Experiential Branding

experiential branding

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Copyright © 2006 The Bay Charles Consulting Company Inc. All rights not expressly granted are reserved. The trademarks, service marks, designs, and logos (collectively, the "Trademarks") displayed are the registered and unregistered trademarks of BC3

The experience is the brand.

Globalization has resulted in an almost untenable situation for most marketers

Contents Purpose of branding Definitions Developing Input • Output • Activation Learning Solutions

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“There is almost nothing that someone cannot make a little worse and sell for a lot less, or make a little better and sell for a little less” - Laurence Bernstein In other words, the days of building brands based on differentiated products are over. In order to compete in this environment marketers need to package the product or service in the context of an overall experience that, because of its complexity and uniqueness, cannot be duplicated Hence the need for experiential branding: translating product features, attributes and benefits into meaningful, differentiated customer experiences

an introduction to experiential branding 1

Delivered Brands the product is manufactured and sold to consumers either directly or indirectly •

Consumer goods brands: products generally purchased through a secondary channel and consumed off-site

Co-created Brands

Objective of branding The reason for branding is to beneficially differentiate your product or service in somebody’s mind for the express purpose of creating greater desire (creating positive opinion)

purpose Why brand?

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the product or service is “created” in real time for immediate consumption by the consumer – without the consumer there would be not product •

Retail/Transactional brands: where the product is the value added in selling a consumer good or service directly to the consumer

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Experience brands: where the product is the experience, such as adventure travel and theme parks -- the end results are memories

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Service brands: where the product is consumed at the time it is manufactured, such as foodservice, leisure and hospitality

definitions Types of brands 3

Experiential branding vs. experiential marketing •

Experiential branding: beneficially differentiating a product or service in somebody's mind by focusing on the totality of the experience, rather than focusing on the features, attributes or benefits of the product

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Experiential marketing: integrating brand or product messages into consumers’ lives in the form of interactive experiences, rather than delivering them through traditional inert media (such as print or television)

Brand integration

Brands exist only in the minds of consumers -they are intangible and as such rely on marketers for linguistic interpretation: definitions that accurately describe the mental pictures that the brand conjures or should conjure up. In order to accomplish this effectively, we need first to develop the learning (inputs) that will help us crystallize an understanding of what the brand is (the brand essence).

Following this, we need to describe the essence in a common language that gives clear direction to all stakeholders to ensure consistency at every touchpoint (outputs).

Finally, we need to develop and execute implementation strategies to activate the brand (activation).

The process of ensuring that the brand essence is consistently reflected in all aspects and consumer touchpoints of the brand: •

Operations -- an integrated brand is reflected in everything the company does

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Communications -- an integrated brand is expressed consistently in everything the company says

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Integration starts with the realization that the brand underlies the overall business strategy and therefore needs to be clearly defined and consistently explained to all aspects of the business, from the outset

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Champions of successful integrated brands think of the brand as the business equivalent of pre-linguistic, pre-behavioral determination - the company's superego that informs everything it is and does

developing experiential brands 5

Inputs Crystallizing the brand essence is dependant on a deep -- we say empathetic -- understanding of three separate but interrelated aspects -- we call the brand trinity.

• • •

The company and its heritage The product/service and the category The consumer and his or her demographics, psychographics, attitudes and beliefs

Outputs The brand essence is described in three parts • • •

Position Personality Promise/reward

Activation The brand is activated through the design and implementation of three strategies • • •

Operations Communication Business

INFORMATION INPUTS

Category Competitive frame of reference Trends and facts U&A insights Product insights Consumer Insights Demographics Psychographics Attitudes & values Previous brand history Competitive landscape

BRAND DESCRIPTION

Brand Position Target Frame of reference Relevant differentiating experience (RDE©)

Company Heritage & vision Values Competence Business needs

Inputs 6

BRAND ESSENCE

Brand

Brand Promise The critical promise we make to our customer which is the underpinning of all we do and say Brand Reward The benefit the consumer gets from engaging with the brand Brand Personality Tone of voice Values Character

Outputs

BRAND STRATEGIES

Business Strategy

Communication Strategy

Operations Strategy

Activation 7

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It all starts with learning

Our solutions include

Creating the right brand experience begins with customer research that helps companies get closer to customers, guided by real life stimuli, actual customer lifestyles, and living environments.

Comprehensive Brand Strategies • Brand Operationalization • Communication and Connection Strategies • Customer Experience Management • Consumer Insight Research • B2B Brand Solutions

Insights are used to develop an experiential brand platform that is relevant to the customer’s life and appeals to their senses, heart and mind. This platform is used to guide new executions and ensure an integrated brand through communications, products, service, personnel, and every customer contact.

To learn more about our firm and about turning features, attributes and benefits into meaningful customer experiences, go to our website or e-mail us at experiential_branding_solutions@baycharles.com

proteanstrategies has been leading the way in experiential branding since 1997. An executionally neutra strategy and researchconsultancy, the firm has applied its unique approach to major brands in the US, Canada and China. www.proteanstrategies.com

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