Brand is about the image, not about the logo!?

Times are gone when consumers were loyal to a given brand and it was enough to place the logo on whatever product to trigger its sales. Competition and jam in virtually every section of the market resulted in a bigger choice for consumers today. And to win their loyalty calls for something more than a graphic sign. What is needed is brand image.

When you're talking about strategy for a brand, personification turns out very convenient. So let's give it a try now. A brand, like a person can be judged by looks and that's what people used to do in the past. Brands had star status, there weren't many of them in the market, so people were striving for any contact with them. In order to attract new friends it was enough to dress up such brand appropriately and people were instantly willing to be seen in its company. The brand didn't speak, its relationship with its friends was superficial, but it was enough for the majority of people they were in vicinity of a star.

Today the situation is completely different. The market has become crowded, and so stars have to try harder to attract friends. They have started to speak, to deliver messages. And so today we've got rebel-brands, smart-brands and so on. If describing a person I name some brands he or she is accustomed to, you'll be able to form some characteristic of that person in your head immediately, won't you. A person riding a Harley, a Honda driver and a man behind a steering wheel of Jeep are three completely different people. And we judge them solely by their vehicle!

So what is the brand? While defining (and then building) it you may use definitions suggested by David Aaker. According to him brand is a product (or service), organization, person and symbol. These four factors constitute a kind of foundation, which when correctly built on will enable you to create a strong, recognizable brand.

Sure it is a rare case for a brand to be all of these at the same time. What we encounter most often is one foundation to which others are added. Nevertheless, familiarity with this structure will enable you to expand the brand or strengthen its market position.

So let's look for the examples and try to analyze them.

Brand as a product or service

In this scenario, a company releases a product that turns out such a revelation that its star starts shining with brighter light that the company itself. Sometimes it's a deliberate practice, and sometimes it isn't. An example of deliberate introduction of product brand is Apple's iPod. Its success astonished everyone, it seems that even the manufacturers themselves. Still they have managed perfectly to change it into company revenues. So called halo effect attracts consumers to different products, our star's neighbors.

Brand as an organization

If a company has a lot of products that Customers place their trust in, it releases new ones with similar quality, building its brand that way. Such strategy for building a brand can be often observed with e.g. car manufacturers. It's said Toyotas are near-unbreakable cars it's not the merit of a peculiar model, but of a consistent product and& information policy. Yes, information& A good product range itself won't suffice a brand (as we have already said) has to communicate with its consumers. IBM and Philips are other examples of company-brands. Due to their position, they are awarded considerable Customers' trust even while introducing new products consumers trust them because of previous achievements. Still you have to be careful and try hard to keep this post. A Consumer nowadays is far less loyal and forgives less than a dozen years ago. Fiat is one of the companies that have learnt this painful lesson.

Brand as a person

Promoting one person as a brand that consumers associate with a given company is pretty risky. A company by its definition is to outlive a person (even if it were its founder and a really exceptional personality indeed). And when person-brand is gone (dies, withdraws or gets fired), the company faces a harsh period of convincing its consumers that nothing has changed and they can still trust it. It's been often said that Disney stories aren't the same without Walt. This is the very danger in promoting an individual Customers may turn their back on the company, when the person is gone. How would Omnimedia look but for Martha Stewart? We haven't had a possibility to find it out so far, but that time is sure to come.

So why do companies make their mind to promote personality? As in the previous case, sometimes it isn't a deliberate action a company founder rises to brand status, and then a company has to deal with him/her leaving. On the other hand, thanks to joining it with a particular person, life style, attributing it with a face, sometimes a brand can gain personality. Apple today is perceived in the light of Steve Jobs there's no doubt about that. Without him it won't be the same Apple.

If a company tends to change faces quite often (as cosmetics companies do), the problem with convincing Customers to new image becomes significantly smaller the worst that can happen is the consumers used to the old face will get replaced by younger ones. Nevertheless, the company's continuity is secured.

Brand as a symbol

This is the most difficult to achieve, the most unstable (as far as consumers preferences are concerned), still in case of success the most stable scenario. You don't become a symbol just like that. Most often it's the last step of creating a brand, when you've already got grounded position as a product, company or person, you become a symbol for a group of consumers (or even a whole generation). A symbol of times, a symbol of style, behavior or philosophy. In IT industry, first IBM and then Microsoft used to be such symbols and now Google rises to this rank. Everyone aspires to this development stage of a brand, but only a few achieve it. To tell the truth there's no recipe for the way to the very top you have to be the best as long as you can and wait for a gradual change in mass awareness. Nothing more nothing less:)

As you can see from the above examples, a brand is much more than just a graphic sign on a T-shirt or other product. In order to create it, it takes vision (something extraordinary), time (so it can take roots in consumers' mind), and last but not least a good deal of knowledge. Knowledge how to communicate with your Customers, how to tell them about your virtues so they are willing to listen and understand. This knowledge is a brand-building strategy. Without it even the best products or services may go in circles and fail to stand out from the crowd, since the others are better prepared to communicate with the Client.

If you disregard working out a strategy (creation of image, philosophy of the brand), it may have catastrophic results for your company. What's the use investing huge sum of money, if your product doesn't become a brand it'll be just another commodity with some graphic sign& It takes much more to create a brand.