Tag Archives: branding

Plain packaging for tobacco: wine branding down the gurgler?

by ON
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The Australian community is becoming increasingly aware – through government-funded education, mass media and social media – of how the over-consumption of alcohol and fast food impacts on human health. These industries should be wary of government lobbying from the health industry to propagate legislation similar to the Tobacco Plain Packaging Act, with a warning shot across the bows being draft legislation introduced into the New South Wales State Parliament late in 2012 intended to minimise the advertising of alcohol products.

As the draft legislation has been proposed by an independent as a private members bill, it seems unlikely it will obtain support from one of the major parties. But as this legislation would have an acute impact on the wine sector, as well as the increasingly strong ‘craft beer’ sector, these industries will be well served by proactively mitigating the likelihood of potential legislative battles occurring.

Attractive wine labels, going beyond information about the variety or the producer, are used to entice unsophisticated or new consumers. This is one of the primary methods by which the wine sector sells its products in a highly-competitive domestic and export market.

Research suggests many consumers believe wine label art is reflective of the quality of the wine inside the bottle and, as a consequence, marketing and merchandising play a role equal in importance to the manufacturing process.

By reason of the community’s understanding of the dangers of smoking, media coverage of the 2012 challenge to the Constitutional validity of the Tobacco Plain Packaging Act in the High Court of Australia was largely sympathetic to the Federal Government and commentators tended to agree with the Court’s decision. The most high profile of all of the observers, the World Health Organisation, openly welcomed the decision and called on the rest of the world to follow Australia’s tough stance on tobacco marketing.
The Court found in a six-to-one decision this was ‘no acquisition of intellectual property rights’ – specifically, trademark rights – by the Government. Registered trademarks protect the value of brands. By highly regulating their use to the point of non-use, the collective value of those brands is decimated within Australia.
The High Court decision is a precedent which would permit similar regulation to the Act in other industry sectors. Information about wines is already subject to regulation in Australia, and severe sales regulation in countries such as Canada and Sweden, but all of this existing regulation does not significantly affect the creative expression of the brand.

Simply put, wine companies would not sell as much product if it was compelled to be sold in olive labels with plain font describing the makers’ name, the brand name, wine variety and other details.

The enormous problems faced by the tobacco industry in coping with plain packaging would be a very significant burden upon the much more fragmented alcohol industry, which has many small participants unable to afford neither a legal challenge nor a strict compliance program. Wine, beer and spirits makers need to be prepared to address this potential regulatory risk to their marketing strategies.

However, while there is some concern in the food manufacturing and alcohol industries about the implications for consumer products which have adverse health-related side effects, potential government intervention in the marketing of other products where there are health-related concerns is a slippery slope argument: there is no logical inevitability alcohol and food will be impacted on by the plain packaging legislation.

Additionally, because of the obvious health issues associated with tobacco, there was a notable absence of assistance to the tobacco industry by the alcohol and food industries to fight the case against plain packaging. This was possibly because of fear of consumers’ reactions to any alignment of interest with the tobacco industry over a health-driven law. Equally, politicians will be well aware of the non-alignment positioning with tobacco the fast food and alcohol industries have taken.

Finally, the Federal Attorney General has issued a statement the Federal Government will not be pursuing plain packaging legislation for the alcohol or snack food industries. The longevity of this policy remains to be seen.

 

Nissan trials scent branding: smells modern, oriental, with a hint of green tea

by ON
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The scent of Nissan will be modern and oriental with a hint of green tea, as the automaker trials scented branding in an upcoming motor show ahead of plans to introduce scents across its experience.

Nissan contracted the services of Australian perfumers Air Aroma to develop the scent which will debut at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit on 14 January.

The move follows forays into scented branding on the part of a number of high-profile luxury hotels and retailers, on the premise that stimulating all senses can enhance the customer experience.

“When we were working on our new motor show design, we went back to what do people experience and we went back to all the senses,” Roel de Vries, vice president, global marketing strategy at Nissan says.

“That’s what other brands are doing, there are some very famous clothing brands and hotel chains where you walk into reception and you recognise the smell and it feels like coming home.

“Smell is an important part of it… If this works in the show we are planning to move this on to other areas where we do displays and maybe our dealerships.”

Air Aroma was briefed to develop a ‘modern, vibrant and exciting’ fragrance that hinted at the company’s Japanese roots. The scent chosen encompasses “a fresh, luxurious and oriental fragrance with hints of green tea notes”. It’s described as a delicate aroma that captures the essence of green tea scent during spring harvest to awaken and refresh the senses with the purity of green tea leaves.

The scent will be released using cold-air diffuser equipment at 10 other global auto shows around the world throughout 2013.

Other brands to have used scented branding include Langham Hotels, Hilton, InterContinental Hotels, General Motors, Qantas, Sofitel Hotels, Carnival Cruises, Fitness First, United Colors of Benetton and other retailers.

Watch Roel de Vries talk about the strategy:

 

From Virgin Blue to Virgin Australia – the rebrand

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Campaign: Virgin Australia brand revitalisation

Client: Virgin Australia

Agency: Hulsbosch

Background

In 2000, Virgin Blue was launched with two aircraft operating on a single route. A decade on, with 91 aircraft in its fleet, Virgin Blue was losing money and market share and the future was unsustainable. This called for a major revitalisation.

As part of the ‘Game Change program’ new business strategy announced in 2010, Hulsbosch was briefed to ‘re-define the Virgin Airlines brand in Australia’ in direct challenge to Qantas, to elevate an under-dog to a genuine competitor.

In early 2010, with the clear objective to compete head to head in the business travel market, the decision to rebrand Virgin Blue presented Hulsbosch with one of the most exciting creative briefs in the history of the Australian airline industry.

Richard Branson Virgin Australia aircraft

Objectives

If Virgin Australia wanted to compete in this market as a contemporary business and leisure carrier, they needed to shift away from their low-cost carrier image and undergo a complete brand repositioning.

The new CEO John Borghetti briefed Hulsbosch directly to do the job, clearly stating that he wanted to ‘re-define the Virgin Airlines brand in Australia’.

Up to this time the airline had been operating under both national and international brands: Virgin Blue, V Australia, Polynesian Blue and Pacific Blue. Hulsbosch developed the brand name, Virgin Australia, aiming to unify all operations. It was then able to apply its own strategic brand research to implement the comprehensive and holistic brand program.

The goal driving the revitalisation was to increase the airline’s business customer market share by attracting a significant portion of its competitor’s affluent business customers.

The agency was given 12 months to get the job done, and the revitalised brand was launched in May 2011.

Strategy

Hulsbosch consolidated the airline’s disparate domestic and international brands into one unified brand, Virgin Australia, allowing it to speak with a single voice using a contemporary visual language.

Employing a five-senses approach to its brand revitalisation strategy in order to enhance the airline’s appeal to consumers, Hulsbosch looked at sight, aural, touch, taste and smell, and how each could be expressed through the brand. To complement this approach, a 360-degree brand map was devised detailing how each brand execution relates with each other, to tell the full brand story.

Virgin Australia interior and cabin crew

Execution

All brand iterations were redesigned, from a new name and brand identity, aircraft livery (exteriors) and interiors including seat design plus leather and fabrics, carpets and curtains and onboard collateral. Hulsbosch also designed the concepts for the lounges and then partnered with Sydney’s Tonkin Zykakja Greer Architects to ensure that the lounge designs were consistent with the rest of the brand.

All lounges feature a contemporary design, digital artwork by artist Daniel von Sturmer, illuminated Marblo bars, intricate timber paneling, vertical glass screens and natural light together reflecting a clever interpretation of the brand language.

The Hulsbosch team also worked with fashion designer Juli Grbac to provide input into uniforms, scarves, ties and badges.

The brand revitalisation project work extended to airport signage, Velocity Frequent Flyer identity and stationery.

Hulsbosch toned down the bright red and some of the larrikin elements of the former identity to create a smarter, cleaner and more contemporary look to appeal to business travelers without alienating leisure guests.

Virgin stands for pure and white, so Hulsbosch took ownership of white, adding the identity’s red, plus silver for sophistication and purple to give the brand an edgy look.

The importance of the delivery of the brand was also considered for crew announcements, choice of music and onboard lighting during boarding and take off. Sophisticated in-flight menus were developed and designed by Hulsbosch and chef Luke Mangan. Materials and surfaces, from glassware to seating have all been selected to be consistent with the brand’s new look and feel.

Virgin Australia aircraft exterior on tarmac

Results

Highlighting how quickly the brand revitalisation took effect on the profitability of Virgin Australia, the following information summarises the six-month financial results to 31 December 2011:

  • Growth in corporate and government revenues was 81 percent (growth in this sector was a key business objective when Hulsbosch was briefed),
  • Virgin Australia reported a statutory net profit after tax of $51.8 million, an improvement of 118 percent on the prior corresponding period,
  • yield growth of 11.5 percent on the prior comparative period along with consistent performance over the entire half, attributable to benefits associated with the airline’s strategic repositioning,
  • following the relaunch of the Velocity Frequent Flyer program last August, there are now over 3 million members, up from 2.5 million at the end of June 2011. This is an average of 1700 new members signing up daily.

Correspondingly, the full year ending 30 June 2012 results were:

  • Corporate and government segment reached 20 percent of domestic revenue, an objective of the company reached a year ahead of schedule,
  • statutory profit after tax of $22.8 million, and improvement of $90.6 million on the previous financial year,
  • yield growth of 12.2 percent, and
  • Velocity Frequent Flyer membership grew from 2.5 million to 3.2 million.

Virgin Australia was recognised at the prestigious Skytrax World Airline Awards, being voted best airline and best airline staff service in Asia Pacific for 2012, and climbing up the global rankings from 32nd in 2011 to 12th in 2012.

 

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Living the brand – working with HR to get your people onboard a rebrand

by ON
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Launching a new visual identity is one thing. Launching it successfully is another. What are the critical elements you need to get right?

One of my colleagues at TANK, Neil Shewan, has spent many hours working with organisations to uncover the triggers that help a new identity hit the mark both internally and externally. I asked him to share his insights:

So, you have a shiny new visual identity, and you are ready to launch. The CEO is on board. Check. The style guide is in place. Check. The PR is ready to roll. Check. The hard work is done. Wrong.

A brand platform needs to focus on four perspectives:

  1. The visual signals we send through our visual language, our signage, our website and our marcomms,
  2. the communications signals we send in our tone of voice, the way to communicate and the channels we use,
  3. the physical signals we send through our built environs, products and brand artifacts, and
  4. the behaviours we signal through our people and our attitude.

This last perspective is especially critical for a service brand. Aligning the behaviour of your people with the attributes of your brand is one of the most difficult parts of a brand project.

As brand and marketing professionals we all understand communications. However, when it comes to change management of people, we often need help. And the reason we need help is that much of the work falls to your human resources team. Getting the HR team involved early in a brand project can assist with the smooth integration of the brand.

In working with your HR team, add the following to your checklist:

Brand reinforcement. After the initial launch of the brand it is important to ensure the attributes of the brand are translated into proof points and actions for your employees. This needs to be reinforced regularly. Consider focusing on a different attribute of your brand every quarter. Brand reinforcement can include coaching, mentoring and training.

Recruitment and on-boarding. The behaviours you need to exhibit through your people need to be built into the recruitment process. What skills, attitudes and experiences are you looking for? Once a new person starts, it is important that the on-boarding process is heavily influenced by the brand.

Performance, reward and recognition. When people are ‘on brand’ they should be rewarded and recognised.

Engagement. Provide opportunities for your team to live the brand, and see what others are doing. This involves events, communications and surveys that seek to engage the team and keep the brand fresh.

External assessment. Know what your customers and clients think of your brand, then feed it back to your team. Ensure there are ways to assess individual performance as well as overall perceptions at a corporate level.

Corporate social responsibility. The behaviour of your organisation towards work balance, sustainability, social justice, supporting charities and work conditions (just to name a few) greatly influences the perception of your brand.

With all these elements in place, a new identity that is strongly aligned with the values and core idea of your organisation is likely to be embraced by those most important to its success: your own people, the best brand ambassadors you can find.

 

Neil Shewan is managing director of TANK and an active member of various industry bodies including the Australian Marketing Institute, Australian Institute of Management, and the RMIT Design Education Advisory Committee.

Building meaningful brands through lean creativity

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“Creativity involves breaking out of established patterns in order to look at things in a different way.” – Edward de Bono

 

For this month’s blog, I thought I’d take a back seat and share the thoughts of one of my fellow directors at TANK, Jim Antonopoulos.

Jim recently presented at the 15th Annual Government Marketing and Communications Conference, addressing the theme of ‘Limited Resources, Unlimited Ideas’ by exploring the concept of ‘lean creativity’. Here, he looks at eight ways lean creativity can help marketers build meaningful brands.

Creativity is forever evolving. And by borrowing a page from the tech industry playbook, it can get even faster, smarter, and more efficient.

A popular misconception is that lean methodologies are better suited to the manufacturing industry. Not true. Lean applies in every business and every process. It is not a tactic or a cost reduction program, but a way of thinking and acting for an entire organisation.

Businesses in all industries and services are using lean principles as the way they think and do.

Get it right, and lean creativity is a winning formula: product and brand communications are not only easier and faster to execute, but more targeted and effective – ultimately leading to deeper brand connections and increased sales velocity.

How do we do that? By taking on board three key lessons: start fast, listen and learn, and work collaboratively.

There are many, but here are some simple tools that will help build meaningful brands by using lean methods.

1. Understand identity

By understanding identity, then we can understand a brand. A brand is not a logo, a colour, a product or a person – it’s everything a company does, says, looks and acts. A brand is a company’s identity. By understanding an organisation’s identity we start to understand the brand at large.

Marty Neumeier said it best: “A brand is not what we say it is, but what they say it is.”

2. Develop one simple brand idea

A core idea can be a story, a statement, a sentence or a manifesto. It doesn’t really matter.  What does matter is that it must be simple, memorable, inspiring, meaningful and most importantly – true. A core brand idea is a succinct representation of the business’ strategic intent – the one idea.

Nike stays true to one simple idea that inspires every body to be an athlete. Every piece of communication from Nike stays true to this idea whether it be depicting a chubby kid jogging along a long road or an elite athlete jumping higher than we ever imagined to land a winning score.

3. Start fast – get clarity on the problem

Many times a marketing team will have a different idea and understanding of the problem at hand than their C-level counterparts – this in itself is a problem.

Always work hard at the outset to get a unified understanding of what the problem is – articulate it clearly and most importantly put the customer/client/people first. Articulate it in their voice, not your own.

Ensuring we have a common understanding of the problem at hand is paramount – how can we solve a problem when we all have a different idea of what the problem is?

Dive deep, understand your audience, understand the problem and listen. Ask questions:

  • what are the business reasons behind your branding effort? How does it link to the business strategy?
  • internally you need to get honest. What is the problem? Have you lost touch with the audience? Does the visual identity of your company reflect the brand?
  • what are the external problems? What are your customers facing. What problems are your suppliers facing?
  • who is the audience and what do we want them to do? Who are they, what do they do, what inspires them and motivates them into action?
  • undertake a brand perception health check. How does your audience feel about the brand. Are they loyal, have they lost trust, was there ever trust, or have they only just discovered you?

4. Listen and learn

Undertaking research isn’t a new concept but the ongoing monitoring of consumer opinion and insight is something that has been born of modern technology. We now have the tools at hand to begin the research process with gusto.

There are numerous affordable or even free tools that enable you to undertake your own research and get a deeper understanding of the problem at hand, the conversation, opportunities and of course, your customers.

Discover what and where the conversation is and how the business can become apart of the conversation, don’t demand to drive it.

5. Build a brand team

When building a lean creative framework for your brand there are four key roles that every brand leadership team needs:

  • the brand custodian: this is an internal role, performed by a marketing director or brand director. The role is focused on brand management across the organisation and is owner of the brand’s integrity, working in conjunction with the brand guardian.
  • the brand guardian: the brand guardian can be an internal or external role. This person has a strong focus on the visual and communications perspectives of a brand. The role is often performed by a creative director or design director.
  • the brand ambassador: the brand ambassador is a person who internally or externally promotes the brand. Brand ambassadors are paid by your organisation – they may be employees or external parties (often high profile identities) who embody the brand values.
  • the brand advocate: the brand advocate is a loyal customer, client or employee who is engaged in active promotion of your brand without being paid to do so. They advocate the brand because of their positive experience with it.

6. Don’t reinvent the wheel

Don’t start again every time you have to start again. Build a brand platform and adopt a publishing model to handle content.

Create content authors in your organisation which are autonomous and focussed on content creation – words, pictures, video; content that is engaging and above all meaningful.

Have content editors act as the filter and curator of content – people who are in place to approve, edit and curate content before it ‘goes live’.

7. Creativity comes from everyone

There are many ways to develop ideas, however, it is our ego that stops us from developing methods. Develop a method for idea generation that allows and welcomes concepts from any part of the business or community. The goal here is to develop lots of ideas from the outset.

8. Understand the world we live in

A research study by Google revealed Australia has the highest smartphone penetration in the world at 37%, and we’re also consuming more apps. With half of Australia’s population using a smart phone, research indicates that 90% of our media interactions are now screen-based.

We’re also quite good at not using one device in isolation. In fact we move from one device to another, and sometimes we use two devices simultaneously to accomplish one task. Brands need to understand how they can provide consistency and connectivity between the various screen-based devices as well as a unified story and compelling user experience across all platforms.

Time to get lean

It’s both an attention and location economy and we must work better, faster, leaner if we are to create meaningful connections with our customers.

We must put people at the heart of our brand building effort. Get to know them, understand them, who they are and how they tick.

By putting people first, we are able to develop communications that connect in a truly meaningful way.

Note: Jim Antonopoulos is the executive creative director at TANK and current president of the Victoria Council of the Australian Graphic Design Association.

A traveler’s guide to branding

by ON
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“One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things” – Henry Miller

A funny thing happens when you travel – you see things with fresh eyes.

I recently traveled with my family to Europe and Malaysia. Looking back on my trip, there were a number of memorable experiences that made me reflect on the brands I work with at TANK every day. Some are loose connections. Others have inspired my work since getting back.

I’ve captured five of those experiences here – call it a traveler’s guide to branding. So let’s get on our way.

Learning from the past to influence the future

Walking around the Acropolis of Athens, and standing at the foot of Parthenon, was breathtaking. One of those moments you can strike off your bucket list.

But what really impressed me, almost as much as seeing this magnificent site, was how the artifacts and ruins had been masterfully incorporated into the stunning, modern museum sitting in the shadow of the Acropolis.

The architecture of the museum has a strength and simplicity about it, inspired from its surrounds. It’s a wonderful example of the past influencing the future – but not restricting it. In fact it’s made it even more relevant and accessible.

The museum allows you to interact and immerse yourself in the history of the Acropolis, such as the glass floor revealing excavations underneath. It demands you to look deeper, explore further, and learn more.

It’s the same when we start working with an organisation on a branding effort.

The first step is to to look at what has influenced the brand’s journey to this point – the foundations it has been built on – and use this knowledge to help inform its future direction.

Things like the brand’s inherent values. The key milestones that have marked its history. Its personality and what it stands for.

Once we begin to dig deep into the meaning behind a brand, we can begin to shape its branding strategy to set it on a new course.

Never underestimate the power of response

If you’ve ever been to Paris, you can’t help but be amazed by the Metro train system.

It runs like clock work. Every train. Every time. And it makes the complicated easy to navigate – a harmonious combination of maps, screens and staff ready to help at every station.

The best thing about it is you have total faith in the network. You can plan your day and night around it – and you can rely on it. In a busy city that’s gold.

With an ‘under-the-pump’ client (which is every client), responding quickly builds trust, confidence and loyalty. It can’t be underestimated, because if you start to become slack in how you respond, your clients will notice – and likely leave.

Make sure you have the systems in place to ensure you don’t let your client down. That means a responsive account management team who know the brand inside and out. Or robust project management processes and online collaboration tools that allow the smooth and efficient flow of jobs and tasks through the studio.

It sounds obvious, but if you don’t have these things in place, it can easily bring a project – and client relationship – undone.

The Oia factor

While holidaying on Santorini in the Aegean Islands I discovered the ‘Oia factor’.

What is it?

It’s when all the elements of a brand come together in perfect harmony. Let me explain.

Oia is an amazing and beautiful place, known for its blue and white architecture and mesmerising sunsets.

What captivated me is how strong a brand’s identity can be when all its elements are aligned. In Oia’s case, the distinct and consistent look and feel of its architecture creates a sublime union with the turquoise waters and orange sunsets that frame the island.

The result is overwhelming; unforgettable – and simply draws you in.

The Oia factor.

This is what we strive for in defining a brand’s identity. Aligning all of the elements (such as brandmark, voice, visual language, communications, behaviour) to create a brand of substance that is memorable, instantly recognisable, and above all, true to itself.

When you achieve this – the Oia factor – a brand will not only be seen, it will be remembered and valued. And it will connect with the audience on an entirely new level – one that makes it stand out from the rest.

Simple ideas are often the best

One thing I noticed on the streets of Penang, is that everyone paid strict attention to the traffic lights. Although there was organised chaos on the roads, there was calm at the lights. I wondered why?

The answer was a digital sign at the lights. Nothing revolutionary. It simply ticked down so the drivers knew how long they had to get through the lights until they went to red. It struck me how obvious this idea was. Why haven’t I seen anything like this here?

In branding, I don’t know how many times it’s proven that the simple ideas work the best – and have the most meaning.

It doesn’t mean that the thinking behind them is simple – far from it. But the result has people thinking: ‘Why didn’t we think of that?’

That’s the type of reaction you dream of.

Celebrating together

One thing that Europeans have mastered is the art of celebrating. If you’ve ever been late out at night having dinner in any part of Europe, you know what I mean. They know how to embrace the moment – and enjoy it.

Too many times we don’t celebrate wins and successes with our team or our clients. We get caught up in the day-to-day and lose sight of what’s important. Enjoying the moment.

There’s nothing better than seeing a brand take flight or make its mark on the world. It’s why we do what we do.

So when we get the chance to celebrate we should jump at it. Your team will thank you, and your clients will love you for it.

There’s nothing more important than that.

The journey continues

With the holiday now a distant memory, it’s fun to look back on the experience and put into practice some of the things I’ve learned.

Hopefully you can take something away from this experience too.

 

The key challenges for a sports brand’s CEO

by ON
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I’ve long been fascinated by the way sporting teams engage with their supporter base above and beyond the winning of games and ‘playing for the jumper’. The fascination for me lies in the ongoing loyalty of some fans and the fickle nature of others.

This must drive the CEO of a sports team crazy.

The 21st century Sport Brand CEO has a challenge ahead of them – how to sell a product, as well as provide a service and ensure that year on year, people maintain loyalty to this brand – and let’s face it, sporting teams are very much about the people competing, the customer experience and of course the overall experience of chasing success – and sometimes attaining it.

Winning isn’t everything

Many factors come into play when we look at what makes us loyal to our favourite sports brands (teams or individuals) – colour, code, symbols, success, players, location. All play a role in creating fierce loyalty as well as ensuring that the team has our membership; we attend the games and in the case of the individual, those sports brands have us wearing their merchandise.

Winning no doubt plays a big part in recruiting membership, but what is it that keeps a supporter loyal over a life time? Loyal through loss after loss, public transgressions and at times, corporate scandal?

Personally I have been a long suffering and still, diehard supporter of a team which has only once won a premiership in their league, and that in 1954 – a couple of generations ago. I ask myself, what is it that keeps me and thirty thousand other members united with this team, albeit slightly jaded and cynical?

I believe the secret every sports brand CEO has to uncover is how they can maintain the loyalty of an eight-year old and keep that eight-year old as a member until they are old enough to pass on their loyalty to their own children. Couple this with a strong commercially-focused brand strategy, our Sport Brand CEO can then focus their team on winning on the field.

To maintain loyalty and build a strong sporting brand the brand building program must be championed by its leadership: the CEO and president – this is true for any organisation. The leadership must believe in the brand, what it stands for, embrace it and then activate it from the top down. After all, the brand is very much the organisation’s identity at large.

I also believe that our Sport Brand CEO and president must also uncover and engage their people around a central ethos – a central idea that resonates through every customer touch point. Then ensure that the organisation is living, breathing, playing and winning (possibly even losing) according to this ethos well before she considers the visual identity.

Five things to do to build a strong sports brand

The NBA’s Boston Celtics play ‘The Celtic Way’ – a phrase which is very much part of the club’s vernacular and defines the values and ethos behind the game they play and the way the people in the club behave. This simple idea is holistic and owned by the fans to interpret in their own way.

The recently launched A-League team Western Sydney Wanderers positions itself as ‘Australia’s newest, oldest club’ maintaining the link to Western Sydney’s football (soccer) history and also in reference to the first game of football played in New South Wales in 1880.

It is crucial that any brand building for a sports organisation – every organisation – starts at the top. Without the CEO and president as brand champions, the brand is doomed to failure from the outset. As president of the Melbourne-based Collingwood Football Club, Eddie McGuire is a living breathing example of the power of his football team’s brand – he is the brand.

Loyalty amongst sporting teams hinges on many factors, but the one thing that keeps people engaged and unwavering is a sporting team’s values – its belief system. Just like the Boston Celtics – its ‘way’.

It’s this simple yet central ideal that fans, supporters, corporates and stakeholders believe in; they will use it as the measuring stick for everything from behaviour at the board room table, to performance on the field of play.

Only when an organisation is able to live and breathe the promises and values of the brand can it look forward to beginning the visual identity process; especially an organisation where the strength of the brand is very much about building a value-based culture – just like any sporting team or sporting individual.

From there are strategy can be put in place that allows the marketing team to articulate these values and brand positioning in physical, visual, communications and behavioural signals that embody the brand culture that is already in place.

Then and only then, can it focus on the problem of keeping that elusive eight-year-old engaged and signed up as a member well into adulthood, and ensure that the brand ultimately supports this.

Put simply, the leadership of any sporting brand has to give the fans something to believe in.

Building a sports brand

Here are six things that I think every sporting brand (team or individual) must do at the outset of building a strong brand:

  1. ensure the brand building program is led by both the CEO and the President. If it isn’t, start again,
  2. discover who you are, why you exist and what you stand for as an organisation and as a team. Look within, if you can’t find something that makes you different to everybody else, look harder,
  3. commit to a set of values no matter what and make sure they are true and have meaning for your people (staff, players, customers). Don’t make it up,
  4. distill your thinking to one simple idea that represents who you are,
  5. build a program that ensures your people and players are living, breathing, walking and talking the brand. If they aren’t, then consider the values you claimed were solely your own, and
  6. check that the brand building program is on track and ensure that the leadership are constantly involved.

 

Loyalty and values

Loyalty that lasts a lifetime is something all sporting organisations want to achieve. We see it time and time again, from the masses of Liverpool fans singing in unison at an English Premier League game to the cult that is the Collingwood Football Club in the Australian Football League.

The fans of the strongest sporting brands share and sometimes embody the values of the team, the sport and its players. Supporters buy into the brand’s values, its code of honour – a system of beliefs that holds the club together and the most loyal of supporters will admire and passionately defend their loyalty, through loss and criticism. Give them something true and meaningful to believe in and above all else, start at the top – or start again.

 

Toyota retains best ‘green’ brand crown, Aus brands absent

by ON
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Toyota, Johnson & Johnson and Honda are the greenest brands in the world, according to Interbrand’s ‘Best Global Green Brands 2012’ report, while no Australian brands rated among the top 50 for green credentials.

The report, which uses consumer research and environmental practice performance data provided by Deloitte to arrive at its conclusions, found that most industries around the world are taking steps to sustainability and their degree of external reporting, with automotive and technology brands leading the pack.

Global CEO of Interbrand, Jez Frampton says sustainability is now proving to be a strategic and profitable aspect of business and a brand-strengthening asset. “It is crucial that consumers’ impressions of a brand are in close alignment with that brand’s actual environmental performance. Otherwise, a brand’s efforts in this area could serve as an under-utilised asset, or, conversely, suffer due to accusations of ‘greenwashing.’”

Toyota maintains the number one spot in the rankings this year. The manufacturer’s original Prius model, the primary launch pad for Toyota’s green image, has recently been expanded to encompass an entire family of sustainable automobiles, including the company’s first plug‐in model.

Seven other automotive brands appear in this year’s top 50, with three more ranking in the top 10 – Honda, in third spot, Volkswagen in fourth and BMW in tenth. Ford (15th), Mercedes‐Benz (16th), Hyundai (17th), and Nissan (21th) also performed well. Investment in developing and marketing fuel-efficient and alternative fuel vehicles appears to be paying off for the auto sector, which made gains both in terms of performance and consumer perceptions for their green practices.

Leading technology brands are also spearheading efforts to reduce their environmental impact. Panasonic jumped four spots this year to sixth position on the back of a range of energy management systems, including the conversion of a former factory site in Fujisawa near Tokyo into a ‘Sustainable Smart Town’.

green brands

The top risers on this year’s list included Danone, Ford, Starbucks, and UPS. FMCG brand Danone, ranked ninth, improved its green credentials by committing to reducing its carbon footprint by 30% by the end of 2012. Ford, in 15th spot, made significant improvement in its environmental performance around both its operations, as well as its approach to transparent engagement and disclosure on its activities and its environmental impact. Starbucks (36th) and UPS (43rd) improved their overall ranking the most in this year’s report, both moving up six spots from where they ranked in 2011.

The United States, Germany and Japan emerged as the homes of the most green brands.  This year’s list included 22 brands manufactured and managed in the United States, including Johnson & Johnson (2nd), Hewlett‐Packard (5th), Dell (7th), Cisco (11th), and 3M (12th). Japan and Germany each produced seven of the top 50, thanks to their technology and automotive success.

 

SME branding: what’s in a name?

by ON
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I like to think of a brand like an iceberg. Less than 10% is above the water, there for the world to see and admire or criticise. It is the 90% below the water that has the vast majority of the impact though, and it is this 90% that keeps the 10% afloat.

Before you even consider putting a brand image out to your customers, there are a number of things that you consider and develop a clear understanding of.

You must be able to answer two major question: Is it you? Is it your vision?

Branding

Before answering any of these questions, you must understand what a brand actually is.

A brand is an emotional relationship between you and your customers. It allows you to be recognisable and differentiable in an increasingly crowded market place. On top of this, however, a brand also acts as an internal compass for staff to know what is expected.

Brand vision

A good question to answer when developing your brand is, ‘What is your vision?’ Your vision is the reason your company exists – it is why you began, and where you see yourself being.

While means of achieving this vision might evolve overtime, it is essential that it remains the same. A perfect example of this is Samsung, whose vision is to ‘Inspire the world. Create the future.’

This vision has remained unchanged despite Samsung changing their market offering to adapt to changes in technology and the market place.

It is your brand that allows you to connect with customers and fulfil your vision, and you must therefore have your vision in mind when developing your brand.

What’s in a name?

How do you create a strong brand? Firstly, you must create a strong, meaningful, recognisable name.

The name is the most important aspect of a brand and should never change. Your logo can change over time, but if you want your brand to be successful, you must be able to anchor any changes to a name that consumers will be able to recognise despite any other changes.

To give a real life example of this, take a look at the Pepsi logo over the past 50 years. When coming up with a good name it is important to be as creative as possible.

At Pulse, we always make sure that we remove ourselves from our day-to-day space and put everything on butcher’s paper, allowing the group to brainstorm and evaluate any suggestions.

We also ensure that there are representatives from different departments within the business – this way you guarantee the name suits the entire business and not just one small section.

Creating a brand name

Here are some suggestions to guide you in creating a brand name.

Firstly, define the objectives of both the business and the brand. Any name you come up with must facilitate the completion of these objectives – remember the name will never change and must therefore be applicable until you achieve all your objectives, and not just for the first six months.

Secondly, make sure you think about your target market. Compile any insights you have about your customer and before approving any name, put yourself in their position. This way you can ensure that any potential names will resonate well with your target market.

Thirdly, consider other brands that are similar to yours, as well as those that represent the complete opposite of the image you want to portray. Evaluate your name in this context and think about how you will be seen, and where on this spectrum you will be placed.

Fourthly, make a list of the core values of your brand and review any names against this. Any name that does not communicate these core values should not be pursued.

Testing your brand name

A check you can run at the end of this process is to think about your competitors as well as your unique service positioning.

You want to guarantee that you have carved out a niche within your competitive set, and you also want to ensure that your brand name communicates this.

Once you have gone through this process and come up with a few names, open the discussion up to a wider group of people. Quite often sitting in a war room all day with the same people leads you to automatically like the end product.

A set of fresh eyes might come up with feedback and criticisms you had never considered and this is definitely a beneficial step. If you’re able to, it’s also a great idea to test the name among your target market.

Qualities of a good brand name

What makes up a good name? There are several factors that combine to make a good name: firstly, it should be unique within the category. A name should represent your core values and be easy to pronounce and remember. You should make sure it is legally available. Finally, if this brand is going to be connected to other brands or companies, you must think about how it fits within the overall company hierarchy.

If you follow these steps, you will be able to develop a loyal customer base, and in time, be able to charge a premium for your services.

 

Brand health check: the 4 golden rules

by ON
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From retail to technology, great brands make great businesses. But what makes a great brand, and how can you build one that stays front of mind? Give yours a health check with the following golden rules:

1. Great brands represent values

Brands that work well usually express a value. This could be quality, value for money, a green or ethical approach, or fun.

To ensure that yours is working effectively, make sure that your ‘visual language’ (your logo’s design and colour scheme) says the right things.

From font to colour palette, match your branding with the key value you want customers to perceive. JB Hi-Fi for example is about ‘bargain prices’, and they use a strong visual signature with bold colours and a lot of handwriting to emphasise the bargain basement persona. If you’re a consultancy, consider calmer tones and rounded shapes.

The better your visual language corresponds to your values as a business, the stronger your brand will be.

Remember also that brands are never instant – while first impressions count, brands take a while to develop. They’re as much about reputation as they are appearance.

2. Great brands offer connection

From Electrolux to Apple, people make judgements on and emotional connections with brands.

To help them, your brand must work to differentiate your products from your competitors. A useful exercise can be to imagine your brand as a car. Mercedes, for example, says ‘class’, Volva says ‘safety’ while Toyota says ‘reliability’.

The ultimate goal is a single overarching value: just one word or attribute. Of course your products or services will have many positive attributes, but brands often do their best work by focusing on just one, especially at the outset.

Focus group testing can help to ensure that your message matches your intent.

3. Great brands are memorable

If you can build a unique brand, you’ll be also building one that’s remembered.

What makes a memorable brand? Again, simplicity helps. Often, it’s simply a colour or a scheme (think Cadbury’s purple or NAB’s red and black). Sometimes it’s a slogan (‘Lowest prices are just the beginning’ or ‘Eat Fresh’).

Consistency is key. Make sure that you pick the strongest element of your brand and promote that across all your advertising and marketing materials.

4. Great brands evolve

The best brands, like the best businesses, adapt over time. Once your brand is established, continue to ask whether it reflects how your business is currently positioned. Is it a hangover from when your business was something else?

Social media is highlighting how fluid brands are and how audiences control and shape them. So in addition to design, it’s important to invest in an online presence for your brand: one that matches your brand values.

Summing up

The best brands are a combination of design, differentiation and connection. Building one requires a solid foundation of smart design, followed by determination and persistence.

It can be hard work, but the more you invest, the more your brand will begin to do the work for you, putting your business top-of-mind for customers in any marketplace.

 

Adopting B2C brand marketing methods in B2B sectors

by ON
1

A longstanding misconception about branding is that it is only for consumer products. Branding efforts in business to business marketing therefore are a waste of time – or so the old-school rationale goes. But B2B marketing is evolving by increasingly taking cues from B2C marketing.

I have seen this phenomenon occurring in Australia’s property and construction sector over the several years I have advised clients in the sector, ranging from engineering and construction firms to residential real estate sales.

Forget about the entirely rational and perfectly logical ‘business’ person. They no longer exist – if they ever did at all. We are all human beings with emotions and feelings. This makes us susceptible to branding whether we are at home or at work.

Branding, of course, goes beyond logos and advertising. If your neighbour tells you about his experiences with a certain brand, you won’t forget that conversation as soon as you get to the office. We are all subject to a great deal of information across a range of social strata, embedded in multitudinous emotional contexts. This opens the door for branding in B2B markets.

What do B2B and B2C brands have in common? They are all brands and they all need to appeal to people. A brand is a short-cut to the attributes, benefits, beliefs and values that differentiate products. Brands reduce complexity and simplify the decision-making process – including decisions by a business to buy another business’ product.

The key marketing device that businesses are applying in B2B marketing is the use of emotional language at all touchpoints of the brand – from the logo through to other brand elements and experiences. A brand is emotional. It has a unique personality. A strong brand captures the hearts and minds of clients and other stakeholders.

Emotions that B2B brands commonly invoke are confidence, trust, desire and comfort. FedEx, Airbus and Caterpillar are all businesses that primarily generate revenues from other businesses. FedEx’s clients can be confident that their deliveries will arrive at their destination on time. Caterpillar is a trusted machinery brand – it will get the job done. Airbus successfully positioned its A380 flying experience as a desirable product that will give travelers all of the comfort that the newest technology can provide.

How is the construction and property sector in Australia using emotive appeal?

McGrath is a real estate franchise that has grown exponentially, from five to 50 franchises over a five-year period. From the outset, the McGrath brand was positioned as desirable for business owners, employees and vendors. Its brand has always been clean and contemporary, its marketing innovative and progressive, and its systems efficient and creative. Importantly, the business attracted high quality estate agents which in turn attracted the vendors with the more desirable properties.

Tactically, some of the changes the business undertook were: changing the name of its magazine from Space to McGrath (the equity was in the McGrath name, which was more personal, recognisable and emotive); identifying a strapline that appealed to consumers (‘secure your future’); and applying interactive B2C elements such as publishing QR codes.

John McGrath said, “My goal is to give my customers the best shopping experience possible.” His customer-centric approach across all aspects of marketing was key to the success of his franchise model. The McGrath Group has grown from a one-man operation to an organisation that sold over $5.7 billion in residential sales in the last financial year, with 1,393 properties selling for over $1 million or more.

While McGrath does engage in B2B with its franchisees, it is primarily consumer-facing –  so in many ways it can be expected to be more sophisticated than construction companies that derive revenues strictly from B2B activities. However, we are finding that construction companies are similarly appealing to clients’ emotions.

Confidence and trust are at the heart of a construction company’s B2B relationships.

A business builds trust through consistency at every touch point of the brand. When the brand is managed consistently, it means it is reliable, honest and authentic. Some of Australia’s well-known construction names have benefited from rationalisation of their brands. Over time, under various leadership regimes and operating in changing contexts, the positioning of a brand can become multi-layered, its representation inconsistent, and messages to audiences confused.

Key brand elements that appeal to emotions include company or product name, photography, illustration, typography, colour, tone of voice, and strap line. These elements should be reviewed for consistency so that together they communicate the brand’s unique value proposition.

With Baulderstone, we worked towards consistency to make the key elements of the brand punchier. Baulderstone pared back its palette to confidently claim its ownership of the colour green. Green comprised about 70% of the colour palette.  We introduced a black and white reportage style photography to help tell the Baulderstone story in a more humanised, accessible way. The result? Acknowledgement from its biggest competitor that Baulderstone’s annual publication, its most significant client communications project, was the best in the industry. With another construction company, Hindmarsh, we are helping to communicate confidence through an advertising focus on the corporate value of leadership.

At an experiential level, from the reception through to exhibitions at trade shows, B2B companies are using B2C techniques to seduce the senses. Lighting, texture, space, signage, furniture and customer service all contribute to the experience – similar to entering a shopping centre or hotel lobby.

The reception is often the first tangible contact with the brand after the business card. It speaks volumes of the value the company places on brand, how important they believe the first impression is, and how welcome they make their visitors feel. The reception area also sends a signal to staff on maintaining a professional appearance.

For Pacific Rail Engineering, we built brand awareness, promoted a new operational service and gathered new contacts at the Ausrail Plus 2011 trade show. As the custom-built event stand was effectively a reception area for the client, it included a reception desk, TV screen and meeting space. B2C elements of the marketing campaign were electronic direct mail, an SMS blast and a competition to win an elite road bike, which attracted visitors to the stand.

As for desire and comfort, let’s discuss these emotions by referring to one of the strongest brands of our time, Apple. The most visible way that B2B marketing is taking cues from B2C marketing is the increasing use of iPads. Apple has been able to appeal to all demographics regardless of socioeconomic background. Its handheld products are equally ubiquitous in the boardroom and the street. Apple has touched the heart of consumers through design and technology, making the brand accessible, despite its high-end design. The brand is comfortable in the hands of everyone and, in this way, Apple makes people feel special and included.

Brands are developing apps to benefit from Apple’s emotional appeal. We are helping B2C and B2B clients create publications specifically for the iPad. Businesses are using iPads for investor presentations, annual reports and other communications collateral. In the next reporting season expect to read more financial reports – whether directed at analysts or institutional and retail investors – via the iPad.

We at Ascender see the property and construction industry as one where a few successful B2B brands are proving that there are benefits to be gained from investing in strong branding.

To outline just some of the key benefits, branding is an effective and compelling means to ‘decommoditise’ product categories that are highly undifferentiated. Brands enable companies’ value propositions to be more emotive and compelling.

Brands assist companies in transitioning from a transaction-based selling model to one that is relationship-based. Brand loyalty is created when the business manages to consistently deliver on what its brand promises. Brand preferences lead to the rejection of competitive brands. A business with well-known brands can command premium prices for their products and services. It makes it automatically less susceptible to competitive forces.

A positive brand image also appeals to all other stakeholders. For example, it makes it even easier for a business to recruit and retain talent.

In many industries there are still no brands at all, leaving a gap with huge unrealised brand potential. Not only could companies profit from a tremendous first-mover advantage, future-oriented companies may even be able to set the business standard with their brands.