Jason I. Miletsky Perspectives on branding TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction Opening Remarks xiii xv Part One Understanding the Brand 1 1 How Would You Define a Brand? 2 2 What Role Does Brand-Building Play in Building a Market? 6 3 Is There a Difference Between a Brand and a Company? What About Between a Brand and a Product? 8 4 Is a Brand Simply a Logo? Why or Why Not? 10 5 Is the Brand Promise Ever Stated Directly in Marketing? Or Is It More of an Intangible Concept? 12 6 Does a Company's Mission Statement Help Define the Brand? 15 7 Does Every Brand Have to Have a Unique Selling Proposition? 17 8 How Would You Describe "Brand Personality"? 19 9 Should the Personality of the Brand Reflect the Company Founders and Executives, the Target Market, or Something Else? 21 10 Are Taglines Important? Why or Why Not? 23 11 How Important Is a Brand Guide or Style Guide to the Development of a Brand? 26 12 What Are the Key Components That the Brand Guide Should Include? 28 13 What Role Do Color, Fonts, and Images Play in Brand Development? 31 14 The Brand Guide Is Built. Now What? 37
15 Does an Audience Find a Brand It Connects With? Or Is a Brand Built with a Specific Audience in Mind? 41 16 How Important Is It to Test-Market a Brand Before Launch? 44 17 What Are the Best Ways to Test-Market a New Brand? 48 18 What Is the Most Important Element in Building a Brand: Time, Money, or Something Else Entirely? 51 19 Is Building the Brand More a Matter of Corporate Successor Corporate Survival? 54 20 In Building a Brand, Is It Important That the Agency Have Experience in the Brand's Industry? 56 21 How Important Is It for the Agency and Client to Have the Same Philosophy of Brand-Building? 59 22 Should the Agency Build the Brand for the Market, or for the Company That's Paying Them? Whose Approval Is Most Important? 61 23 Should You Get Employees' Input While the Brand Is Being Built? Or Is That Just a Nightmare Waiting to Happen? 64 24 What Is the Difference Between Branding and Marketing? 68 25 What Are the Core Reasons a Consumer Would Stay Loyal to a Brand? 71 26 What Are Some of the Steps That All Successful Brand Managers Take? 74 27 What Are Some of the Common Mistakes Brand Managers Make? 78 28 Can a Brand Be Built Without a Large Budget? 81 29 Can Building a Brand Really Generate Income? 84 30 Is Brand-Building Just as Important to B2B Companies as It Is to B2C Companies? 86 31 Do Brand Extensions Further Heighten Awareness, or Just Dilute the Core Brand? 89 32 How Closely Do Sub-Brands Need to Relate to the Parent Brand? 92 33 Is a Good Brand Enough to Keep a Brand Alive? Is There Anything the Brand Manager Can Do to Fix a Failing Company? 95 34 Do Consumers Really Feel Emotional About Brands? Or Is That Just Something Marketing Types Like to Say? 98 viii
Part Two Operationalizing the Brand 101 35 What Are Five Action Points for Early Operationalization of the Brand? 102 36 Is the Brand Guide a Firm Law? Or Is There Sometimes Room to Break the Rules? 105 37 With Everything That Needs to Reflect the Brand from Letterhead to Building Signs to Internal and External Marketing Branding Can Be Expensive. Will a Phased Rollout Work? 107 38 Who's Best to Be the Brand Police? The Company or Its Agency? 110 39 How Do You Rein In Rogue Offenders of the Brand, Such as Salespeople? 112 40 Beyond Style Guides and Advertising, How Does the Brand Influence Product Development, Distribution, Channel Strategy, and Pricing? 114 41 Whose Budget Should Bankroll Branding Efforts? Operations? Marketing? Should Each Department Contribute Equally? Or Something Else Entirely? 117 42 What Role Does the Brand Have in Enforcing Service Standards and Customer Interaction Models? 119 43 How Can Business Processes Support the Brand Promise? 122 44 Certain Departments May Have to Take on the "Bad Guy" Role, Such as Legal or Accounting. Do They Also Need to Reflect Brand Values? Or Are They Immune? 125 45 Should You Define What "Living the Brand" Is and Hire People with Those Implied Traits? 127 46 If You Want Employees to "Live the Brand," How Do You Train Them? 130 47 Should There Be a Brand Component in Employee Compensation Models? 134 48 An Influential and Effective Department Manager Doesn't Get the Purpose of Branding and Isn't Buying Into It. Now What? 137 49 Is There an Ideal Ratio for Dividing Budget Between Internal and External Audiences? 139 ix
50 Do You Need to Enforce Brand Values to Vendors? As Long as They're Getting Their Invoices Paid, Does It Matter What They Think? 142 51 What Is the Role of Brand Through All Consumer Touch Points? How Do You Have the Brand Live at All Touch Points? 144 52 Is It Possible to Make Customers Advocates of the Brand? If Yes, How? 147 Part Three Marketing the Brand 149 53 How Do You Determine the Best Strategic Position for the Brand? 150 54 Can a Brand Campaign Include a Call to Action? 153 55 What's the Main Focus of a Brand Campaign: Personality, Promise, Image, USP, or Something Else Entirely? 155 56 What Are the Most Effective Ways of Getting Consumers Involved with the Brand? 158 57 How Does Brand Advertising Differ from Direct Advertising? 160 58 Do Brands Need to Be Marketed Differently Depending on Their Stage of Life? For Example, Do New Brands Need to Be Handled Differently from Weil-Established Brands? 163 59 How Does the Marketing Strategy Get Built? 166 60 Is Television Necessary for Building a Brand? 169 61 How Has the Internet Changed the Way Brands Get Marketed? 172 62 Should Brand Strategies for Internet Marketing and Traditional Marketing Be Separate or Integrated? 177 63 Is Blogging Good for the Brand? Or Is It Too Dangerous? 179 64 What's the Role of PR in Establishing and Promoting a Brand? 185 65 Can You Brand Yourself Out of a PR Crisis? 188 66 Can B2B Companies, Which Typically Don't Use Mass Media, Market Their Brand? 190 67 There's a Limited Budget. Now What? 194 X
Part Four Brand Evaluation and Evolution 199 68 The Campaign's Done. Brand Recognition Increased, but Sales Are Flat. Was the Campaign a Success? 200 69 Can Branding Campaigns Have Short-Term Goals, or Is Branding Always a Long-Term Effort? 204 70 What's the Best Way to Measure the ROI of a Branding Campaign? Is It Even Possible to Measure? 206 71 Is Increased Traffic to a Web Site Enough to Determine That a Brand Has Been Marketed Successfully? 208 72 Has Web 2.0 Forced Brands to Be More Transparent as to What They're Really About? 211 73 What Changes First: the Brand or the Market? 213 74 When the Market Loses Trust in the Brand, Can It Ever Be Regained? 216 75 Does the Brand Evolve Over Time, at Specific Points in Time, or Never? 219 76 Should Your Brand Change in Reaction to Actions Your Competitors Have Taken? 222 77 What Would Be Considered Small, Incremental Steps in Evolving a Brand (as Opposed to Large Sweeping Changes)? 224 78 The Old Brand Manager Is Out and the New Brand Manager Is In. Is That a Good Enough Reason to Radically Change the Brand? 226 79 When Is It Time to Give the Brand a Complete Makeover? 228 80 When Is It Too Late to Give the Brand a Complete Makeover? 231 81 The Decision Has Been Made to Redo the Brand Completely. What's Next? 234 82 The Brand Has a Bad Reputation in the Marketplace. Is That the Client's Fault or the Agency's? 237 83 Can Creating a New Brand Name and Image Erase Negative Consumer Impressions About a Brand? 239 xi
Part Five Just for Fun 241 84 Are You Loyal to Any Particular Brands? Why? 242 85 Which Brands Just Seem to Get It? 245 86 Are There Any Brands That You Just Don't Like, Strictly Based on the Brand Personality? 249 87 Which Brands Currently Are in Need of a Severe Makeover? 252 88 What's Your Best Personal Experience in Building a Brand? 255 89 What's Your Worst Personal Experience in Building a Brand? 257 90 If You Could Take the Helm of Any Brand in the Market, Which Would You Choose and Why? 259 Closing Remarks 263 Index 265 xii