Five branding myths busted

Caroline Scotter Mainprize 2014

Five Branding Myths Busted

Caroline Scotter Mainprize

Which beans would you choose?


Myth #1: You own your brand


You don’t own your brand because…

• A brand is a vague collection of feelings, perceptions, assumptions, and beliefs

• It exists in the head of the consumer• You can control how you present the brand, but you

cannot control what other people think and feel about it, nor what they say about it

• Your brand is what people say about you when they don’t have your marketing materials to hand


Was this part of Burberry’s brand positioning?


©bigpicturephoto.com

What can you do?

• Be authentic and sincere• Work from the inside out ‒ you and your employees must

be the true believers• What is your purpose? What are you really about?• What are your values?


Myth #2: ‘Integrity’ is a good brand value


Integrity is a bad brand value because…

• Integrity is a concept of consistency of actions and values• To be fair, I did say it was part of what you need to do as

part of positioning• But to have a value that says you act according to your

values is a bit of a waste• If you’re really trying to say you’re ethical, that too is a

waste


A business with integrity: The Mob


What can you do?

• Develop and publish a code of business conduct• Think hard about what you stand for and what you do• Be prepared to use a lot of words

– What are you trying to achieve and how?– What beliefs do you hold about your customers, your

competitors, and your company?• Translate these into specific promises• How are you going to keep those promises?


Myth #3: Your logo should convey all your brand values


It just can’t, because …

• A logo is just a visual shortcut • No one looks at it in great detail• It needs to be simple and bold, and to be able to be

reproduced at different sizes, in different places, in black and white and in colour


What the London Olympics logo meant, apparently

“It is unconventionally bold, deliberately spirited and unexpectedly dissonant, echoing London’s qualitiesof a modern, edgy city. Containing neither sporting images nor pictures of London landmarks, the emblemshows that the Games are more than London, more than sport. The Games are for everyone, regardless ofage, culture and language.” Wolff Olins


What you can do

• Think carefully about the uses of the logo: do you have to put it on products/packaging or just on your website and stationery?

• Think about how it relates to other design elements you use

• Think of just one word you want it to convey• Where does it sit on the spectrum:

Traditional Classic Contemporary


Myth #4: A brand ‘voice’ is sounding

like InnocentCaroline Scotter Mainprize 2014

Don’t try to sound like Innocent because …

• You need to be authentic• You need to be distinctive ‒ even if you have the same

culture, values, and personality as Innocent, surely you don’t want to be mistaken for them?

• You’re speaking to real people and you need to sound like a real person


The dangers of not being authentic

How sports brands speak:

“Just do it.”

“You never regret a run.”

“Impossible is nothing”



How real people speak about sports:

“Swimming officially sucks. First I bugger up my shoulder for 6 months and then I get the mother of all ear infections and have to get a load of fungus sucked out with a vacuum cleaner. Yuck/ouch. Screw this for a lark. I’m going back to running.”

What can you do?

• Go back (again) to who you are, what your purpose is, what you believe, and what your values are

• How does a person like that speak?• How do your customers expect/want you to speak to

them?• Don’t just come up with a group of adjectives ‒ practise

writing and talking, discuss with your staff and colleagues, develop your voice together


Myth #5: You have to advertise to create a brand


These brands didn’t


What can you do?

• Know yourself (I’m getting boring now)• Understand your customers ‒ what do they want? What

do they really value about you?• Think about marketing as a perpetual conversation with

your customers• Grow one customer at a time• Keep your promises. Be consistent.


Questions for you to ponder

• If you had to start another, totally different, business tomorrow, what would you continue to do exactly the same?

• If your customers never read your marketing materials/website, how would they describe you based on your behaviour?


Marketing

Five branding myths busted