an established brand, returning to your roots.) You may tweak some of the parameters of what your brand stands for, but ultimately it’s the one thing that customers have decided, so take that and run with it.

There you go: nine simple practices to improve your branding. I hope these tips help you change the world because that’s what a good brand does.

Photo credit: takacsi75

We're giving away a free printer and paper prize package every week! Enter now for your chance to win.

COMMENTS

4/21/09 - Josh Says:

Great Post. I think #5 is one of the easiest things that can be done but is so often overlooked. In my experience building a brand that is generic rarely yields the best results. Thanks for the tips.
4/21/09 - Kelly Says:

Great tips! I think #4 is becoming increasingly important in today’s busy world. But the challenge is creating a balance; being real, being accessible, being human but at the same time being a “product” that people can have confidence in.
4/23/09 - Arete Says:

Guy I think #1 is what it is all about… “doing good, empowering people, increasing efficiency, and fostering creativity” Starting with those fundamentals – its hard to mess up!
4/23/09 - Tony Long Says:

Helpful post, but you forgot to cover the most important single thing: Deliver! Branding really is not about messaging (as you imply here) it’s about building the marketplace’s confidence that you will deliver. It’s how companies and their products become memes, which is the holy grail of branding, after all! Get the product/service right, and the messaging follows. Brilliant messaging can’t make a great product / service, and therefore can’t make a brand.

(Guy, we all love your contributions to the constantly changing conversation of business. Keep it coming!)
4/23/09 - Steve Says:

Nice post. Would be good to see a 10th point though, well actually a #2a. Volvo can stand for safety because people know Volvo is a car manufacturer. If Volvo was a new brand and nobody knew about them then their brand line might be something like ‘Volvo – Building safer cars’. It’s important to remember with new brands that you need to tell people what you do in as short a space as possible … a few words. That’s where the buy-in comes from and that’s where the cascade effect starts.
4/23/09 - Michael Myers Says:

I wrote a post on communities building brand depth (http://michaelmyers.biz/CRUCES/communities-build-brand-depth) that ties into #7.

Excellent list!
4/23/09 - Arpana Says:

very informative..
4/23/09 - Rob Frankel Says:

To really understand how branding builds your business on the bottom line — with results, not theory — you may want to take a look at http://www.RevengeofBrandX.com
4/23/09 - Donovan Says:

Very good tips. I also like “build trust” by saying what you do and doing what you say.
4/23/09 - kristie kosmides Says:

Thank you! I’m reading your book now…Art of the Start…The last chapter got me to read the first.
4/23/09 - Kirsten Grant Says:

I love tip #3 it actually applies a lot to job searchers as well. Use the wording that the hiring manager is using in the job description – not jargon that only your industry understands. This is very important if you are looking for a new job in a new industry.

Yours,
Kirsten Grant, Career Specialist
Kaplan University
Twitter ID: Kgrantcareers
4/23/09 - David Anderson Says:

I am intrigued by #1 – seize the high ground. Consumers want to know what the competitive advantages are but they are generally turned off by disparaging comments towards a competitor. However, the “I’m a PC/Mac” campaign has been very successful but still when someone buys a Mac are they really trying to hurt PC or just try something else?
4/23/09 - Lou Sagar Says:

Love this, so cool….
4/23/09 - Dominique James Says:

So, what exactly is the one thing that Apple stands for?
4/23/09 - Jordazzle Says:

Fabu, as always. Loved the “opposite test” and “bounce back” language, easy for colleagues to understand. Thx.
4/23/09 - Jonathan Streeter Says:

With 20+ years of experience in the working world, my sense is that success in creating a coherent, cohesive, useful brand strategy is not something that hinges solely on the “talent” of the marketing staff, but rather the degree to which the brand managers are empowered to manage the message.

In particular, points 2, 3 and 4 can become a real challenge when other groups within an organization have the power to add or subtract from the message. Just as a simple example, I once worked for an organization where every single division had a separate style and functionality to their portion of the website. Making it even worse was a hideous navigation bar that was imposed on each division’s pages in order to provide uniformity.

Even in smaller organizations, a CEO or a key influencer (from legal or finance or engineering) may insist on certain word choices, images, or themes based on their belief that they know better than anyone what sets the company apart.

Creating a brand with a compelling story and a consistent look-and-feel, using accessible language rarely happens by committee.
4/24/09 - Oscar Quevedo Says:

I would love to test the #5 but not sure if it would be well seen in a so traditional market like Port Wine… But if nobody is doing it maybe is our opportunity!
4/24/09 - Jill, The Veggie Queen Says:

#9 Flow with the Go really works for me. If you aren’t flexible and open to change then you are like a big tree in the wind — you’ll crack and break and someone or something can get hurt or destroyed.

Good advice and likely harder to do than these simple steps.

Thank you.
4/26/09 - Mark Says:

When it comes to managing your brand, I think its still about positioning.

With all of us have less control of what our brand stands for it seems the consumer has more say that we do as marketers. It’s probably always been this way, but the conversations are easy to follow now by going online.

Points #5 and 8 are interesting ones – when the conversation about your brand isn’t in synch from one group to the next, there’s work to do. Its position should be synonymous in how it is perceived.
4/28/09 - Bob Says:

Can someone explain ‘opposite marketing’ to me? Maybe an example?
5/12/09 - Sal Says:

Thanks for some excellent ideas. I am sometimes way too technical due to the intensity of my work. Until recently unemployed again, for Xth time, sales, marketing and branding are something I never had to think about, since I just do the technical work in the background for others. Now with “New Economy” upon us, remembering to keep it simple helps. Especially when I am trying to help someone else understand what they are trying to do. Great site for keeping it real in an otherwise dizzy world!