brandmaster

Reading the depressing press coverage of the difficulties in the Euro zone, I keep hearing reference to the ‘Euro brand’. Now, I am fairly relaxed about some of the inappropriate and uninformed usage of the term ‘brand’ – there are plenty of learned and philosophical discussions about what constitutes a brand and many of them fall into the category of ‘angels dancing on pin heads.’ However there is one rule-of-thumb that I apply to qualify brands: a necessary condition to be classified as a... Read Full Story

Brands in the general publishing world have a strange relationship with their public. We are all aware of a number of major players, but when it comes to purchasing choice, brands are almost insignificant, instead, the author or category often becomes ‘the brand’. Book retailers display fiction titles, usually with no reference to the brand or imprint. They are usually racked by author or title. Readers are very aware of their choice of authors, but if asked who is the publisher, may struggle... Read Full Story

Part of the power of brand narratives is that they tell a story over time. Rather than be a usual snapshot in time, the story of a brand will build. It informs our knowledge and perception of the brand and its values. Importantly, it appreciates the capacity for change – for better or worse. The episodic nature of the narrative presents the brand to us as a living organism, the time dimension clarifying and defining the actions. To at any major brand today, without appreciating the story... Read Full Story

What business is your brand actually in? This may sound like examining the obvious, but it is an important question. It is often enticing to focus upon the detail of the service or product you are currently delivering and missing the wider offer. For example, a business manufacturing lights for cars might easily define themselves as being in the car light business. But this may be a narrow vision and may limit their strategic brand ambitions. Standing back and assessing their core... Read Full Story

It’s long been known in memory studies, that the greater number of modalities you use to encode or store information, the better the recall. Skilled communicators may use auditory (their spoken words), visual (movements, gestures, body language, visual aids, slides, flip-charts and white-boards), kinaesthetic or movement (including active note-taking), an perhaps tactile, olfactory or gustatory if applicable – all to ensure multiple encoding and securing recall. I suggest that something... Read Full Story

I spotted an interesting article on Brand Channel, when the headline had caught my eye: “ Audi’s Brand Strength is more than Sales .” Reading further, there was a provocative quote from CMO Scott Keogh,  “True luxury leadership comes from being the thought leader in the segment, not necessarily the sales leader.” The argument, as I understand it is that sheer sales volume can be a measure of many things including price differentials in segments, distribution structure, manufacturing capacity... Read Full Story

It’s interesting to note how HSBC is capitalizing on its Chinese roots in its current brand promotion. I used to be a customer of the old Midland Bank, when it was taken over by HSBC many years ago. The new owners were very low-key about the branding, reassuring customers that little would change and they would be like every other bank on the high street. Those were the days, of course, when banks were fairly universally respected. HSBC is now promoting itself as a global bank – but more... Read Full Story

There has been a good deal of discussion about branding on the radio recently. Interestingly, it has not been on the business, money or financial programmes – it’s been on the Archers. Let me summarise the storyline so far as I recall – Bridge Farm is a brand of dairy products belonging to a family business. An employee had a stomach bug, but in the interests of soldiering on, came into work and did not tell the owners of her sickness. The result was a contaminated batch of product and a... Read Full Story

A strategy should not be a weighty document.  It is a single outline of an objective and the means of achieving it. There may be a lot of work behind it – researching, thinking and planning. However, the strategy in itself should be all that hard work filtered down into a simple action plan – ideally a single sheet of paper. The strategy is not and end, but a starting point. On our sister website there is a free, interactive, PDF guide  to help you gather your thoughts and filter your... Read Full Story

Branding is not just for the big boys. It is an important but often neglected issue for small and medium enterptises too. ‘Small Brands are Beautiful’ is a short, but practical guide to making the most of your brand and building a real asset. Your brand is a manifestation of what you do, your values and all the hard work you put into developing and building your business. Build it, nurture it and protect it, and it will repay you hansomely. Download the free e-book now (PDF format... Read Full Story