Top 5 Brand Building Tips For 2016

photo credit: Michael | Ruiz via photopin cc

While looking back at David Aaker, Vice Chairman of Prophet blog in 2013, I wondered: how much would still be relevant today and what we could still learn from the post.

David's posts address a key dimension of branding and provide insight that should help others? Aaker selected the top five posts that can make a difference in brand strategy. These issues all appear on the pages of my upcoming book, Aaker on Branding: 20 Principles That Drive Success.

Five steps to getting brand touch points right

The brand vision needs to be reflected by the brand experience at each touchpoint. To get it right, you must: identify existing and needed touch points, determine which are deficient, evaluate the impact of each on customers, prioritise, and develop a touchpoint action plan. A touchpoint program will affect the customer experience and reinforce the brand vision internally and externally.

Six reasons why incumbent firms fail to create “big” innovations As explained in my book, Brand Relevance, real growth rarely occurs without “big” innovations that create “must haves” that define new subcategories. Why is it hard for incumbent, leader firms to engage in substantial or transformation innovation that will change the marketplace? Among the reasons are fear of cannibalisation, risk aversion, an inability to plan for the future, wrong incentives, inadequate competition for innovation ideas and a lack of support for innovation champion.

Points of parity When a competitor has developed a “must have” that defines a new subcategory, your brand faces the threat of becoming less relevant. The solution is to develop parity along that “must have” dimension so that customers will not be motivated to reject your brand because of a perceived inadequacy. Hyundai did that with quality and styling, and McDonald’s did it with gourmet coffee.

Three models of how a brand personality impacts Strategists instinctively recognise that brand personality is important to creating energy, differentiation and strong relationships, but they often lack understanding about how to get that done. There are three models you can follow to succeed. The self-expression model is where customers express their own or idealised self in part with the personality of the brands that they buy and use. The relationship basis model posits an interpersonal relationship metaphor. So a brand can be a weekend fun companion, a mother, a respected family member, a trusted advisor, etc. The functional benefit representation model is when a brand is a vehicle for representing and cuing functional benefits. The personality of Harley Davidson, Hallmark and Michelin have implications about the offerings.

Lessons from my three favourite charity brands There have been many posts that have described brand role models for their vision or brand-building efforts but this “three charity brands” post is my choice for the most interesting and informative. The three brands, Feeding America, Teach for America, and Nothing But Nets are all brand winners. They address a meaningful problem with a concept that works and is scalable. They all have evocative names, a clear and compelling vision, and a wide assortment of creative and effective brand building programs.

Sometimes, we spend so much time looking forward and planning ahead, we often forget the exciting stuff that has been published in the past, that is still relevant today and can still teach us so much.

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