Let’s face it, despite all the efforts of the marketing community to champion brand building, there are many businesses that don’t get – or simply pay lip service to – ‘brand’. Typically they see ‘branding’ as a name, logo, slogan or a few graphics that they slap onto what they sell. And typically these businesses … Continue reading
Brand strategy is now part of the mainstream of destination and place marketing. But for small destinations brand management can seem too complex. Or the stories that they develop look too similar to other places, and so don’t do enough to enhance the destination’s attractiveness. But there is one simple and effective technique any destination … Continue reading
In brand building small things can have a big impact. A previous post outlined how achieving superior brand communications is often “a game of inches”. This post looks at identifying which details of what a brand does that makes the most difference to its success. Too many moments of truth Attention to detail is by … Continue reading
Fans of sports movies will recognise that the title of this post borrows from Al Pacino’s famous coach’s speech in the American football film, Any Given Sunday. “You find out life’s this game of inches, so is football. Because in either game – life or football – the margin for error is so small. I … Continue reading
If you manage brands, the chances are at some point you’ll find yourself in a situation where someone wants to determine the Unique Selling Proposition for a brand you’re responsible for. Usually this will be because the brand isn’t performing and it’s been concluded that there’s a need to refresh or reposition it. So the … Continue reading
Apple is one the strongest brands on the planet. But over the past two years it has been increasingly tested by direct attacks from competitor advertising in its home market of the United States. This post outlines what’s been happening and Apple’s response to it. A (very) short history of Apple’s brand communications To put … Continue reading
In February this year the title of a short article in Forbes asked the provocative question “Can social media be killing brands?”. The article reported on the preliminary findings of a ten-year study by two American academics into the use of social media by US FMCG brands and its impact on their relationships with consumers. … Continue reading
Almost every survey of the business factors that executives see as critical for growth lists innovation as a priority. Yet many companies struggle with innovation as exemplified by the consistently high rate of new product failure. Interestingly then, a new study has found that our basic instincts may be ‘programming’ managers to reject the level … Continue reading
The advent of digital media and changes in consumer expectations mean that brands now have to think in terms of the story they want to tell rather than just positioning themselves. This post examines the shift from positioning to story, provides an overview of brand storytelling, and exemplifies this through looking at how the Scotch … Continue reading
The 2012 post Can the Commonwealth Bank’s “Can” beat the other big four banks reviewed the authenticity of the brand promises of the major banks. This made the case that Commbank’s superior technical systems could allow it to credibly build its “Can” positioning to stake out brand leadership amongst the big four. As outlined in … Continue reading
Brand Truth - Brand Strategy Consulting, Melbourne 