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Global Marketing

The 6 tenets of Branding

Crafting your company’s brand image is the most crucial process in starting a new successful business and increasing the odds of maintaining it. Sometimes, the value of the brand become worth more than the hard assets of the company itself. By looking at the top global bands, we have defined six basic tenets of branding that apply across all types of businesses.

Consistency:

Be clear and consistent on what your brand is and is not. A solid brand vision leads every decision and action you take.

T-Mobile remained true to its promise of becoming the “Un-Carrier” in wireless, and it lived up to that vision by shying away from the traditional bugging long term contracts and predatory data plan. And it really worked as T-Mobile gained 1.1 million customers after announcing its strategy.

Disruption

Strategies that break from norms can aspire an entire category to reconsider its behavior. Airbnb and Uber can be a perfect example here.

Simplicity

While it’s tempting to try to be everything to everyone, one of the most impactful ways to stand out in a crowded marketplace is to do one thing well. Vrai & Oro is a jewelry line that shucked the categorical norm of creating marked-up, seasonal items, focusing instead on a limited line of classic, timeless pieces, no gimmicks. The brand name translates to “truth and gold”.

Willingness to fail

Brand leaders must have a metric and key performance indicator to measure precisely the success or failure of each decision they make or campaign the launch and act accordingly to hone in on what is resonating with customers.

A clear, compelling message

Clear and consistent messages lead to clear expectations which lead to customers feeling empowered and loyal. Think about Apple and Disney. These brands stay on message, on strategy and on brand.

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Big Ideas 

A revolutionary, innovative idea that evokes emotion can create brand loyalty in unexpected and lasting ways. The Spirits Company Johnnie Walker sponsored a gallery of “artwork not yet created” where ten artists displayed blank canvases, promising to produce incredible work upon them, and challenged buyers to buy the pieces in advance, taking a chance on talent. The auction sold triple the amount expected. By stepping out of its comfort zone with a big idea, Johnnie Walker humanized its brand and showcased the company’s “belief in people’s potential”.

 

 

 

One reply on “The 6 tenets of Branding”

I love the idea of simplicity in a brand. Complexity can get really confusing and makes the brand harder to buy in on. A simple brand will make a company’s message more clearly defined and make it easier to showcase the company’s strengths in other areas.

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