If branding is the method, marketing is the mobilisation.
That was the way Stephen Houraghan articulated the link between the roles of branding and marketing in a recent Brand Master podcast interview with Seth Godin, and it resonated with me.
To market and mobilise a brand efficiently, you need a good method and that is what branding done well gives you.
I recently had the privilege of introducing and moderating a panel of branding experts at CIM Wales’ branding forum, it’s sell-out status proof of the branding’s relevance right now.
In a world that’s increasingly digital and saturated, full of change and adversity, clear branding helps organisations stand out and have a compelling, resilient presence. And with customer expectations higher than ever, it’s brands that are consistent and truly connected to their customers and community that will stand the test of time.
How do we achieve branding that is clear, consistent and connected, that can help us manage the ongoing madness? I’m going to share the advice from the CIM forum experts.
Think about how your brand makes people feel
Jo Lilford, a branding strategist and language specialist who runs her own consultancy Run Jump Fly, set the scene for the day.
‘The thing most organisations are missing is brand proposition,’ said Jo, ‘They think their golden treasure is their product, but when was the last time you bought something because it had a nice logo? We buy things that feel like a bit of us.’
Knowing the brand positioning ‘sweet spot’ is about finding that small area of overlap between what your customers want and what you do really well; your vision, mission and values come after.
Deciding on brand values can also be a challenge. How do you know if they are the right ones? ‘Stick your competitor’s name over the top of them,’ said Jo. ‘If it works, your values don’t.’
Once you’ve defined your values, you need to use them; in your brand voice, which should first and foremost express your attitude and avoid jargon, formal, generic, inauthentic or complicated language, right through to your website’s 404 error message and out of office message. Jo shared some brilliant examples of brand voice done well: Hans Brinker for its self-deprecating humour, CIA on its more severe call-to-action and M&S on the power of imagery to conjure its famous one-liner.
Effective brand positioning requires internal buy-in, and the best way to achieve this is to design your communications with the people who are least interested in mind. Use imaginary people and personas to bring your audience to life and appreciate that it takes time; one of Jo’s clients has just committed to a three-year rollout of their new brand positioning.
Invest in internal consultation before rebranding
The rebrand of National Museum Wales to Amgueddfa Cymru was not without its challenges. Gethin Jones, Marketing Lead for Amgueddfa Cymru, explained that dispelling confusion between the museum’s individual sites and its umbrella brand was a core objective of the rollout, internal consultation important from the get-go to support successful embedding.
They wanted the new branding to demonstrate that the museum was a force for change in the evolving story of Wales and enable them to build their educational arm and community engagement. Despite the impact funding cuts had on the campaign, brand awareness has grown to 40%, 18% lower than the peak for ‘National Museum Wales.’
Align your internal and external messaging to ensure it’s believed
Nathan Harrington, Head of Brand at Aldermore Bank, built on the importance of internal messaging in branding strategy saying that marketers can’t and shouldn’t do it alone: ‘If you don’t get your culture right and align people to the brand, what you say externally just won’t be believed’.
Nathan outlined the six steps we need to take in winning hearts and minds:
- WHAT: Get people inside the organisation to understand the brand and their role in it
- WHY: Get people to believe the relevance and difference they make to customers
- HOW: Empower people with the tools to communicate the brand
- WHAT: Bring it to life visually
- WHY: Articulate it by getting people to speak
- HOW: Get people to own it – align reward/ purpose around our brand
To be a truly ethical brand, get your values and purpose right first
‘When we think of ethical business we tend to think of sustainability but it’s about much more than that,’ explained Anna Lewis, co-founder of Marsden_Mee. ‘Our challenge as marketers is education; people don’t often understand what strategic brand building is.’
This doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time and requires a really considered strategy. It needs ethical decision-making to be rewarded and challenges to be encouraged by senior management.
Drawing on some great brands that have got it right, including Flawsome, TOTM and TYM, Anna explained that it all starts with getting your values and purpose right first. With criteria for tendering becoming more robust, the organisations who can demonstrate they are ethical are going to have a real advantage.
Annual impact reports can be a good way to showcase your commitment to ethnical business and the B Corp application process provides a really good to do list, said Anna, even if you don’t go down the full B Corp route.
Get to know potential partners before you collaborate with them
Simon Rowe, Vice President of Mitre & Global Sports Marketing for Pentland Brands, presented a perspective on building partnerships to make a difference and preserve our planet.
From a business point of view, if no one’s playing sport no one’s buying sportswear. So sportswear provider Pentland Brands focuses on partnerships which build wellbeing, unite communities and support causes. Simon explained that as a brand linked with swimming, they had a responsibility to ensure primary school swimming standards were being met.
The brand has also tackled the barrier of period anxiety to girls playing rugby. They teamed up with Irish Women’s Rugby replacing the traditional white shorts with more navy shorts.
The most important thing about a partnership, Simon said, is that is has to be credible. When teaming up with athletes there has to be something in it for them, and there is; those athletes get to tell their stories and get closer to their consumers.
Make sure all staff know the brand’s direction and their role in it
Brands don’t matter was Founder of ARC Commercial Solutions Andy Rudd’s controversial opening statement. 75% of brands could disappear and customers wouldn’t care. The other 25% are the ones that solve a human problem and align everyone to the customer experience.
Whatever your organisation’s sector or size, to be truly customer-led Andy recommends focusing on these 6 things:
- Purpose – why are we here?
- Experience – how we understand and solve problems
- Value proposition – what we do and how we do it
- Brand – who we are
- Communication – our voice
- Success – how we win
Ultimately your brand experience needs to be defined by your customers.
Build insights before deciding on a rebrand or repositioning
Liberty Marketing found themselves in a place where they no longer stood out, had forgotten why they existed and weren’t communicating as a team. In short, they found themselves in a position many businesses do.
Tom Lloyd, co-founder of Toward and Gareth Morgan, founder of Liberty, explained how they prioritised insight to drive a brand rebirth for Liberty. By understanding how customers saw Liberty: bold, honest, no bullshit, they were able to position themselves as a straight-talking brand, making a stand against those who mis-sell, mis-lead and give digital marketing a bad name.
It’s amazing how many companies don’t talk to customers, Tom said. But if you don’t have this insight the whole rebrand will be doomed. A brand should connect the dots.
How do you know if you need to update your brand or completely rebrand? Tom said if your language or personality doesn’t fit any more, it’s likely you need a refresh. If your whole purpose or position is no longer relevant, you’re likely to need a more substantial rebrand.
Measure the metrics you need to have the important conversations about
Katie Dulake, Head of Brand for Admiral, wanted to start positioning brand at a strategic level; many senior audiences were not used to considering brand alongside reputation/ risk.
Katie talked about how investing in econometrics – looking at what a brand is worth to the organisation – can help mitigate against the tendency to see marketing as an expense rather than an investment. Katie used Admiral’s brand health dashboard ro demonstrate the value of a dashboard to predict return on investment and thus gain internal buy-in. A brand dashboard can be a storytelling device.
The challenge is in selecting the right metrics; the dashboard needs to articulate what is at risk if you get things wrong. If we measure it, we can better value and manage it.
The common thread of the day was the need to gather information and insights, to involve internal teams, and to treat branding as a process and give it time.
This approach is what will help us develop a clear, consistent and connected brand. It’s what will enable us to effectively mobilise and market it.
Ultimately, it’s what will give us the method to navigate the marketing madness.
See the CIM Wales write-up and download the slide decks from the event.