Brand Truth - Brand Strategy Consulting, Melbourne | Melbourne-based specialist brand strategy consultancy. We help, challenge and inspire businesses and organisations to get the most from their brands.

Why brand authenticity is critical for customer satisfaction

If customer satisfaction is about meeting or exceeding expectations, then why do so many companies measure satisfaction without considering what they are actually promising their customers? This post draws on recent observations by Simon Wood, Head of Stakeholder Management Research for TNS UK, to explore the relationship between brand authenticity and customer satisfaction. There are … Continue reading →

Brand Obama and the Art of Being Human

There is a growing consensus that to succeed brands need to be “more human”. Ironically there is a case to be made that this also applies to politicians, business leaders and other celebrities who commonly adopt public personas in line with the stereotypical expectations of their positions. This tendency is what social psychologists term role … Continue reading →

Using novel experiences to drive FMCG Facebook brand engagement

In general Australian FMCG brands were late starters in the use of digital media. Now many have used their mass market penetration to play ‘catch up’ through promotions and other incentives to generate Facebook fans. The results, according to social media analysts, are Facebook pages that are high on fans but low on engagement. Essentially, … Continue reading →

Can the Commonwealth Bank’s “Can” beat the other big four banks?

Despite its questionable launch strategy the Commonwealth Bank’s new “Can” brand positioning may have the ability to stake out a real point of difference that will leave its competitors behind. Australia’s ‘big four’ banks have traditionally been perceived by consumers as a largely undifferentiated group of institutions. A group that has also be seen as … Continue reading →

The growing limitations of traditional brand research

You would be hard pressed to find a mid to senior marketer that isn’t an advocate of the customer-centric view of marketing. It has after all been the dominant marketing paradigm of the past 30 plus years, ingrained in every marketing text and preached by industry leaders. With the identification and fulfilment of category specific … Continue reading →

Why Coles is ‘better’ than Woolworths

During a recent Sunday family lunch my nine year-old daughter made the matter-of-fact statement “You know, Coles is better than Woolworths”. Given the speed at which her attention shifts this comment could have been both the start and end of this particular topic. But as it piqued my curiousity I had to ask “Why”; fully … Continue reading →

Leveraging brand ambition: Glorious Foods! Global Taste Map

Similar to the idea of dressing for the job you want rather than job you have, sometimes brands can accelerate their growth by signalling their ambition to their customers and business partners. This appears to the case with Glorious Foods!, a relatively small UK brand that has just launched (at least conceptually) a very impressive … Continue reading →

Why and How to use icons in destination advertising

Most destination advertising campaigns face the dilemma of whether to include a destination’s most famous features or – in tourism marketing parlance – its ‘icons’. After all, icons are seen as major drawcards for potential visitors. From the Eiffel Tower, the Grand Canyon, the Parthenon, the Statue of Liberty, the Great Wall, and Waikiki to … Continue reading →

US retailer’s challenger brand strategy could change the rules of retailing

As part of what some commentators are calling the biggest reinvention in the history of US retailing, JC Penney – a century old US mid-market department store chain – is challenging some of the fundamentals of mass market retailing. A bold move that could ultimately change some of the basic rules of the industry. Targeting … Continue reading →

Brand Truth – Brand Strategy Consulting, Melbourne

Melbourne-based specialist brand strategy consultancy. We help, challenge and inspire businesses and organisations to get the most from their brands.

How to Create Strategy That Works

Will changes to CEO remuneration drive a new era of brand investment?