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.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Saturday, January 2, 2010
DILEMMAS AND PLEASURES
Ahhh! The first weekend of the year and it’s a relaxing one – such bliss! Yes, I know I haven’t blogged for a while but hey, wait! Actually that’s not strictly true, you know.
A few weeks ago I discovered the joy of recording an audio message and posting in on Facebook for you to hear. Did you? Last week I blurbed a little for 30 seconds about an effort for my team that did go down quite as well as it had been intended and my Christmas message was an audio too. Well someone responded to that one.
Therein lies my dilemma – to visual blog for a page or audio blog for under 60 seconds. So tell me - what would YOU prefer me to do. Send me your reply to my Facebook inbox? What do you mean you want both! Weeelllll, if a couple of projects turn out the way I want them to then I’ll have the time; but NOT otherwise.
Umm, the truth be told I really did not feel up to repartee since I lost my balance, slipped, and plunged into icy cold waters. Those icicles actually stab and hurt, you know! You didn’t know I had feelings?! Oh! I see. Well anyway that was one reason why I wasn’t blogging as regularly as before. And I have had an unusually busy work schedule too. It’s been fun in that sphere.
Yes, you know how mobile technology advances so rapidly? Now, it is possible to deliver high end content onto low end phones, so that has got my creative juices gurgling with excitement. My collaborators and I have been chatting non-stop about the various things we can do, so 2010 will see lots more of my content on many mobile phones. YOURS included too, I hope.
I’ve missed cooking up various delicious concoctions but caught with that these holidays. You’d think that all the festive eating would put me off food, wouldn’t you? But no; I missed my own cooking - even though all the fancy menus were superlicious. Mmmmm it has been a VERY pleasant holiday season indeed, all round. Smack my lips and my memories. A lovely rendition of the Moonlight Sonata found its way onto my FB page too and I reveled in the sights, sounds and senses it conjured up within me each time I listened to it. Try it for your self and see / hear’ whatever it arouses in you. Quite tempting – even misleading.
And there’s something else I need to do more diligently – muscle toning. That’s right. My mother has been passing on ALL her gifts of chocolates to me, and simply insisting that I eat them. What could I do? She INSISTED, I tell you, and I am a good daughter and didn’t want to disappoint her. So a couple of resolutions this year are to get better toned up and to fall out of love with distractions too. It’s going to be a good and productive year. Grin. Here’s wishing YOU a fabulous 2010 too.
A few weeks ago I discovered the joy of recording an audio message and posting in on Facebook for you to hear. Did you? Last week I blurbed a little for 30 seconds about an effort for my team that did go down quite as well as it had been intended and my Christmas message was an audio too. Well someone responded to that one.
Therein lies my dilemma – to visual blog for a page or audio blog for under 60 seconds. So tell me - what would YOU prefer me to do. Send me your reply to my Facebook inbox? What do you mean you want both! Weeelllll, if a couple of projects turn out the way I want them to then I’ll have the time; but NOT otherwise.
Umm, the truth be told I really did not feel up to repartee since I lost my balance, slipped, and plunged into icy cold waters. Those icicles actually stab and hurt, you know! You didn’t know I had feelings?! Oh! I see. Well anyway that was one reason why I wasn’t blogging as regularly as before. And I have had an unusually busy work schedule too. It’s been fun in that sphere.
Yes, you know how mobile technology advances so rapidly? Now, it is possible to deliver high end content onto low end phones, so that has got my creative juices gurgling with excitement. My collaborators and I have been chatting non-stop about the various things we can do, so 2010 will see lots more of my content on many mobile phones. YOURS included too, I hope.
I’ve missed cooking up various delicious concoctions but caught with that these holidays. You’d think that all the festive eating would put me off food, wouldn’t you? But no; I missed my own cooking - even though all the fancy menus were superlicious. Mmmmm it has been a VERY pleasant holiday season indeed, all round. Smack my lips and my memories. A lovely rendition of the Moonlight Sonata found its way onto my FB page too and I reveled in the sights, sounds and senses it conjured up within me each time I listened to it. Try it for your self and see / hear’ whatever it arouses in you. Quite tempting – even misleading.
And there’s something else I need to do more diligently – muscle toning. That’s right. My mother has been passing on ALL her gifts of chocolates to me, and simply insisting that I eat them. What could I do? She INSISTED, I tell you, and I am a good daughter and didn’t want to disappoint her. So a couple of resolutions this year are to get better toned up and to fall out of love with distractions too. It’s going to be a good and productive year. Grin. Here’s wishing YOU a fabulous 2010 too.
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