Branding isn't bollocks

@MIKEATHERTON

A MINIMUM VIABLE PRESENTATION FOR CONGILITY 2014

!

BRANDING ISN’T BOLLOCKS

Sharepoint sucks. !

Alastair Mitchell and Andy McLoughlin

THE FEATURITIS CURVE

Number of features

User

happ

ines

s

“Nice, but I wish it did more…”

“So glad they added this!”

“Cool!”

“I rule!”“Guess I’d better read the manual”

“Where the f*** did they put that?!”

“Now I can’t even do the ONE SIMPLE THING I bought this for.”

“I suck.”

Kathy Sierra - Creating Passionate Users, 2005

Happy user peak RAWR!

50 MILLION USERS

38 years 13 years 6 months4 years 50 days

Pure function

Feature wars

Experience wars

TECHNOLOGY LIFECYCLE

Don Norman, The Invisible Computer, 1998

People buy empowered versions of themselves.

simple, intuitive, magical, personal, loved, everywhere.

@MIKEATHERTON

HUDDLE DESIGN PRINCIPLES

simple, intuitive, magical, personal, loved, everywhere.

HUDDLE DESIGN PRINCIPLES

S.I.M.P.L.E.

Marketers are only as good as what they have to work with.

Brands live in the emotional centres of the brain.

YOUR BRAND IS NOT YOUR LOGO.

@MIKEATHERTON

BRANDS OWN A CORNER OF YOUR MIND.

BRAND IS A SMALL, DIFFERENTIATED IDEA.

CarSafe Games ConsoleCasual CameraInstant

THE FIRST LAW OF BRANDING IS

AL RIES, THE 22 IMMUTABLE LAWS OF BRANDING

FOCUSOWNING A SINGLE DIFFERENTIATED IDEA IN THE CUSTOMER MIND

Who are you? (Identity)

What are you? (Meaning)

What do I think about you? (Response)

What about you and me? (Relationship)

THE BRAND LADDER“Building brand equity is a sequence of steps, where each step is dependent on successful completion of the previous one.”Kevin Lane Keller - Building Customer-based Brand Equity, 2001

commodities

goods

services

experiences

transformations

CUSTOMER RELEVANCY

DIFF

EREN

TIAT

ION

PRICE PREMIUM

PROGRESSION OF ECONOMIC VALUE

Joseph Pine II and James H. Gilmore - The Experience Economy, 1999

A brand is an idea that you stand for, made real by what you do and expressed through your personality. !Wally Olins

We choose to go to the moon. John F. Kennedy, 1962

WRITE YOUR BRAND STORY

@MIKEATHERTON

TELL THE TALE OF YOUR PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE.

TELL US WHERE YOU CAME FROM AND WHAT YOU’RE HERE TO DO.

We made an online guide to wildlife using BBC content

Why is that important?

It gives people new access to

the BBC’s natural history

archive

Why?

The BBC have invested heavily in

natural history programming for

over 50 years

Why?

The BBC want to make quality programmes

which stand the test of time.

Why?

The BBC want to inform, educate, and entertain the

British public.

Why is that important?

The natural history archive

has some of the best footage

anywhere in the world

Core purpose

Work back from what you do to uncover your core purpose.

Our core values are the qualities we care most about.

C O M M U N I C AT I O N R E S P E C T

I N T E G R I T Y E X C E L L E N C E

thanks to @jcolman

Our values are not who we aspire to be.Our values are who we are.

Astronaut name

Values they exhibit

Why they should go

Dan

Always invent Makes social importantAlways ask questions

Dan represents the youthful spirit of the company, always trying new things and pushing us to do better.

Astronaut name

Values they exhibit

Why they should go

Michelle

Loves customers Problem-solver Pride in teaching

Michelle loves customer relationships - she can’t do enough to help. Her passion for the product makes her a great enthusiastic explainer.

Astronaut name

Values they exhibit

Why they should go

Suzanne

Social conscience Gives us deeper meaning

Suzanne’s work on our community programme reminds us of the real good our product can do for people, which makes us want to make it better.

Astronaut name

Values they exhibit

Why they should go

Kunal

Takes UK to the world Hits all his targets Finds opportunities

Kunal has made sure the world knows our name without compromising our personality. He’s great at finding new markets we can sell to.

Astronaut name

Values they exhibit

Why they should go

Jami

Voice of the user Wants to beat competition

Jami knows what users want, goes to bat for customers, and makes sure we never knowingly lose a customer to the competition .

Core value candidates

Always be inventing

Never know everything

Stay young and foolish

Push for better

Make a customer’s day, every day

Share knowledge openly

Support our communities

Take the UK to the World

Explore strange new worlds

Go to bat for the customer

Never knowingly lose a customer to the competition !

Rohit Bhargava Personality Not Included

Brand voice must be unique, authentic and talkable.

Stripped of all context, does your content still sound like you?

FIND YOUR TRUE VOICE

@MIKEATHERTON

CUTE IS NOT THE ONLY TONE OF VOICE.

AIM FOR UNIQUE, AUTHENTIC, TALKABLE...AND APPROPRIATE TO YOUR PRODUCT.

Workshops bridge the silos and foster collaboration.

Feminine but not girly Witty but not zany Informal but not cutesy Clever but not elitist Geeky but not niche

Irreverent but not vague Parental but not stern Stylish but not dated Trustworthy but not boring Surprising but not shocking

TONE OF VOICEThe people's champion, speaking to those on the front-line. A friendly tone echoes the people behind the brand. We’re authoritative, understated, charming and witty. We’ve even a sliver of geek chic. We're resonant to the British, and relevant to the world.

Tina Fey Modern woman, intelligent humour, touch of sarcasm.

Hugh Laurie British manner with global relevance, dry sarcasm.

New MINI British know-how, glamour, fun, well-built, informal, technology wrapped in timeless style.

David Tennant Charm, British but global, warmth, geek chic.

Moo Avoiding commoditisation by delivering delight in the details.

Dyson British boffin builds beautiful ball, beating big boys.

MailChimp Application meets character to build a pleasurable experience.

Zipcar Disrupting a complex incumbent with an easy, smart vision.

Too little Just right Too much“ A secure online environment where

information can easily and securely be shared externally within your business

ecosystem.”

“A place where you can share documents more easily and

securely with your co-workers.”“A cool safe place for you to hang out at

work and share your secret files.”

“Welcome, Alastair Mitchell.” “Hello Alastair. Are you sitting comfortably? Then let's begin.” “Yo Alastair! Ready to rock and roll?”

“Operation failed.Please try again.”

“Your file didn't upload properly. Sorry about that. Try again?”

“Uh-oh.The tubes got clogged. Let's have a do-over.”

“No files or folders.” “What a desolate place this is! Maybe add some documents?”

“Zip. Nada. Nothing to see here. Move along, already!”

*Actual event may not match photo.

REMEMBER YOUR MASLOW

MEET BASIC NEEDS BEFORE DELIGHT

SPEND YOUR GOODWILL ON PERSONALITY

@MIKEATHERTON

CHALLENGER BRANDS

AL RIES & JACK TROUT, POSITIONING: THE BATTLE FOR YOUR MIND

REFRAME THE CONVERSATION

MAKING US CONSIDER THE CATEGORY IN NEW WAYS

$500? It’s the most expensive phone in the world! !Steve Ballmer on the iPhone, 2007

ComputerPersonal

ComputerPocket

CarSmall

FabricCruelty-free

INTELLIGENCEYours Your smart skills and expertise can inform and inspire others. !Your company’s We emphasise the value of content, not the storing of files. !Ours We give you content and people you should be connecting with.

Collaboration

Blogging

Photo-sharingIntelligent Micro Instant

CHOOSE YOUR WORDS CAREFULLY

FROM PERSONALITY TO POSITIONING.

LET YOUR VOICE TELL US WHY YOU’RE DIFFERENT.

@MIKEATHERTON

BRAND IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY

@MIKEATHERTON

MAKING MARKETING RUN YOUR BRAND IS LIKE MAKING

I.T. RUN YOUR WEBSITE.LIVE YOUR VALUES IN EVERYTHING YOU DO.

The web was invented to connect content silos.

THE FUTURE OF WEB CONTENT

@MIKEATHERTON

SMALL PIECES, LOOSELY JOINED.

FOCUSED AND INTERTWINGLED.

If you don’t link, you’re not part of the web.

Connect with people to connect them to information.

Let’s work to make information flow faster.

How you write defines your brand.

What you write about defines your brand.

Your design decisions define your brand.

How you treat people defines your brand.

If you’re better than you look, fix the brand. If you want to look better than you are, fix the company.

Turns out teaching isn't like this.

You are responsible for the work you put into the world. !Mike Monteiro

EVERY COMPANY HAS A BRAND

@MIKEATHERTON

BRAND IS WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT YOU WHEN YOU’RE NOT IN THE ROOM.

HELP THEM SAY SOMETHING NICE.

Thanks for listening! enjoy the conference

@mikeathertonslideshare.net/reduxd

My book, which I will totally write one day. !!MIKE ATHERTON

Buy my book! (Just kidding. I haven’t

written a book.)