BY: Brian Sullivan
When searching for the essence of your brand, you may be surprised to find that it is not what you thought. You may think that people know your brand or visit your brand or buy your product for something quite obvious when indeed there is a much deeper connection.
Clothes don’t make the man; they enhance the man in the clothes. All people that wear The North Face technical gear don’t climb mountains every weekend, but they like the outdoorsy / slightly athletic image that wearing that brand projects. So, while the shorts with the carabineer loop are designed for a climber, people connect with the implied sense of adventure.
People don’t necessarily visit New Orleans just because of the French Quarter, they visit for the no holds barred / thrill a minute attitude you are allowed and even encouraged to have in New Orleans. Their trips are remembered for what they did and what happened to them and their friends while in the French Quarter.
People don’t buy Cascade dishwashing powder because it cleans better; they buy it because they don’t want spots on their glasses when serving their family and friends. Serving clean glasses means they are a conscientious homemaker and that is the image they want to project.
These are just three examples of looking beyond the surface for the essence of your brand and finding the emotional connection people make with it. Armed with this information, you can create much more persuasive communications.
BY: Eric Melkent
“I’d rather be nine people’s favorite thing than a hundred people’s ninth favorite thing.”
I don’t quite remember how I came across this quote, but it is the title and theme of a song from a somewhat obscure Broadway musical entitled [title of show]. That’s the title. [title of show]. It’s a show about a group of people writing a show, hence the name [title of show]. Go figure.
Anyway, this line comes at a point of self-examination and broaches the dilemma of either trying to be “all things to all people” or being faithful to your true self and, in turn, finding your core group of diehard fans. It’s a really interesting thought, and one that has strong application to branding, marketing and product differentiation.
Stop for a minute. Now try to think of what your ninth favorite thing is. You may absolutely love Ben & Jerry’s Chocolate ice cream to the point of being rabidly fanatical about it, but I bet you’d be hard-pressed to tell someone what your ninth favorite flavor is. It’s probably Neapolitan. Neapolitan couldn’t possibly be anyone’s favorite flavor. In fact, it’s not really a flavor at all. It’s a perfect example of trying to appeal to a wider audience by throwing more variation into the product – trying to provide “something for everyone.” It’s like the manufacturer was trying to make their inferior quality vanilla ice cream more appealing by adding chocolate and strawberry. Think about it. Does anyone ever eat all three flavors together? All at the same time? When I was growing up, there was always one strip left, long after the others had been scooped away. This was the strip that eventually got gooey and grew those freaky ice crystals and ended up looking like the inside of a geode until Mom bought another half gallon and threw this one away.
I can assure you, the strip that resembled Carlsbad Caverns wasn’t the chocolate one.
In case you are wondering, my favorite flavor is Haagen-Dazs® Pralines and Cream. It’s awesome. That stuff’s never in my freezer long enough to adjust to its new surroundings. If you haven’t tried it you should. It’s available exclusively at Walgreen’s® of all places — it must have some powerful stuff in it. Soon, you’re probably gonna have to start showing your i.d. to buy it — like when you buy pseudoephedrine. But it’s some powerfully good ice cream. Well worth the hassle.
And my ninth favorite flavor? Well, I forgot.
