The concept of branding is by no means anything new. There was a time when a brand was literally just that, perhaps it was the mark of the village’s blacksmith signifying a level craftmanship, attention to detail, even an assurance of quality. But here we are we are thousands of years later and designers, manufacturers and producers are all leaving their mark on their wares. So what makes the process of branding so powerful that it has transcended over the many generations and various cultures throughout history? And most importantly to a marketer, why do some brands flourish while others fail to take flight and tank?
Explore our historical blog articles for nuggets of wisdom (and random musings) from our crew.
Target is the quintessential department store – around since the 60’s with one of the most iconic logos in the world. The problem with being a massive department store competing with many others trying to tap into a growing market, is that price becomes the only differential. Target, up until the late 90’s and early 00’s, attracted a very different type of customer. With the other department store retailers such as Myer and David Jones muscling them out of the higher positioned category, where was Target’s niche? Where did they belong?
We’ve examined literally hundreds of campaigns and strategic marketing ideas over the years and what strikes me as odd is that almost all of those which fail, do so due to a consistent omission.
Every moment of our lives we are bombarded by icons. These simplistic symbols that tell us exactly which direction to go, what button to push, or that unless you pull over now and add water to the radiator you will soon have a sauna under your bonnet. (I simply disconnected my temperature warning light as it kept coming on, and not only did I have a sauna that any Swede would be proud of, but a rather large expensive lake too!).
We’ve been covering the basics and we’ve looked at research, uncovering the internal product needs; the consumer target and how that market behaves. So you understand what your product does by way of a solution and you’ve tackled measuring its value to the consumer which in turn assists you to develop a positioning strategy. It’s time to look at your brand.
So everyone is banding around the ‘R’ word at the moment and with good reason mind you but what are the real effects. Economist’s predictions, bank rates and government policy is all you really hear about. The curbing on consumer expenditure and how ‘Ma and Pa Kettle’ can no longer afford their home. But what about business? What impact does the current economic state really have on your organisation? And why is it, that marketing is always the first budget cut when times get tough?
We’ve all heard the saying – “There’s no I in TEAM” and it’s not just true of sport. It’s also true of your logo!