Conceived in Passion

I blinked, and blinked again, speechless. Sigh. Yes of course brands are first identified by colors, logos, tag lines, but, but, but appearances alone do NOT constitute a brand. Uh uh. No more than new clothes made an emperor look as grand as he wanted ha ha ha. WHAT am I going to do?

The workshop on Branding was lots of fun and the participants were very sharp and creative. All of them were owners of their own businesses and understood how critical profits are to survival. They were quite dogged about getting the most out of the session titled 'Branding as a Market-Driven Business Strategy' and ALL of us did. We were each others' resource persons sharing joys and woes for the sake of helping each other to capture and retain repeat profitable business. It was a satisfying session that more businesses could benefit from if the concepts of Branding were better known.

You've heard THE classic story haven't you? It's about research that was done in the US between Coca Cola and Pepsi? Coca Cola has reigned supreme as the world's most highly-valued brand - did you know that it actually gained value during the recent recession? But I digress. Well, when both brands were offered to blindfolded consumers, they preferred the taste of Pepsi, but when when they were asked to make a choice between the brands, Coke won the day. Now THAT's the power of Branding! Woo Hoo! Buyers choosing a color, logo, tag line over their taste buds. But was that really what they were doing?

Delving a little into the history of Branding strategies showed that $ was being put out by consumers for a promise, not a set of visuals. Over time - and building a brand does take time - consumers had begun to associate the visuals of Coca Cola with the promise of an emotional experience which even MJ for Pepsi could not beat. The evocative promise of satisfaction like when a perfume or after shave can evoke memories of .............. (smile).

Hmmm. So, how to help people and companies to build on their strengths and create Brand perceptions that secure customer loyalty for themselves? How to bust the myth that its necessary to shell out oodles of $ for consultancy that might be too in-depth to begin with?

How about telling real-life stories about the range of attributes of Branding, and making them available free of charge so that businesses can catch glimpses of what they may or may not want their Branding strategies to be about, before embarking on some high-expense activity? Sounds like a plan!

And so, a sibling blog Brands Help Heal was birthed from the passion to share, just for you. Enjoy! Read it at http://brandshelpheal.blogspot.com.