Brand definition

(See also the Working papers, Links to additional resources and Related articles sections at the end of this article). © 2002, Mud Valley ™ brand marketing community.

Key Action Points

Your brand should be defined according to the following dimensions:

1. Its central organising thought – defining it for internal & stakeholder use in one sentence
2. Its slogan - defining it for use with customers in one sentence
3. Its personality – what would it be like if it were a human being?
4. Its values – what does it stand for/against?
5. Its tastes/appearance - what does it look like? What does it sound like? What does it like and dislike?
6. Its heritage - what are the stories you tell about how it all came about/what sort of brand it is?
7. Its emotional benefits – how it avoids/reduces pain or increases pleasure
8. Its hard benefits – the “pencil sell”

In more detail.....

Brands need to provide customers with a consistent, compelling experience in order not to confuse them, as confusion leads to doubt. Everyone associated with the brand must understand its key dimensions in order to deliver this consistent experience, and it helps if customers can be given a short slogan which encapsulates the essence of the brand.

Central organising thought

How are you going to describe the essence of the brand to your colleagues and business partners in one short, memorable, and motivating sentence? What makes it special?

This is the last and hardest stage of the brand definition process. Try to create images of what the brand does, and preferably link it to an eternal value such as friendship, status, belonging, realising your true self (Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs could be useful here).

The central organising thought is not the same as the slogan. The central organising thought addresses a core customer value whose articulation may make customers uncomfortable or even resentful. The slogan refers to this core customer value but in terms the customer is happy to acknowledge and discuss.

Slogan

How are you going to describe the essence of the brand to your customers in one short, memorable, and motivating sentence? This should hint at the central organising thought, without necessarily stating it.

As an example, the central organising thought of the BMW brand is "competitive achievement", but the slogan is "the ultimate driving machine".

The personality of the brand

If the brand were indeed human, what sort of person would it be - jovial, serious, sporty, aristocratic, cunning?

The values of the brand

What does the brand stand for? What does it believe in? What would it make a stand on?

Tastes/appearance

What does the brand like? What does it look like? What does it wear? How does it speak?

This will include the iconography of the brand - the icons, the symbols, the trade dress, the typeface, the look and feel.

Heritage

All great brands have stories about them. Some are favorable, some are less favorable, but all of them work to explain what the brand is all about.

Telling stories about the brand is one of the strongest ways of communicating the essence of your brand.

Emotional benefits

What does the brand do for its customers?

These can usually be classified into:

• Avoids pain
• Reduces pain
• Gives pleasure

Hard benefits

What does the brand offer its customers in tangible, quantifiable terms?

These are the benefits as in "Features, Advantages and Benefits".

Working papers

(Available for purchase on request)

• Brand definition development workshop (branddef.ppt)

Links to additional resources

Here are a list of resources you may find useful if you wish to carry out this task. Mud Valley will always be pleased to co-ordinate the activity for you, if you so wish - or you can contact these agencies direct.

Online brand strategy resources

• Adforum has a process for linking you to the advertising agency you need, including a worldwide directory of advertising agencies and an agency CD online purchasing service: http://www.adforum.com site

• Henry Stewart publish a series of branding related journals, some of which are now available online: http://www.henrystewart.com/
• McKinsey provides you with access to their McKinsey Quarterly and other strategic materials: http://www.mckinsey.com/
• World Advertising Research Center has materials on the main advertising planning activities, with papers drawn from advertising-related conferences around the world: http://www.warc.com

Brand development resources

• Added Value (UK-based European branding and advertising research and design): http://www.added-value.com/
• Ad Principles (UK-based European advertising and brand research agency): http://www.adprinciples.co.uk/index2.html
• The ASHDOWN Group (UK-based European banding agency): http://www.ashdown.com/
• Brand Guardians (UK-based branding consultancy): http://www.brandguardians.com
• Cobalt (UK-based branding consultancy): http://www.cobalt.co.uk/index_ie.html
• Enterprise IG (European branding agency): http://www.enterpriseig.com/
• ESP UK-based European research agency specialising in communications segmentation research: http://www.espconsultancy.co.uk/
• Interbrand (UK-based global branding agency): http://www.interbrand.com/
• Millward Brown (UK-based European branding and advertising research agency): http://www.millwardbrown.com/
• Paper White (UK-based branding consultancy): http://www.paperwhite.co.uk/index.html
• The Planning Shop (UK-based European pharmaceutical branding research agency): http://www.planningshop.co.uk/
• Prophet U.S.-based global branding consultancy, associated with branding guru David Aaker: http://www.prophet.com/
• The Research Business International (US-based global research agency): http://www.trbi.com/
• Research International (UK-based global branding and advertising research agency): http://www.research-int.com/
• St. James Associates (US-based branding research agency): http://www.stjamesassociates.com/
• Wirthlin Research (US-based branding research agency): http://www.wirthlin.com/
• Yankelovich (US-based global branding and advertising research agency): http://www.yankelovich.com/

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