Lingk2us.com - Link to us and be inspired.

JM: These days there's much talk about branding.
Could you explain what it all actually means?

RR: Branding is about communicating who you are. Lots
of times, people think of a brand as an artistic and creative
component. But branding is the sum perception you create
in the mind of those with whom you are trying to connect.
When I say Starbucks, or Nordstrom, or BMW, or when
I say IKEA, everyone of those immediately gives you
a word picture. That word picture is a “brand”, a sense
of who they are.

JM: Is it considered a natural process, or a
calculated strategy?

RR:That's a great question! If it's a calculated strategy
only, then you'll get nowhere. And if it's a natural process
then you might not be thinking quite enough. Part of
branding, is this fundamental need to really understand
who you are, and where you are going. The other part is
understanding how to communicate effectively, what you
are uniquely qualified to do. This requires that you under-
stand who other people, companies and organizations
are in the marketplace and that you are then able to say,
“This is my unique thing. Now how do I create a bridge
between who I am and the people I'm trying to reach?”
When you begin to build that bridge through consistent
branding efforts in communications, let's say if you are
a church, through the use of a direct mail piece—you
should understand that if you make a promise to be
this hip cool church, and they (your target audience)
steps on campus (or place of worship) and dosen't see
this hip cool church, they are going to feel like they were
baited and switched. So, branding is really this holistic
experience, that says that everything we do and say is
going to be consistent with who we are and true to who
we're called to reach.

JM: What's the best way to begin establishing your
brand identity?

RR: Your starting point should be to distinguish who
you are and then communicate along those lines. In
other words, creating a brand filter. Let's say your brand
filter is for example, “we're an organization where people
are highly valued”. Then, when a visitor comes into your
place of business, that needs to come across the counter,
across the telephone and at every point of contact with
your customer. Before branding ever makes it onto a
printed piece or a web site there has to be a human
element that takes place. If my commitment is to make
people feel highly valued, then my greeters need to reflect
it, and the signage in and out of the building needs to make
you feel highly valued. On the other hand, if there's no
signage, then that communicates that this building is only
meant for people who already know their way around.
So another branding component might be that if we (the
company) highly values you, then we are going to give
you directions and make you feel at home, without
making you feel awkward and having to ask questions.

And you can take it a step further and say, what about our
neighborhood or campus? If we value our community then
we'll keep it up. Or you can then ask, what about our web
site, brochure, television and radio commercials and news-
paper ads? If you strategically utilize all of these com-
ponents, each of them then becomes part of your brand
arsenal. But, they are only as good as they are consistent
with who you really are.

JM: How can we merge the gap between creativity and
strategy to effectively reach our target audience?

RR: Knowing your target audience is the corner stone of
effective strategy. Once you understand who you have
been given an effective voice to reach in your community,
strategy says, let's identify this individual and what drives
them. Let's really get a sense of who they are. And then,
let's think creatively and put a plan together that helps us
communicate more effectively with our targeted group.

JM: What can the average business gain or lose
without it?

RR: When a company or organization is not effectively
using a wise branding approach, they're basically leaving
it up to other people to determine how they are seen. And
ultimately, what can happen is that, you don't come across
as you really intended. For example, your business might
look like the high-end cost solution when you're actually
the low-end cost solution and therefore, the people that
are looking for bargains deals don't come to you because
they think you’re high-end. The problem is, that you (your
brand) didn't effectively communicate that you were actually
low-end. Remember, this all has to do with knowing who
you are and who you want to attract and making sure that
you communicate your message effectively.

Now, there's only one downfall to branding, and that is:
to the extent that you are non-strategic in developing your
brand, you will be consistently non-strategic in everything
you do and say. So Branding is critical, 1) to ensure that
you are deliberate in the way that you communicate, and
2) So that you've done so wisely. Otherwise you may
communicate the opposite of what your intended audience
needs to see and hear in order to engage with you.

JM: What are some of today's most successful brands
and why?

RR:Brands like Starbucks, Nike, and Apple always come up
because largely, they execute who they are so consistently
and so well. For example, over the past five years there has
been so much damage done to the MicroSoft brand. They
have lost a lot of momentum and have been made to
look a little off-step, which has become part of Apple's
brand strategy—the innovative brand. Sometime ago as I
listened to Bill Gates (from MicroSoft) talk about Apple, he
mentioned, how Apple doesn't really create or invent any-
thing, they simply expand on what already exists. Apple
didn't create the desktop computer—but they made it better.
They also didn't create the mp3 player, but develop the
IPOD, again—taking the concept a step-up, and making
iit better.

So, everything they have done is to communicate to us
as partakers in their world, that we (the consumer) have
now become innovators. And because of our connection,
we are now going to do things in a way that's more striking,
more unique and more special than anyone else. Another
example is Starbucks, being that third place—not work,
not home, but that other place where you go hang-out.
Their atmosphere is the core of their brand and their color
schemes and style all goes together to create a warmth
that makes people want to be there. That warmth is what
they are selling for $4.00 a cup. That element of their brand
that makes people feel at home no matter where they are
has been wildly successful no matter where you are socially
or economically, because everyone likes to feel highly
valued. And so in the end, all of these great brands have
one thing in common, and that is, that they are meticulous
about ensuring that they execute who they are in the very
minute details of every facet of their business.

Make comments on Lingk's blog.