I love assessing the various marketing tactics of companies. I observe and pick to pieces the workings of the campaign. Naturally I fall upon some odd strategies that challenge common sense. For example, one day I was checking out the aisles of a sporting goods shop when I noticed, in the kayaking corner, a sight that I will never forget�
I saw� a Bic� kayak. There it was� big as daylight� the Bic� logo� you know, the tiny ball-headed man holding a pen� proudly displayed right on the top of the boat (or is that "yak." Are kayaks really boats?).
As it turns out, Bic� Sport was founded in 1979 to sell less costly surf boards. By 1997 they had produced 1,000,000 boards. I don't know about you, but I didn't know there was that high of a demand for surf boards.
Bic� Sport has a fashionable website that is solely dedicated to water sport equipment. The brand apparently means "economic quality." Raise your hand if you thought Bic� meant "cheap pens."
A good number of reports of major businesses on the topic of brand reveal that a brand has the most success when it represents an individual meaning. I believe that report and have seen this principle work within my own companies. Nevertheless we should be aware of a few primary myths about branding and use science as a guide to help us stay on the correct path.
Myth one. Your brand must correspond to one single product. Your brand meaning ought to be focused in its meaning, yet broad enough to be placed on many products that can increase the sales volume of your business. For example, if Tide� meant, "It removes dirt when nothing else can." Then some of your products could include Tide� vacuums and industrial cleaning equipment and chemicals. Tide� is based in solid fundamentals and is an incredibly successful brand of laundry detergent. They have allowed their brand to remain pure and focused on washing clothes. Businesses like Proctor and Gamble and Johnson and Johnson spin out many single product brands, which is a method I like.
Myth two. The whole world knows the meaning of your brand. Actually, the Earth�s markets are greatly fragmented. Every little niche is a society within itself with personalized publications, opinion leaders, and trade associations. As our everyday lives have become exceedingly high paced and we have so little time, men and women are really choosy when deciding what to pay attention to. In most cases, one community knows very little about another community. Consider the rodeo cowboy community versus the soccer player community. Or, even more clearly, the ranch cowboy community verses the rodeo cowboy community. What does this mean?� a single brand name could possess multiple meanings in different communities.
I would not advocate distorting your brand name meanings. I promote having your brand have an extremely focused meaning that can encompass a broad variety of products. Think Martha Stewart. Then think about branding your individual products under your larger brand name. Think General Mills� and Coco Puffs�.
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Rod Alan Richardson has dedicated his life to teaching people how to succeed in free enterprise through
Business Training Training. He also offers a free
Small Business Training Newsletter.
