The First Rule of Marketing
Feel the power of a clear choice
All fancy-schmancy marketing theory boils down to a single objective: make the choice clear.
Let's say your company, Furry Feet, is in the business of making and selling terrycloth house slippers. Really, all you want all your customers to think is, "There's Furry Feet, and then there's everything else for warming my tootsies around the house."
You achieve that by establishing and building a brand. A brand is different from a name. A name can only be remembered through repeated exposure. A brand, on the other hand, is far more easily remembered because it's felt.
People don't have the same strong feelings for a Chevrolet Impala that they have for a gunmetal-blue Mini Cooper or a neon green Volkswagen Beetle. There are far fewer motorcyclists lusting for Kawasaki two-wheelers than for Harley-Davidsons.
The brand promise triad
A brand is built on a brand promise, which is defined as an organization's unique point of differentiation and the foundation for all potential success. There are three parts of a brand promise:
- Customer wants and needs
- An organization's products and services designed to meet those wants and needs
- The organization's culture
In branding, most companies overlook the third component, which ironically is usually the most influential of all three. But there's a connection between "cool" companies and "cool" products.
For proof, look at the companies behind Apple computers, Target and Southwest Airlines, and ask if there's a difference in some of their competitors: Gateway, Wall-Mart and American Airlines.
A brand isn't something that's added on. It comes from within.
