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KNOW WHAT A BRAND IS
People think they know what brands are, but often they don’t. I’ve heard business people say, “Oh no, we don’t really have a brand, we just run a business.” Clothes shoppers will tell me, “I don’t buy brands, they’re too expensive. I go to the Gap, Next or Uniqlo.” A brand isn’t something that’s too expensive for most of us to buy—that’s a luxury brand. A brand is any product or service (and occasionally an individual) that stands out from the others around it because of its positioning or its personality. All organisations are brand owners whether they like it or not, and they’ve a responsibility for how other people regard that brand. The most important thing is to stand out.
The idea A brand is much more than a logo or a name. As well as its easily defined features, like its colour and its location, it’s made up of the feelings it evokes in people. Each individual will feel something different about the brand according to personal experience, and this is something a brand owner can’t control. However you should still give it your best shot. As the brand owner, it’s your responsibility to influence the way people think about your brand, and you do that by taking care of each experience your customers have when they come into contact with the organisation. Dividing a brand into positioning and personality comes from an excellent academic book, Branding In Action, by Graham Hankinson and Philippa Cowking. 100 GREAT BRANDING IDEAS • 3
100 Great Branding Ideas 14dec.indd 3
12/14/11 11:14 AM