Brand love by Peter Vane Branding, branding, branding: If you haven`t heard the word, you`ve been under a rock for the last, oh, ten years. But is all
the talk about branding just so much hype? In a word: no, I think that branding is the most important point your company can consider- and everyone should consider it. And those of you who sell to companies- office chairs, obscure chemicals, you know who you are- you should be paying attention too. It`s not enough just to have everyone recognize your brand name or your logo. Branding is about connecting , after all, and everyone in marketing needs to know how to make their product connect to their customer. The best brand has a rational as well as an emotional appeal, and speak to your customer`s head as well his or her heart. You want your brand to be something the customer knows is the best- and feels is the best too. Today, everyone`s talking about iPods, and not just as state-of-the-art musical devices. When people talk about their iPods, you might think they`re talking about a best friend: "I`d never go anywhere without it!" "If I had to choose between my iPod and my girlfriend, well..." Despote the number of me-too products designed to compete with the iPods, the original still has the largest market share. Why? Brand loyalty. And remember, once you`ve inspired brand loyalty in your customers, you can`t betray them and change the story of your brand. Cadbury, for example, has a reputation for their chocolates. But when they introduced Cadbury`s soup, it flopped. The problem was that the product was off-brand, and didn`t fit with the expectations people had about Cadbury`s products. So remember that when you`re telling a story about your product, the story has to be consistent. Very few products live forever. iPods might already be yesterday`s news. But establish your brand, and people will remember it. When Apple introduces its next new idea, milions of people will be paying attention, ready to fall in love again.