Branding to grow your business... "Think Different"

[Dien Rice]

I was talking recently with a friend of mine who's an expert in branding... He runs a small business (just 3 people), but they've done branding and marketing work for some pretty big clients (including the Australian branch of Burger King, for example)... He could grow much bigger - but he wants to keep things small, since he doesn't want to end up spending all his time managing people...

Anyway, I'm starting to grasp branding much better, now. In the past - under some great mentors (including Gordon Alexander, and others), I've focused on direct response marketing. But branding - it is important. I think I just never understood it!

For a small business, branding may seem less important. However, if you want to grow big, then I think it is extremely important!

One good example of a "pure branding" ad campaign is Apple's "Think Different" campaign...

When you think about it, the "Think Different" campaign mentions no products. No benefits. Not the usual stuff you think of from a "direct response" point of view...

If you didn't know what products Apple made, after seeing a "Think Different" ad - you would still have no idea.

However, it is pure branding! It "brands" Apple as the brand for people who "think outside the box" - the achievers - the geniuses - the mavericks!

I think you can't deny that it works. Apple is the most valuable company in the world, and people say it is now the most valuable brand in the world, too.

Interesting food for thought (in my opinion)...!

Best wishes,

Dien

P.S. The first link below is the "Think Different" TV ad... Below that are some of Apple's "Think Different" poster ads... Finally, an article saying Apple is now the most valuable brand in the world...

The original "Think Different" TV ad - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmwXdGm89Tk







Article saying that Apple is now the most valuable brand in the world

Thanks! Dien,

On a Different but very related Note...

Another {Awesome} example and Much, much more...

I'm sure Many know and Love this Guy for All kinds of reasons...

Increase the volume...

Definitely! Carefully watch, listen...

Study, Learn and Apply into other Creative and Smart business models and Ideas...

Dog Whisperer Cesar Millan on Mastering Uncertainty | Video ...

Embracing the low moments of your career is what will ultimately bring you to the top. Here's the story of one entrepreneur who grew an empire ...
http://www.entrepreneur.com/video/227184

All the best,
Phil

[MMacGillivray]

... or in my case, just think!

I came across this Forbes article about building your personal brand
http://www.forbes.com/sites/dailymus...ersonal-brand/

Now I'll have to go and think about building my personal brand statement

Margaret
The Scottish Extrovert

[Dien Rice]

Originally Posted by MMacGillivray

Now I'll have to go and think about building my personal brand statement

I absolutely agree that we all (like it or not) have our personal brand... At least of some kind... Those links are illuminating (Phil and Margaret)...!

I was reading through an article, pointing out that, for example, Woody Allen has a personal brand. When someone sees a Woody Allen movie, they have certain expectations of what sort of thing to expect. It's essentially his "brand"... (Love him or hate him!) He may not have intended to have a "brand" - but whether he did or not, he has one!

What is a "brand"? I'm still really clarifying all this in my mind... But I think it's what you stand for, your identity, how people may want to identify with you, your emotional appeal, all those things...

In the near future, I plan to develop the "Sowpub brand" a bit further...

In case anyone is interested, I'm currently reading two books related to this topic - "Wally Olins on Brand" by Wally Olins, and "How Disruption Brought Order" by Jean-Marie Dru...

Both are good (and quite different)!

Best wishes,

Dien

[Ankesh]

Thanks Dien for talking about Branding.

I have a bit of a different out look on things.

1. Apple's Think Different campaign is mis-attributed. It is not a branding success story. Its a PR success story. They received a lot of free press because they did something different. It was similar to Apple's 1984 ad - that ran just once. The main purpose was to create a buzz - not to build a brand.

Similar to godaddy's first super bowl ad.

Or to the stunts Richard Branson performs. Its not to build a brand - but to build buzz. Do something so different that people have to talk about you.

2. Lets define branding. A brand is something that does your customers thinking for them. Its a trust mechanism that enables automatic decision making. Want to buy the safest car? You can opt for Volvo without reading 40 pages on car safety.

Brand building requires time. You can shorten the time by wowing people. But you can never build a brand with a first impression. Repetition is required. People need to see a track record before they can trust you.

As Roy H. Williams says: branding = impact * repetition. If your impact is greater, then you have to repeat your message fewer times to seep into peoples brains. If your impact is low, then you have to constantly repeat your message. That is why consumer products like Axe and Tide and Pepsi have to constantly repeat ads - their product and delivery lacks impact - they are not different that other alternatives in the market.

Apple didn't build a brand because of their ads. They built a brand by constantly providing products with better design and interface than others.

3. Personal branding.

i. Determine what you won't do. Let people know what you stand for.

ii. Determine how you will wow people. What will you do to go beyond their expectations.

iii. Create a mailing list so that you can constantly stay in touch with your folks and repeat your message.

Ankesh:

Better check your link and warrior bulletin site...I clicked the link and went to the site (http://warriorbulletin.com/) and it looks like the site is selling sexual assist products.

Cornell

[Dien Rice]

Originally Posted by Ankesh

1. Apple's Think Different campaign is mis-attributed. It is not a branding success story. Its a PR success story. They received a lot of free press because they did something different. It was similar to Apple's 1984 ad - that ran just once. The main purpose was to create a buzz - not to build a brand.

Similar to godaddy's first super bowl ad.

Or to the stunts Richard Branson performs. Its not to build a brand - but to build buzz. Do something so different that people have to talk about you.

Hi Ankesh,

I think the "Think Different" campaign is quite different from the GoDaddy SuperBowl ads...

I'm no expert in the GoDaddy ads, but they seem to me to be controversial simply for the sake of "buzz"... Specifically, they are "sexually" controversial, pushing the envelope in a sexual way, in order to try to get banned, and give people something to talk about...

I see "branding" as also being something people want to identify with. Unless people want to identify with being a stripper, I don't really see the GoDaddy ads as real "branding" ads...

(You can see the GoDaddy ads here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5WwnQ0Mh6Y )

Apple's various ads, since Steve Jobs took over Apple again in 1996, anyhow, are quite different.

The "Think Different" ads - people want to identify with that... Even the "I'm a Mac/I'm a PC" ads make people want to identify with it, because the "Mac" person is hip, cool, young, happening - as opposed to the "PC" person, who is square, a fuddy-duddy, conventional, boring. Most people would rather be the "Mac" person than the "PC" person in those ads...

As for superior products - the "Think Different" campaign started in 1997 (one year after Steve Jobs returned to Apple). At that time, Apple's products were not considered to be crash-hot, they just had a very public, 10-year-long failure with the Apple Newton... Steve Jobs' first product was the iMac (which was essentially a computer which came in 5 different colors), which then came out in 1998. This was well before the much more ground-breaking iPod (2001), iPhone (2007), and iPad (2010).

Yet the iMacs (with 5 different color options) of the late 1990s were a success! I wanted one at the time. Why? They were cool... hip... an image certainly helped by the "Think Different" ads!

Of course, you have to have products which back up your brand image, but good products are usually not enough in themselves, I think, to truly build a brand...

2. Lets define branding. A brand is something that does your customers thinking for them. Its a trust mechanism that enables automatic decision making. Want to buy the safest car? You can opt for Volvo without reading 40 pages on car safety.

Apple didn't build a brand because of their ads. They built a brand by constantly providing products with better design and interface than others.

I think that's part of a brand. But a brand can also be something you, yourself, identify with.

I was reading about the building of the Tag Heuer watch brand (in the book "How Disruption Brought Order" by Jean-Marie Dru - his company, TBWA, were behind that as well as Apple's "Think Different" campaigns)...

I'm sure TAG Heuer watches are great watches in a technical sense. However, their "brand" came about by "marrying" an image of sports with the image of mental strength, and the tag line, "Don't Crack Under Pressure" (according to Jean-Marie Dru). He says before the branding campaign, Tag Heuer watches sold for an average price of $600; 3 years later, their average price was $1,500... TAG Heuer was not a new company - it started in 1860. What was new was the explicit branding...

My point with this is, branding can also be something people want to identify with, it can also help to broadcast to others something of your own identity...

Wearing a TAG Heuer watch could broadcast to others that you are "action"-oriented, as well as being mentally strong... You won't "crack under pressure" - just like the watch!

(Without negating your points, too!)

3. Personal branding.

i. Determine what you won't do. Let people know what you stand for.

ii. Determine how you will wow people. What will you do to go beyond their expectations.

iii. Create a mailing list so that you can constantly stay in touch with your folks and repeat your message.

I think personal branding is very important... I plan to post more on this later...

Best wishes,

Dien

Another must, Read, Study, Learn and Apply once again for our Swipe files...

The original 1997 version, I've posted on SowPubs is now changed to a shorter version But still an Excellent example full of {Twistable} Golden nuggets...

The Brand Called You... Tom Peters 1997! ...
http://www.fastcompany.com/28905/brand-called-you
http://www.tompeters.com/dispatches/010790.php

Ankesh also has some Excellent related reports, "Unlock your brand" included...

Although in some Quick research and testing in Google, [Ankesh] needs to correct and re-configure his PayPal information, details etc., to get those misc. reports and Hotsheets rolling once again...

All the best,
Phil

Hi Dien,
LindaC here.

I have a financial interest in a mobile food
business. One of the first things we did was
choose a name for the business that would be
easy to say and remembered. Other (branding)
points include advertising "we buy and use
local produce" and "we are also a green business."

We believe "Branding" is very importing in building
a business that people wish to come back to again
and again just as they do a large fast food establishment.

My Best 2 U,
LindaC