the importance of brand in the digital age

the role of brand in the digital age.

and, what does this mean from a strategic perspective, exactly?

Friday, January 25, 13

before we begin...

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daughter, sister, londoner...

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planner, brand planner, strategist, strategy director... etc

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so, starting at the beginning: what is a brand?

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“While every brand is a product not every product is a brand”

David Ogilvy, Founder Ogilvy Advertising

Agency

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“If Coca-Cola were to lose all of its production-related assets in a disaster, the company would survive. By contrast, if all consumers were to have a sudden lapse of memory and forget everything related to Coca-Cola, the company would go out of business.”

Coca Cola Marketing Executive

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“A brand is not a product or a promise or a feeling. It's the sum of all the experiences you have with a company”

Amir Kassaei, CCO, DDB

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“Your brand is what people say about you when you are not in the room”

Jeff Bezos, CEO, Amazon

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taking an example - the roman catholic church one of the greatest brands to ever exist?

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a unified set of beliefs that span both countries and continents

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more touch points than you can shake a stick at

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regular events, designed to drive participation and interaction

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and have “brand experience” down to an art formand arguably the greatest transmedia show on earth

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when it comes to understanding the role of brand, no one does it quite like the Catholics...

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the secret to their success? recognizing the power of every touch point as an opportunity to create a brand experience

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why brand is more critical today than ever before

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during the last 10 years we have gone through a major communications revolution

web 1.0 web 2.0 web 3.0

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not only affecting how brands can reach their customers, but how customers can reach their brands

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the brand is no longer the domain of the marketing department

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every interaction is a potential opportunity to build equity - so long as you know what kind of equity you are trying to build

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today smart companies know there is no such thing as a marketing department. only those companies who know how to market themselves, and those who do not

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so, what is the role of strategy in informing the modern brand?

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firstly: strategy is key in crystalizing a brand’s differentiating beliefs and using these to determine their position in the market place

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so, how do you determine your brands position?the classic approach:

brandtruth

consumer truth

competitive truth

we believe the role of deodorant is to make guys

smell amazing

brandtruth

all other deodorants are about protection

competi-tive truth

guys (14-20) do not care about protection - or

anything else for that matter - as much as they care about

sex

consumertruth

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Brand: the role of

AXE is to make guys smell amazing

Consumer:

guys (14-20) do not care about protection - or anything else for that matter - as

much as theycare about sex

Competitors: all other deos

are about protection

The Axe Effectpositioning

gives guys the edge in the mating game

consumer benefit

the axe positioning:

offers transformation vs. protection

competitordiffention

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how this comes to life as a brand experience: transforming even the most ordinary guys into legends

Axe beach girls

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an alternative is the “inside out approach*”

why

redefine modern british luxury

whywhat believe drives us?

fashion + technologywhat

what is our approach to

NPD

live fashion showsart of the trench

burberry acoustics etc

howdo we make things that live up to

this

what

how

*not a technical term- see Simon Sinek’s ted talk for more info

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how this comes to life as brand experience: creating british innovations in the luxury space

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a third approach: brand archetypes

HEROFEEL ACCOMPLISHED

“where there’s a will, there’s a way”

MAGICIANFEEL TRANSFORMED“it can happen!”

OUTLAWFEEL REBELLIOUS“rules are meant to be broken”

SAGEFEEL SMART“the truth will set you free”

INNOCENTFEEL PURE

“free to be your younger self”

EXPLORERFEEL ADVENTUROUS

“I want to experience the world in a different

way”

CREATORFEEL CREATIVE“if it can be

imagined, it can be created”

CAREGIVERFEEL NURTURING

“love your neighbor as yourself”

RULERFEEL POWERFUL

“power isn’t everything; it’s the only thing”

REGULAR GUY/GALFEEL CONNECTED“all men and women are created equal”

JESTERFEEL FRIVOLOUS“if I can’t dance, I don’t want to be part of your revolution”

LOVERFEEL SEXY“I only have eyes for you”

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used by many product brands to clarify both what they stand for and how they are differentiated

HEROFEEL ACCOMPLISHED

“where there’s a will, there’s a way”

MAGICIANFEEL TRANSFORMED“it can happen!”

OUTLAWFEEL REBELLIOUS“rules are meant to be broken”

SAGEFEEL SMART“the truth will set you free”

INNOCENTFEEL PURE

“free to be your younger self”

EXPLORERFEEL ADVENTUROUS

“I want to experience the world in a different

way”

CREATORFEEL CREATIVE“if it can be

imagined, it can be created”

CAREGIVERFEEL NURTURING

“love your neighbor as yourself”

RULERFEEL POWERFUL

“power isn’t everything; it’s the only thing”

REGULAR GUY/GALFEEL CONNECTED“all men and women are created equal”

JESTERFEEL FRIVOLOUS“if I can’t dance, I don’t want to be part of your revolution”

LOVERFEEL SEXY“I only have eyes for you”

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playing out to inform not only what they make today, but how they will innovate & lead the market forward

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and secondly, using this strategic positioning to determine how your brand behaves: what you create as much as what you say

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is it always necessary to be leader?

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example:red bull

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why be the first leader,s when you can be the first follower

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which brings us full circle, back to the number one follower - the Roman Catholic Church

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so, to sum up:

a brand is made up of the multitude of experiences that any number of customers have with it.

understanding + appreciating the interplay of all these different experiences + touch points has always been what splits the men from the boys.

today it is more essential than ever that all your touch points + experiences are singing from the same hymn-sheet, as the way consumers and brands interact has changed, and the smallest “off brand” wobble can make a big difference.

key to helping brands deliver this is having a brand “positioning” - a clear sense of what your brand stands for, what differentiates it + how it behaves.

various different types of positioning approach, using these to craft your brand identity = the start of great strategy

using your position to determine how your brand behaves - what it does and creates a much as simply says = the art of great strategy.

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questions

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