Corporate Eye

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Susan Gunelius

Susan Gunelius

Branding and Disaster Planning

Most companies have a disaster plan in place that gives step-by-step instructions for all employees to follow in case something terrible happens, such as a flood at the headquarters location, loss of power for several days, and more.  Whatever the disaster may be (and let’s hope one never occurs), all employees are given a copy of the disaster plan instructions and told to bring it home and keep it in a safe place.

Business disaster plans are one thing, but what about brand disaster plans?  I’m thinking of disasters that can affect brands in all industries.  For example, consider the poisoned Tylenol incident in the United States in the 1980s.  More recently, toys manufactured with lead paint and foods that carry e-coli and other bacteria have made it to consumers’ hands bringing far more than negative publicity to the companies behind those brands.  While some of these brand disasters are bigger than others, they can all still be called disasters of some sort. 

That leads me to my question.  Do you have a disaster plan for your brand?  You never know what might happen in today’s world.  There are so many external forces at work in a global economy that developing a brand disaster plan isn’t that unusual of an idea.  What would you do if something terrible happened to your brand?  Could your company survive a branding disaster?  Make sure it can by planning for the worst now.

Image: Flickr

Branding Strategy – Go Big or Go Home

I often tell my branding clients to develop their brands with their biggest aspirations for those brands in mind.  What’s the point of creating a business and brand if you don’t have big goals for it?  So often I hear of businesses that create a brand and grow out of it within a couple of years.  At that point, the company needs to invest time, resources and money into rebranding when that problem could have been avoided if the brand was originally created with stretch goals in mind. [Read more…] about Branding Strategy – Go Big or Go Home

Write a Brand Statement

We’ve all heard of mission statements and vision statements, but what about brand statements?  I think a brand statement is a critical element of strategic planning that should be written at every level of a business.  In other words, a corporate brand statement should be created as well as brand statements for each business unit, branded product line, and so on.

A brand statement is a touchstone for both employees and consumers to communicate the intrinsic value of the brand as well as provide direction for where the brand is going in the market.  A brand statement can motivate employees and define the company’s brand promise and message quickly and succinctly.  In other words, a brand statement cuts through the clutter and shouts out loud what the brand stands for in no uncertain terms. [Read more…] about Write a Brand Statement

The New Corporate Brand Strategy

I read an article on Brandweek today about Unilever’s decision to sell its laundry care division in North America, which includes popular brands such as All, Snuggle, Wisk, Surf and Sunlight.  According to Unilever’s spokesperson, Anita Larsen, the sale will allow Unilever to focus its efforts on growing its core brands.  I can understand that much, but what concerned me as I read this article was the suggestion that Unilever’s decision is in line with a current trend of large corporations ditching brands that aren’t market leaders. 

Apparently, the new strategy is this: if a brand leads the market, keep it.  If a brand is second or lower in market share, get rid of it. [Read more…] about The New Corporate Brand Strategy

4 Faces of Branding

Every brand wears multiple hats, meaning it portrays a slightly different face to different audiences.  Typically, there are four main faces of branding that every brand portrays to the different audiences that see it and experience it.

Your Brand’s Face to Your Business

Your brand represents a specific image, message and promise that supports your overall business.  Analysts, investors, reporters, shareholders, business partners and so on typically see this face of your brand.

Your Brand’s Face to Your Employees

Your brand represents a specific image, message and promise to your employees that makes it meaningful and motivational.  This is the face of your brand that makes people want to work for your company.  This brand face is particularly important for companies that grow through mergers and acquisitions and need to integrate multiple sub-brands under a single company brand umbrella.

Your Brand’s Face to Your Customers

Your brand represents a specific image, message and promise to your existing customers that makes it meaningful to them and helps them develop an emotional connection and relationship with it.  This is the face of your brand that makes people want to buy your products and do business with your company again and again.

Your Brand’s Face to Non-Customers

Your brand represents something completely different to non-customers who have not yet experienced it first-hand.  This is the face of your brand that requires a significant investment in terms of developing awareness, recognition and expectations for it in order to drive non-customers to action and turn them into brand users and eventually loyal customers.

Take some time to evaluate the four faces of your brand.  Do they match?  If not, is there a valid reason why they’re different?  The strongest brands represent a consistent image and promise across all four faces with targeted messaging that enhances that face but doesn’t change it.  What do you need to do to make sure the four faces of your brand are consistent across all touch points of your business?  Making the necessary changes now will strengthen your brand in the long term.

Image: Flickr

Brand vs. Commodity

The next time someone in your company suggests to you that investing in brand development, positioning and messaging isn’t important, remind them that without your brand, you’d have little left to compete with than price.  In other words, without your brand, you’re just another commodity.

Certainly, your products and company offer features and benefits that consumers want and need, but it’s your brand that makes those features and benefits recognizable and preferred.  Those features and benefits are extensions of your brand.  Will they function on their own without a brand to support them?  Perhaps, but a brand makes those features and benefits much more powerful and helps to further differentiate them from anything else available on the market.  The brand makes them special and makes customer loyalty possible. [Read more…] about Brand vs. Commodity