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Why Proof in Branding?

By
Steve Poppe
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When I explain my brand strategy framework I boil it down to claim and proof.  One brand claim, supported by three proof planks. Claim has many synonyms in the marketing and ad world. People use words like “promise,” “key thought,” “position” and scads more.  I use claim because it fits nicely with proof.  The best branding – and advertising, for that matter – makes a claim of product superiority or differentiation then pooves it. Claim and proof fit like a glove.

After researching brands during the so-called discovery process, and when ready to actually developing a brand strategy, I am looking for real, tangible evidence of superiority and differentiation. Not marko-babble. Not copywritten superlatives. Real actions, outcomes and existential proof.  For instance, I don’t look for the word fresh, I look for the words locally grown. I’m not interested in quality furniture, I’m interested in hand-made by second-generation craftsman.

To be frank, claims are a dime a dozen. They are a drop in a tsunami of claims made every day in the advertising world.  Claims are just words, just copy. Without the proof that connects them to the consumers’ brain there’s no resonance. Proof makes a claim make sense.

Brand strategy needs to be steeped in proof. Ad agencies are responsible for bringing proof to life. Bad advertising brings the claim to life.

Peace.

 

 

Taglines and The Fruit Cocktail Effect.

By
Steve Poppe
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0

Quality, commitment, character are qualities for which any company would be proud to be known.  Ironically, those three words as a tagline are a problem. I’ve ranted before about three unconnected word taglines and this morning listening to a radio spot was once again reminded.  

MB Haines, an Asheville area heating, air conditioning and refrigeration contractor, has been serving area for over 100 years. Not a bad feat seeing as in 1925 only half of all homes in the U.S. had electricity.  They must be doing a lot right.  That said, if you were to ask all the businesses in the country if quality, commitment and character are business fundamentals, all would say yes.

The problem is not that these are their values, the problem is they don’t work as a tagline. At What’s The Idea?, we advise clients to brand around one claim and three proof planks. MB Haines has the proof planks right, just not the claim. A claim — an overarching statement that covers the three values — is what’s lacking.  I’m not going to go on about information overload, but believe me it’s hard enough to own one brand position. Three is way, way too many.

And frankly, lofty words like quality, commitment and character are so over-used in advertising that they have almost become commodities.  

MB Haines, however, does a good job proving its three values. For instance, “100 years in business” shows commitment. An employee-owned company shows commitment. If I dug deeper I could find lots of examples of quality and character. This company is not built upon a tag cloud of copy and keywords. There’s here here.    

Brand strategy locates a brand in one spot. A spot that meets customer care-abouts and brand good-ats. A tagline is best when it highlights that one spot.

Brand strategy is hard work — often succumbing to the “Fruit Cocktail Effect.”  (Google it using quote marks.) It needn’t with a little brand planning.

Peace.

 

 

Bullies and Bears.

By
Steve Poppe
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0

Bullies do not understand sanctions.  They understand punishment. That’s a problem.

As the loss of life begins today with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, many are looking for ways out of the conflagration. I don’t remember the invasion of Georgia. And the Crimean invasion, though only a few years ago, was not a huge global/national news event. This invasion, though, has been orchestrated for maximum visibility by Putin from the beginning.

America is trying not to be a bully.  But it’s hard watching Ukrainian dads going off to war putting their crying kids on buses. Publicizing the human toll via social media – bringing the drama home, is something Putin relishes. It causes chaos. And it destabilizes an already divisive political environment here in the U.S.  

The non-Russian world is talking sanctions. The non-Russian world is not good at punishment.  Not until things are over.

I am no hawk. The U.S. is not the world’s policeman. But the U.S. is the world’s beacon of freedom. And that means we are free to punish predators. We can build consensus or we can build consensus while brandishing a stick.  Putin is betting on our consensus-building. He is evil. He is unhinged. But strategically he is sound and he’s playing us. Remember the Syrian redline?

Putin has a focused offensive strategy. It gets stronger by the minute. The U.S. and Allies strategy is deterrence and therefore tied to others’ actions. We are unfocused. Until we focus we will continue to backpedal.  I’m not saying send in troops. Or strafe Moscow.  But as we say in Asheville “bears will continue to feed until deterred.” We need some savvy offense.  

Peace… and I mean it today in a very different way.

Brand Strategy IS Business Strategy.

By
Steve Poppe
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0

A recent Ad Age article on Jonny Bauer, global head of brand strategy and transformation at Blackstone a huge private equity firm, was quoted as saying:

 “We don’t think of a brand as your identity or your name,” Instead, a brand is really the product of strategy and purpose “to define the existence of why this company exists.”

While I agree with the first part of the statement, I take issue with latter part, it “defines the existence of why the company exists.”

Mr. Bauer and Blackstone see branding much the way I do, as business strategy. When he is allowed in the C-suite of companies, not just relegated to CMOs, he is learning about all the business factors contributing to success: debt, legal, assets, culture, supply chain and purchase context.  When designing brand strategy, all these things must be accounted for. The brand claim needs to speak to most everything. As must the proof planks (the science groupings supporting the claim.)  This ain’t no disco. This ain’t no fooling around.

A lot of people may agree they want “happiness” when they buy a Coke, but they really want “refreshment.” 

All this talk about brand purpose and brand intention is silly. Those are outcomes of good commercial branding.  If you want to be intentional, go the non-profit route.

Blackstone and Mr. Bauer get the fact that good branding is the best way to get good marketing. And good marketing (all four Ps) begets good sales. And it starts with strategy. Brand strategy. Tied to business strategy. I deal in customer care-abouts and brand good ats.  Not intentions.

Peace.

 

 

 

 

Taglines Gone Wild.

By
Steve Poppe
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0

The tagline is a very misunderstood communications and branding device.  A tagline should be the de facto brand claim.  Beside the product itself, it is the single most important thing consumers should remember about your offering.  While a brand strategy is actually one claim and three proof planks, the claim element is the one indelible thought or value that motivates preference, consumption and repeat consumption.  I would say loyalty, but one can be loyal and not consume.

Many marketers go wrong when they confuse branding with advertising. This happens when the advertising campaign line or tagline drives branding. KFC’s “Finger Lickin’ Good” is a great example an advertising tagline that brilliantly reflects the brand claim. “That’s My Mission,” the tagline for Mission Health, is way too ad driven — and not even close to a meaningful, powerful brand claim.

Unless your tagline can reflect a coherent, endemic brand value, you are wasting branding dollars. And ad dollars.

Brand strategy first then advertising. Not the other way around.

Peace.

 

 

Implicit versus Explicit Brand Claims.

By
Steve Poppe
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0

I came across this testimonial statement on LinkedIn by cyber security firm Delinea. It was posted by Interbrand, their branding company. The work followed the merger of two companies into one.

The Interbrand team worked collaboratively with us to crystalize our unique points of differentiation and capture our essence. With their guidance, we built Delinea into a stand-out brand in our industry, with a clear ambition and a purpose that guides our decision making.”  Art Gillilan, CEO, Delinea

Two quick observations:

  1. I’m not sure I agree brand strategy should encompass “a clear ambition.” When it does it often uses language like “industry leader.” “purpose,” or “intention.” That’s me focused not you focused. Company-centric not consumer-centric. The best brand claims focus on the buyer.
  2. I love that the brand strategy guides company decision-making. Brand strategy must do that. It saves money. Multiplies the value. And creates culture.

The proof of a good brand strategy however is in the pudding, and this is how the website describes Delinea. I call it the Is-Does.

Delinea is a Privileged Access Management Leader Providing Seamless Security for Modern, Hybrid Enterprises.

The only word of value in this statement (to business buyers and security engineers) is seamless. And while the Delinea name suggests seamless (a good thing), I’m not sure as a benefit it hits the mark powerfully enough. Seamless, as a brand claim, implies a benefit. They could have been a quite a bit more explicit in their positioning.

Peace.

 

 

Brand Strategist as Navel Gazer.

By
Steve Poppe
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0

I have a client who is a savvy, savvy marketer in a high growth business. He really gets my brand strategy framework. His is a complicated business, not easily explained to people outside the technical category.  One of the things this CEO likes about my work is that I do lots of interviews with employees and customers but also outside SMEs (subject matter experts) to help with balance.

The client takes my rough transcript notes from the employee and customer interviews and scours them, using the verbatims to stay in touch with their feelings about the company. So, while I’m extrapolating and packaging brand strategy, he’s using the notes as a kind of satisfaction research. I suspect the interviews fill in some holes not otherwise found through face-to-face meetings, tech blogs and business presentations.

(Andy Grove, CEO of Intel way back when, started each day listening to the customer care hotline. It was his way of staying on top of things.)

I wonder is these interviews of mine may be a more in-demand revenue stream for What’s The Idea? than is “brand strategy.”  Not a lot of C-level executive wake up in the morning saying “I need a brand strategy.” But many wake up wondering what their customers and employees think.

Hmmm.

Peace.

 

Branding Is Multiplex.

By
Steve Poppe
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0

Brand strategy is all about immersion in your product or service. Identifying problems and clarifying opportunities. You can spend scores of hours listening to consumers talk about your product and watching them use it. You can talk to the sellers of the product, the makers of the product, and the engineers. After many hours you begin to see patterns and reoccurrences of values. It helps form your plan. The plan to position your product.

Don’t forget, though, that your brand isn’t an island. It operates in a competitive arena. And there are people loving, liking, using and recommending competitors. It’s not good enough to look at the competition’s website and come to conclusions about its value. You need to do immersion there as well.  You need to pry into the psyches of consumers you want to win over. You need to see how tightly consumers embrace your competitors. They have a job to do and they, presumably, are working hard every day to defend their share.

So, it’s not just about finding the optimal spot to position your product, it’s also about examining consumer predilections for your competitors. Branding is not binary, it’s a multiplex.

Peace.

 

 

When Does A Name Become A Brand?

By
Steve Poppe
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0

What’s The Idea? is a brand strategy consultancy.  I used to say brand consultancy but for many that’s misleading.  The masses believe brand to be name and logo. Nouns. My business treats brand as an action verb. To brand is to create pointed value. One overarching value, supported by 3 unique and extremely well-defined areas of proof.  Alone, these proof areas may not be unique.  Together, and organized beneath the brand value (claim), they are highly strategic. And scientifically proven to be business-winning.

Nine out of ten brands are so in name only. Faux brands. A mid-size company will spend $12,000 on an artistic sign before spending a dollar on brand strategy. That same company will pay web developers $40,000 to redesign their website yet only $1,000 on the written content – sans strategic direction.

Large corporations with marketing departments and 6 or 7 figure budgets all talk brand.  And occasionally use it as a verb.  But ask them to drill down to the real brand strategy framework, the exact and specific values, and their tongues are tied. They use the word almost as magic, hoping upper management will let them be.  

In order for a name to become a brand, it must be bound to a strategy. A brand strategy. One easily articulated. Easily supported. And most importantly easily understood.

For examples of real brand strategies for all size businesses, write Steve@WhatsTheIdea.com

Peace.

 

Master Brand Planning.

By
Steve Poppe
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0

I am in a business unlike that of most brand planners. To be perfectly accurate I am in the master brand planning business.  That is, the planning I do governs all brand and marketing activities. Not just a single tactical assignment.

A master brand strategy is a blueprint that sets strategy in an evergreen way. It’s governance over all marketing activities (product, place, price and promotion) the goal of which is to achieve a consistent brand position in the market. And in the minds of consumers. Marketing department people and their agents will still have lots to do to achieve specific marketing program and tactical objectives, so there is much room for strategists. Yet all efforts must check a few boxes on the master brand plan in order to get approved.

For the most part a master brand strategy is a one and done effort. I have redone master brand strategies for clients, but mainly when they alter their business model, change targets, or the market has changed.  I’m happy to report most client master brand strategies are future-proof to have held course. Some as long as 20 years.

So, what are all these other brand planners doing? The ones employed by ad agencies.  Well, they are doing project specific planning. Tactical planning. Fine tuning and optimization work. And hopefully finding new proof of the brand claim to refresh and energize consumer commitment. That work is never done.

Peace.  

 

 

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