It seems that any business recommendation provokes the same question: “What’s the return on investment?” And, where brand issues are concerned, the question is often met with uncomfortable silence.

It seems that any business recommendation provokes the same question: “What’s the return on investment?” And, where brand issues are concerned, the question is often met with uncomfortable silence—unless you’re fortunate enough to be one of the few who understands the value of brands and how to measure them.

Most companies don’t truly understand brand development or how to manage it, measure it or budget for it. Brand development is not a marketing initiative—it is a corporate initiative. A brand is not a logo or advertising campaign, although that is how a brand is communicated. A brand it is the essence of a company.

How can something intangible be worth so much?
At one time, Chevrolet marketed the Prism, a car nearly identical to the Toyota Corolla. In most years, Toyota sold 250,000 Corollas to Chevy’s 65,000 Prisms.

Chevy doesn’t sell the Prism anymore—but you’re almost guaranteed to see a Corolla on the road. The difference that allowed the Corolla to excel while the Prism declined is all in the brand. Toyota’s brand is about building reliable small- to mid-size cars at affordable prices, while Chevy’s brand is still undefined. Toyota’s ability to leverage its brand and its promise that it can deliver again and again is what makes its brand more valuable.

How do i measure the roi on my brand?
Well-developed brands pay out in many ways over the course of time through stronger sales, higher margins, more focused operations and more effective marketing. Many CEOs are recognizing that the brand is an asset with a value similar to buildings, equipment and key employees.

As an asset, the return on brand investment is measured not in operating income, but in the improvement in the value of the brand as an asset—the brand value. The fact that well-developed brands drive company earnings is not theoretical. We all see it every day—which is why for most successful companies, its unique brand forms the greatest part of its value.

In a world where a company’s greatest asset is its team, isn’t it time for us to look a little closer at our internal brands?

Many organizations go through the time and expense of a brand discovery process and successfully launch external marketing campaigns only to discover that the experience they promised their customer isn’t delivered internally. Once this occurs, they have most likely lost that customer and, in turn, hurt the brand they worked so hard to discover and communicate.

Living the brand is definitely the more difficult part of the brand process and it is out of the control of any single individual. Communicating the importance of delivering the experience and giving the organization’s brand top priority is the CEO’s job, but the delivery of the experience can only be realized through the
staff who touch the customers once they have transitioned from wanting the experience they read about and saw in the marketing materials.

Even the best-laid advertising plans can only take a company brand so far—it is usually the customer experience that creates the kind of energy and word-of-mouth referrals necessary to sustain a brand. So, what does it take to create Internal Brand Ambassadors who ensure the brand promise is delivered upon each and every day? Three words—communication, training and tools. Internal brand adoption is a top-down initiative. Senior
management must engage the team in believing in the brand, understanding the importance of the brand promise and delivering the experience. The message must be delivered to employees in a way in which they not only start to understand their role in executing the brand, but actually start to internalize
it and live it. On-going recognition and rewarding those who exemplify the brand is of the utmost importance. The most important element in building a brand-driven business is the employees; without their believe, guidance, ownership and participation, it is truly an impossible task.

We have found that small- to mid-size businesses do not consider the importance of budgeting for internal brand adoption. You can spend all the money you want on external marketing and advertising, but if the experience with your brand isn’t a good one at every touch point within your organization, you are just throwing money to the wind…

When the consumer enters the point of sale, he or she is stepping into the voting booth. How well has your brand campaigned?

Joe and Betty walk into the showroom convinced they deserve a new BMW. Their neighbor drives one, co-workers have them, and advertising has assured them that now is the time to buy. Joe and Betty have been to their local dealer’s Web site, noted television and radio commercials, surveyed the selection on the outside lot and are ready for the sales experience. Will they buy or lease from this dealer or will they drive across town and check out the competition? Depends.

If the dealer established itself as Joe and Betty’s brand of BMW dealer then yes, they’ll shop him first. By creating a claim of distinction and providing evidence that it is truly unique, the dealer allows the audience to claim this brand of BMW store as their brand. Without it, the low priced dealer will get the lion’s share of the deals, because without distinction, all dealers are commodities.

Once the dealer has established distinction and communicates it through advertising channels, the first touch point (pre-sale) has been covered. What’s next? The sales experience.

Joe and Betty now have a sense of what service, selection and value to expect. But will their expectations be met? Let’s say they expected and are met by a smartly tailored sales associate with a pleasant nature and a lot of product knowledge. She introduces them to the service manager who reinforces the decision to shop here. She gives insight into the dealership, has just the right car in stock and the test drive is exhilarating. Top it off with a light round of negotiating and it’s a done deal. The second touch point is now complete: Expectations met. So why is there a post sale touch point? One simple answer: Repeat and referral sales.

By following up with personal calls, a newsletter, parts and aftermarket department e-Postcards, BMW boutique catalogs, birthday cards, invitations to new model introductions, as well as requests and incentives for referrals, the dealer reinforces the sale and helps make Joe and Betty customers for life.
This process is simple, although often difficult to administer.

Do this and you’ll have greater success at the voting booth. And that’s a campaign promise!

Great brands continue to thrive for years after their introductions. Others don’t. The great ones control their categories. They set examples for others to try and mimic.

Brands like Hallmark, Maytag and GE are emblematic of great brands. Woolworth, Mademoiselle and Oldsmobile represent the fallen. So why are there great, enduring brands and deceased brands? We believe it is brand leadership.

Granted, there are other factors like brand management, operational efficiencies and market gyrations that can affect long-term performance, but the starting point for almost every great brand is the leadership position taken at inception or assumed at some later point of enlightenment. The instant an advertiser begins the brand development process, they inherit the leadership position—guaranteed.

How’s that you ask? Review the definition of a brand: Evidence of distinction. Once successfully differentiated, through brand development and branding, they’ve separated themselves from their competitors and thus, assumed a leadership role.

What’s the importance of brand leadership? It’s the added-value good brand positioning offers. It also allows consumers to adopt the brand as their own and allows for better brand management, internal brand adoption and crystal clear communication.

What’s the downside of brand leadership? Well, living up to your claim is one. Having the guts to advertise like a leader, not a follower is another. Having the vision to the future is mandatory. But, the benefits far outweigh the downside.

OK, how do we go about claiming a leadership position? Start with a good discovery session. Ours works like magic, looking inside and finding the essence of the advertiser’s brand. It’s always there. Or, at least the seeds are there. Here’s how it works:

The proprietary process starts with fact finding and through a series of stages extrapolates potential truths until we have a prioritized list of three to five absolutely unique and deliverable selling points about our client’s company. From this, we can establish the foundation for a proprietary brand franchise, unique branding concept and a leadership position they are capable of controlling.

And although this process was simplified for the sake of space, don’t underestimate the power of brand discovery—the deeper you dig and the more thorough the analysis, the more obvious the essence of the brand and its leadership capabilities will become. And the easier it will be to assume a long-term brand leadership position.

A brand’s distinction is whatever separates it from its competitors, makes it stand out as extraordinary or different or, better yet, more valuable to the end user.

There is much confusion in the marketplace as to what a brand is. If you’re not sure you understand all the brand stuff you’re hearing and seeing, we offer our understanding. There are too many unqualified brand experts out there—agencies included. They are part of the cause of much of the confusion.

Let us start with the obvious. Brand is not a logo, an advertising tag line or design elements. According to Webster’s, a brand is a “claim of distinction.” To certified brand specialists, a brand is “an undisputable, evidence of distinction” and something that can be proved.

And, although the words are used interchangeably, there is also a difference between “branding” and “brand development.” Branding being the tactics used to deliver a brand’s distinction and brand development being the discovery process used to unearth a brand’s distinction.

We witness “branding” as the Holy Grail for most advertisers and the specialty of many agencies. Again we wonder. There have been all kinds of great and correct brand development and branding examples to reference and clear up the mystery, just look around! Disney, Maytag, Apple, and many more incredibly brilliant brand case histories. Still, there’s confusion.

Remember, the definition of a brand is, “An evidence of distinction.” To uncover that distinction requires a process of discovery, not an ad campaign. At least, not yet. Branding tactics are the consistent use of color, graphics, and spokespeople used in the communication of a brand’s distinction. But, please, don’t think that the color, graphics or spokesperson is the distinction. Those could change with the next campaign. No, a brand’s distinction is whatever separates it from its competitors, makes it stand out as extraordinary or different or, better yet, more valuable to the end user.

An example of brand development and branding done right is Maytag. Maytag’s evidence of distinction is, “our machines won’t break down.” How is that communicated? The loneliest repairman delivers the message to you. Maytag’s distinction is higher quality and it’s obvious. Without any brand value like Maytag’s a competing manufacturer’s only measure of value becomes price.

Again, you can see the need for brand development or a discovery process. Without it, the branding tactics are simply communicating the consistent use of color, graphics and spokespeople. And that is what a brand is not.

The key to building brand equity is establishing a strong brand identity and communicating it consistently over time. Reinforcing and strengthening a brand can be accomplished in several ways.

A company’s brand is much more than a logo or a tagline. Logos and taglines are important aspects in making a company easy to remember and recognize, such as the golden arches of McDonald’s and its slogan, “I’m lovin’ it.” However, as a customer, you know that your buying power is swayed by more than an appealing logo and catchy jingle. Instead, it is McDonald’s personality, customer service and product quality that has positioned McDonald’s as a market leader in the fast food industry, as well as garnered the company brand equity with customers.

The key to building brand equity is establishing a strong brand identity and communicating it consistently over time. Reinforcing and strengthening a brand can be accomplished in several ways:

It’s all about quality.

One of the first steps in successfully establishing a brand is to provide customers with a high-quality product or service. High-quality brands acquire a larger market share and achieve higher profitability than low-quality brands. Customers’ confidence in your brand should reflect your own. The quality should also be kept consistent. Any flaws or mistakes must be immediately addressed to prevent customers from adopting a negative perception of your brand.

Establish a clear and unique position.

Determine where you want your company to stand among competitors. The strongest and most successful brands have a distinct position in the marketplace. A brand position can be achieved by several means, including product superiority, added features, experience, service quality, innovation, product warranties, guarantees, packaging, brand name, image, service promises and many others. Combining many of these elements is instrumental in distinguishing a brand from its competition.

Build a strong foundation.

Before your brand can branch out, the entire company must understand the brand’s values and positioning. Management should ensure that staff members are trained on how to provide quality service and communicate the company’s mission and services or products effectively.

Spread the word.

Communication plays a vital role in developing a thriving brand. There are many ways to generate awareness of your brand, including newsletters, direct mailings, print ad campaigns, public relations and marketing campaigns, and Web sites. Research has shown that using multiple tactics to touch your customer is the most effective way to develop your brand equity. Additionally, using repetitive messaging will strengthen your brand by increasing the odds of familiarity within the target market.

Practice makes perfect.

Constant use of a brand reinforces brand equity and increases its awareness among key audiences. A brand that is applied to every level of service, from receptionist to CEO, will effectively establish familiarity with a company’s offerings. Have a consistent message that customers and prospects receive about your company.

Plan for the future.

A company that does not completely invest in its brand cannot expect to reap benefits from its use. A brand must be incorporated into long-range company initiatives to successfully build awareness, communicate the brand’s message and create customer loyalty.

The entire company must support the brand in every facet of its operation. Over time this commitment will allow the business to receive the benefits of brand equity—devoted, long-term customers and vast market share.