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Branding

by: Phillip A. Ross

Often the more a thing is discussed the less it is understood. Words have a point of diminishing return. That point is crossed when the effort to be clear and precise counts every tree standing, but misses the proverbial forest. Such is the case with branding.

Because the idea of branding is all the rage, people are tempted to think that it is a new idea. It is not. It’s roots reach back into history.

The Old West
Let’s go back to the Old West where brands were burned into the hind quarters of cattle. The thing branded was the cow, the product produced by the ranching endeavor. The brand itself was the twisted iron logo on the end of the rod that left its image or mark on the hide of the cow. Cows were roped, tied and branded in order to identify them, should they be stolen. The brand was a mark of identity, as it is in the corporate world.

Some ranchers also used their logo as a welcome sign wrought in iron over the gates of the corral or over the road leading to the rancher’s home. Again, the brand identified the ranch. Some ranchers even got their cowhands belt buckles with the ranch logo to identify them as employees. And over time logoed merchandise began to pop up on boots, hats, shirts, etc.

Identity
The brand is essentially a mark of identity. It identifies the ranch or company, and has come to represent or suggest the values and character of the company, and of its leaders. The brand is associated with the character of the company, as well as its products.

The early history of branding was always personal. Where does the ranch or company get the values and character that are associated with it? From its owners and leaders, and from their business practices.

Branding as we know it today is the art of instilling and communicating the values and character of a company or organization through association with its logo. Psychology calls it symbolic association, and finds it to be foundational to the learning process. Symbolic association has deep roots in human experience and in history.

Fish, Cross & Swastika
We find that branding as a practice began very early in history. The sign of the fish and the cross were symbols used by the early Christians. Over time they became Christian brands.

The Roman Emperor Constantine had a vision of a red cross in the sky before the battle of Saxa Rubra, October 28, 312, near Rome. He put that red cross on his shields and flags, branding the Holy Roman Empire for centuries.

On August 7, 1920, at the Salzburg Congress, a red flag bearing the Swastika became the official emblem of the Nazi Party, as Hitler branded the Third Reich. While our emotional reaction to the Swastika is usually negative, both the fact and the intensity of our response to it points to the power of branding. Most people probably have an emotional reaction to the examples above. That emotional reaction is the aim of branding.

It must be recognized that a branding effort does not always turn out the way the campaign intends. The cross was intended to be a symbol of derision, but became a symbol of grace and mercy. The Swastika was intended to be a symbol of the triumph of the Arian race, but has become a symbol of evil. In both cases branding was achieved, but not in the way intended.

Of course, companies want the emotional association to their brand to be positive-even to generate an urge to splurge, or trust sufficient to sustain a transaction. But regardless of one’s personal reaction to a symbol, the fundamental mechanics of branding involve soliciting an emotional response to a symbol.

There are two fundamental elements in the branding process. The first pertains to the symbol, the second to the association.

The Symbol
The symbol itself must be familiar. The more the symbol or logo is seen, the more familiar it becomes. The most successful branding campaigns will have a lot of sustained media coverage and use a variety of advertising mediums. This does not mean that smaller campaigns cannot be successful, only that their success will be smaller. Familiarity is primarily a function of exposure.

The Association
Secondly, the emotional content of the association also needs to be familiar. Of course it is true that new desires and/or emotional content can be created. But the effort is both time consuming and risky. The result might be other than the desired effect.

The more successful method for creating a symbolic association employs well-established and widely valued characteristics, like love, honor, truth, freedom, etc. Successful branding campaigns establish symbolic associations between their products and/or company and such noble characteristics. What is noble inspires people, and what inspires is remembered and discussed. It creates buzz. And buzz is branding’s engine.

To discuss the art of branding apart from these foundational elements is to miss the forest for the trees. However, branding is more than a mere advertising campaign can accomplish because the symbolic association that needs to be made for the branding to be successful involves the core values and character traits of the company- its leaders and its business practices.

Prior to branding, core values, character issues and company policies need to be determined, developed and deployed within the company. Because the process of branding reveals the values, character and policies of the company, those things need to be right, and be in place before they can be successfully revealed.

Premature Branding
A premature revelation of these things can be disastrous to the intention of the branding campaign. To be branded as hypocritical and shallow is worse than no branding at all. Again, branding occurs when an emotional response-any emotional response- is associated with a company symbol. The art of branding is to solicit the right emotional response.

So, what can be done to promote a brand? Begin by working to establish core values and character within and throughout the company. To be successfully branded is to be known widely for who you are. You want a great branding campaign? Be a great company. Aspire to the values and character traits of greatness and nobility. Herein lies the key to branding success.

©2003 Phillip A. Ross

About the Author

Phillip A. Ross, entrepreneur, freelance writer and owner of Business Specialties (www.business-specialties.com), lives in Marietta, Ohio, and provides identity products and promotional services to position companies and organization for substantial success.

The Power of a Self Brand

by: Catherine Kaputa

Today, branding isn’t just for companies, Hollywood celebrities, or highly-paid athletes. People in all walks of life are starting to use personal or self branding to get ahead in the game of life.

The single factor that often explains the difference between a professional who is competent and doing okay and one who earns a significant income and generates lots of business is self branding.

Self branding defined: Self branding is a strong personal identity based on a clear perception about what you stand for, what sets you apart from others, and the added value you bring to a job or situation.

Your self brand is the sum total of other people’s feelings about your attributes and capabilities, how you perform, even their perceptions about what you are worth.

To brand or not to brand? Many people think that if they do a good job, their career will go fine. But no matter how secure your position seems to be, you are in competition with more people than you think.

To some people, branding may seem manipulative or phony. "I’d just rather be myself," they say, "to with the flow and see where my career takes me." Or, the familiar line, "I’m not good at marketing myself."

If you don’t brand yourself, others will. The fact of the matter is you’re giving the power to other people to brand you if you don’t do it yourself.

Let me give you an example. A new client came in who was fuming because of the way another executive introduced her at a conference. He branded her as the company’s direct mail maven. That may have been the way she started out at the firm, but not quite how she saw herself now.

Self brands are created not born. Branding is mainly a process of analyzing a product in relationship to a market and figuring out how to maximize the brand’s potential. Branding is creating an asset out of something. It is a matter of satisfying a market need in a different way. And figuring out a plan of action - the marketing plan - to build awareness and trial of the brand.

Launching a person on a drive to become a successful personal brand is essentially the same process. It is a conscious strategic process, a branding process, a process that Hollywood celebrities and high profile athletes have been using for some time.

The Self Brand mindset: Self branding means looking at yourself as a marketer would look at a product that he or she wants to make a winning brand. You don’t think of yourself as an employee even if you work for a boss. You think of yourself as working for yourself marketing the brand, You.

The first thing a marketer does is analyze the market and the product to understand what the opportunities are, what the threats are. What are the current conditions? What are the assumptions about the future? What problems need to be solved? What needs aren’t being met?

Act like the marketer of the product: You. In personal branding, after analyzing the market, you do a self audit. What are my strengths and weaknesses? How does my brand compare with the people I am competing with?

You focus on key attributes and resources that differentiate you. Skills, abilities, even personality traits you have that are a solution to a market need. Then you adopt what Theodore Levitt called "the marketing imagination." You build a personal brand identity that is different, relevant and adds value.

Plan to dazzle: write out a marketing plan. I often work with clients to develop a formal marketing plan that lays out a personal brand strategy and action plan. It is often in the writing that new creative options come to light.

It is important to set personal brand goals with a specific time frame and plan of action for achieving the goals. So just like a marketer would, you write down personal marketing activities to achieve your goals. And, of course, you execute the marketing plan. You can’t get to where you want to go unless you plan it and then do it.

The final step is measurement. You assess your effectiveness. How is my "portfolio" different now than it was last year? What new projects did I take on? How did I expand my network? What new learning did I acquire? If something isn’t working, you change trains. Branding is a dynamic process that offers the greatest rewards to the receptive individual.

Thinking and acting like a brand can create and maintain demand for your most important product - you.

Copyright 2003 All rights reserved.

About the Author:

Catherine Kaputa is a personal branding strategist, seminar leader, speaker and coach who works with executives, entrepreneurs and others who are good at what they do, but want to use branding to be more effective and successful in their lives. Visit www.selfbrand.com or catherine@selfbrand.com

What is Branding and Why Do You Want It?

by: Susan Dunn, Internet Marketing Coach

Talking about branding is like talking about leadership. There are coaches and courses which purport to "teach" leadership, but as we all sense - that’s why we want so badly to learn it - leadership comes from character and inner qualities. It’s an extension of beliefs and values the person holds and then acts out in their life, an integral part of their personality. You can’t pick up "character" in a seminar. It comes from years of reading, work on yourself, exposure to great literature, great art and great people, and plain out experience.

Leadership isn’t going to a seminar and coming back saying, "Let’s do a mission statement," it’s being so devoted to mission yourself others can’t wait to get around you, find out what it is, and partake of it.

Leaders lead because other people want to follow them. There’s no other reason. Not the paycheck, not the stick … just that feeling when we get with someone - "Hey, I want to go where they’re going. Count me in!"

Leadership isn’t a surface thing, and neither is branding. It’s what you stand for, your personality. It’s your soul and what you’re about.

Fiddling around with your logo and business card are superficial things. They make an impression on your consumer, yes, but they don’t have power; they only have "veto" power. No one ever booked your services because of your business card, but someone may have vetoed you because of it. There are some terrible business cards out there, and people DO form immediate and initial impressions. I’m thinking of the therapist I know who - believe it or not - has a neon fuschia business card. This is not the person I want doing therapy on me or anyone I know.

On the other hand, I never looked at an attorney’s business card - they’re all the same, even the same font - and said, "This is the man I want to represent me in court."

The way you get your brand across is projecting your personality - who you ARE - in every aspect of your business. What your webpage looks like, the wording, the inclusion of quotes or not, graphics, the way you handle your customers, how well you deliver products, promises and services. Your products and your style.
We bond with businesses the same way we do with people - through their personalities.

When I think about Dave, God rest his soul in peace, and Wendy’s, I think ‘just a comfortable place to be.’ Actually I knew Dave, our kids played soccer together, and he was just the same way in person as he was on the t.v. screen. Now THAT’S branding.

Branding means starting with your values and beliefs, projecting these into everything you do, and going forward from there.

EXAMPLE

When I went into coaching, I did so because I wanted to help people, but in my own way, according to my beliefs and values. Coaching is not therapy, but one thing that frustrates me about therapy is the tight scheduling. You can be in the middle of "And then the man put a knife against my throat…" and your session is over.

I wanted to remove this element from my coaching practice. I wanted to be known for exceptional service, commitment and connection. I wanted to be a place people could come in their warp-speed lives and know they would receive the time and attention they deserved.

How we handle "time" is an important part of our personalities. Here are some of the ways I play with time to project my brand:

-My website is loaded with information that takes a long time to read.
-My website takes a long time to load. We are not in a hurry here.
-Each of my Internet courses comes with the opportunity for unlimited email with me. Learners are free to respond, react, question and dialogue with me for the duration of the course.
-I answer each email individually.
-I don’t use autoresponders anywhere in my practice.
-I don’t arbitrarily limit the time of the coaching session.
-I don’t require a contract. The time is open-ended
-I don’t ordinarily book clients back-to-back. This isn’t an assembly-line.
-I offer the Don’t Die at 50 Weekly Organizational Calendar© but wait til you see it. It isn’t talking about "polish your shoes."
-I deliver my ebooks personally, that is by email with a note. Sure this could be an autoresponder thing, but that’s not my style. If someone has the courtesy to buy something from me, they deserve the courtesy of a personal note.

Everything I produce and the way I deliver it is branded.

How about you?

BUSINESSES HAVE PERSONALITIES

Paul Temporal, author of "Advanced Brand Management," asked people to describe two competing companies’ personalities "as if they were people" and here’s what he got.

People defined Company A as "sophisticated, arrogant, efficient, self-centered, distant and disinterested." Company B, the competitor, they defined as "easy going, modest, helpful, caring, and approachable, and interested."

Not surprisingly, 95% of the people said they’d rather do business with Company B, and, not surprisingly, Company B was way ahead in the competition.

START WITH YOUR VALUES & YOUR BELIEFS

When you think about branding your business, sit down and think about what’s important to you and what you want to project. Then make sure everything you do speaks of this. In other words, walk the walk, don’t just talk the talk

If it’s your intent to treat customers with respect, operationalize the term and make sure you’re actually doing it. Respect isn’t a concept; it’s an action.

Modernizing your image (logo, collaterals) "won’t effect a change in brand values," says Temporal. "The heart of the brand remains the same - what it stands for or its personality."

Consumer perceptions of quality, service and other intangibles are your brand, and what keeps them coming back for more. Are you approachable? Are you interested? Do you care? Do your actions show it? Your customers won’t be fooled and they have choices.

About the Author

©Susan Dunn offers personal and professional development coaching, Internet marketing and article-writing services (www.webstrategies.cc/articles.htm ). Visit her on the web at www.susandunn.cc and mailto:sdunn@susandunn.cc for FREE ezine.