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Your brand: grow, wither or die.
The rules of engagement |
by Anthony Ryman |
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Many companies in Qatar are re-visiting their positioning and differentiation as part of their overall business strategy. With so many products and services on the market in ever-increasing numbers, companies recognise that their brand identity is a shorthand to help customers recognise the following: |
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Who they are (Personality) |
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What they do (Purpose) |
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How they do it (style and character) |
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What makes them special by way of values (what we value as an organisation). |
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| The role of a corporate brand is: |
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To make it easy to understand the organisation |
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What they do (Purpose) |
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How they do it (style and character) |
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Strong brands are based on understanding not just the literal and tangible of what people buy, but the more emotive aspects which are the basis of trust: what is the organisation’s character, what does it stand for? Does this relate to my needs and aspirations? Why should I do business with you? What are the benefits over and above the price?
So it’s more than just a transaction. It’s a relationship. |
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Companies need to examine their identity objectively. Does the identity and the vision, mission and values reflect where you came from or does it point to where you are going?
Most companies who are undertaking this exercise recognise that a fundamental restructuring of their organisational processes and systems needs to be communicated internally and externally.
As part of this exercise, an analysis of the identity and the corresponding “Look and Feel” for the communications collateral needs to be reviewed.
Many companies stop at the logo as the be-all and end-all of the organisation. However the logo, like the iceberg, is the visual manifestation, the 1/10th of the iceberg that is visible.
The other 9/th’s lie under the water and represents the behaviour, attitude, characteristics, values, tone of voice, systems and processes of the organisation and the people who represent it – your “brand ambassadors”.
When grow is asked to help a company with its identity
(“We need a new logo”), the first thing that we do
is to question the brief:
If the company has moved into new categories and is planning more moves into new areas, then one has to look at the overall brand. Is the brand right for the new direction the company is going into? Does the brand have campaignability and longevity for the changes in the years ahead? Is it unique, relevant and
do I believe what it stands for?
Normally there are two ways to go (and several sub-sections within) and we provide a short, finger in the wind, look at what you need to think about. |
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| Developing the brand: |
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| 1. Evolution - the brand identity evolves to demonstrate the natural organic development of the company as it meets changing market forces. This is a subtle change to the brand, where research has demonstrated that the brand has positive goodwill and brand equity recognition among its key stakeholders and target audiences. So a natural evolution represents the brand moving forwards with the times and gives that message. Look at the Shell logo over the years, or Coca Cola and see how it has evolved: |
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| 2. Revolution - the brand no longer represents the existing and new direction the company is going, so a radical re-think is called for. Companies that have radically changed include British Steel which became Corus. This is a good time to look at the ownable communications "space" in terms of "Big Idea" (the DNA or soul of the organisation). This is defined by the following simple questions that need to be answered, communicated and lived throughout the organisation: |
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| Is the brand and its message: |
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Distinctive: How is it different and special from others
in the field? |
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Credible: Why should I believe you?
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Compelling: So what? How does that affect me? |
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We always recommend conducting research to gauge different target audiences / responses to your company. Your view of who you are and where you are going might be totally different from your customers’, suppliers, industry associations, trade press, etc. A review and analysis of how you are perceived will not only provide objective feedback, but also inform and validate what needs to be done by way of the identity and how far to move it forwards.
We then recommend doing a visual audit of your competitors in the arena that you are moving into – how do they present themselves? What is their ownable communications space?
What do they say? How do they look? This helps to identify
what you can “own” by way of communications space
(see "Big Idea" above).
At the same time, we need to re-examine the vision, mission and values of the company that lead to defining the ‘Big Idea” and motivating and informing the workforce, customers and stakeholders. This has to somehow resonate deeper and be more meaningful than just about “quality” or “professionalism”. Basically, if you’re not a professional, quality-driven organisation, you shouldn’t be in business and probably won’t be for very much longer, unless you’re hugely subsidised – think Alitalia or Olympic. |
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If the client says "look I just want to know whether I should change the tagline - the brand isn’t to be touched"! then the same rules still apply - i.e. evolution or revolution.
Changing the logo is part of a long journey and should be undertaken with all the seriousness intrinsic in developing the future strategy for your company.
But you need to go through the hoops and hurdles of strategic research, audit and positioning to reach a decision. The end-game is not "do I like it?" but "does it work?" and indeed "will it work in the future?" again and again and again.
I am reminded of the story about the space race in the 1960’s. The Americans invested over US$ 1 million (think: US$ 6.97 billion in today’s money) to invent a pen that could work in zero gravity. The Russians used a pencil. |
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