Build Brand Value BIG Time

Ask your self this question, In which business are we really in? And stay far from the dark world of commodities...

I am astonished!!! I just witness how in three days a clan of marketers ? brand managers, advertisers, researchers - drove a brand into the huge world of commodities, these people approach the brand building process as a conjunction of ideas- do not matter if the ideas were good or bad- and were clearly afraid to innovate and challenge the rules of their game.

If you are planning to maintain your brand as far as you can from the dark world of commodities, why not innovate by reconsider the category in which you compete and create your own rules.

As Theodor Levits from Harvard business school once exemplified it: "The once- powerful railroads were blindsided first by automobiles and then by airlines. This happens because railroad companies define them selves too narrowly as being in the railroad business rather than the transportation business."

But redefining your industry does not mean hiring a new ad agency to think a fancy new slogan ad and spend millions of dollars communicating it.. To make it work, you have to approach your brand building process strategically and communicate it each day in every interaction with your consumer, offering high-quality products and services that your customers rally want and that will reinforce the values offered by your brand and expand the emotional connections your customers fell with it.

When Steve Jobs came back to Apple with the mission of bringing back the brand from the darkness the first thing he did was redefine his business. "What Apple is about, is not making boxes for people to get their jobs done, although we do that very well. Apple is about more than that. What Apple is about, its core value is that we believe people with passion can change the world for the better. That is what we believe." Excerpt form Steve Jobs' speech to software developers

That day Apple created its own game, and became something more, since then Apple has launched products like the i-Mac and G4, and most recently has become the center of the digital music world with the iPod and i-Tunes store.

James Dyson invented his own game when he created the Dyson vacuum cleaner, a vacuum with a unique shape and a clear collector bin, so you can watch the dirt cycloning around. He made fun the vacuum cleaning experience.

If you speak to Richard Branson he would tell you that his business is to create FUNKY business, I wonder who competes with Virgin in this business

Yes, you can think this could be risky if you already are by far the #1 in your industry, but Howard Shultz is trying to transform Starbucks into the largest digital music retailer in the world, he most be crazy.

But maybe brand building is about being rationally crazy .

To measure how strong your brand is copy and paste: (http://brandidentityguru.com/bightml/brandmasterpiece.html). Then click "Take the brand strength test". This is a short survey that measures the strength of any company's brand. It's a great tool to see where you are today.

Scott White is President of Brand Identity Guru (), a leading brand consulting and market research firm located in Easton, Massachusetts, USA, near Boston.

Brand Identity Guru specializes in creating corporate and product brands that increase sales, market share, customer loyalty, and brand valuation. Over the course of his 15-year branding career, Scott White has worked in a wide variety of industries: high-tech, manufacturing, computer hardware and software, telecommunications, banking, restaurants, fashion, healthcare, Internet, retail, and service businesses, as well as numerous non-profit organizations.

Brand Identity Guru clients include: Sun Life Financial, Coca Cola, HP, Sun, Nordstrom, American Federal Mortgage, Simon (America's largest shopping mall manager) and many others, including numerous emerging growth companies.

Scott White is a very enthusiastic speaker and has the gift of being able to explain the principles of branding in a compelling and entertaining manner so that people at all levels can understand.

In The News:


VentureBeat

Top four global tech brands now worth almost $500B
VentureBeat
Four out of five of the top brands in the world are technology brands, according to a review of the top global brands released Tuesday. The report valued the Apple, IBM, Google, and Microsoft brands at a combined half-trillion dollars.

and more »

Christian Science Monitor

Overseas Oreo: Kraft names new global snack company 'Mondelez'
Christian Science Monitor
On Wednesday, Kraft shareholders will decide whether to approve the name for the company's business that sells global snack brands such as Oreos, Fig Newton and Cadbury. The four-month odyssey of how "Mondelez" was picked – and how it was received ...
Kraft's new snack business name faces crucial voteChicago Sun-Times

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AdAge.com

Global Branding and Media Planning, Market by Market
AdAge.com
For our latest quick Q&A with a media leader, we asked Barcelona native Maria Luisa Francoli Plaza, global CEO of MPG and Havas Media North America, how brands and media planners should approach cultural differences even as the web brings the world ...


Branding the mental drawer companies send to consumers
StandardNet
We simplify our lives by buying brands that we know and trust. We totally ignore offerings that do not have a significant personal connection. Our mind, like a powerful and logical computer, inputs data and stores it deep within the brain.


Bluewater Unveils New Branding Initiative
PR Web (press release)
Christine Kropp, CEO Bluewater, a one-to-one marketing services agency, has launched a new branding initiative to reflect its latest evolution of capabilities and offerings. Bluewater combines personalized marketing services with leading edge ...

and more »

BusinessDay

Branding for small businesses (II)
BusinessDay
Big corporations spend millions promoting their brands successfully; it's a tool proven to work. Branding is one of a company's most valuable assets. Essentially, it is the company's reputation; how customers portray a product/service, including how it ...

and more »

HnyB Insights Predicts Global Social Branding Market to Touch $13.8Bn by 2020
PR.com (press release)
Social Branding Strategy and Outlook, 2012 - 2020 released by HnyB Insights predicts consistent growth in Global Social Branding revenue, the market is projected to reach $2.1Bn in 2014, will touch $7.8Bn towards end of 2018 and by 2020 it will grow ...

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Palate Pres

Live from the London Wine Fairs : A Study in Contrasts and Ideas About Branding
Palate Pres
Exploring the various parts of the wine world, from big brands to tiny artisanal producers, can be quite a study in contrasts. Shifting from the organic/biodynamic/natural wine fairs to the London International Wine Fair, yesterday, ...

and more »

Design Week

BC-OLY--London 2012-Branding,1st Ld-Writethru, OLY
The Huntsville Times - al.com
"It's fine to clamp down on the threat, but where it impacts the individual, it's going to be very difficult for (London organizers) to get it right," said Hugh Tebay, a partner at Sipara, a British law firm that specializes in trademark and branding.
The 2012 Olympics branding comes goodDesign Week

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3 Personal Branding Must-Haves
Business Insider
Personal Branding Blog offers branding and career advice from Dan Schawbel and his team of experts. Fundamentally, the process of personal branding includes taking time to define yourself and then intentionally connecting yourself with others who ...

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Google News

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