The Brand Union

The Brand Union Hamburg mit verstärkter Power

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 00:00:00 GMT

The Brand Union, eine der weltweit führenden Branding- und Designagenturen, stockt am Standort Hamburg weiter auf. In den letzten sechs Monaten wurden alle Abteilungen personell verstärkt. Erforderlich gemacht hatten dies Etat- und Pitch-Gewinne im Bereich Corporate Identity und Verpackungsdesign. Unter anderen gewannen die Hamburger Designer Neukunden wie den Schweizer Molkereikonzern Emmi sowie den Rohrsystemhersteller Duktus und bauten gleichzeitig ihre Zusammenarbeit mit Henkel aus.

In der Kreation heißt das Team vier talentierte Designerinnen willkommen: Seit Juni/Juli sind Tessa Kämmler, Kathrin Aigner, Fenja Niemeyer und Nalan Yavuz an Bord. Zusätzlich wurde der Bereich Produktion ausgebaut. Dort ist Vivien Plaß ab sofort für die digitale Bildbearbeitung verantwortlich. Das Angebot der strategischen Markenberatung verstärkt Patricia Mrowietz als Junior Consultant. Nachdem Boris Bullwinkel als Director Business Development seit April für den Ausbau und die Weiterentwicklung der Kundenbeziehungen sowie für Marketing und PR verantwortlich ist, verstärkt nun auch Jaqueline Strohschen den Bereich New Business. Ferner hat Daniel Fröhlich seine Ausbildung zum Mediengestalter im Printbereich begonnen. Nachdem im ersten Halbjahr auch drei Designer auf Agenturseite gewechselt haben, sind bei The Brand Union Hamburg nun deutlich über 50 Mitarbeiter beschäftigt.

„Wir freuen uns, junge und hochtalentierte Experten in unserem Team zu begrüßen, die mit hoher fachlicher Kompetenz unsere Begeisterung für Design und unsere Ambitionen für strategische Lösungen auf höchstem Niveau teilen“, sagt Dr. Alexander Schubert, CEO von The Brand Union Hamburg. „Unser Qualitätsanspruch ist es, Marken strategisch fundiert zu betreuen, so dass Design sowohl intern als auch extern zu einem ganzheitlichen Markenerlebnis beiträgt.“ The Brand Union berät Unternehmen ganzheitlich bei der Markenführung. Das enge Zusammenspiel zwischen Design und strategischer Beratung ist dabei entscheidend für die erfolgreiche Umsetzung von Unternehmensidentitäten und Erscheinungsbildern.

Saving the banks

Wed, 30 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Financial institutions were once regarded as safe and secure but in two short years their foundations have been eroded. How can banks regain credibility and begin new, relevant customer relationships?

#[image 1.jpg left]#Banks are defined as ‘institutions for receiving, lending, exchanging and safeguarding money’. It used to be a given that banks were as ‘safe as houses’. ‘You can bank on it’ offered guarantees of security and reliability. High street stalwarts have been serving generations of customers for hundreds of years: RBS (1707), Lloyds TSB (1810), Halifax (1853). Banks were sure. They were strong. They were reliable.

As a foundation, these values became hygiene factors, taken for granted over the years. And upon these foundations, banks built complex – and complicated – products, offers, portfolios and packages. Until the average customer was drowning in a perplexing pile of jargon and products they did not understand nor want in the first place. With a spectacular reversal of fortunes:

British banks posted net profits of £42-bn in 2007. In 2009, it is estimated the tax payers bailed the banks out to the tune of a cool £850-bn. While the UK may be officially out of a recession, bonus culture, bail-outs and a perceived lack of lending continue to plague banks’ credibility.

Banks and what they have stood for are under redress, and what we see now is a banking industry in a quandary. Curiously, in an effort to re-engage with their alienated customers, we’re seeing bold claims by banks of building close relationships with their customers, a move we believe to be precarious unless it is underpinned by a major overhaul of their products, processes, systems and most importantly, their antiquated cultures. Regaining trust has to be the first priority before they can expect to ‘have a relationship’ with their customer.

That’s not to say that a bank cannot enjoy a lasting and mutually-respectful relationship with their customers, but to be credible they need shore up their shaky foundations with reassurances of trustworthiness.

Understand what motivates your consumer

With apologies to the learned professor of motivational studies and a bit of creative licence, Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs model offers some useful considerations alongside some of the advice we give to clients in our emerging markets.

Put simply, Maslow uncovered that humans are motivated to achieve their highest potential through satisfying a series of needs, graduating from one to the next in pursuit of an optimal state of being. Performance coaches understand what motivates individuals to ascend towards self-actualisation, and use this to their advantage. And so can savvy brand managers.

Had Maslow read for a commercial degree and mapped his celebrated motivational intelligence to brand modelling, his Hierarchy of (Brand) Needs may have looked something like this:

At the bottom rung are a number of basic consumer requirements that a brand also needs to meet in order to exist. As one moves steadily up the hierarchy, however, consumers and brands tend towards self-actualisation, where the brand has advanced up the scale from ‘deficiency needs’ – base requirements for functionality – to ‘growth needs’ – psychological and emotional needs.

So, to revert to the case at hand, if your pyramid Needs Model accounted for the needs of a typical bank consumer, undoubtedly Safety, Stability and Reliability would be found on the bottom rung – base requirements for a bank to exist.

Growth forces – whether market-related, socio-economic or legislative – propel a consumer upwards once lower tier needs have been satisfied. In mature economies with established competitors, these base values become commoditised, and we saw bank brands differentiating in the realm of the emotive on the ascending tier: perhaps service and convenience [Natwest, for example] or technology and innovation [First Direct],with Maslow’s pinnacle tier Esteem: relationships [UBS] and status [Coutts].

But the world – and this model – has been turned on its head.

As Maslow contends, if a lower need is no longer met, a consumer will reprioritise his needs and revert to a former state until such time as the environment stabilises. And we think bank brands should pay attention.

It’s time to get back to basics

Applying some advice we give to ‘less stable’ emerging markets, the basic principles apply here ever more today. Starting from the bottom up, banks need to address what consumers want and deliver those components that lay the foundations for trust in a simpler, more authentic way. Banks need to stop saying what they do and begin doing what they say.

Functional factors are more directly meaningful: Re-examine processes and systems, pare down complicated jargon and say it simply, be straightforward and transparent with what you do, strip back complicated products and look to the opportunities technology offers in re-engaging customers. Give your customer what they understand.

Only once a consumer is assured of your credibility – your base values of trustworthiness – will you be able to woo back shy customer and commence a real relationship that is in fact a partnership.

Cannes Lions 2010: Alle deutschen Design Löwen und Impressionen

Wed, 30 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Bereits zum dritten Mal in Folge – und somit jedes Jahr seit Einführung der Design Kategorie bei den Cannes Lions – sichern sich die deutschen Agenturen Platz Eins im Nationenranking. Als exklusiver nationaler Partner dieser Kategorie zeigen wir Ihnen alle deutschen Gewinner, eine große Auswahl an Impressionen der Festivalwoche sowie nationale und internationale Gewinnerlisten der weiteren elf Kategorien – kompakt, übersichtlich und informativ und teilweise in Bewegtbild. Zur aktuellen Ausgabe gelangen Sie durch Klicken auf die Titelseite:

Erste Ausgabe des neuen Brand Melder

Wed, 16 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMT

„Designlabor 25|25: Experiment geglückt! Die Ausstellung geht weiter“, so lautet der Titel unserer ersten Ausgabe des neuen Brand Melder. Die Leidenschaft für Design spielte nicht nur beim Designlabor 25|25 die Hauptrolle, sondern ist auch Antrieb unseres neuen Brand Melder. Er bietet uns durch die unterschiedlichen Funktionalitäten der 3-D-Zeitschrift die Möglichkeit, Design spielerisch zu präsentieren. Ab sofort versorgen wir Sie vierteljährlich mit spannenden Themen aus der nationalen und internationalen Kreativ- und Agentur-Szene. Unsere Idee ist es, aktuelle Themen aus der Branche auf unterhaltsame Weise mit Ihnen, unseren Kunden, Geschäftspartnern und Freunden zu teilen und noch stärker in Dialog zu treten. In der ersten Ausgabe des Brand Melder präsentieren wir Ihnen ausgezeichnete Arbeiten vom diesjährigen ADC Festival, berichten über den Erfolg des Designlabors 25|25 und möchten Ihnen Boris Bullwinkel als neuen Director Business Development sowie das Hamburger Strategieteam vorstellen.

Zum Herunterladen des Brand Melder klicken Sie bitte auf

The Brand Union creates new online banking brand Zuno

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Raiffeisen International is to launch a new online banking brand, rolling out over the course of this year. The new brand, including name, identity and look & feel has a contemporary playful expression and has been created by The Brand Union to reflect the new bank’s proposition. Zuno is intended to attract the growing number of online consumers in the Central & Eastern European (CEE) region.

Designed to shake up the banking industry in this region, the new bank will target a growing set of customers who feel that visiting traditional bank branches wastes valuable time and are instead looking for an online bank that can offer all the traditional services through easy-to-use technology.

The launch of Zuno is the product of 18 months work which has encompassed brand strategy, customer segmentation, competitive positioning, naming, logo and brand guidelines.

Creating a new name for the bank was a key element of the project. After many creative sessions, supported by legal advice and cultural screening, the final name chosen by the team was the abstract but snappy ‘Zuno’.

Andras Hamori, CEO of Zuno explains the thinking behind the name: “Given the last few years turbulence in the financial markets, developing a new bank brand from scratch is a really unique event in the Central & Eastern Europe banking sector. For this challenging task, we decided to work with global branding agency, The Brand Union. We wanted a short, unconventional and distinctive name for our bank that is easy to remember and that fits in all key markets in the CEE region from a linguistic perspective. At the same time we opted for a name that will be ‘internet-friendly’ since the internet is going to be Zuno’s home. We’re really happy that together we have successfully created a brand that fulfils this brief.”

Zuno’s key commitment is to provide the best user experience in online bankin, and so the project team actively involved customers in shaping the proposition from an early stage. Initial responses to the banking concept helped shape the brand idea: ‘Zuno is for people who expect – and deserve – a better and brighter banking experience’, says Hamori.

Terry Tyrrell, Worldwide Chairman for The Brand Union, says: “It has been a privilege to work with the talented team at Raiffeisen International to create a new brand that is both unique and memorable across the CEE region. I am looking forward to seeing how customers respond to Zuno’s intuitive banking experience, as well as the warm and vibrant look & feel. I really think Zuno will be a creative and modern force that will set the standard for the online banking industry in this region.”

Attie Groom, Account Director for The Brand Union, adds: “The name Zuno was born as part of the year-long strategic and creative process we undertook. It is beautifully simple, yet has a freshness reflective of the bank’s personality that will set it apart from competitors. We are very proud to have played the guiding role in bringing Zuno to life.”

Following an internal launch to employees in June, the new brand will be rolled out at steadily over the next few years in a cost-effective, phased country-by-country approach.

The Footwall

Fri, 11 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMT

In support of the biggest sporting event in the world, The Brand Union is inviting Football World Cup fans the world over to broadcast their elation and frustrations in real time on The Footwall. Live from sundown each night, tweet @thefootwall & get involved!

#[image 4.jpg left]#A new digital ambient marketing project launched at the start of the global football tournament, The Footwall features live tweets projected onto the four-story façade of the design agency’s Farringdon offices. Through Twitter, the social networking and microblogging service, the public are encouraged to participate and be a part of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Live from sundown every night, The Footwall captures the spirit of the football community with a live stream of tweets from the @thefootwall account. The feed features debate, comment, commentary and opinion on all the matches of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™. An Official Supplier to England’s 2018 Bid Campaign and creator of the bid identity, The Brand Union works with a number of sports brands including The Premier League, Premier Rugby, Portsmouth FC, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, and more recently created Castrol’s 2010 FIFA World Cup sponsorship identity.

Says Simon Bailey, CEO for The Brand Union, "As an international company ourselves, this is an engaging way to show our support for the global tournament, close to the heart of our staff and many of our clients. And there’s no better way to connect the community than through a digital media such as Twitter".

Adds Paul Wood, Account Director for The Brand Union, "It's about relevance. Many companies use social media to be seen to be keeping up, but consumers are interested in relevance to create social currency. The Footwall is about uniting fans through the power that social media offers, giving them a voice. We’re in a creative industry – so let’s get creative!"

Tweet @thefootwall and visit The Footwall at 11-33 St John Street, Farringdon, EC1M 4AA. Enjoy a drink over the road or follow the feed from the comfort of your couch at www.thebrandunion.com/thefootwall.

Design inspiriert

Tue, 01 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Juni 2010. Get inspired! Im Markenartikel Sonderheft zum Thema Packungsdesign erläutert Alexander Schubert das Zusammenspiel von Design und integrer Markenführung. Hält das Produkt nicht, was es verspricht, nutzt auch eine schöne Verpackung nichts. Der Kunde verlangt von einer authentischen Marke auch beständige Inhalte. Wie „Design inspiriert“, das Produkt in den Mittelpunkt stellt, Geschichten erzählt, Interaktion auslöst oder Menschen aktiviert und involviert lesen Sie bitte im vollständigen Artikel.

Zum Herunterladen des kompletten Beitrags klicken Sie bitte auf

Kreativlabor mit Rückkanal

Tue, 01 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Juni 2010. The Brand Union Hamburg experimentiert mit neuen Formaten: 25 Tage lang standen die Designer im Rampenlicht der Öffentlichkeit und entwickelten freie Verpackungskonzepte. Statt Briefings gab es Diskussionen, Vorträge, Internet und Social Media. Die Menge der entstandenen Exponate kann sich sehen lassen: Über 250 fertig ausgearbeitete Ideen inklusive Modellbau wurden kreiert. Die Leidenschaft für Design spielte bei dem Projekt die Hauptrolle – neben den Produkten, die die Designer schon immer einmal gestalten wollten. Auf der abschließenden Finissage in der Hamburger Galerie präsentierten die Designer ihre bunten Verpackungsideen einem breiten Publikum und das einheitliche Urteil lautete: Experiment geglückt!

Lesen Sie mehr über das Kreativlabor mit Rückkanal im Packrepor 6/2010. Zum Herunterladen des kompletten Beitrags klicken Sie bitte auf

The Brand Union unveils new Argos identity

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

‘A brand for everyone’. Argos’ new brand identity and look & feel is designed to better reflect the family retailer’s appeal, modern approach to shopping and relevance to all its customers

Family retailer Argos is to reveal a new brand identity, set to roll out from January 2010. The new look & feel has been created by global agency The Brand Union to better reflect Argos’ appeal, modernise its look and retain the High Street stalwart’s relevance to all its customer segments.

Designed to reflect customer confidence in the brand going into the future, the refresh will incorporate store design, all printed materials, tone of voice, online and advertising applications, as well as Financial Services, and will be seen first on the new catalogue to be released on 23^rd January.

Building on the brand’s 30-year heritage, the redesign reflects Argos’ desire to continue to appeal to a wide customer base, whilst projecting a greater sense of modernity, pride, energy and value with the new brand clothes.

Siobhan Fitzpatrick, head of brand marketing for Argos,explains: “We’ve strived to embody value, choice and convenience for over 30 years now and have built an extremely loyal customer base. We have a proud heritage of adapting to changing times and giving customers what they want. This brand refresh will enable us to give our customers and our employees a new brand identity which better reflects our dynamic and exciting business 70% of British households have an Argos catalogue at home, so unveiling the identity on the new catalogue is a fantastic way to celebrate and cement our position, while giving our brand a contemporary look that brings it up to date. Our customers told us that they want a brand that feels relevant today and is well equipped to stay relevant tomorrow. We’re confident that’s exactly what we, with The Brand Union, have delivered.”

Simon Bailey, UK CEO for The Brand Union, adds: “It was an honour to work with a brand of such impressive retail heritage. We recognised that Argos’ achievements and aspirations were somewhat removed from some of the brand perceptions out there, and the refresh will empower Argos to talk to new and existing audiences with a modern, friendly and confident look & feel.”

In their commitment to improving customer service, Argos actively involved their customers in shaping the identity. Early responses to the revised brand identity have been positive: “It says they’re not going anywhere, that they’re here to stay”.

Following the catalogue launch at the end of January, the new identity will be rolled out steadily over the next four years in a cost-effective phased approach. Argos services 130-million customers in-store each year, with an additional 4-million online and over the telephone.

Die Verpackung - Zauberglanz der Marke

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Januar 2010. Auf die Verpackung als „Glanz auf dem Produkt, der nicht nur beim Kauf die Markenwerte erlebbar macht, sondern auch danach“, weist Norman Quadflieg, Creativ Director bei The Brand Union, in der aktuellen Ausgabe novum plus: packaging hin.

Zum Herunterladen des kompletten Beitrags klicken Sie bitte auf

The Brand Union named as Design Agency of the Year

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Client judging panel recognises 'the culmination of a remarkable transformation'

The Brand Union in London is delighted to have been voted UK market leader by Marketing magazine. The judging panel, which included senior marketing personnel from TUI, RBS and E-On, among others, were impressed by a year that has seen CEO Simon Bailey lead a 'robust new business performance' and cement the agency’s internal culture with improved HR initiatives.

Client work that was recognised included the branding for the combined Bank of America/ Merrill Lynch identity, a 2010 rebrand for Argos and continued work with Vodafone. In addition to this, the agency has won 15 new clients, including Castrol, Merck Serono and Premier Rugby, and extended its work for clients such as Reckitt Benckiser and HSBC Private Bank. Adding to its record awards tally this year, The Brand Union also picked up a Marketing Design Award, a DBA Design Effectiveness award and was published in the highly coveted D&AD Annual.

The judging panel also acknowledged the agency’s commitment to developing industry talent with the MA in Brand Development, recently launched by The Brand Union in conjunction with Goldsmith's University. The agency is also sponsoring three students.

UK CEO Simon Bailey comments; "Following the rebrand in 2008, we knew we had all the pieces in place to become stronger than ever in our field. Since then, it has been all about bringing these elements together and ensuring everyone understands our guiding principle of 'Brand Mastery', and how they can apply to every brief we work on. We're very pleased to see that this has translated into enduring and valuable client relationships, major new business wins and a very good year for us. Receiving this accolade is the icing on the cake."

The Brand Union Wins Design Effectiveness Awards

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The GAA rebrand has won a top award at the 2009 Irish Design Effectiveness Awards (IDEA).

#[image IDEA_Awards.jpg left]#On Friday 6th November at the Westin Hotel in Dublin, The Brand Union team were joined by the GAA as they scooped top prize in the Branding & Corporate Identity category. This is the second year in a row that The Brand Union Dublin have won this category, last year picking up the prize for the National Lottery rebrand.

Judged by leading figures from industry and commerce, the Irish Design Effectiveness Awards provide a platform from which design solutions are measured for the impact brand has on an organisation with particular focus on its performance in the market.

This local award follows on from the two international awards the GAA project has already received in 2009, Rebrand 100 & Mongrel Vigor.

Visit Rebrand 100 to view our winning work for GAA. Alternatively view a full case study on the GAA rebrand project by clicking here.

Pictured above are: John Rooney (CEO, The Brand Union), Dermot Power (Director of Commerical & Marketing, GAA), Rebecca Hocking (Brand Manager, GAA), David O'Connor (Brand Consultant, The Brand Union), Dermot O'Shea (Account Manager, The Brand Union), Oisín Hurst (Creative Leader, The Brand Union).

IDI Awards for Glenilen Farm

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The Brand Union Dublin were delighted to walk away with a coveted “eye” trophy at the 11th Annual Institute of Designers in Ireland’s Design Awards held last Thursday evening in Dublin.

#[image GFwebsite.jpg right]##[image GF_yoghurt.jpg right]#Glenilen Farm scooped top prize in the Packaging category for its recently rebranded range featuring the “Sally and Sue” logo. The Glenilen Farm website was also Highly Commended in the Website Design category.

Glenilen Farm is a family-run dairy farm in West Cork, producing a range of delicious products using quality ingredients. Read more about the rebranding project here.

The IDI Design Awards celebrate the best of Irish Design and are judged by a distinguished panel of international jurors. The awards ceremony, held in Dublin’s City Hall, was attended by representatives from The Brand Union, along with Valerie Kingston, owner of Glenilen Farm.

Unentschuldigt deutsch

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Oktober 2009. "unentschuldigt deutsch", so beschreibt Sina Peters, Managing Director bei The Brand Union, einen neuen deutschen Designtrend, der sich nicht mehr seiner Herkunft schämt, sondern mit dem Heimatbezug spielt.

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The Brand Union in der ‘Selection’

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT

September 2009. The Brand Union ist in der aktuellen ‘SELECTION - Germany's Finest Agencies’ aus dem Hause NBVD Norman Beckmann Verlag & Design vertreten. Das Kompendium dokumentiert den Status-Quo der Kommunikationsbranche in Deutschland.

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Glenilen Farm launches new website

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The Brand Union Dublin has designed a new website for award winning Glenilen Farm, a family-run dairy farm in Drimoleague, Co. Cork.

The site, wwww.glenilenfarm.com supports the newly rolled-out brand and packaging. The new Glenilen Farm logo, Sally and Sue, draws provenance from ‘Anniken and the Cows’, a painting by Canadian artist Robert Duncan. The painting, which hangs in the farmhouse of Glenilen Farm is a simple and honest portrayal of farming life and so aptly represents the Glenilen Farm brand.

#[image GFwebsite.jpg left]#During the rebrand process, a tone-of-voice was also developed to allow the genuine, simple and honest nature of Glenilen Farm to be expressed on and off pack.

This work resulted in a declaration of the value of Glenilen Farm's cows, and the kind and considerate treatment they enjoy on the farm. The brand has seen an increase in sales, despite the challenging economic environment, a fact that Glenilen Farm solely attributes to the new brand and packaging design.   

It’s hoped that the website www.glenilenfarm.com will help to reinforce the simple and honest nature of Glenilen Farm as they aim to expand their range and explore opportunities in the UK market.  

“We’re delighted that the website is now live as it gives us a platform to communicate with our customers. We love sharing stories about our cows and hearing feedback on our products!” says Alan Kingston, dairy farmer and owner of Glenilen Farm.

The Irish Times recently ran a case study on the Glenilen Farm rebrand. Click here to read this.

Country Kitchens Bakery launches new identity

Tue, 25 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The Brand Union Dublin has created the new identity and packaging for Country Kitchens Bakery, a traditional craft bakery in Co. Cork.

#[image 001_ck_mini_pains.jpg left]#The new brand needed to convey that Country Kitchens are “real” family craft bakers, as the par-baking and gas flushing packaging technology does not allow you to smell, see or feel the bread until the baking process is finished at home.

A further challenge was that all information had to go on the front of the packs.

Every single detail was painstakingly crafted to convey the authenticity of the product, telling a compelling story of three generations of traditional bakers, using new technology but never compromising on quality.

Detail was layered upon detail, from the photograph of Grandfather ‘Fa’, the family story in the open book, the client’s children’s doodles of bakers in the background and the wheat sheaves on the bar code. Stunning photography of the breads evokes the taste and smell that is missing from the raw packed product.

Packaging designs were created for 23 products, covering French, handcrafted, deli and specialty breads. The full range has now been rolled out across stores in Ireland and the UK.

#[image ckbwebsite.jpg left]#Simon FitzGerald, Managing Director of Country Kitchens Bakery was delighted with the end results:

“Our bakery is a family business and we are very proud of the breads that we make. The Brand Union understood that from the very first site visit and seemed to know straight away how best to communicate it through the design direction.

For once there are no arguments, individual family members don’t have to agree to disagree, everyone is happy and very proud of our new designs. That achievement in itself, like the design, is unique.”

The website, www.countrykitchensbakery.ie also designed by The Brand Union Dublin, reinforces the on-shelf brand experience and features an overview of the ranges available, a timeline of the brand story, a guestbook and an area to share delicious bread recipes.

Single serving, double helping?

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Less is more. So say mono brand proponents who’ve been keeping a close eye on the back page of the business press. Ford has streamlined its market-specific manufacturing platforms and model names, while Aviva’s decision to ditch the longstanding Norwich Union, one of the UK’s biggest insurance houses, and rebrand as the parent company is telling. Not to mention a few other brand houses who have similarly slimmed down ahead of Summer.

While we’re seeing a number of companies – both locally and abroad – decluttering their brand portfolios, pared down to a single brand, it pays to remember that as different rules apply to different board games, so too for different board rooms. And the same model can’t be applied across the board.

A trivial pursuit? Or the start of a mono-poly?

By and large a CEO’s list of goals, mine included, reads something like this:
• Up shareholders’ value and top-line revenue growth
• Reduce waste and inefficiency
• Build corporate reputation
• Speed time to market and to impact
• Enterprise transformation

And while the hefty contribution a brand can make to the above is unquestionable, a single brand strategy, some argue, will help them win the game. So, do mono brand strategies have multiple advantages? Will they be a singular success?

Corporate image
Responding to increasingly choosy – even sceptical – consumers, some companies are paring down to a single brand to increase the visibility of the parent for transparency, accountability and credibility. Who’s the real face behind the message? The purveyor of the product? The real pocket behind each brand’s price tag? Your consumers want to know.

But more than just a feel-good factor, there’s a compelling business case too.

Mono brand proponents argue that organisations who replicate the corporate brand at the market level can build stronger corporate reputations than multi-branded ones. So believes Altech who’s pulled back the curtains on the family tree with the now cobranded Altech Netstar and Altech Autopage Cellular. Barloworld too is now more than just a behind-the-scenes holding company that lives in annual reports and has stepped into the spotlight with Barloworld Logistics as it brings the parent’s value set to the fore.

Stretching your marketing spend
Executed well, it makes sense (and cents) that a mono brand strategy boosts economies of scale, particularly in the area of marketing spend, not to mention trade-marking and licencing. Mono brands, through singular purpose and clarity, can design consistent marketing processes that execute better, react to threats faster and exploit market windows, while transcending boundaries and responding in real time.

Apart from optimising spend across multiple markets through economies of scale, one well-chosen name can help you leapfrog geographical and cultural boundaries that many names can’t. The Sharks rugby team, for example, is a sports franchise that’s tackled the regional limitations of its previous identity, the Natal Rugby board, enabling widespread support from a far wider diversity of fans, not to mention players.

While multi-brand loyalists might argue that in destroying existing equity, you risk haemorrhaging customers, we propose that single brands can expect an upturn. Merging Volkskas, Allied, Trust Bank and United seemed an almost farcical idea when considering their vastly different constituencies – traditional Afrikaans farming communities, the Afrikaans business sector, English business groups and individuals, with a very real concern of major fall-out. The proof is in the pudding and Absa, voted tops in last year’s Sunday Times Markinor survey, is a case study on a phenomenally successful bank that operates across all segment restrictions with a single identity.

Because change does not happen overnight. Rebrand by Shock & Awe is a thing of the past as most companies have learned that it takes consumer buy-in over a period of time through carefully seeded communication. Further, while exit barriers like switching accounts have become easier, basic idleness has coaxed customers into giving change the benefit of the doubt and trying it out.

Having taken another bold brand step, today Absa is a member of the Barclays Group. This endorsement is a considered way of retaining the incredible brand equity Absa has developed over the years, while assuring its customer base of the bank’s heritage, now married with the worldwide reach, international credibility and expertise of Barclays.

Enterprise transformation
In today’s climate of bountiful mergers & acquisitions and resultant “rainbow nation” family albums, there is a compelling case for rationalising brands.

Mono brands can build stronger cultures than multi-branded enterprises. By streamlining internal processes, disparate employees will now be capable of coming together as a single team on the back of a powerfully unified brand, and a strong employer brand benefits the company’s ability to retain and attract talent.

Our international footprint and global client needs underpinned our decision to rebrand from Enterprise IG to The Brand Union last year, allowing us to streamline our internal processes and methodologies and more easily transfer staff and skills between our 22 offices. “The Brand Union” not only pays tribute to our reach, but binds together our consultants and designers across the globe through common culture and process.

Top-line growth is the bottom line
But what of the cost, FDs and guardians of the coffers cry? Rebranding is not nearly as costly as one might have thought. Again, most rebranding doesn’t happen overnight but part of a needs-based stock replacement or phasing-out of existing marketing collateral spend. In favour of avoiding waste, customers can be quite forgiving if they see remnants of the old brand for a time, so long as the change has been carefully communicated and the customer engaged.

According to Standard & Poor’s 500 index, organisations with single global brand strategies outperform those with multi-brand strategies, with share prices outstripping the market’s. Undiluted trust engendered in undiluted brands gives you significant competitive advantage and familiarity leads to favourability worldwide.

A singular success?
But, where your eggs are all in one basket, tread carefully. While this move has tremendous advantages, it is not without risk, of course. If something goes wrong, the damage can spread quicker than a Free State veld fire.

So yes, paring down could be a very costly move and is an educated gamble. But you stand to gain far more in the long term if it works. And having said as much, we are in no way implying a one-size-fits-all strategy. The benefits of simplification are clear, but not universal.

FMCG is a different ball game all together and the category where, arguably, brand contributes the most. You don’t buy a razor because its Proctor & Gamble, you buy it because it’s Gilette. You don’t buy a beer because it’s SABMiller, you buy it because it’s Hansa. But that’s a story for another day over a beer.

Don’t dilute your equity across so many different brands if you have substantial strength in one. Do your homework and select the best game plan.

The Brand Union Dublin on the move

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT

As of 27th July 2009, you can find us at 9 Upper Pembroke Street, Dublin 2, we look forward to welcoming you to our brand new home.!!

We also have a new phone number which is +353 (0) 1 613 1650. Please don't worry if you contact us on our old number as this will still work as well.#[image Map.jpg left]#

Glenilen Farm unveil Sally & Sue

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The Brand Union Dublin have created a new identity & packaging for award winning Glenilen Farm, a family run dairy farm from Drimoleague, Co. Cork.

#[image GF_yoghurt.jpg right]#The new Glenilen Farm logo, Sally and Sue, draws provenance from ‘Anniken and the Cows’, a painting by Canadian artist Robert Duncan. The painting, which hangs in the farmhouse of Glenilen Farm is a simple and honest portrayal of farming life and so aptly represents the Glenilen Farm brand.

During the rebrand process, a tone-of-voice was also developed to allow the genuine, simple and honest nature of Glenilen Farm to be expressed on and off pack.

This work resulted in a declaration of the value of Glenilen Farm's cows, and the kind, considerate treatment they enjoy on the farm.#[image GF_CHEESECAKE_01.jpg right]#

This statement was very well received, with Alex (8) posting on the Glenilen Farm website:

'I think your lemon cheesecake is delicious. Daddy bought it for me and now Mummy has it on her weekly shopping list. I think it is so good because you look after your cows.'

As well as creating the identity The Brand Union created packaging designs for 23 product ranges covering yoghurts, cheesecakes, butter, creams, cheeses & mousses. The new packaging designs have been rolled out across stores in Ireland, make sure you treat yourself to one of these delicious ranges!!

Accounting Technicians Ireland launch new identity

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Accounting Technicians Ireland (formerly IATI) have just launched their new brand at a special event in Dublin.

#[image AccountTech_logo.jpg left]#The new identity, designed by The Brand Union Dublin, aims to boost the profile of the institute amongst students and prospective members, as well as elevating the organisation to become a representative body promoting the role of Accounting Technicians in Ireland.

Extensive workshops were conducted to generate a market proposition and consolidate the naming policy. A new identity was then created which represents the concept of community and is a stylised monogram of the letters AT (Accounting Technician). It is made up of four interwining mongrams (representing the members) and one unique monogram (representing the individual).

#[image AccountTech_Group.jpg left]#Accounting Technicians Ireland has launched its new corporate identity as part of plans to further increase the profile of accounting technicians and the organisation itself. The new identity is to be used to promote the role that accounting technicians play in the Irish economy, across a range of business sectors.

The Brand Union has rolled out the identity across all touchpoints of the business, including student and member literature, brochures, website, event displays and stationery.

Pictured at the launch are (l-r): Gay Sheehan, CEO, Accounting Technicians Ireland, Aidan Collins, President, Accounting Technicians Ireland and Ian Ball, CEO, IFAC.

Silver Lion für Karlsson´s Gold Vodka

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The Brand Union Stockholm gewinnt Silver Lion für das Design von Karlsson´s Gold Vodka in Cannes.

"In order to reflect Karlsson's Vodka's unique proposition - Vodka from the finest gourmet virgin new potatoes in the world, we created an honest bottle, a bottle that speaks of the world's first luxury vodka with a terroir. Forget fashion, signal flavour."

The Brand Union Stockholm.

The Brand Union wächst trotz Krise und sucht neue Leute

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Juni 2009. Dr. Alexander Schubert, CEO von The Brand Union Hamburg, darüber, dass die Agentur gerade in der jetzigen wirtschaftlich schwierigen Situation ganz bewusst auf Qualitätsarbeit gesetzt und die strategische Beratung ständig verbessert hat. Das Interview, geführt von Reiner Kepler ist in der New Business (www.new-business.de) erschienen.

Hier ein kurzer Auszug aus dem nb-Telefon-Interview:

"Gerade in der jetzigen wirtschaftlich schwierigen Situation zahlt es sich aus, dass wir ganz bewusst auf Qualitätsarbeit setzen und uns in der strategischen Beratung ständig verbessert haben", sagt Alexander Schubert, CEO von The Brand Union. Wie Schubert weiter am nb-Telefon berichtet, wird seine Hamburger Agentur für Branding und Design von Unternehmen um Rat gefragt, wie Produkte und Marken in unsicheren Zeiten richtig zu positionieren sind.

Zum Herunterladen des Interviews klicken Sie einfach auf Download.

New identity and advertising campaign for Bank of America Merrill Lynch unveiled by The Brand Union

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

This Thursday, Bank of America will unveil the new face of its Global Commercial Banking, Global Corporate & Investment Banking and Global Markets businesses – to be known as Bank of America Merrill Lynch – in a new international advertising campaign. The new identity and the advertising campaign were created by global brand agency The Brand Union, part of WPP.

Ending months of speculation since the buy-out in September last year, the new identity acknowledges the heritage of Merrill Lynch’s 95-year old brand, and skillfully weds it to Bank of America’s iconic mark (originally designed by The Brand Union in 1998*). Says Anne Finucane, Chief Marketing Officer for Bank of America, “Combined, the brands are stronger than either on their own.”

Crispin Jameson, WPP Team Leader and Chief Strategy Officer for The Brand Union says, “The new identity symbolises the forging together of two of the most recognised brands on the financial landscape to form a new powerhouse. And the advertising campaign articulates the degree to which the combined forces are already delivering beyond expectation.”

Bank of America Merrill Lynch is one of Bank of America's three major businesses, providing broad financial services to mid-market, corporate and institutional clients.

As WPP’s lead brand agency within the Bank of America team, The Brand Union partnered with Bank of America following its acquisition of Merrill last year, to identify the right brand strategy to help the international powerhouses forge a new path ahead as one new entity.

This appointment builds on The Brand Union’s existing relationship with the bank, initially selected to spearhead Bank of America’s marketing push in EMEA and later appointed as the bank’s global brand partner to handle the merger.

The Brand Union, a WPP-owned brand agency with 21 offices around the world, created the original identity for Bank of America in 1998. The project is serviced globally, with delivery from both the London and New York office.

Packaging launch for Brunch Mini from The Brand Union, Hamburg

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Mini is in. Referring to the augmenting number of single households more and more products are available in small size packaging.

En vogue are fanciful designed packages with high-quality and well-arranged products with affordable prices. According to “small is beautiful” The Brand Union developed the packaging for Unilever’s new product range Brunch Mini. With immediate effect the product is launched on the market supported by a promotional campaign.

Brunch Mini’s shape is small and round. “The design expresses high spirits,” says Annette Herzel, Design Director at The Brand Union. “Form and design symbolise the desire for light heartedness during the monotonous everyday life.” Moreover, the product provides variety with its three delicious flavours chive, dried tomato and garlic. “As one of the most popular spreads and at the same time as market leader in the segment of cream cheese we used Brunch’s high brand recognition and maintained its typical brand identity”, explains Elke Pietzsch, Consultant Director. The branding and design agency is working with Unilever for years. In addition to the Brunch seasonal products the actual designs of Lätta (Germany and Sweden) have been developed.

New Masters degree launched by The Brand Union with Goldsmiths

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The Brand Union launches an international Master’s degree with Goldsmiths, University of London.

Global brand agency, The Brand Union, and Goldsmiths, University of London are set to launch a unique, international Master’s degree in Brand Development.

The postgraduate degree, starting in September, will take a rigorous, academic approach to the study of contemporary branding and communications methodologies and their social, economic and political contexts. Key themes such as intellectual property rights, the changing media environment, globalisation and the impact of digital communications and marketing technologies will also form part of the syllabus.

The unique Master’s degree is an initiative of the respected James Curran, Professor of Communications and Director of the Goldsmiths Leverhulme Media Research Centre, and Crispin Jameson – worldwide chief strategy officer for The Brand Union.

Goldsmiths and The Brand Union, whose clients include SABMiller, Vodafone, Canon and Reckitt Benckiser, collaborated to develop the course structure and content. Throughout the curriculum, The Brand Union will play a key role, providing guest speakers and presenters from around the global network, sharing live client briefs for the students to work on, and culminating in the offer of a placement within the agency.

Simon Bolton, Worldwide CEO of The Brand Union says; “Central to our philosophy is the quest for Brand Mastery, and so it is natural that we would want to connect to a Master’s degree at Goldsmiths – a unique and distinctive higher education institution, well-known for its innovative and creative approaches. The culmination of nearly two years’ worth of planning, this initiative is the most significant way we could realise our commitment to the next generation of branding and design talent.”

“The Brand Union is passionate about investing in skills and education, we believe that the art and science of brand building is something which we can help students understand before they enter the creative workforce. Through this experience, we hope to create that connection between what students are taught and what clients need from their branding partners; this is the most meaningful way we could do that.”

James Curran, Professor of Communications at Goldsmiths adds: “The partnership with The Brand Union will provide our students with invaluable practical insights and experience of the world’s biggest brands, in addition to the rigorous critical and creative approaches nurtured by the Department of Media and Communications.

Bolton continues, “Looking ahead, we hope the pilot course becomes a platform for repeating a similar programme in other parts of the world, possibly through the Goldsmith’s relationship with the Xinghua University in Beijing, China and also with MIT in the US.”

GAA All-Ireland Championships return for 2009

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

In support of this summer's GAA Football & Hurling All-Ireland Championships, two bespoke mini sites have been launched to keep fans up to date with all the latest news, fixtures and results for the games.

#[image sites.jpg left]#Having created the two championship identities and sponsorship tool kits that work across stadia, tickets, merchandise & advertising applications, The Brand Union have created 2 mini sites to promote the championships.

These two mini sites were initially launched in 2008 and generated high visitor numbers during the championships. They return in 2009 to provide GAA fans with a simple and easy to use interface for keeping up to date with all the action.

To visit the GAA Football All-Ireland Championship site click here ››

To visit the GAA Hurling All-Ireland Championship site click here ››

Where is Mr. Confederations Cup?

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

For the last month, South Africa has been enveloped by The IPL action that has graced our TV screens, hearts and minds. This massively successful sporting extravaganza took South Africa (and the world) by storm converting even non-sports fans into rampant IPL supporters. It is this success that now only highlights the issues surrounding the Confederations Cup and the marked disparity between the marketing presence of both events.

The first (and probably the most important) success factor was the accessibility of Lalit Modi (owner of the IPL) affectionately coined “Mr IPL”. Throughout the tournament, he made South Africa his home and was massively accessible to the South African media, generating PR exposure from the second he touched down on South African soil. This is PR 101- appoint a spokesperson and ensure that he is always available and present to comment. Not only was Lalit available, he too was massively positive about the tournament, never letting negativity cloud his publicity campaign. He surrounded himself with local marketing experts (the likes of Francois Pienaar) and drew on this knowledge and expertise when rolling out the tournament on foreign soil. This leaves me with one question, where is Mr. Confederations Cup? To date there has been no clear spokesperson for this event and very little communication, hindering the PR hype that should surround such a tournament. Marketing budgets aside, attitude and accessibility doesn’t cost anything!

An entrepreneurial spirit has real power. Lalit is an entrepreneur at heart. He is a massively successful businessman and has brought this knowledge to the IPL tournament. From the way he injected fun into cricket, to the way he treated his sponsors. The clever substitution of DLF max instead of 6, was used by commentators throughout the tournament, giving massive (and clever) exposure to the headline sponsor DLF. It is this entrepreneurial spirit that gives pull when attracting sponsors to these types of tournaments. Unfortunately the norm in sponsorship deals is the restrictions placed on the sponsors in terms of what they can’t do instead of what they can, why not give your sponsors their dues when it comes to exposure? One thing’s for sure, it will keep them coming back for more! The Confed Cup however has been treated very differently in terms of sponsorship deals. The LOC is a government appointed team that doesn’t seem to have embraced sponsors involvement, in fact has criticised them for not punting the tournament enough? Is promotion of the tournament really the responsibility of the sponsors? It is perhaps this mindset that causes a massive disparity between the private enterprise IPL and the government-led Confederations Cup?

One of the greatest successes of the IPL was the celebrity status that surrounded the players in this tournament. They were treated as demi-gods, their faces were splashed all over the media, the bidding process for players publicised, and sporting rivals turned team mates was showcased to all. From radio & TV ads to press conferences, we knew that the best of the best were playing in the IPL tournament. The Confed Cup is no different (in terms of celebrity sportsmen that is). In the next few weeks the likes of Robinho, Xavi, Kaka, Torres, Cannavaro…. (the list goes on) will be mooring ship on our shore. These are some of the best footballers in the world and anyone with a little media savvy would ensure that we all knew it!

The arrogance of it! Perhaps the biggest gripe I have with the Confederations Cup is what appears to be an overly confident approach to marketing - there isn’t any! It appears that the LOC is hedging their bets on the strength of past tournaments to draw crowds to this one. Now don’t get me wrong, the avid soccer supporter will be at the matches, but what about the rest of our country? I am sure during the IPL most families considered attending a match or at least watched one on television; I think it is safe to assume that the same is not true for the Confederations Cup. There is no hype, no excitement and at present no draw card. It may be unfair of me to pass judgement on a tournament that hasn’t happened, but I honestly feel that the hype should have kicked in by now; they are running out of time!

Branding: a case of context

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

There are many businesses out there that claim to “do branding”. From street lamp posters peddling Branding and T-shirt printing to the more specialist corporate brand agencies, it’s little wonder that there’s confusion as to what this “doing branding” really means.

One of the most common misconceptions many businesses have is that the message is the brand. That is, the assumption that the ad campaign and its supporting communications and brand are the same/interchangeable.

I prefer to think of branding as ‘creating context.’ The message is then delivered against the backdrop of this context. And so, a brand is the perception or reputation that exists in the mind of your target consumer and conditions your consumer on how to receive the message. Branding sets the scene, if you will, and the message is the script.

For example, imagine Tata and not Toyota had launched the Prius motor vehicle with its breakthrough eco-friendly motoring technology. Would the vehicle have been as successful with Tata’s mark on its sleeve? Arguably not, as the perception of Tata is nearer that of a low-priced, cheap & cheerful entry level car. But launched on Toyota’s stage, however, the vehicle has been perceived as highly credible and well received. This is no happy accident, but because over the years. Toyota has built a reputation for engineering excellence, consistent improvement, value for money quality and assured reliability. This reputation did not merely arise from its advertising - with the strap line ‘Lead the way Toyota” – but was built through the management of its consistent staff interactions, the performance of its vehicles, the delivery on its promise, the quality showrooms and strategic sponsorships. It was built through the careful and coordinated ‘context’ that the brand orchestrated across a variety of media. While the benefits of building a great brand and creating the correct context should be quite obvious, one of the most important is the leverage a brand provides; the added clout if you will.

By investing in the brand and creating appropriate context, the effectiveness of your messaging, advertising and communications campaign – and, by extension, your budget – is greatly enhanced and the chance of your targeted consumer actually acting on your message is substantially improved. Thus your campaign spend goes the extra mile over that of your competitor’s with an inferior brand.

Establishing and building this brand is an ongoing task that requires meticulous attention to all aspects of your business. This process starts with where your brand is, followed by a shared and inspirational view of where it needs to go. Only then can you plan how to achieve this vision and, just as importantly, how you lead your customer on this journey. A clear brand strategy enables this process and guides interventions along the way.

Design plays an integral role in creating this context and nobody put it better than Paul Rand who describes a logo as providing “the pleasure of recognition and the promise of meaning.” It is not the be-all and end-all of branding, but it is the flag bearer of everything to come.

The visual language associated with the identity should continue the conversation. If your business also features a built environment, these same design cues need to be carried through in a consistent manner. Finally, your people need to deliver the requisite service that resonates with the brand vision. What would kulula air be without their zany air crew and their fresh, irreverent approach to in-flight announcements? Of course, the list of touch-points is vast but each needs to be considered in terms of how it contributes to creating the correct context for your brand.

Receiving your ethically sourced, environmentally-friendly Body Shop cosmetics made from organic hemp and recyclable ingredients in a standard government-issue plastic bag would undermine everything the brand stands for and ultimately damage the carefully cultivated context The Body Shop has created.

So, the primary job of branding is to create context and it should in no way be confused with the message. Ideally a business should engage with “context specialists”, brand consultants, to create the long-term vision for the brand if it doesn’t already exist and use these brand partners on a consistent basis to manage and design the brand touch-points and experiences. There has never been a better time to begin this process; as the world that emerges (hopefully soon!) from this crisis, we will be faced with a very different market from the one we know as people re-evaluate their values and beliefs and commonly held views – businesses will therefore require a whole new context in which to sell their goods and services.

Meeting Naming Challenges in Hospitals

Tue, 26 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Not that long ago, hospitals were chosen based on a single recommendation from a friend or doctor, or by reputation. Not so today.

With so much information available, consumers are seeking out the hospitals that offer them exactly what they’re looking for. Sure, references still matter, but with the dawn of the Internet and consumers taking charge of their own health care, the game is changing and hospitals need to optimize all of the ways they interact with consumers in order to be considered.

According to a McKinsey survey with U.S. patients, 41% of patients’ choice is based on non-clinical experiences. When considering a hospital, consumers are on a quest for transparency and helpful information. They use the Internet to research institutions that will give them the best care and the best experience. In a time of crisis, clarity goes a long way. This means that hospitals have to move away from basing their reputations on clinical services alone and build their reputations through all of their communications.

This paradigm shift from reactive—waiting for a patient who is recommended, to proactive —reaching out to attract consumers, is a huge opportunity for hospitals. Becoming proactive requires communicating in a clear manner in order to stand out among competitors and to attract and keep more patients. Key to excellent communications is a consistent, consumer-focused naming structure. Although often overlooked, a naming system is a crucial component of clear communications.

A naming system delivers order to names. It provides consumers and other audiences with an intuitive understanding and at-a-glance view of a company’s divisions, entities, products and services and communicates how they relate to the company and to each other. Sometimes the association is communicated through a word or a letter. A good example is Apple: iTunes, iPod, iPhone. A successful naming system makes a complex portfolio of products or services easy to understand for consumers.

At the Brand Union, in our work with hospitals, we have found that the industry as a whole grapples with a complex and confusing approach to naming their services. These naming pitfalls include:

Missing verbal and visual hierarchies, which inhibit an intuitive understanding of relationships between services
Complex way-finding often due to confusing building names and lengthy donor names, which makes it hard for consumers to navigate/find locations inside buildings
Inconsistently or unsystematically named services which are difficult for consumers to understand

A clearly structured and simple naming system articulates the services that a hospital offers so that the patient is able to find and understand what they are looking for. This is important not just to attract consumers, but also to keep them by familiarizing them with offerings they may need in the future.

Meeting the customers needs today as well as in the future helps to build reputation and encourage growth. Hospitals that take steps to address the situation can stand out among competitors.

A good naming system is based on the consumer perspective. A proper review and analysis of all service offerings should be completed, taking clinical realties and best industry practice into account. Moreover, the naming system should leverage design, since visual expression helps consumers understand relationships between services intuitively. Finally, creating naming development guidelines and naming decision tools provide a long-term consistent approach to naming and helps the marketing team make future decisions.

A clear, coherent and consistent naming structure is an opportunity for hospitals to differentiate themselves through better serving their patients and families. Recognizing this opportunity creates a positive experience for patients and develops brand and patient loyalty.

The Brand Union Jakarta Marches Strong

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The Brand Union Jakarta have won two new important projects in March: Aerowisata and Mayora.

The projects will add another dimension to the consultancy's already broad and impressive portfolio, since its inception in early 2007. The first major task is to rebrand Aerowisata, one of Indonesia’s largest hospitality services group. The company is a subsidiary of Garuda Indonesia, the country’s national flag carrier.

Aerowisata is mostly known for its in-flight catering service, yet over the years have expanded into hotels, industrial services, tour and travel, ground transportation, and soon into retail F&B.

“Although the world is experiencing an economic crisis, we believe in the strength of Indonesia's fundamentals, and the hospitality industry is no different. Opportunities exist for companies to strengthen their businesses during these challenging times, and I'm confident through this branding initiative Aerowisata will reinforce and develop its leading position”, said Neil Hudspeth, CEO of The Brand Union Asia Pacific.

Another major win in Indonesia is the Mayora account. Mayora is one of Indonesia’s largest FMCG company, with 6 business divisions: biscuit, candy, wafer, chocolate, healthy foods, and coffee. Mayora group’s leading brands are Kopiko, Torabika, Beng-Beng, and many others.

The Brand Union Jakarta will be responsible for creating the Brand Guidelines for Mayora’s brands that will be used globally, as the company plans to become more aggressive in its overseas market in the midst of the current crisis. "This is once again evidence that smart companies and brands realise that opportunities exist to grow, strengthen and better protect themselves during these turbulent times,' says Daniel Surya, TBU's Country Director.

Daniel Surya will hold the new accounts along with Account Director Yasha Chatab.

Dublin wins two top awards at Rebrand 100

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The Brand Union Dublin's rebrands for the GAA and National Lottery have been named two of the world’s most effective in the fifth annual ReBrand 100® Global Awards.

#[image GAA_Jersey_Image_01.jpg left]#ReBrand 100® is the highest recognition for brand rebuilding and redesign in the business arena, and is the only global, juried program of its kind.

Over 40 industries and 21 countries are represented among the 2009 ReBrand 100 winners. The jury panel, new each year, consists of a multidisciplinary mix of prominent, international, industry experts.#[image Lottery.jpg right]#

The 2009 panel of 10 included CEO for InterbrandHealth Jane Parker, Burt Helm of BusinessWeek, and Creative Director of Australia-based Principals, Simon Wright.

ReBrand 100® is unique among other awards in that it analyses the before and after state of the rebrand, and assesses its impact on strategic business goals and target markets.

Visit Rebrand 100 to view our winning work for GAA and National Lottery.

New CEO for The Brand Union, North America

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Simon Bolton, worldwide CEO of global brand strategy and design agency The Brand Union today announced the relaunch of the network’s North American operations by assuming responsibility for the management of sibling agency Brouillard Communications. Robert Scalea is named chief executive officer of the new entity, The Brand Union North America.

Simon Bolton, worldwide CEO of global brand strategy and design agency The Brand Union today announced the relaunch of the network’s North American operations by assuming responsibility for the management of sibling agency Brouillard Communications. Robert Scalea is named chief executive officer of the new entity, The Brand Union North America.

At the same time, Ogilvy New York’s BIG joins The Brand Union under the helm of renowned creative Richard Bates, adding significant creative power to the agency’s existing strengths.

This latest news follows a positive start to the year for The Brand Union. In January, Bolton announced that UK MD Simon Bailey would step into the UK CEO role, and just last month it was announced that the network had been appointed to work on the result of Bank of America’s merge with Merrill Lynch buyout. Consolidating The Brand Union’s US operations is expected to further the global support offered to Bank of America on the back of Brouillard’s existing relationship with Merrill Lynch. The Brand Union, North America will also work alongside the network’s South American base in Miami – a regional office servicing the needs of the agency’s Latin American clients, including SABMiller. Scalea joins The Brand Union with extensive experience counseling clients in complex, often volatile, industries including health care, financial services, and technology. Until now, Scalea was president and chief executive for Brouillard, which has been a free-standing WPP unit specialising in full-service business-to-business communications.

Clients of The Brand Union North America will include Bank of America, SABMiller, Avid Technology and Humana Healthcare.

“This new organisational structure and team create a very strategic footprint for The Brand Union across client businesses and capabilities,” said Simon Bolton. The full spectrum of offerings at the newly rethought The Brand Union includes brand development and architecture, strategy, research, marketing communications, and design.

Says Bolton, “Brouillard’s great client roster and tried-and-true B2B acumen round out The Brand Union’s existing business offering brilliantly.”

BIG – which stands for Brand Integration Group – is part of Ogilvy New York and The Brand Union’s North American partnership with them extends on the excellent relationship the company has with Ogilvy Asia. BIG works with Coca-Cola, Mattel and Hershey.

Bolton continues, “The combined might of talent and skill presented by these partnerships with BIG and Brouillard will build The Brand Union into a stronger and more powerful operation with a full service offer, designed to meet the needs of our clients in these very challenging times”.

Brands operating in a global financial meltdown

Tue, 03 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT

CEO of The Brand Union Africa, Antony Swart, looks at brands operating in the current financial market

Let me be so bold as to say that this is largely dependant on the category in which the brand resides and inadvertently the effect that the brand directly has on our lives. For the practical reasons, I have chosen to discuss three categories: FMCG, motor, and financial services to illustrate my point.

I would argue that the FMCG market’s brand perception will probably not be greatly affected by the credit crunch. For the sports lovers amongst us, you will probably be aware of Canterbury South Africa’s announcement a couple of weeks ago that they have entered voluntary liquidation. Bar our fears as to what may happen to the Springbok sponsorship (which subsequently has been rescued by Canterbury New Zealand); I would argue that this has little effect on the brand perception. For those of you that own Canterbury clothing, I am sure you will continue to don these items with pride even though in South Africa it seems that the brand is in trouble. Some may argue that our positive perceptions are based on the international equity that the brand holds and perhaps this is true?

It then got me thinking about South African brand Soviet. They have been in the market for a number of years and have created a relatively strong brand. I would argue that if the same circumstances presented themselves and Soviet was to liquidate; it probably wouldn’t stop many consumers from wearing their clothing. The reason? Practically speaking, the demise of brands has little functional effect on our lives. What I mean by that is, once purchased we own a piece of that brand. If it was to liquidate, we would still own that item.

Looking at the motor industry, we are well aware of the trouble they are in. Just the other day on 702 I heard that in America Chrysler sales are down 55% with the other car brands not doing much better! I went on to the net to search some of the deals that these car manufacturers are offering in an attempt to boost sales and was pleasantly surprised. The UK’s Daily mail reported that in October 2008, Dodge was offering a buy one get one free deal on their Dodge Avenger XST 2.4i saloon, a direct response to cash strapped Brits not splurging on new cars. A deal of a lifetime? For £20 000 you can get two cars for the price of one. This sounds absurd, but indicates the reality of the crisis at hand. What this shows is an attempt to provide better offers in a market that has lost its liquidity, an appropriate response from these manufacturers.

Now in terms of perceptions, I still don’t think car brands will be greatly affected. When one considers the ramifications of potential insolvency in this sector, we would probably only consider the effect this has on us with regards to the after sales service. We would perhaps take into account who would service our vehicle and whether parts would be a problem? Similar to the clothing example, insolvency of our best-loved-car brand would not result in us losing our own vehicle. If the deal was attractive enough (take the Dodge example) and we could financially justify it, I would argue that most consumers would hedge their bets and take up the offer knowing that long term there could be potential inconvenience. The value that these deals offer outweighs potentially long term negative consequences.

Looking at the Financial Services sector presents a very different view. I would argue that here brand perception is everything and any hint of instability will send this sector crashing like a house of cards. Just to recap on the banking crisis, I stumbled across some quiet ‘eye opening’ statistics, which I think puts the market into perspective. A year ago Royal Bank of Scotland purchased ABN Amro for $100 billion. Today (one year later) for the same price they could have purchased:

Goldman Sacks ($21 billion)
Citi Bank ($22 billion)
Barclays ($12.7 billion)
Merril Lynch ($12.3)
Morgan Stanley ($10.5 billion)
Deutsche Bank ($13 billion)

If that isn’t enough, with the $ 8 billion change they would have had after these transactions they could have purchased General Motors; Ford; Chrysler and the Honda F1 team. The market cap of these international names was reduced by an average of 72% in just one year. Now I’m no financial guru but even in lay-man’s terms, this is a scary statistic!

The financial services sector has their foundation in the trust that we implicitly bestow upon them. They hold our life’s savings and future plans. Any hint of instability will not only ruin brand perception, but will send investors running for the hills. They talk to our very basic need of safety and stability, which if threatened has dire consequences.

I am not saying that FMCG brands and the motor industry should sit on their laurels during this crisis; all I am saying is that in terms of perceptions they are lucky to reside in the categories they do. At the same time I am not implying that the financial services sector is doomed. What I am saying is that you need to understand your consumer and how trust affects sectors differently.

So, what does this all mean? In a nutshell the level of trust we bestow upon these brands manifests in different forms. In terms of FMCG and motor brands, I would argue that the level of trust is what I refer to as purchase trust. We buy a certain product or car because we trust the manufacturer of these products. The point is, once purchased; we have them in our possession as well as the trust we bestowed upon them. The banks, however, have a different level of trust that we need to leave with them at all times. This is why the intense reaction in the financial services sector to this credit crisis has been higher. People are scared and fear is a dangerous consequence as it means we pull our trust (and money) away from these banks. Think about it, banks run on trust, without which, they will cease.

Spectacular Fire & Light Show Launches GAA 125

Tue, 10 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMT

On Saturday 31st January, the GAA launched its 125th anniversary celebrations in style with the Allianz GAA Football National league Division One opener between Dublin and All-Ireland champions Tyrone. This was followed by a hugely impressive 20-minute "fire and light" show in Croke Park.

#[image GAAnews.jpg left]#The event was attended by a crowd of 79,000 people and has won critical acclaim from the media and public.

As part of this The Brand Union created a special 125 version of the GAA identity along with a series of visuals to reflect the past, present and future of the Association and its games. These were used throughout the match and entertainment show which followed.

View a video of the 125 celebrations on the GAA's website by clicking here ››

View a slideshow of 125 celebrations by clicking here ››

To view a case study on our GAA work click here ››

“牛”劲十足

Thu, 05 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMT

2009年公历与农历新年刚刚过去。虽然全世界都笼罩在金融危机的阴影之下，但我们已经整装待发、冲劲十足、信心满满。我们相信，亚太地区在今年必将成为引领世界走出萧条走向正面增长的积极领导力量。

2009年公历与农历新年刚刚过去。虽然全世界都笼罩在金融危机的阴影之下，但我们已经整装待发、冲劲十足、信心满满。我们相信，亚太地区在今年必将成为引领世界走出萧条走向正面增长的积极领导力量。毕竟，世界早已不是昨日的世界，我们已经步入了全新的以亚太为全球中心的新世纪。

在此时，我们也想与您分享扬特在2008年取得的诸多优异成绩：在中国和印度尼西亚一以贯之并日益巩固的领导地位，在印度和香港被主流媒体评选为最佳代理商，在新加坡被知名传播媒介冠以银奖等等。为了这些成绩，我向我们的每一位员工、每一位客户及合作伙伴致以最真诚的敬意；并且有理由相信，在2009年我们将沿着更清晰的道路直抵更伟大的成功。

香港“年度代理商”

Thu, 05 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMT

2008年扬特香港办公室连续第二次荣获了由客户方投票提名的“年度代理商”品牌咨询类大奖。

2008年扬特香港办公室连续第二次荣获了由客户方投票提名的“年度代理商”品牌咨询类大奖。该奖项由BDM Intelligence组织评选，公布于2008年12月号香港营销杂志(Marketing Hong Kong)。此项殊荣再次验证了扬特在08年的领先市场地位。同时也直接显示了客户方真实的“购买意向”――被调查者仅被问及一个简单问题，“你最愿意同哪家代理商合作”。文章中亦提及香港办公室包括董事总经理戚韵诗(Debora Chatwin)和创意总监黄鼎杰(TK Wong)在内的整体团队的长期稳定性。扬特所服务的“质”“量”兼优的本地客户也为香港办公室所获得的良好声誉贡献了力量。

Simon Bailey new UK CEO

Fri, 30 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

On the back of an excellent 2008 performance, The Brand Union has promoted Managing Director Simon Bailey to the role of Chief Executive Officer.

On the back of an excellent 2008 performance, The Brand Union has promoted Managing Director Simon Bailey to the role of Chief Executive Officer. The appointment follows a year that saw the London office pick up major briefs from Argos, Barclaycard, Reckitt Benckiser, Canon and Ford, launch new initiatives to support young designers, and scoop a raft of awards and accolades, with Marketing magazine calling them ‘One to Watch’ in 2009. Of BrandZ’s Top 100 Most Powerful Brands, more than 10 fall within the current custody of the global agency’s London office.

Bailey joined The Brand Union, whose other clients include SABMiller, Vodafone and Portsmouth F.C, in 2004 as Client Services Director. He was appointed Managing Director at the end of last year, following the agency’s rebrand from Enterprise IG to The Brand Union in November.

Commended for its contribution to the UK’s next generation of creative talent, this focus looks set to continue under Bailey’s leadership. In the past year, the agency lobbied the industry to improve treatment of young designers, created greater access to the wider global agency for junior staff and launched an advanced CSR programme. This year, The Brand Union is looking to formalise a new accreditation with leading academic bodies.

Simon Bolton, Worldwide CEO of The Brand Union: “In a short space of time, The Brand Union’s London office has demonstrated considerable progress, and much of this has been due to Simon’s energy, ebullience and intelligence. He is a man passionate about brands with a genuine interest in the creative agenda, which I am sure he will strive to further.

After a careful and thorough market-wide search for the ideal candidate, it quickly became clear that the best man for the job was already with us. There is no doubt that we have made huge strides in the market – and Simon has proved himself more than deserving of the role. This year as CEO, he will maintain this progress and continue to lead the agency’s vision.”

Simon Bailey, UK CEO of The Brand Union adds; “We’ve had a tremendously exciting year – we’ve welcomed new clients and new projects, and also picked up Eurobest, Graphis and Design Week Benchmark awards along the way. Despite challenging market conditions, we have strengthened relationships with key clients, as well as the creative reputation of our business. We face both a challenge and opportunity of building on our rich provenance – 35 years in the market place – while modernising our offer in line with our clients’ unique market situation.”

Bailey will be continue to be supported by the Senior Partnership Team comprising Dave Brown, Pete Bell, Rosi McMurray, Glenn Tutssel, Wendy Robertson and Worldwide Chairman Terry Tyrell.

Engaging staff in tough economic times

Wed, 14 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Our daily lives are flooded with negative economic reports in the media. Conversations amongst friends, colleagues (and often even strangers) about the tough economic climate are rife. We have all been told to fasten our belts and ‘vas byt’ as it seems (that for a while at least) times are going to remain tough. Retrenchments are imminent, with some of our largest global players announcing massive staff cut backs. Citi Group has announced they will be retrenching over 52 000 staff members by early 2009, the second largest job cut by any US company to date. Back at home, things aren’t much better. According to Statistics SA the biggest job losses have been in the mining sector, where 32 000 people were relieved of their duties in the third quarter of 2008. With all this unease, where does this leave our staff?

#[image staff_08.jpg left]#

Staff (and good staff at that) are the biggest asset to any business especially in tough economic times. One cannot ignore the impact that this global recession is having upon them. Each and every company needs to take heed and pay special attention to their staff and the uneasiness they all feel. Whether it’s retrenchment or just the threat of it, we guarantee that on the whole the global workforce is nervous, and rightly so. The Brand Union does not purport to have the answers to the global crisis, but what we can advise you on is the importance of engaging your staff in these times.

Honesty is in fact the best policy

The first piece of advice we offer is open and honest communication with all members of the organisation. There is nothing more damaging to a team’s morale than speculation and rumours. Once rife, they become more destructive than you can imagine. By trying to bury their heads in the sand you may do more damage than you think. Engage with your staff and report on the current situation within the organisation. Make them aware of possible changes and don’t be afraid to report on the positive and negative. As the old adage goes, honesty is the best policy. By empowering your staff (with information relevant to their position) you immediately ease the burden of the unknown.

Lead by example

Now more than ever you will realise the importance of having strong leadership in place. During these times your organisation requires that your leaders stand fast and convey a message of confidence. Take time out of your busy schedules to chat to staff members, point out the positive areas and shift attention away from negative. You need to focus on the brand and its longevity.

What is a brand?

A brand is the sum of the good, the bad, and the ugly and the off-strategy. It is your best and worst product. It is your best and worst employee. It is communicated through award-winning advertising as well as those ads that somehow slipped through the approval cracks and sank anything riding on them. It is your on-hold music and the demeanour of the receptionist who puts the valued client or prospect on hold. It is the carefully crafted comments by your CEO as well as the negative buzz by the water cooler or in chat rooms on the internet. Brand is expressed through written, audio and visual content. It is interpreted through emotional filters every human being has – where anything can happen. Ultimately, you can’t control your brand. You can only hope to guide it.

Brand Engagement

Brand Engagement is the process of entrenching the brand, its values and ethos throughout the depth and breadth of the organisation, including, most importantly, your people. In a nutshell it is encouraging your employees to ‘live the brand’ and creating the appropriate ‘infrastructure’ around them to enable them to do so. This means they eat, breathe and sleep the values that your brand conveys, but more importantly, truly believe them!

By sharing information, staff become empowered and can correctly convey the brand to internal and external stakeholders. All businesses should have a brand engagement process in place, with tough economic times beckoning, the benefits of this process will be evident. The Brand engagement process ensures that the organisation stays true to the brand values, which if already entrenched, will serve the company well in tough times.

Many companies spend millions on creating a well executed marketing plan but do not always consider the company’s most important touch point – their staff. Employees are very powerful and can influence a purchasing decision in an instant, and even more so create brand perceptions that are far-reaching

In order to convey correct brand communication to staff, the organisation’s values need to be clearly defined and communicated to staff. One must understand that this process is on-going, included in the induction programme for new staff and refreshed annually for existing staff members. These values should be reflected in everything that staff do.

A brand is not only about a logo or an ad campaign, it should be reflected in: training, recruitment procedures, top management communication, customer engagement reflecting the company’s ethos, to name but a few. If instituted correctly this process (and the values they convey) become a natural way of ‘being’, with the brand being channelled through every touch point in the organisation.

Simply put, brand engagement has its roots in psychology- the basic tenet being: get your staff to buy into your brand values, feel good about them and most importantly believe in what your brand is saying. It is important for companies to ‘walk the talk’ with their staff – i.e. be consistent in the messages they convey externally and internally.

Companies that got it right

Cast your mind back a number of years, when Volkskas, Trustbank, United Bank and Allied Bank merged into the entity we know today as Absa. Absa got it right. Management was honest in their communication with staff members, taking away the dangerous speculation that so often surrounds this type of deal. The staff were aware of the number of positions available and the attempts that were being made to accommodate as many staff as possible within the new Absa Group. There was a silent confidence amongst employees as they had a clear understanding as to why changes were taking place and the context in which these changes needed to occur.

Think too about popular brand Vida e caffé. What comes to mind? Fun, energetic, efficient, confident, up-to-date? These are all brand values that have been translated through staff members ‘living the brand’. Brand Engagement is an empathetic process that permeates through the organisation from top down.

Take a look at their website, if you click on the staff tab a pop up refers to them as ‘the heart of Vida’. They’ve got it right! Never is there a truer analogy. Without great staff living your brand, there is no great brand.

In short, we cannot prevent tough times, but we can advise on a protection plan for your organisation. Whatever your company size or budget, do not lose sight of your most important asset- your staff! Invest in them as they, by living the brand inside out, will determine the future of your company!

GAA launches 125th year celebrations

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The GAA has launched a comprehensive and exciting calendar of events to celebrate the foundation of the GAA in 1884.

#[image GAA_125_Main.jpg left]#As part of this The Brand Union has created a special 125 version of the GAA identity along with a series of visuals to reflect the past, present and future of the Association and the games.

These graphics will be used for key events such as the GAA Spectacle Event in Croke Park and the Late Late Show in January, the St Patrick's Day Festival Parade in March and the GAA Schools day in April along with a number of cultural events to take place nationally throughout the year.

To view a case study on our GAA work click here ››

抗癌大步走

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT

在11月16日这美丽一天,扬特香港办公室在大潭郊野公园参与了由香港癌症基金会主办在的”抗癌大步走”慈善游行活动

在11月16日这美丽一天,扬特香港办公室在大潭郊野公园参与了由香港癌症基金会主办在的”抗癌大步走”慈善游行活动,我们办公室筹集了10,000元港币用于支持香港当地的癌症研究,同时也包括了全球药物与临床试验以促进香港社会的癌症治疗与预防.在活动中,游行者可选择5到12公里的路程,而我们的所有同事都在温暖的阳光下完成了这次义举.香港办公室一直是抗癌慈善活动的积极行动者,之前也曾于2001年与2002年分别参与过其他抗癌募捐活动.

“鸟巢”里的新”阳光”品牌

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT

中国光大银行最近在国家体育馆成功的推出其服务子品牌”阳光财富管理”.该品牌以高端个人客户为目标对象,而在扬特中国区办公室的协助下,其不仅拥有一个动人的品牌标识,同时也为其客户提供了一个更具舒适度与私密性的私人银行顶级服务体验环境.

中国光大银行最近在国家体育馆成功的推出其服务子品牌”阳光财富管理”.该品牌以高端个人客户为目标对象,而在扬特中国区办公室的协助下,其不仅拥有一个动人的品牌标识,同时也为其客户提供了一个更具舒适度与私密性的私人银行顶级服务体验环境.

扬特中国区在金融领域的经验甚广,曾为超过20家银行金融类客户提供服务,其中包括了中国工商银行,浦发银行,光大银行,华安基金,台湾富邦金控,上海国际, 摩根大通和瑞士瑞信.

Top Print Award for National Lottery

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The new National Lottery brand, brought to life through a comprehensive master artworks pack, has scooped a top prize at the 2008 Irish Print Awards.

#[image NLbooks.jpg left]#The winning job was submitted by Masterphoto Ltd, now proud Digital Printers of the Year, and consisted of a casebound binder and eight booklets.

The glittering awards ceremony was held last Friday at the Four Seasons Ballsbridge and was attended by representatives from The Brand Union, Masterphoto and National Lottery.

Arnotts Launch €750 Million Northern Quarter Development!

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The Brand Union have designed the launch brochure for Arnotts new retail development in central Dublin called ‘The Northern Quarter’.

#[image NQ_01.jpg left]#The Northern Quarter development which includes a major expansion of Arnotts as the anchor store, aims to create the ultimate urban lifestyle and retail experience for shoppers.

The large format brochure is the first piece of a number of communications to be rolled out.

2008 and Beyond

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT

In thinking about branding trends and what may be around the corner in 2009, I couldn’t help but consider the past (that’s the beauty of hindsight isn’t it?) and hopefully learn from our oversights, as well as look to the future. Now I’m no soothsaying, but one thing’s for sure, times are tough and brands need to work harder than they ever have before!

Stronger brands will weather the storm
With all the talk of doom and gloom in our world economy, brands and brand managers need to take heed. Consumers are cash-strapped and are more inclined to weed out weaker brands, so check your brand vitals. A brand is only valuable if it can translate consumer sentiment into shareholder value, so in this time of dis-ease brands must adopt the appropriate strategy to survive, that is, drawing on existing loyalty and building equity.

My advice to you is ‘invest to protect’. Resisting the urge to slash the marketing budget is vital to your strategy. Research shows that brands with the foresight to invest more- at worst the same- in marketing and ad spend in a climate of competitor cutbacks, stand to gain the most in the long term.

Brand Accountability
Now that you have caught your consumer’s attention, you need to keep it. In these tough economic times, Brand Accountability is paramount. Let your marketing and ad spend bring the consumers to your door, but to keep them there you need to remain true to your brand promise- now more than ever you need to be able to deliver on your claims of quality and value. Remember the mantra in the minds of most consumers - “buy once, buy well”.

These consumers will be expecting the best from your brand. Most purchasing decisions are driven by brand values. Whether it’s the decision to acquire a new vehicle, where they may choose Mercedes-Benz for being well engineered and reliable; or where the decision is to buy a new pair of trainers, they may choose Nike for their sport engineered quality. Often it can be said that consumers choose brands for their conspicuous appeal - they are sexy and would like to be seen wearing them, driving them and inviting them into their homes. Whatever the reason, brands need to be true to their offer and deliver on their promise, if not they will surely fail. No amount of advertising can correct an inconsistent brand promise!

Now there may be times when brands make mistakes (let’s face it, we all do at one point or another). Be honest about them, apologise and fix them. When Lexus first launched in America, one of their first major actions was a product recall to rectify a small fault on one of their models. What was interesting here is that this recall was handled so successfully; Lexus actually established positive reputation from an ostensibly negative action.

Branded Brands
As demanding, experienced consumers hunt for the best, it’s no wonder that brands are combining their respective core competencies into new and desirable products and services- the branded brand.

On a local kulua flight to Cape Town, I was pleasantly surprised to see that Kauai was the meal offering on board. It makes sense. Kulula is responsible for the flight and understands this business, something they know and do well, why not bring a partner on board to handle the food? The same goes for Mini and Puma. Mini has styled the ‘Puma Mini Cooper S’ with Puma air mesh footwear technology in the car’s seats - injecting more comfort and breathable shock absorption into the seats.

This is a trend that many of us are aware of, but what we may not know is the reciprocal relationships that are forming between the brands. Back to our example of Mini and Puma- you can now purchase an exclusive pair of Mini driving shoes, based on Puma’s motor sport shoe. Bentley use Breitling clocks in their cars, you can now purchase a Breitling watch inspired by Bentley’s design and adorned with the converted Bentley logo- now that’s what I call returning the favour!

Digital Growth

Unless you have been unconscious for the last decade or so, you will be aware of the massive growth in digital technology. Google, Facebook, MixIt (to name but a few) have taken over our (and more so our children’s) physical space. A word of warning- brands beware! If your brand has existed largely in the physical space and hasn’t made the leap to cyberspace, you’re in trouble. Many brands have adhered to this warning and are well on there way to crossing over – banks have adopted (and well I might say) the functionality of internet and cell phone banking. Even our newspapers have an online component.

Cyberspace has created a global village of opportunities accessible by a click of a mouse. My advice to you- be sure that your brand is on the receiving end of that click!

Brand Potential in Africa
For many years, Africa has been known as the Dark Continent. My experience in Africa has shown that lights are being switched on. Africa has massive potential- it is largely underdeveloped, has untapped consumers, massive mineral and commodity wealth and an abundance of physical resources -Mother Africa is coming into her own! Many brands are reaping the rewards of her potential; MTN is a case in point. A couple of years ago the cell-phone giant took an educated gamble to expand their African network to Nigeria, and has been handsomely rewarded. Their network now expands over more than 16 countries across the continent.

Global brands are using our shores to their advantage- Mercedes-Benz has a plant in East London that manufactures and exports right hand drive C-Class Merc’s (it’s the only plant outside of Germany to manufacture these models). Regional Brands too are increasing their footprint in Africa – Checkers, Standard Bank and even Nando’s have a firm foot in place on our continent. My advice- use our continent, and use her wisely, she has a lot to offer!

Congress of the People- why it doesn’t make branding sense!

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Elections are in the spotlight. America has cast its ballot, and South Africa will soon be following suit. What’s really exciting about our political climate is the introduction of the new political party.

#[image copelogo2.jpg left]#

Not to rehash what I’m sure you already know, there have been complications with the naming of this party. Today, it was announced that they would call themselves Congress of the People, which in my opinion is a big mistake.

The Art and Science of naming

The ultimate goal of a name is to choose one that is memorable and representative of the party’s values and goals. It should translate these values across a broad spectrum of South Africans and be catchy enough to remain top of mind.

This name should represent the party’s ethos. I think the deeper issue here is that to date there hasn’t been a substantial statement of exactly what the new party stands for. Congress of the People, does not address this issue, and in addition aligns itself very heavily with the ANC. Type this party name into Google and have a look at the results, they all refer to the ANC conference that took place in the 50’s, which is so much part of the ANC’s history, culture and fabric. That’s their first mistake. They are trying to create an opposing force to the ANC, but their name only draws them back to the party that they are trying so hard not to be.

At present, all we seem to know about them is they are NOT the ANC. Short term, this may gain support from the deflated ANC supporter. However, a word of caution, this is a very risky positioning to take. It’s a very bad long term move to define yourself as merely being what your opposition are not; in effect, you are letting them define who you are!
The abbreviation of the party name is an important issue that they don’t seem to have been considered. Not many people refer to political parties by they full name, but rather opt for an abbreviated version. So let’s look at some of the options: COP (well this is pretty self explanatory), CP (Conservative Party, Congress Party?) both of which are already owned by other political factions. None of these abbreviations bode well.

A name should be a snapshot into who you are and what you believe. All credit to them, this has been a relatively quick formation, but without this information, it is impossible to successfully translate their brand (because that’s essentially what it is) to the South African public.

So let’s recap, a name should: Depict what you stand for, differentiate you from your opposition and be memorable. According to this list, things are not looking good for the Congress of the People.

My advice to Messrs Lekota and Shilowa, take some time to define who and what your party stands for. Ask experts, test it out on the public, consider it’s legacy and keep it simple. What you stand for determines what you call yourself, and is the beginning of the process of building the brand of your party. If you get it right, the name will surely be on the lips of many South Africans for decades to follow.

National Lottery wins design effectiveness award

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The new identity for the National Lottery has won a top award at the 2008 Irish Design Effectiveness Awards (IDEA).

On Friday 7th November at the Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin, The Brand Union team were joined by key National Lottery clients as they scooped top prize in the Branding & Corporate Identity category.
#[image NLaward.jpg left]#The brief was to invigorate the fun and excitement that is at the heart of the National Lottery. This would increase its appeal to a wider audience, strengthen its capability to grow and increase the funds raised for good causes throughout Ireland.

The new identity has been proudly received as more Irish, more appealing to all ages and demographics and significantly more visible in retail – a world-class, iconic and lucky brand for the future. The new masterbrand architecture has allowed National Lottery efficiently introduce new games and generate significant increases in sales. The rebrand has also provided opportunities to increase the company’s CSR commitments and reduce its carbon footprint.

Judged by leading figures from industry and commerce, the Irish Design
Effectiveness Awards provide a platform from which design solutions are

measured for their economic effectiveness and perceptible influence.

End of year talent boost

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT

As most companies tighten their belts during the credit crunch and put a freeze on hiring, The Brand Union has found itself in the fortunate position of being able to boost its talent pool with six more employees this month.

We have added to our Client Service Team, IT Department and are proud to announce the appointment of two new EXCO members: Anisa Du Plessis (Managing Director) and Leigh Pohl (Client Development Director).
Anisa joins us with an impressive CV. She hails from a marketing background with diverse experience in the service and financial service sector. She spent a number of years within the Absa group heading up the Branding, Sponsorship, Events and Strategy teams. From Absa, Anisa moved into her own Marketing and Business consultancy where she has spent the last 7 months consulting to the MTN Business Marketing Division.

“Anisa has a love for Marketing and a flair for décor. She owns three décor shops in the Pretoria and Johannesburg areas and has recently opened her first coffee shop in Northcliff. Being able to combine the creative aspect of décor, with the analytical demands of marketing, makes Anisa the perfect mix of art and science, a formula that The Brand Union is proud to showcase in our everyday working environment,” says Swart

Leigh joins our team with over 14 years experience in both the client and agency side of marketing and branding, engaging with a broad spectrum of clients across all South African industries. He has experienced a number of roles within the industry ranging from Marketing Manager to Managing Director.

“It is one of our priorities to ensure that to be best in the business, we need a staff complement that reflects this goal! We are very proud to have both Anisa and Leigh on-board, and I am very confident in their abilities to take our business from strength to strength,” says CEO Anthony Swart.

亚太区最强烈的品牌意识

Sat, 01 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT

在扬特品牌同盟香港办公室，我们最为积极倡导的一项工作即是与最新趋势保持同步，特别是需要时刻关注那些影响市场的潮流动向，这同时也成为了我们香港人的一项基本特性。

在扬特品牌同盟香港办公室，我们最为积极倡导的一项工作即是与最新趋势保持同步，特别是需要时刻关注那些影响市场的潮流动向，这同时也成为了我们香港人的一项基本特性。尼尔森最新的全球奢侈品牌报告显示，香港人已经成为世界上能最快反应时尚变迁，也是最具有品牌意识的人群。这同时也能从香港全城奢侈品旗舰店不断上升的数目中得到验证。调查同时显示31%的香港人渴望购买Gucci, 27%希望拥有Louis Vuitton以及26%希望得到Burberry。虽然这些数字多少会受到全球经济不稳定的影响，但是我们仍然坚信，香港民众对于奢侈潮流的品牌的感情将始终不变。

一个中文名称的广袤内涵

Sat, 01 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT

人们通常相信品牌资产只与图标、字标、颜色、图像风格等视觉元素有关，对品牌名称却不予重视。但扬特品牌同盟认为品牌名称绝非仅仅是一个名称而已，为海外公司进行中文命名也不仅仅是为满足法律注册需要，而是一次品牌传播的绝好良机。

通过一个蕴含品牌核心讯息的独特中文名，品牌定位与品牌特质能够从进入新市场的一开始就得到强化与传递。而如果一个公司对其品牌的中文命名不予重视，其导致的结果则可能相当危险。扬特品牌同盟中国区曾为包括哈雷戴维森(Harley-Davidson)、瑞信(CreditSuisse)、戴森(Dyson)、传立媒体(Mindshare)等众多国外知名公司进行中文命名，我们严谨的命名方法连同我们品牌顾问的中文专长为这些公司在中国范围内取得的成功打下了坚实基础。

Economic down-turns need not be brand down-times

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT

A “challenging year” is what CEOs say in the intro pages of leaner annual reports on the back of a difficult one. The same can be said for – and said by – outgoing coaches in closing press statements, presidents in State of the Nation addresses, all summed up with that singularly expressive South African word I’ve recently acquired: Eish. Indeed, it has been a difficult and undoubtedly challenging year to date. And it’s not over yet.

With the falling rand, soaring inflation, declining investor confidence, rising fuel fees, crumbling house prices and the power crisis, it’s undoubtedly a tough time for brands in South Africa. Not to mention Brand South Africa. Having done business within these borders for years, I note a discernable air of trepidation from stakeholders – and I use that term to refer to everyone invested in the local market – everywhere.

But taking a macro view as CEO for a global branding agency, what I see is not unique to South Africa. No country or brand is immune from what is looking to be a global economic affliction right now, as consumers are forced to pinch their pennies, count their krone, their reubels, their rands, and brace themselves for what is a tough ride ahead.

But, risking charges of nescience and a stiff British upper lip, I believe it need not be all doom and gloom. While economic recessions are inevitable, brand recession need not be.

How so, when a credit crunch sees consumers everywhere cutting back on discretionary spend, packing padkos instead of stopping at Wimpy, and questioning brand value more than ever before? Famously recession-proof, not everyone has the luxury of being a luxury brand – though the winds of change have been blowing through the streets of Sandton too these days.

There’s no single remedy and we don’t propose to have the answers. I too am party to the same data and media reports as you and can’t profess to being an expert on macro-economics nor soothsaying – both of which can be as reliable as the BBC’s weather reports.

But, in this climate of uncertainty, a considered and well-thought through, well-founded approach to building brand equity is the best antidote to the affliction of consumer cut-backs.

In good Company

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT

It’s almost ironic that, in a world with ever more access to information, consumers are becoming ever more cynical and sceptical; there is a corresponding decline in faith as consciousness grows. A cursory glance, however, through the annals of Corporate Misbehaviour – with chapters headlined Arthur Andersen, Parmalat, Nike, and others – goes some way to explaining and indeed corroborating this pessimism.

Consumers today are demanding greater visibility from business: Who is the real face is behind the message? The purveyor of the product? The real pocket behind each brand’s price tag?

From ‘Me’ to ‘We’
Growing consumer empowerment means that consumers have moved from a position of “I choose “, to the awareness that “My choice affects the choices of others”. Consumers, especially in developed markets, are less interested in what the product is and how it will benefit them, but more in how it was made and how it will affect everyone; what effect their consumption decisions has on others.

This is markedly evidenced by:

Green consciousness and the environmental movement
Fair-trade and ethical practices
Recycling and carbon offsetting

Consumers, after all, vote with their credit card, and by buying an organisation’s product they effectively buy into – or endorse – that organisation’s behaviour.

And so, today, disillusioned consumers everywhere are demanding a more active and visible role from the brand house, questioning the ethics of the owners, just how their profits are used, and how they conduct their “house affairs”.

The interests – and, more importantly, influence – of consumers are changing. And it’s happening all over the world.

The space in the middle
Just as a child’s behaviour is said to reflect its upbringing, so too does a brand’s behaviour reflect back on its parent. Brands today are no longer considered in isolation of the mother brand, but more than that – the mother ship, the corporate brand, presenting a unique challenge.

Enter the Company Brand.

What do we mean by the Company Brand? It is where the corporate and consumer worlds overlap. It’s the space in the middle. It is the Corporate brand brought to the fore, given a face and a voice, and – most importantly – endowed with accountability. And brand managers should sit up and pay attention.

To illustrate, Proctor & Gamble still largely exists in the near invisible space of Corporate, whereas Nestlé has made great strides towards establishing a Company brand. Through a mixed brand architecture strategy, this global FMCG brand house has created a Company Brand that allows it to align a diverse product brand portfolio under a coherent umbrella. Through a mixed endorsement strategy, it has applied its corporate name to an array of branded products, transparently communicating to the client the link between its individual products and the mother organisation: overtly with Nestlé Water, Nestea, Nesquick and Nescafé; more subtly with Kit-Kat, Carnation and Milo that wear their endorsement on their (packaging) sleeve.

Consumers consciously “buy into” a brand when they are conscious of the fit between their values and that of the brand. And learning from this, successful Company Brands are those that have moved beyond simply flagging their product portfolio, to taking a position that is value-based.

A brand is known by the Company it keeps
Great brands must be compelling and true. So too for Company brands. They are built from the inside out. They have a single minded positioning that they consistently deliver on, not just through products and services, but also through their behaviour in the society they live in.

In contrast with the Corporate brand, the Company brand:

Recognises a wider definition of stakeholders by embracing the interests – and influence of – individual consumers
Has evolved its relationship with its product and service brands, moving from an assertion of ownership to a sharing of values
Plays a more visible role throughout the consumer journey, adding to the emotional appeal of a product brand
Is a more active player in society because it is more than the sum of its parts. It uses its size and power to change the way that all stakeholders (including consumers) behave to create win-win results

Overlapping corporate and consumer worlds mean both B2C and B2B marketers should consider moving beyond looking at Consumer and Corporate brands in isolation, and seek out a more interconnected and holistic approach.

Today’s generation of consumers are questioning traditional sources of authority and power. They are investigative, marketing savvy, are increasingly sceptical – and vocal – and won’t take corporate, political or brand assertions at face value. Never before have consumers had so much creative and destructive power:

User-created content site Wikipedia has more than 75 000 active contributors working on some 9-million articles in more than 250 languages.
Says Synovate Research, 8% of Americans currently had their own blogs last year, while eBay has 193-million registered users worldwide.
47% of the Fortune 500 companies are adopting Word Of Mouth programmes in 2007, says Womma.

The evidence is overwhelming. Individual – and interconnected – consumers have never before had so much clout in influencing the way a mega corporation does business.

The Age of Authenticity
The counterfeiting industry comprises 5-7% of global trade and is worth roughly US$450- to 500-billion, says The International Chamber of Commerce. In D&E markets, product innovations are duplicated overnight and authenticity becomes a consumer’s guarantee of quality and safety. Consumers want to buy into products with authentic values that resonate with them.

In an era of so much media, so much information and much disintermediation, the Company Brand’s role is so much more relevant today: as a stamp of authenticity.

As we move towards a digital marketplace, manufacturers have the opportunity to build direct relationships with their consumers, to create rich and engaging company brand experiences that build consumer loyalty, and to capitalise on cross-sell opportunities.

A good Company Brand is a corporation’s way of establishing constructive dialogue with sceptical consumers.

ESB websites go live

Fri, 24 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Ireland's leading electricity supplier, ESB, has launched a new business and residential site designed by The Brand Union.

The Brand Union were tasked to redesign the ESB website to ensure its brand attributes and desired experience were appropriately translated to the online environment. #[image ESB_Website_Main.jpg left]#The brief for the site, driven by the preset brand experience criteria, was for customers feel understood, encouraged and inspired. This required a blend of both visual and functional elements.

To achieve this the brand union worked closely with usability specialists IQ Content to ensure the appropriate functional experience based on the persona of the user. This ensured that the site content was structured according to customer need.

Visually the site carried forward some of the core principals established in offline promotions in order to maintain continuity of voice across media. The key to establishing a customer centric site to underpin the proposition ‘we’re all about you’ was simplicity in design and honesty in the use of imagery and graphics. The new online account management system, also designed by The Brand Union complements the online experience.

To view the site click here

The Springbok emblem is about values not value!

Fri, 24 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The springbok emblem is a highly contentious and emotive debate raging across the South African media at present. Some want to ‘vomit on it’, some claim to own it and others place a massive monetary value on it. One cannot help but wonder if in all the flurry, we are missing the point here! This emblem is about values and not value.

The question I am asking myself, is how do you put a monetary value on such an emotive symbol? Let’s get real, this emblem isn’t (or shouldn’t be) about political views and financial gain. It’s about the pride of a nation that is reflected in a symbol with massive emotional value. So what is the difference between value and values ? Values are about passion and personal alignment with what not just the logo means, while value in the monetary sense only looks at who owns it - when in truth the public do anyway!

So let’s get the focus of the debate straight. It’s not about whether changing the emblem is right or wrong. It’s about understanding why we may or may not need to change it. Instead of hurling insults at one another and pointing fingers, we need to take the time to understand the value set that this Springbok emblem represents and take an empirical look at what it means to different audiences (old supporters, new supporters, players, government, international sporting audience and the like) for that after all is where the real value resides.

#[image on-page-01.jpg left]#

Once we have a better understanding of the value that this emblem holds, we can act on what to do. If it does come out that there are significant negative connotations to the current emblem, change is not the end of the world. We need to look at a symbol that has universal support and find a way of taking the equity that the original emblem holds into a potentially new version.

Sounds like an impossible task? Not really. We do have a very successful South African example of translating a highly emotional symbol into an equally successful newer version- the SA flag. The new flag design was a phenomenal success, because they got it right. Even the staunchest of staunch (with the obvious few exceptions) South African nationals bought into the new flag with not much difficulty. The reason: there was a successful translation of the values that this symbol held to the South African public and the monetary value was not considered as the leading argument.

So where to from here? Stop the arguments and take time to understand the value associations of Springbok supporters, players, administrators and the general public, because without their buy-in, whatever decision the powers that be make, will be a failure.

Cully & Sully scoop top award at SIAL 2008!

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT

One of our favourite clients, Cully & Sully, has become the first Irish company ever to win the prestigious Global SIAL d’Or award.

Cully & Sully’s range of gourmet fresh soups, with packaging designed by The Brand Union, were winners in the chilled non-dairy category. A further surprise was in store on the night when it was revealed that they had in fact won the overall Global SIAL d’Or.

#[image cs.jpg left]#Both Cullen Allen (Cully) and Colum O’Sullivan (Sully) attended the glittering awards ceremony in Paris last weekend. “It is amazing for a small company to achieve such success against stiff competition from 247 products from 29 countries,” said a jubilant Colum O’Sullivan.

The judges specifically mentioned the soup’s “traditional recipe”, “product quality” and “carefully designed” packaging.

SIAL is regarded as the world’s leading food industry show. The SIAL d’Or awards identify and promote innovative products that are commercial successes in the domestic markets of each of the 29 participating countries.

Tasseo won Top 5 of Australia's Best New Retail Product 2008

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT

International tea brand Tasseo was recently chosen as one of five finalists in Australia's Best New Retail Product. The award was presented by Barry Flanagan from RetailWorld trade magazine Australia, during the Australia Fine Food exhibition at the Melbourne Exhibition Center from 22-25 September 2008.

Olivia Lukman, Tasseo's Project Manager of The Brand Union is extremely proud of this latest accolade. "I am very proud that Tasseo became the finalist of this award. This achievement reflects the passionate optimism essence of the team from Gunung Slamat that I've worked closely with. They're truly passionate about tea, and have been very optimistic with the Tasseo brand since we proposed it." she added. In the project, Olivia is supported by Associate Design Director Sem Loh for the packaging design, and William Ho for Tasseo's retail environment.

Gunung Slamat's Marketing Manager Budi Hananto Seto was in Melbourne for the exhibition and was ecstatic to win the award. "Last July we were getting many praises at our premiere in New York city from visitors and also the tea traders and buyers. They loved the Tasseo product and also its concept. This appreciation in Australia is a wonderful surprise and we hope that this recognition will get Tasseo to more places and truly make it a global brand."

Tasseo is the latest tea brand of PT Gunung Slamat and was launched globally in July 2008 in New York City. The Brand Union Jakarta has worked closely with PT Gunung Slamat since last year and Tasseo is the first of many tea brands in the pipeline for the global brand agency.

Barclaycard unveils new identity

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Calm but vibrant. Barclaycard unveiled its striking new global identity, designed to convey calmness and control on the outside, while progressively more vibrant and dynamic on the inside. The new look and feel signals the global credit card company's ambition to lead the revolution in the way people pay for goods and services worldwide.

Awarded the project after a competitive pitch, The Brand Union chose to focus their creative energies on 'liberation from complexity', a concept that inspired the new brand mark and a multi-coloured look and feel. "It's about a brighter world opening up, free from restriction, free to explore and experience new things," says Nick Payne, Creative Director for Corporate Branding at The Brand Union.

It was felt that the old logo no longer projected a global, modern image and the brief required that the new identity points to a strategic shift within the organisation as Barclaycard aspires to be at the forefront of innovation, simplifying the complexities of paying by delivering faster, easier and more secure payment methods. Continues Payne, "Next to the new logo, the exciting change for Barclaycard is to be regarded as a resonant, multi-coloured payments brand with a broader consumer appeal".

As a result of the new marque's implementation across all Barclaycard products and services over the next 12 months, the Barclays Business brand is to be phased out.

创建成功的地标品牌

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT

现今,地标性品牌随处可见,包括国家,地区,旅游胜地,酒店,购物中心甚至画廊都开始纷纷建立其自有品牌.这同时也是扬特香港的专长之一

现今,地标性品牌随处可见,包括国家,地区,旅游胜地,酒店,购物中心甚至画廊都开始纷纷建立其自有品牌.这同时也是扬特香港的专长之一.香港办公室的地标品牌创建经验开始于2000年的香港置地中环广场,随后又主导了澳门Melco Crown公司的城市之梦项目以及深圳的华侨城酒店项目,在今年, 香港办公室又完成了中国国际信托投资公司太平洋分公司在海南的一个综合性渡假酒店项目.随着在这一领域的认识与经验进一步增长,扬特香港团队完全有能力为所有潜在及现有客户提供服务,创建更为成功的地标新品牌.

GAA brand site goes live

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT

In support of the new GAA brand roll out, The Brand Union has designed a site to enable users to access brand guidelines, artwork files & templates, photography and news.

#[image GAAbrandsite.jpg left]#The complexity of the GAA brand guidelines and the diversity of users (GAA members, internal departments, advertising agencies & printers) required a system that would be easy to update and also allow customisation of content for each discrete audience.

The Brand Union designed and produced a bespoke brand site, with full content management, to allow the brand department to manage content and control the roll out of the new brand.

The site enables the brand department to distribute photography, artwork & guidelines, approve download requests and transfer large files. Along with this the site contains sections to communicate the GAA brand story and a gallery section to demonstrate best practice usage of the brand. This site will play a central role in rolling out the brand in 2009.

To view a case study on our GAA work click here ››

Is Brand awareness the same as the reputation of a brand?

Sun, 17 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT

As consultant custodian to many of Africa’s brands I am faced with the question of brand awareness vs. reputation of a brand almost on a daily basis. I read newspapers, magazines, surf the net, watch TV and am exposed to a myriad of brands both professionally and in my personal space. What is it about these brands that draws your attention, makes you know about them, remember them and love them? The answer, I am afraid is not a simple one.

Simply put, brand awareness and brand reputation are definitely NOT one and the same. Both concepts function largely on a subliminal level. Most of us would find that on the whole we are often not sure how we know about a brand or why we think about them in the way we do. Brand awareness is more of a logical process, it relies on spontaneous recall- whether or not a particular brand springs to mind (whether we are aware of it for positive or negative reasons is irrelevant), if it does, the brand has successfully created awareness. Brand reputation functions on more of an emotional level and is a holistic term that is a result of a combination of factors: recognition, awareness, association and then reputation. This allows for an overall impression of the brand and a person’s inexplicable emotional attachment to a brand. It encompasses ‘how I feel about the brand as well as what the brand means to me’.

Are we aware of how we see brands?

Most of us would like to think that reputation plays an important role in our understanding of brands, and I may be controversial in saying that I disagree, not on the importance of reputation, but more on the consumer’s cognitive process in evaluating reputation, and the subconscious emphasis we place on awareness. We all like to think of ourselves as appreciating a reputation that goes along with a brand, trusting the values that they covey, but I think that in reality, this is not always necessarily so- reputation doesn’t catch a consumer’s attention as quickly as awareness. In this survey, I argue, that the measure of awareness and not reputation, is what is mainly reflected in the ratings, dominated by the ‘big brands which always seem to come out tops, even if they aren’t the best

In thinking about this article, I have come up with three main reasons as to why brand awareness seems to dominate our brand perceptions, and have more weight in our judgement than brand reputation, namely: time in market, conscious brand building spend, and other publicity

Time in market

Traditionally, South Africa’s best loved brands have been in the market for decades. It is over this time that they become institutions in their own right and in some way formed part of the fabric of our lives. They are intricately woven into our every day existence, often so unconsciously we don’t even realise the power they convey.

Conscious spend on brand building

It is no secret that our mass consumer brands have oodles of capital backing. The top 2007 spenders (for advertising alone) went to Pick ‘n Pay forking out over R239 million and Unilever notching up R481 million. This level of spend will definitely keep you top of mind and buy you awareness!

Any other publicity

In this category I would attribute this exposure to cleverly thought out PR activities as well as ‘the stuff that just happens’. Examples of brands that have cashed in on this are Eskom and Telkom. There’s no need to rehash the last 12 months of Eskom’s never ending problems, but a good dollop of PR has somehow managed to keep them top of mind, irrelevant whether the news was good or bad. The same seems to apply for Telkom- everyone knows who they are even though they may not be happy about it!

Big brands come out tops

I will illustrate this category check point with the example of Lion Lager. As most South African beer drinkers will know, after 114 years on the market, SAB’s Lion Lager was discontinued in 2003. In that year, SAB spent R151 million on advertising alone and received a large amount of publicity for Lion Lager. However looking at the results of the Markinor Top Brands Survey, Lion was still in the rankings in 2004, beating Heineken and Savannah, (even though the product no longer existed). How does this happen? The answer is simple, residual brand presence and tons of it.

I would argue that the big monolithic brand approach works successfully. Take for example, Vodafone. They are undoubtedly one of the biggest mobile brands in the world, but if we took a closer look at the technical details of the business, are they in fact the best? This question requires no answer, fact being, they are a constant ‘in your face, ever present brand’ allowing them to be pervasive, top of mind and massively successful. In their target markets, the sometimes smaller clever approaches of some of the opposition are often less successful simply because of their size (and budget).

Don’t forget reputation

Now I am not discounting the importance of brand reputation, coupled with awareness, it is the most compelling purchase driver a brand can possess. A couple of years ago, Land Rover weathered a period of what I would call sub par product offerings. Now I am no car fundi, but in my humble and subjective opinion, the launch of the Free Lander was a total disaster. It was neither the rugged offering that Land Rover is synonymous with, nor a slick road sedan, it fell somewhere in between the two, not fitting any particular positioning. It was the strong reputation that Land Rover has built over many years that allowed the brand to regroup and launch new product, which customers accepted based on the past reputation of the brand

So the question still remains- what is it that makes successful brands successful? More importantly we should look at how we perceive brands and take note of our own (albeit unconscious) skewed distortion between the importance of awareness and reputation.

The debate is never ending. If I could create a magical recipe for building a successful brand, it would be a dollop of awareness, equal measures of reputation, a lot of hard work, and some good fortune! Remembering however, no matter what we as brand builders may think or say about our products, at the end of the day what is important is what the consumers say about them, that makes all the difference!

The Brand Union Jakarta to brand the World’s tallest mixed-use tower

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The Brand Union Jakarta starts work on World's Tallest mixed-use tower in Jakarta.

The Brand Union Jakarta has been appointed to develop the brand for the soon to be the world’s tallest mixed-use tower at 558 meters, beating other global icons such as the CN tower in Canada, KL Tower, Shanghai Tower and many more.

“This project that is currently referred to as ‘Jakarta Tower’ will be the center of tomorrow’s lifestyle, and also a hub for information and communications technology. We believe that The Brand Union has the expertise and experience to create the best destination brand for the project”, said Jakarta Tower Project Director Roesdiman Soegiarso. The tower complex will mainly be occupied by ICT related businesses, but will also consist of convention centers, tourist attractions, museum, and shopping mall.

“We are extremely excited that we are awarded this project. As an Indonesian, I am proud to be part of the creation of this new destination brand that will create a new icon for Indonesia” said Daniel Surya, Country Director of The Brand Union Jakarta.

"The Brand Union Jakarta will be supported by The Brand Union Singapore in this project", said Neil Hudspeth, CEO of The Brand Union in Asia Pacific, "as well as an advisory team from The Brand Union offices in cities with iconic buildings, such as Dubai, Paris, New York, Shanghai, and KL."

“Jakarta Tower” is expected to be completed in 2011.

Indonesia's Telco Giant TELKOM selects The Brand Union

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT

International branding consultancy The Brand Union has been appointed to help rebrand TELKOM (PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia, Tbk), Indonesia's state-owned telecommunications company. Founded in 1984, the company went public in 1995 and is listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange, NYSE, and LSX.

Given TELKOM's ambitions to be the leading info-comm player in the region, enhancing the value of their brand is a critical element in realizing their strategic goals. “After undergoing a tight selection process, TELKOM proudly awarded The Brand Union the project to rebrand TELKOM,” explained Eddy Kurnia, TELKOM's VP of Public and Marketing Communications. “We believe The Brand Union will be able to give the company a new and appropriate interpretation of TELKOM’s corporate identity for today’s business environment. Corporate identity is a very important element for TELKOM and we feel that The Brand Union is capable of formulizing the best recommendation and brand strategy to better equip TELKOM in facing future challenges.”

The Brand Union Indonesia’s Country Director Daniel Surya, said that he and his team are excited about undertaking this project. “We grew up with TELKOM around us, and it has always been a big part of our life; from when land-line phones were scarce, up to the present information age. This will be a very challenging project, and we’re honored to help support TELKOM in their transformation” he added.

The project kicks off this August.

You scratch my brand, I'll scratch yours?

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT

When it comes to marketing B2B services, the combination of '80s gremlins and one of the country's most prolific businessmen isn't exactly an obvious pairing. Regardless, that's the tactic BT Business has taken with its latest B2B ads. This mega internet communications solutions provider has paired the nostalgic factor of furry mogwais with the current appeal of Dragon Peter Jones, and the adverts have so far enjoyed a favourable reaction from the industry. But it does prompt the questions: is celebrity endorsement an effective tool in B2B branding? What are the pros and cons? And has this Age of Celebrity as Brand changed the dynamic between business brands and their paid endorsers?

When celeb endorsement works

Successful brands are often those that have managed to create a tone, an identity, a personality. Something that elevates them above a raft of possibly commoditised offerings, and often crowded market. There are a number of ways of creating this human identity, but one of the quickest ways of endowing your brand with a personality is by bringing on board a ready-made one.

With its latest campaign, BT Business is reaching out to those entrepreneurial enterprises that are possibly put off by the idea that big fish BT is the dominant business internet provider. Your average owner-run business possibly doesn’t see the national business model of BT sitting harmoniously alongside its own, and BT has been canny enough to recognise this. So, we see Peter Jones brought in to establish a subtle link between BT and the SME. BT wants to be seen as flexible, nimble and exciting, as opposed to stolid, big and unwieldy – and Jones is used to bridge that gap.

And, despite constant assertions that the world is getting smaller, there are still great cultural divides to cross. While management consultancy or office design might mean different things to different people, Michael Jackson is Michael Jackson whether you are in London, New York or New Delhi. At the risk of sounding like I'm advocating Michael Jackson as an ambassador for management consultancy(I'm not), the point is that well-known faces can act as vehicles by which brands can leapfrog cultural boundaries. Consider, for example, the raft of names HP used to support its "The computer is personal again" campaign. Ůber-celebs Jay-Z and Gwen Stefani, amongst others, were leveraged to make a campaign principally aimed at SMEs work on a global level.

When it doesn't...

So as we've seen, when it works, celebrity brand endorsement can support a brand's identity, help it transcend cultural boundaries and bless it with new aesthetic and appealing associations. But when it doesn't, the effects can be disastrous. BT Business has been smart enough to select a brand-face who is an icon of reliability and professionalism, aligning very nicely with how the brand would like itself to be perceived.

But let's say they hadn't been quite so savvy and decided to go with someone with a bit more edge. Let's say, for argument's sake, a young rock star-you know, to give the brand some bite, some street-cred, to broaden their target audience and piggyback on some hip qualities. All very well until your hot young brand property is seen falling out of some sordid Shoreditch bar, looking decidedly short of their handbag, marbles and dignity. And overnight, your brand isn't the cool choice for young professionals, but is embarrassingly unreliable and the centre of a scandal. Not ideal.

If B2B brands are tempted to get into bed with a celebrity name, they must ensure they have carried out due diligence and determined how future-proof that name is. Does the celeb's personal profile match the brand aspirations? Will the celeb view the partnership as a one-night stand or a long term commitment? Is the celeb's conduct likely to call the brand's integrity into question? Have you considered a pre-nup? As they say, when in doubt, leave them out!

A marriage of mutual convenience

When brands do decide to sign on the dotted line and wheel in a famous face these days, we're witnessing a huge change in the way these tie-ups operate. Today, it's undeniable that celebrities such as Peter Jones are brands in their own right, overseeing a number of branded offers (in Jones' case, a book and a TV show with more possibilities, we're sure).

The era of brands simply borrowing a snippet of the celeb's limelight is dead. Now, celebrities want to know what the B2B brand will do for them. Don’t think for one minute that Jones' people had their eyes purely on the pay cheque. No, they're also keenly aware of what the association with a national institution like BT could do for the Peter Jones Brand in the wider business community.

So what does this mean for you? It means that if you are looking at leveraging a famous face, you must accept that it is a partnership, an exercise in co-branding. Just as you are looking to bolster your own brand with a high-profile tie-up, the people/brands you consider will also want a piece of your brand equity. Tread carefully. The opportunities are wide and varied, but the pitfalls can unleash a number of gremlins upon your carefully-built business brand.

First published in B2B Marketing magazine, June 2007.

环保活动在香港

Sun, 01 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT

WPP正努力成为“碳中和”企业。作为响应和支持，扬特香港办公室与其姐妹公司奥美公关一起，在各自的办公室里营造了“绿色文化”。

WPP正努力成为“碳中和”企业。作为响应和支持，扬特香港办公室与其姐妹公司奥美公关一起，在各自的办公室里营造了“绿色文化”。在这一活动中，扬特贡献了一个能够鼓励大家思考和采取行动的传播体系，并为此次“红色内心，绿色行动”设计了一个标志，贴在在每个办公室里的塑料、金属和纸张回收桶上。我们开始使用节能灯泡，并把空调温度设定于24-25度。室内温度虽然有所上升，但这对于保护环境是非常有意义的。

The Brand Union relaunches Veet

Wed, 21 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The Brand Union has unveiled new global branding guidelines for female hair removal brand Veet. As part of a large campaign launched by brand owner Reckitt Benckiser, the new visual identity has been designed to refresh the brand, and shift perceptions of hair removal from necessary chore to sensual ritual.

Following a pitch, The Brand Union was appointed to implement branding guidelines on packaging and visual identity to position the brand as smooth, confident and playful. The new guidelines will cover the brand's portfolio of hair removal products-a total of 57 formats covering both creams & waxes, which are segmented into body parts and skin types. Veet, the market leader in depilatories globally, will now be unified across all formats, with clear colour-coded navigation between products.

With its suggestions of silky smoothness, sensuality and sophistication, the Veet 'pearl' is a striking feature of the improved design, and the new packaging will be colour coded in natural pink, green and blue to denote skin type, featuring iconography to guide customers on parts of the body products are intended for. Photographic imagery of ingredients such Aloe Vera, Bee Wax and Almond Oils sit in a swoosh device that also holds product content information. A system to carry promotional flashes on packs to ensure they work with the new look and feel has also been designed.

Dave Brown, Chairman at The Brand Union comments: The challenge here was to increase the emotional appeal of the brand. We knew that the target market of women in their twenties saw hair removal as a functional chore, and we've tried to make it a sensual ritual through appealing feminine, sophisticated packaging, a refreshed link to glamour and beauty and a unified product range that is easy to navigate. The brand should appeal to confident, modern young women who look for brands that enhance the everyday beauty ritual, rather than adding to their list of things to do.

Reckitt Benckiser comments: This is the most comprehensive marketing push we've ever launched for Veet. The Brand Union was initially tasked to address the brand's colour palette, unify packaging across the brand and create a consistent system for promotions-and the new brand guidelines achieve all of these objectives. The Brand Union envisioned and then created a fresh new look that sits perfectly with the brand's positioning moving forward.

FA Cup winners sport a new look by The Brand Union

Tue, 20 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Portsmouth FC has received a contemporary rejuvenation from global brand design agency The Brand Union as the club looks to advance its positioning across new media channels with an evolved and relevant identity.

The refreshed crest, already seen on the club’s away kit, will be rolled out across the brand and becomes central feature in the club’s home kit when the new 2008/9 season strip is launched in July.

The brief was simple: To paraphrase Henry Ford, we could have any colour crest, as long as it’s blue and gold, says Lucius Peart, Portsmouth FC’s Brand & Marketing Director.

The crest’s blazing eight-point star and crescent moon were part of Portsmouth’s first royal charter, awarded to the city by the king in 1194 following his capture of Cyprus. To date, the symbols have been used to both represent the football club and the city council.

Pompey, a nickname for the well-loved football club renowned the world over, is also the historical name for the city of Portsmouth where HM Dockyard and naval barracks have been based for centuries. The new identity therefore wanted to preserve the association visually while evolving into a relevant, contemporary and eye-catching marque. “We wanted to retain the sense of being a ‘True Portsmouth’”, adds Peart.

As the triumphant football club looks to develop its own identity on the back of great strides in performance, players and facilities, it was felt an injection of contemporary design was needed. Additionally, a revitalised icon would enable the brand to communicate better with its supporters and fans across interactive media.

Dave Brown, UK Chairman of The Brand Union, comments: “Many of the team here are football fanatics, so the opportunity to work with such a prestigious and successful club was a dream come true. Portsmouth FC has an incredibly rich history, imperative to the club. While retaining the essence of this history, we’ve taken this into the 21st Century with a fresh and vibrant look that will accompany the club as it journeys its supporters to the top of the national game and indeed into Europe.”

Building on the club’s rich equity and vibrant heritage, The Brand Union moved the club away from a separate banner and crest to an integrated design that sees ‘Portsmouth FC’ featuring with the star and moon inside the badge for the first time. A bespoke typeface was developed for the club and will be rolled out across the brand in due course. In addition, the contemporary design of the crest can be readily adapted to ensure its use across interactive media channels.

The new badge was introduced to the city and fans alike via an enormous replica shirt, pulled along by a helicopter on May 6th this year. And, following Portsmouth’s triumphant win against Cardiff this weekend in the FA Cup Final, The Brand Union sprang into action back at the agency’s head quarters, rolling out banners for the club’s victory parade across the city of Portsmouth on Sunday.

Adds Peart: “Working with The Brand Union on the new Portsmouth crest has been a pleasure on all fronts. Their commitment to the project and their attention to every detail is matched by their design & creative excellence. We are delighted by the result, and the reaction of our fans, has been nothing but positive.”

In addition to the new visual identity and crest design, The Brand Union have also been tasked with the ongoing management of the brand site and will also be heavily involved with the development of fans’ brand experience as part of the new stadium development.

Making scents of multisensory marketing

Tue, 13 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Leading European shoe emporium Humanic ducts carefully selected scents through different areas on their shop floor: men make their selection while inhaling the sophisticated aroma of a gentlemen’s club; women breathe in a luxurious and heady floral note; a tropical bouquet enlivens the sports wear section, and in the children’s section, a calming, fruity fragrance prevails.

Sceptics shouldn’t turn their nose up at the suggestion that specific aromas do inspire the urge to splurge in your customers. More and more research reveals a tangible link between a fragrance’s bottom notes and the bottom line.

A study of Café & Co, a European coffee shop, showed the staying power that scent installations had on the customer, encouraging him or her to linger longer and spend more time – and money.

South African marketers are quick to sniff out new trends internationally and climb on the band wagon prematurely, but local marketers are cautioned against merely trying it out as a novel add-on without fully understanding it or creating real value in the lives of your customer.

Making rands and scents
But is South Africa ready? A cursory glance at the vehicles on our roads will tell you we’ve overtaken the era in which consumers are seeking merely to fulfill basic needs. SA is enjoying the halcyon days of a retail boom, enjoying access to more disposable income than ever before – and more choice. And that, in turn, means that the imperative to seek means of differentiating your product is stronger than ever.

But it’s an economic reality that not all South Africans are exposed to the retail boom and admittedly only a niche consumer set are looking for luxury. Until we have a critical mass of disposable income that drives choice and competition, it’s unlikely that sensory branding will be implemented on a mass scale – so marketers who are interested in reaching consumers through their noses must be certain that their installations really do make life better for consumers and employees, and create tangible value.

Scent installation isn’t merely about creating a pleasant atmosphere. It’s grounded in specialist skill and rooted in research. South Africa may not be ready just yet, but marketers with foresight should start to recognise the value of multisensory campaigns and equip themselves with the sensory know-how on how to harness the effects.

Would a rose by any other smell sell as well?
Research shows that smell is the only sensory input that bypasses the brain’s filtering system, the thalamus, to have a direct impact on the emotions. In marketing terms, this has significant implications for retailers: according to one international survey, consumers were questioned after shopping in a store that utilised an aroma installation. Sixty-three percent of these consumers perceived that their time in the shop was shorter than it actually was, while 26% reported having a more enjoyable experience than before the installation had been implemented. Vital information for, say, a bank looking to make their customers’ queuing experience more perceivably pleasurable.

Locally, retailers are starting to sit up and take notice. Two South African casinos already make use of neutralising technology to subtly extract smoke from its environments, and two major retail grocery stores are currently investigating the ability of aromas to neutralise fish odours in the seafood section while filtering spice aromas throughout the meat department.

The Brand Union recently joined forces with Sensarama, an specialist Austrian-based company that focuses on creating olfactory and auditory solutions. Together, we are currently working on a solution for a well known local retail bank. This doesn’t mean concocting a fragrance, spraying it throughout and hoping for the best. Rather, we’re concentrating on creating a link between the consumer’s unique experience of this banking brand to create meaning.

This entails a rigorous process of examining the brand’s positioning; its colour, typography and language cues; frequently used imagery, symbols and shapes; and the materials, forms and functions present in the retail environment. This is vital information as the unique fragrance needs to complement all these cues.

From there, we use a research control group, testing the environment – with and without scent – to benchmark people’s perceptions: how are they feeling; do they believe they spent a “long” time in the queue; is the atmosphere busy or relaxed, tiring or activating?

Leading consumers by the nose
Scent can also play an important role in shaping consumer traffic in a retail environment. Sensarama’s Consumer Scout uses sophisticated camera devices and software technology to track movement and footfall throughout the branch, which provides a basic understanding of customer flow. This helps develop an olfactory map, providing insight into how people navigate their environment, which areas attract them more than others, where a scent is either required to neutralise existing odours or enhance the consumer’s experience.

In a general retail environment, this may answer a number of needs: we can learn how to use scent to draw people to aisles they don’t usually frequent, or areas that traditionally have poor sales.

The implications are undoubtedly exciting, but South African marketers need to be cautious about jumping on the bandwagon. It’s vital that any scent created for a brand is integrally linked to other cues; that it’s an intrinsic part of the brand and not a fancy add-on. Just as Harley Davidson has patented the infamous roar of its engine, the scent will become an ownable piece of intellectual property, which can be registered and identifiable and distinctive in the same way as a brand’s logo.

Because they’re the most accessible brand building vehicles, marketers have traditionally favoured visual and auditory messaging. But essentially, these tools do little more than make a promise. The fulfilment of that promise comes through the overall brand experience. And this is becoming increasingly important in this era of mass commoditisation. When linked in to other brand cues, olfactory branding becomes part of a powerful multi-sensory approach to managing your brand.

Sensory branding is about creating ownability, a brand’s best asset. Used correctly, in a market that’s fast becoming overcrowded, it’s the tool that will differentiate your brand from a bouquet of smelly competitors.

怡和年度颁奖典礼

Thu, 01 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT

扬特香港办公室自1999年开始服务怡和集团。2001年，我们为怡和集团内部的年度颁奖活动“以绩效为荣”(Pride in Performance)进行了命名和概念发展，并合作至今。

扬特香港办公室自1999年开始服务怡和集团。2001年，我们为怡和集团内部的年度颁奖活动“以绩效为荣”(Pride in Performance)进行了命名和概念发展，并合作至今。

这个评奖活动聚集了来自欧洲和亚洲的各位候选人，分别代表怡和旗下的各个子公司，如文华东方和Dairy Farm。今年的活动于4月25日在邵氏片场举办。我们发展和演绎的“成就”这一主题被所有人广泛接受。在每个奖项颁发前播放的一段经典电影也对主题进行了烘托。

在中国建立可信赖品牌

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

在一个以“和谐”这一明确并具有政治意味的主题作为各个社会及经济领域的发展基础的国家里，以下两个深入人心的理念一直在被努力实现着。首先“增长”已成为一个预计2007年国内生产总值达到2.8亿、保守估计2030年约增长至5.9亿这样一个国家的代名词。第二是“诚信”，这已经成为影响企业在国内外发展的主要议题。

2006年初，我首次移居中国，同本地银行打交道的经历就是一个体现公司与顾客关系的典型案例。在前台申请信用卡及其他银行业务时，其中有句中文标语写道“不许欺骗”，令我觉得既可笑又气愤。两年后，诚信问题已成指数增长。从金融机构到食品生产商，从个人护理、美容产品到玩具、医药，“诚信”已成为决定最终购买、品牌绩效和忠诚度的首要因素，并且也是诸多领域的关键要素。

究其原因，这不仅仅只是因为诸多劣质产品的曝光报道，不择手段攫取商业利润的贪欲已经使得民族自豪和诚信在诸多产品及服务方面有所动摇，而且还因为很多本土公司尚未注意到真实性与诚信的重要性，而这正是品牌建设的基本原则。我不是在讲广告，广告只是品牌建设中的一个环节；我所谈及的是在业务中可以很好贯彻的核心品牌价值，用以支持它们的商业策略。毕竟，公司不是靠精彩的品牌建设而取得巨大的商业成功，它们的成功秘诀在于出色的业绩，以及对品牌建设的理解与认同。

我认为有三个基本原则推动着所有的公司以及他们的服务与产品。它们是：

1、增长。品牌虽被清晰定位但是却常常在其成长中需要帮助，以占领更多市场份额、在竞争中取胜、创新或是业务拓展。

2、方向。在确定方向上品牌需要帮助——例如：如何在日趋饱和的中国市场准确定位企业或是其产品。

3、保护。企业需要保护它们的品牌，以防止因为他人盗用、不负责的产品把关以及员工或其他关键受众对其缺乏理解与认同而对品牌造成不利的威胁。

品牌自身及其周边相关的一切事务都需要管理，从而更好地协调并忠于品牌本身。如果品牌不能在它所有内部及外部的股东中建立信誉，它将会是个失败的品牌，或者至少它会持续的受到不利影响，从而降低它的商业绩效。除此之外，品牌需要不断提供适当的品牌体验以恪守其品牌承诺，例如Apple和LVMH在这方面就做的很成功。

尽管如此，在急切进入市场拼命促销的大潮中，很多中国品牌在品牌建设上选择走捷径，将注意力放在短期盈利而非长期的忠诚度上。但是永远不要忘记，中国消费者现在变得越来越精明，在与品牌的关系中提出了更多要求，在选择产品上也更加成熟和老练。这一迅速变化的复杂性带来了更多的挑战，消费者每天要在各种媒介片段中发送大量信息，同时需要在大批类似产品信息中做出选择。另外他们并非没有，而是经常受情感因素驱使。

然而，像去年哈根达斯事件，使得消费者对其品牌信任度大大降低，并且需要很长时间才使品牌形象得以恢复。当消费者遇到消费体验缺陷或是问题时，品牌不能责怪身第三方、行政上的过失或是政府，他们必须担负其在各种情形和商业环境下所应担负的责任，以管理好其品牌。从高露洁到美泰，从荣威到双环的例子均可以看出：品牌需要更努力地去经营，在整合其品牌战略与商业战略时需要更加成熟，从而建立并维系消费者地信任以确保品牌良性发展并取得商业成功。

香港英国文化协会与时俱进

Sun, 02 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT

英国文化协会: 与时俱进－－在成立60周年之际, 扬特品牌同盟香港办公室协助英国文化协会，为其成立60周年纪念活动发展一个主题传播平台。

英国文化协会: 与时俱进－－在成立60周年之际
扬特品牌同盟香港办公室协助英国文化协会，为其成立60周年纪念活动发展一个主题传播平台。此次英国文化协会成立60周年纪念活动，着重在对外介绍其作为英语培训项目提供者和英国－香港双向文化交流桥梁的角色。我们的灵感来自于英国文化协会目前使用中的全球品牌管理手册，以“与时俱进(Evolution)”作为整个方案的核心概念。这一概念以标志、一系列的标语、和视觉应用项目的形式得以展现。我们也为2008年初举行的周年庆典发展了品牌体验，并与WPP的另一成员OgilvyOne合作建立了英国文化协会60周年纪念网站。www.britishcouncil.org.hk/celebration60

与奥美集团分享英国文化协会这一案例的思考与成果
为了协助英国文化协会的成立60周年纪念活动发展一个策略性视觉传播平台，奥美集团专门将其列为360度品牌培训的一个课题。通过内部讨论，一些初步的想法得以成形。扬特品牌同盟香港办公室从项目一开始便参与其中，并负责将初步的讨论成果发展为最终方案，并与WPP的另一成员OgilvyOne合作建立了英国文化协会60周年纪念网站。英国文化协会的本次纪念活动赢得了非常广泛的关注。扬特品牌同盟香港办公室也专门于2008年2月22日与奥美其它成员一起分享了整个案例。

“欢迎”

Sat, 01 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT

在此，我很高兴向您介绍第一期的"亚洲品牌治道Brand Mastery Asia" －－扬特品牌同盟亚太区的电子月报。

扬特品牌同盟正在整个亚太区持续快速发展。我们的电子报就诞生在这一激动人心的时刻。我们一直都致力于帮助客户取得商业成功，为其内外部受众指引动人方向，并且提供能够保持品牌良好运转的工具和方法。我们平衡品牌建设中的艺术与科学，创造能够经历时间考验的作品。与此同时，我们希望用这份电子报来与您简要分享我们的作品、我们的团队、我们的观点。希望您能享受阅读的乐趣，并有所发现和收获。

The Brand Union Middle East launches its second office in the region

Thu, 07 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The Brand Union, one of the world's leading brand consultancies, announced today that it has opened Abu Dhabi's first global branding agency office in the heart of the capital.

The move reflects the emirate's growing global profile as well as the increasing awareness of the role of world class branding consultancies for organisations within the GCC.

Endorsing the establishment of the Abu Dhabi office, Worldwide CEO of The Brand Union, Simon Bolton said: 'Abu Dhabi is an integral part of The Brand Union's growth strategy in the Middle East and the office highlights our commitment to the emirate.'

'2007 was a year of great success for The Brand Union in the Middle East and Abu Dhabi is a key market for the next stage of the agency's development,' added Hermann Behrens, CEO Middle East, The Brand Union.

Abu Dhabi is considered the economic engine of the U.A.E. and has been labelled as the 'richest city in the world' in honour of its per capita GDP ($52,000) being the highest across the globe. The government of Abu Dhabi recently issued its '2030 Urban Structure Framework', which aims to transform the city into a global commercial and cultural centre.

The Brand Union is actively supporting the 2030 Abu Dhabi Framework and its commitment to the city has been demonstrated by the recruitment of Toby Southgate as the Managing Director for the Abu Dhabi office. Southgate has developed and managed top level client relationships across the UK, Europe and the United States with projects including the 2012 London Olympic bid.

'A sizeable portion of The Brand Union Middle East's revenue is already generated from Abu Dhabi and it was critical to respond to our growing client base in the emirate. We aim to be an integral part of the '2030 Urban Structure Framework' outlined by the Abu Dhabi government and our full scale operation in the city will assist in growing our market share here,' explained Southgate.

Southgate also recognises the growing profile of Abu Dhabi as an attractive place to live and work. 'We are fortunate that a number of senior staff from within The Brand Union are keen to develop their careers in Abu Dhabi. We are also forming our external recruitment plans, and we have a great opportunity both to nurture local talent and to learn from those already in the marketplace.'

The Brand Union has long been active with some of the major brands changing the face of Abu Dhabi. The client list already includes Mubadala, the investment company owned by the Abu Dhabi government and TDIC, The Tourism Development & Investment Company which has already attracted global partners such as The Louvre and the Guggenheim Foundation to their Saadiyat Island development.

'Abu Dhabi is quite simply one of the most exciting cities in the world. Over the next decade we expect to see a number of truly global brands developing out of Abu Dhabi, and we will be here to partner with them and ease that growth process' concluded Southgate.

The Brand Union is committed to delivering memorable and valuable brand worlds for its clients. Driven by a deep-seated commitment to becoming masters of the art and science of brand building the company helps brands grow, offers direction and protect brands against the economic and cultural elements, and from self harm.

Unified not uniform, the Abu Dhabi office now joins a union of more than 500 people working together across 21 cities including Dubai, New York, London and Tokyo.

Can Brands Self-Actualise in Africa?

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Can brands self-actualise in Africa? That is, can brands that operate in the premium sector in First World markets and deliver on more intellective and emotional values hope to work in African markets? A Mont Blanc pen which appeals to ideals of status and prestige may not expect to enjoy the same success as Bic, which caters to basic needs of functionality and reliability. But that’s not to say it should write this market off.

African brands are growing towards this self-actualisation space. Self-actualisation - as the master of motivational studies Abraham Maslow contends - is a process, not a goal. It’s the act of striving to fulfil your potential which begins with fulfilling the most basic needs before your consumer - and your brand - can advance to a higher plane of being. The key is to understand what motivates a brand to ascend towards self-actualisation.

What motivates growth?

If Maslow had applied consumer needs to his celebrated model around the hierarchy of human needs, he probably would’ve said this: At the bottom rung are a number of basic consumer needs that a brand must meet in order to exist. As one moves steadily up the hierarchy, however, brands tend towards self-actualisation, where the brand has advanced up the scale from “deficiency needs” - base requirements for functionality - to “growth needs” - psychological and emotional needs. With apologies to the learned psychology professor. Growth forces - whether market-related, socio-economic or legislative - create upward movement in the hierarchy when lower tier needs are fulfilled.

Let’s illustrate this point with the experience of banks in developed and emerging markets. Branding problems encountered by banks in the developed world (which typically excludes most of Africa) are different to those in the emerging economies.

Largely due to lack of education, to limited understanding of banking institutions and financial instruments, as well as the legacy of instability in the region, there is historically an innate mistrust of banks in developing economies. Whereas in the developed world – while there is perhaps a grudge view of the associated costs – banks are far more readily accepted because safety and stability are arguably a given and there is a much longer heritage of retail service.

In developed markets, consumers are seeking differentiation factors that go beyond the now hygiene factors of safety, security and convenience. Indeed, these have now become commoditised. In these mature economies, there is increasingly less space to play in and banks seek to differentiate from competitor offerings in the realm of the emotive.

Underdeveloped markets, however, offer greater potential for differentiation on functional factors that are more directly meaningful. They are able to respond directly to the market’s legacy of a lack of safety, for example, by espousing the measures they have taken to put these in place, and effectively safeguarding its credibility.

Nigeria’s Union Bank, for example, has traditionally positioned itself in the area of safety with the pay-off line “Big, Strong, Reliable” – appealing to one of the most basic and literal needs of its customer base. But such a positioning would not hold its own against global brands operating in more developed economies.

Safety, stability and basic service therefore live on the bottom rung of the banking brands’ needs model. Recent structural changes throughout Africa’s financial sector have largely advanced brands onto the next level in response to new favourable conditions that enable needs on the bottom tier to be met; they now need to service more sophisticated needs as their customer base becomes accustomed to a more sophisticated, stable and competitive market.

As Maslow contends, as basic needs are met, there is a motivation to satisfy successively more advanced or higher needs that occupy a set hierarchy. Often, this advancement is facilitated by environmental developments in technology or legislation. There were almost 100 banking licences active in Nigeria a decade ago, and as a result the financial sector faced an enormous credibility problem. When the reserve bank governor raised the minimum base capitalisation requirements to 25-billion Naira, a frenzy of consolidation and mergers & acquisition activity ensued in order for some of the smaller banks to survive. However, what this legislation did as well is ensure that the basic factors of safety and stability factor have now been automatically catered for, thereby opening up a new space for bank brands to play in.

In some less secure markets, however – particularly conflict zones like the DRC, for example – brands are still able live comfortably on the bottom rung because safety and stability are not necessarily hygiene factors or guaranteed.

Stay relevant

Now, as the Nigerian market becomes more mature, this positioning is no longer as strong or as relevant a message – and the bank must evolve to stay relevant to its consumer, looking to the developed market for cues. There is now huge scope for banks who respond to the evolving needs of their customers, climbing the value tiers of the Branding Needs model and who extol appropriate value associations. And what we’re seeing now is a move towards increased efficiency, better service and advanced product offering as the base needs are met. Banks that stay on the bottom tier and fail to adapt to the evolving marketing conditions and their customers’ expectations will die.

The same principle holds true for any brand. The key is to stay relevant to your customers.

An example of an evolving brand strategy: “First generation” banks in Nigeria - like First Bank, Union and UBA - were previously perceived as old, bureaucratic and slow, albeit safe. In contrast, “Second generation” banks - the likes of GT Bank and Zenith - were perceived as better and more innovative in their service offering and efficiency, but still suffered under the shadow of instability. As Maslow contends, if a lower need is no longer met, a consumer will reprioritise his needs and revert to a former state or need until such time as the environment stabilises and allows advancement. The second generation banks, while offering enhanced service and efficiency than its forebears, were not able to guarantee safety and stability, and some collapsed. And first generation banks gladly welcomed back their old customers.

Now, however, with safety a bankable factor, “new generation” banks are coming to the fore. For example, the new UBA bank, however, was borne of the union of the “old UBA” – a first generation bank – and Standard Trust Bank – a second generation bank – and their brand essence is appropriately Trusted Innovator. These banks are far more relevant to the new generation of Nigerians who are entering the banking system and prevail on the back of more stable market conditions.

On the back of these insights, UBA plans to expand into Africa and can carry this understanding into new and different markets, beginning with assessing the environment conditions there and choosing to emphasise relevant elements of its brand essence appropriately. For example, UBA may wish to pronounce the value of trust in less-developed DRC while accentuating its values of innovation when playing in a more sophisticated market like South Africa.

Already, forward-thinking banks who are moving in tandem with their customers’ needs to advance themselves and self-actualise and are adding aspirational offerings to their portfolio that talk to status. Diamond Bank now offers a private arm to its brand portfolio that caters to its niche self-actualised consumer set, seeking ego-satisifiers of éclat and prestige. But importantly, it hasn’t managed to lose relevance with its broader consumer set. This is also true of Absa in South Africa and Absa Private, both different in look and offering but living comfortably within the same brand paradigm.

Increasingly, forward-looking banks will aspire to broaden their reach into new and different markets and will need to up their game – and their brand positioning tier – in order to function there. Otherwise, what has typically happened is that banks that move beyond their home border to set up shop in other more developed markets will only attract their own expat customers now residing in this new area – customers that can relate to the homegrown offering – while failing to attract the new.

Those brands that have the foresight to develop an internationally credible brand that retains the heritage of its origins will endure.

Journey with your customer

A brand that has retained its heritage throughout its brand extension but evolved with the evolving needs of its loyal consumer set is South African stalwart Omo washing powder. Omo has managed to get not only the formula for brighter whites right, but also how to journey with its consumer set as its customer undergoes different life - and more especially - economic stages.

While its cheaper product resides on the lower end of the scale - and on a lower tier or brand deliverables - designed for cold water washing in streams and tubs, Omo’s more advanced products like Omo Auto and Omo Progress play in the emotive realm: “Dirt is good”. Omo has managed to retain a heritage and loyalty with the Black Diamond consumer set that, recent reports commissioned by Unilever indicate, are growing by a phenomenal 30% year on year in the black middle class sector. This is unprecedented movement in South Africa’s most important market. Through successful brand extension, Omo has managed to appeal across the scale of its consumer base.

Know your tier

Like any simple model, Maslow's theory is a guide which requires some interpretation and creative licence. Given which, it remains extremely useful and applicable for understanding, explaining and handling many theories around motivation and progress.

Marketing in Africa may merit its own textbook, with its own sets of rules and theorems. But by applying Maslow’s insights to your approach and understanding how to map your brand’s position to a hierarchy of needs, you can better understand the space you play in. And you can devise a better strategy that will inform your approach to marketing your brand in Africa.

You need to understand on which tier your brand most comfortably lives, depending on the needs it services. You need to determine if all the necessary building blocks are in place or brand requirements have been met before you can follow your consumers’ advancement, or in fact lead it, and remain relevant to them.

Fine Tune Your Research

Wed, 10 Oct 2007 02:27:00 GMT

We’ve heard it before: “Let’s put together a focus group” or “What do the numbers tell us?” In these cases, our colleagues are often looking for primary research to tell them unequivocally what to do next. But while research can be a wonderful tool, we need to remember that it alone doesn’t give answers; it provides guidance.

Articles on research dos and don’ts tend to focus on tactical issues, such as samples (where researchers may have just spoken to children without including the grandmothers who buy) or questionnaire structure (where the crucial factor in people’s decision-making wasn’t identified). Rarely addressed is whether people are undertaking research for the right reasons and with the optimal methodology.

Successful research begins with a clear set of objectives that can help select the most appropriate research methods. For example, if one is looking to explore the opportunity for a new product, qualitative methods might be right, whereas, if you’re looking to measure awareness of your brand, a survey or other quantitative tool is the best approach.

Even if you start with clear objectives, there are other pitfalls that can derail well-intentioned research.

Picking the wrong fight

Often, qualitative and quantitative methods are pitted against each other as rivals, when in reality they are both essential and complementary. Taking either approach alone poses risks that should be carefully evaluated before choosing an either/or route. Ideally, most research would benefit from both: Do some qualitative research to get a sense of what customers are looking for and then size or prioritize it through a quantitative study. Unfortunately, time and budget constraints often preclude this. If so, matching the right methodology to the objectives is often more important than deciding on data.

Focus group monomania

In many companies, focus groups have become synonymous with qualitative research. While they’re suited to meet many objectives, focus groups also have distinct disadvantages – among them, professional “focus groupers” who have dominant personalities or submissive ones. Either can lead to misleading results. A more complete portfolio of qualitative research methodologies should be considered when gathering marketplace feedback. In-depth one-on-one interviews are often overlooked. Some moderators might lack the skills to elicit a structure from free-form exploratory interviews. When conducted correctly, one-on-ones can yield rich insights into consumer motivations and behaviours.

Loving the numbers too much

The pursuit of cold, hard facts has led many marketers to pursue the ultimate marketing ROI tracker and predictor. There are now many quantitative methodologies that claim to provide the ultimate in brand valuation and quantification, but there’s no standard approach.

Misrepresenting results

Even if a research program is executed perfectly, the work can be jeopardized at the very end. Often, executives misrepresent research findings, picking and choosing numbers and charts that best suit the point they are trying to make, irrespective of clarity, consistency, and the potential for tracking future discrepancies. But, by properly combining research findings, savvy insights, and gut instinct, marketers can learn how to better direct brand activities.

Green brands get the green light

Mon, 01 Oct 2007 10:43:00 GMT

Fair trade, carbon footprint, organic, holistic, GM-free. Green brands. It’s the trend du jour, and it doesn’t look likely to go away. But tread carefully, advises David Blyth

Fair trade, carbon footprint, organic, holistic, GM-free. A myriad terms pepper recycled papers on the Green Revolution and are enough to dazzle even the best intentioned. What was once the preserve of Bohemian bean-eating flea market shoppers found around Green Market Square is now becoming more mainstream as we enter an increasingly green global market. Green no longer refers to naïve but to the well-informed environmentally-conscious consumer.

There is undoubtedly a growing trend towards rising consumer consciousness in the area of green and - albeit a season behind - the seeds have started to take root in local soil. BP is a much publicised example of an international brand turning over a new leaf and espousing its environmental credentials in the global spotlight, probably spurring on others to follow suit.

South Africa has been notably slow on the uptake in comparison to its first world counterparts and the reasons are many; the severity of our more pressing socio-economic issues cannot be understated. However, the lean towards green is ignored at a local brand’s own peril as South Africa becomes all the more integrated into the world economy - both in terms of global organisations importing their brands and beliefs to our shores and our brands exporting onto shelves of more demanding markets. There is both a rise in consumer consciousness - and conscienceness - as these trends become more mainstream.

It’s the trend du jour, but it doesn’t look like likely to go away.

“Fair trade, carbon footprint, organic, holistic, GM-free. Green brands. It’s the trend du jour, but it doesn’t look like likely to go away. The expectations are already there that your brand must wear its green stripes on its sleeve. But what is it, exactly? The concept of green is all still very grey. Here’s how to go green with care.”

South Africa: Are you ready?

The expectations are already there that your brand must wear its green stripes on its sleeve, and in the face of rising demand and expectations, these green-savvy consumers are turning their gaze towards your brand.

But what is it, exactly? The concept of green is all still very grey.

Does all-natural mean 100% natural? How organic are your "organic" tomatoes, really? Is it better to buy organic tomatoes from Mexico or the locally produced regular variety that have incurred far fewer carbon miles? Just how organic is Unilever’s Organics shampoo? (Not at all, unless you count the mere inclusion of essential oils in its soapy ingredient).

The simple inclusion of words such as "pure" and "natural" in a product’s name or description lend themselves wholesome value associations that don’t necessarily have wholesome origins, only muddying the waters further.

Even the best intentioned consumer has a hard time discerning their organics from their apples.

Despite the growing development of the green market, an industry-wide and legally-binding definition of what constitutes "natural" is still lacking, confusing both the industry and consumer. This is not helped by manufacturers exploiting the legislative loopholes and "green washing"; many products champion natural credentials even though the percentage of natural ingredients is in fact negligible or unconfirmed.

Who can you really trust?

Sowing the seeds of change:

Woolworths, perhaps endowed with a foresight inherited from its British sister Marks & Spencer, has well-developed equity in the area of wholesome values and environmentally-friendly practices as one of the first retailers in South Africa to introduce an organic range to their shelves and hormone-free meat and dairy products. This retailer deserves further kudos for recently indicating a comprehensive strategy that it aims to implement by 2012 to reduce its carbon footprint by focusing on organic production, extending its organic range in food and clothing, conservation, recycling and improved packaging.

Massmart has simultaneously issued statements about its new environmental initiatives, but admits that it’s not really sure where to begin in the absence of an official green blueprint - and it isn’t the only one. But it’s importantly recognising the need to take the first step to be leaps ahead of its competitors when legislation is put in place.

Why bother?

The virtues of being virtuous in an ever increasingly competitive market are many. Green isn’t just good business practice, it makes rands and sense.

Reputational buffer:
When things do go wrong, your positive green credentials can help shield you from the fall-out and forgiveness is that much more forthcoming. Eskom might’ve received less bad press over the recent power cuts had it made its real initiatives in the area of conservation and eco-power more visible to its public, missing a strategic opportunity to position the blackouts as "green-outs".
Survival:
While a poor social or environmental reputation may not yet be enough to prejudice the average consumer’s shopping list, it leaves many brands vulnerable to competitors who have invested in a more responsible image. In fact, it may not be long before perceptions of "responsible", ethical and green become hygiene factors, essential for your brand simply to survive in the mainstream.
rust in ‘natural’:
In the face of growing global scepticism of large corporates, following a number of health scares and corruption scandals, there is a growing perception that organic, natural and ethical products are more trustworthy. And in the absence of industry-wide accreditation, this is your green endorsement or stamp of approval, both enhancing your product’s visibility on the green shelf as well as your credibility.
New markets:
There is a growing consciousness and conscienceness among all consumers across a broad demographic range - including yours - so by responding to their needs and tastes, you’re staying relevant to them while broadening your reach to potential new market sets.

But a brand is only as good as a company’s reputation of promise and delivery. And your brand needs to deliver on its promises. While green may be the new black and your brand may be tempted to climb aboard the band wagon, are you ready? Is your commitment to go green an authentic statement of your intention? Can you deliver?

It takes a lot of groundwork to build that credibility, beginning with planting the seeds of culture. It needs to be ingrained and inculcated into every employee’s mind through a carefully conceived strategy. This needs to be communicated from the values contained in your strategy to external communication channels. There finally needs to be actual delivery on intent, and a team in place to manage and market this to make it sustainable.

Think carefully before picking up the green baton prematurely. It’s easy and appealing, but it won’t be genuine and authentic until you lay the right foundations in place.

Authenticity and trust

Authenticity needs to be built into the very fibre of your company and brand. This is not an overnight exercise in repackaging yourself in brown paper and recycled materials.

The current generation of our CEOs have not been taught how to handle green issues and sustainability. Until recently, these have not been main boardroom concerns and these practices are only now making their way into memos on marketing practices. Green needs to be linked back to the strategy and cultural ethics of an organisation. It’s not just about adding an appendix to your mission statement or publishing a sustainability report as an obligatory legislative inclusion in your annual report. It means how understanding the impact you have as an organisation and building that opportunity into your strategy, rather than being opportunistic.

And your internal processes need to reflect this. There is a mindset that needs to be slowly and sustainably built into the organisational culture. This needs to be completed with thorough follow-through - communicating why the company has gone this route and how, and be consistent in your communication.

Going green can’t just be a smokescreen

Before you jump on the band wagon, carefully consider how to approach at it from a green perspective. Use a natural positioning to develop a unique proposition. This unique and distinctive feature needs to be crystal clear and help you carve out a niche in an increasingly crowded market. Ethical practices such as not testing on animals are now almost expected by the market. Therefore you need to look beyond what is now common-place and look at your use of packaging, carbon emissions, treatment of staff and ethical behaviour.

The easiest place to start is with what you’ve got. Look at your products and services.

Product attributes:
For example, can any of your product ingredients be modified to be more environmentally friendly or sourced from somewhere else? Starbucks, an early pioneer of the Fairtrade movement, endeared itself to its consumer base who are prepared to pay a premium because of the coffee producer’s ethical sourcing policies.
Product benefits:
Are there any that can be emphasised, and are there any linkages to a green theme? Perhaps use of your product can enhance health and wellbeing or is more environmentally considerate. Be careful not to use this as a promise unless it is relevant.
Values:
Lastly, look for value attachments that will further your consumers’ green beliefs, such as feeling like a better globally responsible citizen by supporting organisations of the same approach.

Here are some further guidelines to add to your plan in shaping up for the green shelf:

Educate and empower:
Research shows that the more educated consumer - not necessarily more affluent - is the likely buyer of green products. As we’ve seen, the green market is a confusing place for a well-meaning but under-informed consumer. There is great opportunity in educating - and thereby empowering - your customer about ethical consumerism by providing accessible and relevant information. And thereby nurturing, growing and creating a new market.
Transparency:
In a climate of mistrust and scepticism, offering transparency in your business practices and socially responsible behaviour will support your credibility and trustworthiness in the long run. Make verifiable claims about being eco-friendly and what it means to you, and ensure that your claims can be substantiated. Else the truth will out. Use accreditation and labeling schemes to endorse your product, reassuring customers of your product’s provenance. Proudly South African is one that indicates a locally sourced good, not imported at cost to both the economy and the environment.
Price:
Price-sensitivity in South Africa is a major factor. To overcome this limitation, organisations will need to tap into South Africa’s culture of inventiveness to come up with ways of producing an augmented product that meets the green criteria without sacrificing quality. It also needs to be affordable, on a par with other prices or at best undercutting those. This remains a challenge.
Cross-over opportunities:
Use your brand to develop cross-over opportunities. Using successful brand extension across a number of segments could be useful. Don’t overlook your existing brand equity; capitalise on the trust your consumer already has in your brand. Target parents who are more easily persuaded to purchase green products for their bouncing offspring.
Shelf stand-out:
As natural goes mainstream, green goods now intermingle happily on shelves with regular products, no longer confined to hippy health stores and the dedicated “health” aisle. Seek out opportunities to differentiate in look and feel while wearing your green heart on your (packaging) sleeve.

More than skin deep, packaging is also a key opportunity to tell your story and create a belief and trust in your product. And new technological advances are breathing new life into packaging.

Biodegradable packaging is naturally a popular choice in this category and refillable packaging can literally give your brand a second life in some instances. Bio-plastics, TerraSkin, corn-based materials, bamboo and recycled paper are just some of the materials that are currently enjoying the limelight for their green credentials. They also allow you the opportunity to differentiate from your plastic-wrapped peers while being at the forefront of the green revolution.
Connectivity:
Tap into the connectivity mega-trend: Resonate with themes of belonging to a wider community through ethical consumerism. Contemporary consumers are using their purchasing to express wider political and social concerns. People regard the brands they invest in as a reflection of themselves, Buying ethically is often motivated by a consumer seeking approval and often inadvertently become brand ambassadors due to the high involvement ethical purchases necessitate.

The revolution is already here: In May, Johannesburg launched its first Green Drinks cocktail party at Melrose Arch, encouraging local greenies to meet and mingle.

Change now

While South Africa may have lagged behind to date, brands are quickly pulling up their organic cotton socks and mobilising (renewable) resources behind going green. Brands at the forefront of producing and communicating green can benefit immediately and those that take advantage now will be winners in the medium term. Nedbank has owned the green space in the financial services sector for a long time, supporting WWF and conservation initiatives, and so it has a head start in this area when it wants to start effecting further green initiatives.

Why wait for a competitor to turn the market on its head? Be the first to get it right and be the instigator of change that will challenge the rest of the market to follow.

About the author

David Blyth is MD of The Brand Union, South Africa. In his prior role as Strategy Director, he worked on the delivery of brand positioning, architecture and employee engagement projects across a blue-chip client base in Africa and the Middle East. David is a keen green advocate with an interest in developing South African brands’ awareness of their ecological impact and reputation on an international stage.

What brand is your passport?

Mon, 01 Oct 2007 02:27:00 GMT

Brands have become ambassadors for their host nation as they find themselves on shelves around the world. But how do we raise the brand equity of Africa?

It goes without saying that Italian suits and fine leather goods surpass the standards of style and sophistication of its classiest contemporaries, that quality watches tick with Swiss precision engineering; that real champagne bubbles with French joie de vivre and Cuban cigars are sought after by the fussiest connoisseurs, their appeal arguably enhanced by their “bad boy” contraband quality. Brands and their countries of origin have a strategic relationship in the minds of a consumer, a relationship that – if managed well – can be symbiotically beneficial for both product and state. Peroni is one such enterprising brand that candidly piggybacks on the style connotations of its mother country – mama Italia – to market and position itself as the iconic category leader in the premium beer category.

In turn, brands have become ambassadors for their host nation as they find themselves on shelves around the world. Nokia is effectively the face of Finland who otherwise boasts little in the way of brand exports. McDonalds is an edifice to American commercialisation and mass commoditisation. Emirates Airlines symbolises the professionalism and gleaming efficiency of the United Arab Emirates.

Whether deliberate or not, whether managed or not, we all have certain perceptions of goods based on where they come from. Your predilection towards certain goods from certain countries no doubt stems from effective nation branding. And countries the world over are recognising the powerful value of marketing themselves as a brand state in an era of increasing globalisation in order to attract foreign direct investment, recruit skilled talent and wield political clout.

Branding Africa

Which country do you most readily associate with coffee? Chances are that Columbia sprang first to mind. But did you know that the Ivory Coast produces 40% of the world’s coffee? Yet its politically-troubled Latin American counterpart clearly owns the coffee space in brand association terms. And while new world wines may be turning heads and taste buds on tasting tables around the world, a wine connoisseur is still likely to reach for a French blend over a South African cultivar.

Africa, home to almost a third of the world’s countries, only boasts two countries in the most recent Anholt Nation Branding Index’s Top 40 list. Europe contributes 18. Even Iran makes the list!

African countries are historically poor at self-promotion. While they clearly have the opportunity and marketable attributes, they have been very poor at marketing these.

While the EU had an easier job of marketing its exclusive member states, who by virtue of qualification already enjoy significant country equity, the AU faces the far more difficult job of changing the world’s perceptions of the Dark Continent until it gets the branding of its individual member states right.

But what is Nation Branding exactly? Whether managed or not, every nation already has a brand. For example, when Croatia is called to mind, scenes of warfare were most likely your immediate association a mere few years ago; now you’re more likely to conjure up pictures of idyllic Mediterranean coastline and yachting holidays.

What is important is that this awareness is managed into a beneficial space.

Of the Top 40 ranked nation brands, Africa – with almost a third of the countries in the world – enjoys only two nominations: Egypt in at 28th and South Africa at 32nd. What can we do to change this rather gloomy outlook?

From the inside out

Renowned commentator Simon Anholt argues that with globalisation, it is increasingly important that countries get their international image – their brand – right. With an increasingly wider market spectrum to choose from, countries are competing for consumers’ attention and respect. Consumers are attracted to clear and consistent messages about things people value: like competent governments, friendly people and economic opportunity.

Despite the fact that Africa is currently enjoying unprecedented GDP growth and stability, Africa is still generally and widely associated with disease, famine and political instability. And South Africa is given little preferential differentiation from the mother continent. So, it’s difficult to start with building strong brand equity into the entity of Africa, as did the EU of its European members. We need to get the branding of the member states right, getting individual countries to strengthen their equity first and branding “bottom up”.

McDonalds is an edifice to American mass-consumerism.

Where do we start? You start with the table stakes, which for tourists, investors and immigrants alike are Infrastructure, Friendly People and Safety. Every country needs to have these foundations in place before it can hope to build a brand.

But understand that table stakes are not differentiators. Identify what unique qualities your country has to offer and balance this with what consumers actually want from a country. Understand your Compelling Truth and look at what you have – natural resources, beauty, minerals, culture, infrastructure, technology – and then match these deliverables to what is really wanted from a global audience.

Tourism offers new opportunities for countries that may lack other strong brand values, but this is a narrow and fragile positioning that countries should not be tempted to restrict themselves to. Egypt’s tourist-focused positioning is precariously balanced on tourism – and as we’ve seen recently, one bomb in a tourist spot is enough to blast its credibility for a few months. While also a credible tourist destination, South Africa’s platform is strategically built across more offerings, giving us more strength post-democracy.

But if you do decide to go this route, make sure you can deliver on your intended’s agenda. Nigeria is a country that has successfully managed to improve its public persona through economic liberalisation, political stability and restructuring in the last decade. But it’s hardly top of mind of most tourists’ destination wish lists. However, on a recent business trip to Nigeria, I was surprised to notice a concerted brand campaign aimed at directing tourists to “come and see Nigeria”, which indicates to me that they’ve somewhat misguided in what it is that their country has to offer and have misunderstood their potential. While it’s increasingly seen to be a great place to invest, it’s not to visit.

Without National Pride, the best nation branding campaign is dead in the water before it begins. Nation branding doesn’t happen in isolation: it needs to involve all stakeholders, both internal and external. People need to buy into it and live it. As did New Zealand six years ago when embarking on their highly successful brand campaign, consult with business, media, tourism and academics. Capture the brand as it is collectively understood. It’s important that governments lead the process, but not control it. Importantly, government needs to enable its citizens to feel proud about their country through the provision of infrastructure; it needs to provide its citizens with the means to “live the brand”.

Lastly, your brand campaign needs consistency and longevity. It needs to transcend election cycles and special interest groups and be expressed to all audiences with a concerted communications campaign. Express these throughout Africa first – and then the rest of the world.

Changing perceptions

Perceptions can and do change. Do you remember when “Made in China” was a slur on quality only a few years ago whereas China’s recent economic growth and improved public persona has elevated perceptions of its product sophistication.

India has moved from being associated only with poverty and spirituality to being commended for its leading software, technology and highly educated people. This changing reality has been recognised and supported by government and has evolved a new middle class, strengthening its economy.

A nation’s brand is its single biggest asset. We need to build individual African brands that celebrate the colourful mosaic and limitless potential that make up this rich continent. Only then will perceptions change and “Made in Africa” can become a product’s best endorsement.

About the author

Anthony Swart is CEO of The Brand Union’s African head quarters. A deeply rooted South African with decades of experience in branding and marketing throughout Africa, Swart has a passion for developing this continent and its brands and a vision to help it achieve its full potential. He is married with three children, two rottweilers, a hamster and a Senagelese parrot.

Symbolism's power across different markets

Sun, 01 Jul 2007 02:27:00 GMT

Two recent incidents have got the branding fraternity's knickers in a twist. The first involves Barclays Bank who is apparently willing to ditch its longstanding eagle emblem in its bid to win ABN Amro. Longstanding of 317 years, to be precise. According to the Dutch public, the eagle emblem has overtones of the Third Reich in it.

The bank's emblem predates the Nazi regime by 230 years. World War II ended in 1945. So it’s taken 62 years and the hope of a merger of gargantuan proportions to evoke this controversial consideration. Comments the UK’s Daily Express: "Analysts said dropping the eagle showed how far Barclays was prepared to go to trade its heritage for effective control of the Dutch bank".

But that's a topic for another day.

What interests us here is the power of symbolism across different markets and communities. To the thousands of Barclays employees, the eagle – originally derived from the legendary bird of Ordin which features in the German coat of arms – means one thing; to ABN Amro’s tribe, it means something quite different.

While the two organisations' mutual association with the bird is without mutual allegiance to each other, here is a bank that is willing to overhaul its centuries-old identity because a single new market has sensitivities around the meanings it associates with its primary symbol. It's a real sign of globalisation.

And who's to say who's right? Who are the winners, who are the losers – and at what cost? Symbols are repositories of meaning. Whose meaning exactly is debatable and it all boils down to subjectivity.

Subjectivity

Subjectivity is one of those corollaries of democracy. A logo can't be all things to all consumers. Which brings me to the second incident that is making waves, also originating on British soil.

The new 2012 Olympics logo has yielded unprecedented public response and fervid debate, not least in the local brand fraternity here – some in favour but far more overwhelmingly not so. I exercise my right to remain impartial for the time being. Because that’s exactly what we should do. For the time being.

Presently the Wolf-Olins designed 2012 logo is being judged at face-value, without any of the merits of its strategy or intent being taken into consideration. The logo that was released to the public on June 5th is merely the uppermost visual layer of a composite identity, void of substance. The supporting narrative has yet to be unveiled and to take root. To be fair, this is not yet available. And so the debate at this stage is just premature ejaculation. How can one have an opinion?

But it's my opinion that all outspoken negative industry commentators should be branded myopic and shortsighted; while the street-side consumer can be forgiven, operatives in the branding industry should know better. Consumers build association with brands through usage and meaning is created over time. If the critics do not understand this, they frankly don't get the business we’re in.

Time decides

Brands need time to percolate, develop and take shape. We need to allow for the impact of time. In the case of Barclays, a meaning has developed over centuries wider than was originally planned for.

Over its 317-year existence, Barclays has refreshed its identity six times to remain relevant to its consumers and it now has to factor in another potential consumer base with all its symbolic subjectivities.

Time can build or erode a brand, but most important of all is timing. Brand owners need to get the timing right: the release of the 2012 logo was hopelessly off. Instead of limiting the release to a logo, it should've been presented to the world as a story, as a pitch to its client – the world's public. The logo was undoubtedly brave, and if it were not brave in its design, it'd be merely drawing on and confining itself to people's obvious and existing associations with the city of London. It's being judged on the now versus where it should be.

Brand custodians need to better manage the unveiling of their design to control perceptual outcomes. Only then can it mature from a logo to an identity.

Finding the way to a successful brand experience

Sun, 10 Jun 2007 02:27:00 GMT

Keeping consumers and finding new ones is a constant challenge for all organisations. Leaving them to get lost is unlikely to be a successful strategy. And if they can’t find their way to their destination in the first place, they will never be a consumer at all.

But people will get lost, and frustrated, anxious and even angry if a clear strategy is not in place for getting people to, and through, an environment. Next time they will find a more enjoyable place to eat, drink, visit and shop.

Is getting lost ever a pleasure or is it always a problem?

There are experiences that are designed to enhance impulsive meandering. There are environments where people just want to wander around, to lose themselves in the experience of a building or space. Places like museums, parks and shopping centres are designed to allow consumers to explore. But then, at some point they want to find a café, or a toilet, or the exit. Suddenly the signs, environmental information, building layout – the whole wayfinding system – really matters. If consumers become disorientated, they get annoyed or distressed and it affects how they remember their experience.

How do people find their way?

Wayfinding is a series of interlinked decisions. Each decision affects the outcome of the next one. And the point at which a directional decision has to be made – a decision point – is usually non-negotiable. Decision points can’t be relocated without redesigning the building layout and its vertical and horizontal circulation routes.

Some people have a natural sense of direction and a good memory for landmarks. Other people need to constantly study the wayfinding cues that are provided like signs and maps to feel comfortable. And some people pay no attention to their route or surroundings until they need to find a particular destination, and then they look for someone to ask for directions.

There are many different wayfinding aids. Some devices are used consciously like signs, sat-nav or maps. But many other devices are used more subconsciously, such as lighting, flooring, prominent landmarks or architectural features. These more subtle devices can be an effective solution to guiding consumers along preferred routes within a branded environment if they are designed with wayfinding in mind.

Good architectural design of an entrance visually emphasises it much more effectively than a sign stuck above a door ever can. Clearly defined and well-lit internal and external pathways will control the flow of people much more intuitively than a directional sign, however well designed. But signs are needed at key decision points for reassurance and confirmation. The success of an environment relies on all environmental features working together to give the same wayfinding message, through an integrated design approach and holistic strategy.

Is wayfinding really part of branding?

Whatever the consumer journey, finding the destination, then being successfully guided through the spaces has to be part of the whole brand experience. Effective wayfinding systems enable consumers to be relaxed enough to notice other information and objects along the route – something that is essential to the success of retail environments but is important in all branded environments.

Wayfinding information can be used to control the movement of consumers and therefore to determine what they see and when they see it. Differentiated flooring surfaces and creative lighting are used extensively in retail environments, but much less effectively in many other environments. Queue barriers are effective, but are restrictive and may have a negative effect on the consumer’s experience if they expected to be able to flow freely through the space. Different brands have different consumer aspirations. Different environments have different wayfinding problems.

We all know first impressions count

Spoken directions given over the phone, a map on a website, or an article in the paper all lead people to create a first impression of the brand and the wayfinding experience ahead of them. The clarity and tone of voice used for giving wayfinding information over the phone is important. Having an accurate map designed to reflect the organisation’s look and feel rather than a photocopied page from the local A-Z is also important in creating a positive first impression.

Positive second impressions

As consumers enter the environment, their preconceptions of the brand are quickly confirmed or altered by what they see. As they move through the spaces their behaviour and reactions to the environment will evolve in response to visual, audio and other sensory cues. Lighting, scents, sounds and the layout of the space are amongst many elements that will determine how long people stay in the space.

If a consumer wants a coffee whilst shopping or in a museum, following the smell of coffee is a good experience, but is often not a strategy that can be solely relied on. However, if they want to find the toilet, being able to follow a smell is not a good strategy and clear signs become very important. If the consumer can find them easily, they will resume their journey more quickly than if they wander aimlessly around the space getting lost and disorientated. They may never return to their journey at all.

What do consumers want?

Through consumer behaviour audits it is possible to identify how consumers interact with the environment, where they get disorientated, where they feel comfortable and linger, which signs they look at and those they miss. Audit findings then lead to strategic thinking, which defines the wayfinding issues that need to be considered and solutions that reflect the organisation’s brand essence. A wayfinding strategy is essential for all organisations that rely on people moving through three-dimensional spaces, rather than navigating through on-screen information, though some of the same thinking can be applied to both.

Do all buildings need signs?

Sometimes a building is designed to reflect an organisation’s brand and be a destination in its own right, without relying on branded signs. The iconic Selfridges building in Birmingham is definitely a landmark building for the city, but does everyone know it houses Selfridges, or where the entrance is? Obviously not, because signs have been installed. The ‘gherkin’ in central London is a very prominent and memorable building, but do people know what its real name is and which companies are based there?

The world famous Tower Bridge shouldn’t need a name sign, but people confuse it with London Bridge, and people failed to notice the entrance to the upper walkways until signs were installed.

Wembley Stadium with its ‘arc’ is famous as a landmark (as well as infamous because of its construction disputes and delays) before it even opens. As a destination many people already know where it is located and can see it from miles away, but signs will be relied upon when people lose sight of the arc as they get nearer and need to find a car park, stadium entrance and their seat number, surrounded by crowds of people.

Branded waypoints

Exploring alternatives to standard signs can create opportunities to reinforce the brand and enhance the consumer experience. If branded graphics or artworks are designed and positioned to also be ‘waypoints’ they can be both inspiring and functional. Waypoints are commonly used by the armed forces for navigating through environments where signs do not exist such as oceans, mountains and even underwater. A branded waypoint could be a sculpture, a hanging, a floor graphic, a creatively lit wall or ceiling. But to be effective as a waypoint they need to be describable so people can refer to them in spoken directions and recognise them when they see them. They need to be memorable so people on subsequent visits remember them. And they need to differ from each other so people are reassured they are passing, or waiting at the right waypoint.

How do people use signs?

When other wayfinding solutions are not appropriate and signs can’t be avoided, it is important that there are as few of them as possible, and those that are installed are effective and reflect the brand style. Most people use signs by first locating it by visually scanning the space, at a height they expect the sign to be located. They read it if the text is large enough to be legible from where they are standing. They then hopefully understand the information, relate it to the environment they can see and move in the direction the sign directs them, or they are confused and look for other wayfinding devices. People with visual impairments can still use signs, but they can’t visually scan the space or relate the sign to the environment it is located in. They find the sign through touching the space at a height they hope to find it.

People will also use pathways, architectural features, landmarks or lighting to confirm their direction decision. They then look for another sign or wayfinding device that is consistent with the previous one, confirms they understood the last piece of information and reassures them they are heading in the right direction. This process is repeated until they find a sign or other feature that tells them they have arrived at their destination. Each journey stage is inter-linked so one weak link or a misleading sign and the whole process fails.

Why signs don’t work

Signs don’t work when they are not visible or readable from the angle of approach or when they are not illuminated. Signs don’t work when the sign face is too glossy so glare from lighting makes them difficult to read. Often the logo on branded signs has not been designed for signage. For example the logo text is too small, or too light-weight or the logo uses low contrast colours or is too complex to be legible.

The reason why directional signs don’t work is usually linked to the arrow. The two most common problems are that the arrows on the sign do not relate to the text so it is difficult to understand which destination the arrow relates to. Or the arrows on the sign do not relate to the environment so it is difficult to understand where the arrows are trying to direct you.

Making signs work

Though we use much more than signs to find our way, signs are important. The graphics, text and three-dimensional form needs to be carefully designed. Signs should not be the designs for paper or on-screen blown up big and stuck on a square light box.

Signs can be grouped into two key types. Directional signs that always include an arrow and guide people along a route. Locational signs that tell people they have arrived at a destination (also know as identification or destination signs). Branded signs are usually locational signs, but all signs should be designed to reflect the brand essence.

Designing a single sign is easy. However, most organisations need a family of signs, not just one. Things that make all signs work are:

sufficient colour contrast between the sign and its surroundings for example, white letters on a dark grey coloured wall, rather than brushed stainless steel on a mid-grey wall
sufficient contrast between the text and the sign colour
avoiding corporate colours that are too low contrast and selecting a darker hue for use on signs
avoiding light-weight and italic corporate typefaces and selecting a bold (usually sans-serif) typeface for use on signs
text that is big enough to be read from the intended viewing distance and speed (smaller text on signs at eyelevel, for someone walking past, than on signs for drivers travelling at 30 miles an hour)
symbols that are simple and based on internationally recognised standards

Making logos work on signs

When designing a logo it is a fair assumption that it will be used on signs somewhere. Whether it is five feet high illuminated letters on the top of a high-rise building, or a logo subtly carved in stone at the entrance to an exclusive club. It is essential that when developing a new logo and selecting corporate type faces and colours someone in the team is asking ‘’what will the new logo look like on signage?” and “is the corporate typeface suitable for directional signs or do we need to select an additional typeface for signs?”

Signage is often a single page in the brand guidelines document showing a square or rectangle with the new logo placed as it appears on the literature. Signs are a three dimensional object located in a three dimensional environment. They need to be handled very differently to paper-based information to fully utilise their potential as a branding device.

Pushing the sign design boundaries

Short time-scales and tight budgets can lead to the wayfinding strategy being non-existent and the sign designs being slotted in at the end of the project. This leads to standard, functional signs that sometimes work, but will usually fail to inspire and are not likely to enhance the branded environment, the customer experience or the brand message. Signs can be innovative and creative – a wall graphic, a flooring effect, a lighting feature. Especially if the decision points are identified and ear-marked early enough and wayfinding concepts are integrated into the structure of the space.

All branding teams need someone to be asking ‘’How will people find their way around? What will they being trying to find? How can we integrate the wayfinding system into the structure of the space? How can we enhance our branded environment and consumer experience through the wayfinding experience they are going to have?”

The Role of HR in Brand Building

Sat, 05 May 2007 02:28:00 GMT

According to various surveys, low morale and discontent with the style of the management are key factors leading to high turnover. This underscores the importance of employer branding.

Managing Director of Enterprise IG Hong Kong, Debora Chatwin said “Many people equate employer branding to recruitment advertising and misinterpret it as a one-off internal marketing activity.” She expressed that the word ‘branding’ is often associated with marketing, and therefore only used by the CEO and marketing teams in developing communications for external audiences. However, the role of HR and their internal clients (employees) are often overlooked when a company is in the process of brand-building.

Chatwin advocated that HR should be included as a component in the brand-building process for the following reasons:

Focusing on the people within and organization who deliver services to clients has become a key competitive advantage;
HR can directly influence the type of people who are hired.

According to Hudson Research in 2006, 42% of HR professionals acknowledge they do not have the right employment value proposition to attract and retain the talent their organization needs.

53% of HR professionals acknowledge that their own employees would be unclear as to what the company’s core value proposition is.

29% of employees believe that their employer provides a clear and competing reason as to why their organization is a great place to work.

Chatwin believed that there is a certainly more room for HR staff to play. She advised that companies should:

Finding your Compelling Truth. All branding needs to be based on the essence and realities of your organization.
Align HR policies and procedures around the brand promise.
Strengthen your internal communications messages and channels. Streamline them with your external communications.
Appoint and empower brand champions to be the agents of change within your organization.

Building Reputations on a Proven Platform

Mon, 16 Apr 2007 02:30:00 GMT

Hong Kong's ability to attract and build international brand entity gives the city an edge as a platform to China, says one of the most experienced executives in the brand business.

Debora Chatwin, Managing Director, Hong Kong, for global brand agency Enterprise IG, has worked for over 18 years to help Hong Kong and China-based clients establish their presence in China. She says that by partnering with Hong Kong firms, overseas companies can gain knowledge and experience to give them a valuable foothold. Enterprise IG works with major Hong Kong brands such as Jardines, Hongkong Post and VTC, and in the Chinese mainland with brands including China International Marine Containers (CIMC), food group COFCO, Overseas Chinese Town (OCT) and China Resources.

After living here for nearly two decades Ms Chatwin is "fully supportive of Hong Kong", and says it retains many advantages despite the rising ease of doing business in China.

Strong economy

"Hong Kong's economy is strong and prosperous, and as one who has spent a good part of my career here I can see the benefits of Hong Kong's growth," she said. "Would companies every completely sidestep Hong Kong? I am hoping 100 per cent that it does not happen, and do not expect it will. Even though China's door has opened wider, there is still a comfort factor of going through Hong Kong.

"If international companies want to deal with a partner who understands them while at the same time understands China, they will find Hong Kong is a proven platform. Hong Kong has international exposure, and a cosmopolitan make up. Many of the people here have worked outside of the Hong Kong marketplace, so they have a broader perspective. And, we can pull people together here more easily than in China. Hong Kong is able to attract international talent because of the lifestyle, and has a proven ability to bounce back (from the Asian economic crisis, SARS etc)."

While five years ago China-based firms accounted for 26 per cent of Enterprise IG's business, today's figure is close to 50 per cent, and growing. Ms Chatwin says this is another good reason to be based in Hong Kong: China needs outside help to take its products to world markets, and its nearest neighbour Hong Kong makes the logical export partner.

"Hong Kong has what (Chinese companies are) looking for, and offers them huge opportunities. It's a door that swings both ways."

IP confidence

Ms Chatwin added that Hong Kong is still a great place for international brands to become acquainted with China. "It is a trusted platform from an intellectual property perspective, and understands the mainland culture. For us, having an office in Hong Kong means we can handle regional business, China business and international business from one convenient location."

For the brand business, it's also a great place as more Hong Kong and Chinese companies recognise the value of having a brand strategy. Branding is well understood in Hong Kong, Ms Chatwin said, with initiatives being supported by the government, Hong Kong Trade Development Council and Hong Kong Design Centre.

"A brand is not about image, it's about reputation. Companies are realising that a brand gives them greater control, and that, through branding, they can turn their acquired knowledge into profit."

Beauty is in the eye of the beer-holder

Thu, 01 Mar 2007 02:27:00 GMT

Packaging is not confined to the no-nonsense wrapping of products these days; it can be a valuable tool to raise the brand's status, says Anthony Swart, CEO of The Brand Union, Africa.

While ten years ago, the average beer drinker might've smirked at the suggestion of a beer bottle — and even possibly the beer drinker themselves — being anything pretty or beautiful, far more attention is being paid to grooming the beer category these days as the worldwide trend towards premium becomes more mainstream.

Design doyennes like Philippe Starck have lent their talents and their design pencils to the alcoholic beverages industry, notably illustrated by Kronenbourg's 1664 who enlisted world-class designers to create a range of their limited-edition containers, aligning elegance and the aesthetic with everyday consumption.

The appreciation that packaging is no longer limited to practical wrapping but can be a tool to elevate the brand status — a concept long appreciated by the cosmetics industry — is steadily seeping into the beer category, innovating form and function.

As the world's most popular alcoholic beverage seeks to elevate its status, it's taking design lessons from cosmetics and perfumes, among other categories, which arguably defined the concept of premium with the focus on what makes consumers feel special, rewarded and individual. The premium niche used to be reserved for an elite few; now 'mass exclusivity' is what everyone wants.

And with the rise in premium brands in the beer category, there is increased focus on what it is that makes a brand stand out from its contemporaries and what will inspire and intrigue buyers. Recognising the 'power of premium,' the beer category is tapping into techniques and tricks from a number of other categories to change consumer behaviour and encourage 'shelf grab' and experimentation.

For example, beer brands are drawing inspiration from key competitor categories: wine and champagne. Like wine, beer is increasingly being appreciated for its complexities of flavour, ingredients, its origin and heritage, and its role in enhancing food flavours. Beer packaging designers are now moving in on wine’s traditional authority in the area of elegance, and champagne cues are informing design in thin, flute-like beer glasses. Some beers are also only sold in upper-end restaurants, rubbing shoulders with the Möets and the Veuve Cliquots on the wine list.

Peroni

Elegantly slim, sophisticated and premium-pitched, Peroni has captured the imagination of the local market place with its Italian sophistication, attention to detail and style. It is the Ferrari of beer. While Peroni may not have pushed the boundaries of innovation, it's an excellent example of how packaging is a key contributor in its positioning in the 'premium' category. This Italian beer brand in the stable of SABMiller has successfully used a number of premium cues that support and extend into a well-executed communications campaign.

Since its acquisition of Birra Peroni, SABMiller's key focus has been on exploiting the full potential of the brand by launching it in key markets around the world, with the ambition of making it their largest international premium brand. Touted as Italian style in a bottle, Peroni captures 'the spirit of Italianness.' When it comes to self expression, effortless style and flair, arguably nobody does it better than the Italians. Italy is renowned as the style capital of the world and Peroni aspires to rank its brand alongside style icons Armani, Gucci, Prada and D&G. This foresight will allow the beer brand out-of-category line extension down the line.

The London office of leading brand consultancy The Brand Union was enlisted to overhaul the beer’s image and identity. A distinctive and compelling positioning was created for Peroni Nastro Azzurro to appeal to their core consumers, beginning with the unmistakably Italian character of the beer. New brand communication, promotion, point of purchase and — specifically — primary packaging design, were all reassessed to maximize the brand’s full potential.

Historically, the look and feel of the primary pack and identity — a red brand signature on a white canvas and the classic blue ribbon (nastro azzurro in Italian) — was rich in Italian cues. The new design solution retains the timeless classic elements of the original label but gives them a fresh, contemporary feel, supporting the brand’s premium, prestige status. In addition, the classic green bottle was given a longer, sleeker neck for a cool and stylish look, its increased length elevating it above its contemporaries on the bar shelf.

Peroni's considered packaging livery includes a fresh, clean white background canvas, red brand signature that is rich and striking, embossing on both the bottles and cans to extend the brand experience through the tactile, and the use of silver on an asymmetric neck helps signal refreshment.

And these days, the packaging of Peroni is likely to include a set of highly manicured nails wrapped around its slender neck as the growing number of women find favour with the stylish brand.

Previously overlooked, designers are now breathing new life into secondary packaging. As there is a trend towards at-home entertaining and the 'big night in,' designers have crafted convenient, carry-home devices that live comfortably in space-constrained fridges, and are an additional branding opportunity. Peroni has put together a three-pack that is specially designed to live in a fridge door compartment in recognition of the practical requirements of its consumers.

The new world-class packaging design works in tandem with a distinctive above-the-line communications campaign that plays a vital role in SABMiller's ambition to deliver the coolest beer brand in the world. Peroni pays homage to some of Italy's most stylish creations, notably executed in its advertisement campaigns that celebrate timeless Italian chic and la dolce vita.

Peroni's customers are comparatively demanding, therefore the brand will need to keep innovating and aware of what’s premium, a lesson other premium beer brands will need to pay heed to. But what is evident is that beer brands are increasingly using design and innovation, enabled by technological advances in material and packaging, to surprise and delight their ever-increasingly style-savvy consumer.

Building brands you can bank on

Thu, 01 Mar 2007 02:27:00 GMT

While in the past African banks may have been able to focus on branding basics such as safety, security and convenience, they must upgrade their branding strategies in order to compete in emerging markets.

While it's difficult – and misleading – to speak collectively of banks in Africa and generalise their shared experiences across such a vast and varying geographical space, it's not inaccurate to say that banks throughout Africa have historically faced a fundamental lack of trust from their (potential) customer base. Largely due lack of education, to limited understanding of banking institutions and financial instruments and the legacy of instability in the region, there is historically an innate mistrust of banks. Whereas in the developed world – while there is perhaps a grudge view of the associated costs – banks are far more readily accepted because safety and stability are arguably a given and there is a much longer heritage of retail service.

Of course, core to building a financial brand – in fact, any brand – is trust. The same basic branding principles apply to banks and financial institutions as do to other brands across most other sectors. Banks are, after all, consumer brands.

The ground work for trust

But in these emerging markets, a bank may need to create the conditions for trust.

A case in point is Diamond Bank's considered approach to banking the unbanked in Nigeria. Following the recent economic boom in this West African country, the Nigerian middle class has only recently started to establish itself. Until now, banks catered to the government and the wealthy, typically situated not at street level, but within imposing ivory towers of closed office environments.

As a result, the man on the street has not been readily exposed to the services of retail banking, and this unfamiliarity has endured as the man on the street with newfound money to bank still regards them as intimidating and inaccessible, preferring cash in hand.

Diamond Bank, a successful local financial house, has responded to this challenge of perception by conceiving a network of "mini-branches" that will perform basic transactions similar to what one would expect from an ATM. Staffed with only one or two tellers in office booths of a few square metres in size, Diamond Bank is steadily earning the trust of its customer base through a non-threatening, informal and approachable gesture.

Developing brands in developing markets

Branding problems encountered by banks in the developed world (which typically excludes most of Africa) are different to those in the emerging economies. In developed markets, bank brands are seeking differentiation factors that go beyond the now hygiene factors of safety, security and convenience. Indeed, these have now become commoditised, taken for granted as givens. In these mature economies, there is increasingly less space to play in and banks seek to differentiate from competitor offerings in the realm of the emotive.

Underdeveloped markets, however, offer greater potential for differentiation and banks can use functional factors that are more directly meaningful. They are able to respond directly to the market’s legacy of a lack of safety, for example, by espousing the measures they have taken to put these in place, effectively safeguarding its credibility.

Nigeria's Union Bank, for example, has traditionally positioned itself in the area of safety with the pay-off line "Big, Strong, Reliable" – appealing to one of the most basic and literal needs of its customer base. But while enterprising emerging market banks can capitalise on factors that are taken for granted in maturer climates, such a positioning would not hold its own against global brands operating in more developed economies.

Evolve your positioning as your customer needs evolve

If Abraham Maslow had applied consumer needs to his model around the hierarchy of human needs, he probably would’ve said this: At the bottom rung are a number of basic consumer needs that a brand requires in order to exist. As one moves up the hierarchy, however, brands tend towards self-actualisation, the case in highly developed markets where the brand has advanced up the scale from “deficiency needs” to "growth needs", with apologies to the learned psychology professor.

Safety, stability and basic service live on the bottom rung of the banking brands' needs model. Recent structural changes throughout Africa's financial sector have largely advanced brands onto the next level in response to new favourable conditions that enable all the needs on the tier to be met; they now need to service more sophisticated needs as their customer base becomes accustomed to a more sophisticated, stable and competitive market.

In Nigeria just a decade ago, almost 100 banking licences were awarded at one stage, and as a result the financial sector faced a phenomenal credibility problem. When the reserve bank governor raised the minimum base capitalisation requirements to 25-billion Naira, a frenzy of consolidation and mergers & acquisition activity ensued in order for some of the smaller banks to survive. However, what this legislation did do as well is ensure that the safety and stability factor has now automatically been catered for.

In some less secure markets, however – particularly conflict zones like the DRC, for example – brands are still able to position themselves on the bottom rung because safety and stability are not necessarily hygiene factors or guaranteed.

Now, as the Nigerian market becomes more mature, this positioning is no longer as strong or as relevant a message – and the bank must evolve to stay relevant to its consumer, looking to the developed market for cues. What we’re seeing now is a move towards increased efficiency, better service and advanced product offering as the base needs are met. Banks that stay on the bottom tier and fail to adapt to the evolving marketing conditions and their customers’ expectations will die.

Relevant to your customers

As discussed earlier, the same basic principles apply to bank brands as to most other brands, regardless of the market in which they operate. The key is to stay relevant to your customers.

In Africa, there is now huge scope for banks who respond to the developing needs of their customers, climbing the value tiers of the branding needs model and who extol appropriate value associations. These value associations inform both the position and primary identity of the bank. These banks will increase their value by growing with their customer base through answering their needs.

Who's doing it well: "First generation" banks in Nigeria were seen as old, bureaucratic and slow, albeit safe. The "second generation" banks were perceived as better and more innovative in their service offering and efficiency, but still suffered under the shadow of instability. The new UBA bank, however, was borne of the union of the old UBA – a first generation bank – and Standard Trust Bank – a second generation bank – and their brand essence is appropriately Trusted Innovator. The new UBA is what we call a "new generation" bank and is far more relevant to the new generation of Nigerians who are entering the banking system.

The Compelling Truth

While we know that trust is the cornerstone of a brand, you need to ask trust in what? Known for what? A bank needs to identify what we call its Compelling Truth – that which your brand can truly live by and deliver on consistently over time. Is it safety in money, best interest rates or customer service? This is the space a bank can own and deliver on. Otherwise your brand stands for nothing. Firstly, the bank needs to position itself on a point of differentiation from its competitors. This could range from size and stability (First Bank), service and efficiency (GT Bank), or perhaps branch connectivity (UBA). The key is to stay core to its Compelling Truth and deliver a powerful and consistent experience.

Where there is less sophistication in the understanding of financial markets and financial instruments, there is naturally more trust in brands. In these underdeveloped markets, brand credibility is arguably even more important than in more sophisticated markets, accustomed to branding. Customers here are less educated and astute in financial services and are therefore more brand loyal, trusting in what – or who – they know. Decisions are made on broad base criteria – the lowest tier – as other decision criteria are less available in these markets. Currently, banks are banking on safety, size and service. In future, this will mature to safety, service and efficiency, as well as product innovation, access and branch connectivity, building their brand around one or two of these factors.

The identity then needs to communicate this.

First and foremost, the primary identity needs to accurately reflect and convey the values that underpin its brand, the Compelling Truth. Through an identity, you gain greater Exposure by having a face to present to the world. When that identity becomes memorable and communicable – through efficient marketing – you get Recognition, then a stepping stone away from Awareness. Ultimately, Reputation is the Holy Grail. Ultimately, the brand will embody the reputation of the business. A sound marketing plan will facilitate this but a strong identity based on the Compelling Truth will do half the work for you.

As the market evolves, the brand also needs to become more sophisticated and may need to segment its market. Brands can take advantage of operating in less sophisticated environments by offering processes and systems that are better than what is currently on offer because of the already low expectations of its market place. They’re not necessarily innovating in the area of product and services but are perceived as being innovative by introducing already accepted practices from other markets to this greener market.

Adopt a local approach

But it's imperative to adopt a local approach: for example, when trying to introduce a credit card to a market not accustomed to this and a market that doesn't have the required widespread network reach, the bank would need to create this. A savvy bank might first approach established retailer brands and get buy-in from them, persuading them to take up the credit card concept. Familiarise your market with your product with brands they are already familiar with. In this way you buy trust.

The key is to work practically and in synergy with local environmental factors.

Consider Barclays' strategy in Ghana. In conjunction with its traditional marketing approach, catering to the middle and upper income groups, the British bank aspired to appeal to a more inclusive demographic in this West African country. It wisely discerned the grassroots culture on the ground first and then sought a local ally as a point of introduction. This opportunity presented itself in the form of the susu collectors – one of Africa’s earliest pioneers of banking services. For a small fee, the susus (numbering around 4000) have been providing a "stokvel" service to the Ghanian people for generations, personally gathering the income of their clients and returning it at the end of each month as a form of savings. Barclays tailored its product offering to the susus, providing them with a bank account especially created for these collectors to deposit their funds into, and also granted them loans of their own. This enables them to build their own capital and develop their businesses by allowing the susus to extend this service on to their customer base. Barclays is also providing capacity building training to the susus, as well as education on basic financial issues. A joint venture with local organisations, the programme was developed in association with the Ghana Cooperative Susu Collectors Association and the Ghana Microfinance Institutions Network, with the vision of laying the building blocks for a truly financial inclusive society – and a sustainable client base.

In South Africa, one might draw similar parallels with FNB. In South Africa, banks grew out of the formal sector and catered to the formal sector, initially overlooking the lower income group in which saving was not held in high regard. A first in this market, FNB observed the "tata ma chance" culture among the lower- to middle-income groups who would rather put R100 away and earn no interest for the chance of overnight riches. Based on market research on countries with similar low interest rate offerings, the Million a Month account is a hybrid of other products and seeks to attract the small change from "bras, jars and mattresses", says Gusta Binikos, CEO for the scheme.

With a take-up of more than 1000 new accounts a day, according to Binikos, the market response has been overwhelming and FNB is saving itself a veritable fortune in interest outflows each month, as well as encouraging the nation to save. And the outcome is a brand that offers something closer to that market’s perception of money and increases its customer base by creating one.

Becoming a global player

We anticipate a third phase across Africa's banking climate that will see both the acquisition of local financial institutions by international ones and local brands that have successfully built up brand equity expanding into new territories.

Increasingly, forward-looking banks will aspire to broaden their reach into new and different markets and will need to up their game – and their brand positioning tier – in order to function there. Otherwise, what has typically happened is that banks that move beyond their home border to set up shop in other more developed markets will only attract expat customers now residing in this new area – customers that can relate to the homegrown offering – while failing to attract the new.

Those brands that have the foresight to develop an internationally credible brand that retains the heritage of its origins will endure.

A 'Greenprint' for companies and their brands – how true, how compelling?

Wed, 03 Jan 2007 02:27:00 GMT

As the 'sustainable' agenda grows in strength, companies need to ensure they get the balance right between promoting a green stance and being true to what they say.

We have entered 2007 with few doubts being expressed any more about the harm we have inflicted – and continue to inflict - on our natural environment. The recent Stern Review gives us a clear base from which to move forward - on current trends, average global temperatures will rise by 2-3 degrees over the next 50 years, high enough to see significant effects on economic and social systems. The economic cost is thought to be about 1% of global GDP, but Stern warns that the cost could be much higher if we do not begin to act seriously now. We need to stop, think and change the way we do things.

Which are the parties that can help to effect this change?

Governments, international economic/political organisations, campaigning organisations and individuals all have a role to play. For example, in the Queen’s Speech last November, the Climate Bill was announced – this will make the UK government’s long-term goal of a 60% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2050 a legally binding target.

Informed individuals are, quietly and gradually, starting to make the small changes that add up to greater effects. In the UK for example, within six months of the launch of 'Recycle Now', WRAP's (Waste & Resources Action Programme) national recycling campaign for England, the number of people classified as committed recyclers had risen from 45% to 50%. Today, nine out of ten people in England and Wales would recycle more if it was made easier for them.

The influence of many other 'campaigning' organisations such as WRAP is on the rise, including the Carbon Trust, The Climate Group and the Soil Association. The Carbon Trust's new advertising campaign launched last November encouraged businesses to take action to lower carbon emissions – it had three core messages: how lower carbon emissions can help businesses strengthen their brand value, attract talent and compete more effectively.

And the Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change pointed out, on 16th January, that of the 100 most powerful economies, 52 are companies, not countries, and that the importance of partnership with business was essential – governments could not expect to design solutions to climate change on their own.

Business has a major role to play

Clearly, the business community has a significant role to play. Its inherent power can be used to make a significant contribution to the solution, or more accurately, range of solutions we need to find. And this should not be regarded as philanthropic work. According to the Co-operative Bank's 'Ethical Consumerism Report' 2006, the UK market for ethical goods was worth £29.3billion in 2005, up 11% on the year before. This now exceeds total retail sales on cigarettes and alcohol in the UK. Two-thirds of UK consumers are more likely to purchase products from a company seen as taking action to tackle climate change. Consumer attitudes are facing a 'tipping point' in relation to a range of sustainability issues.

'New' companies are coming into being with the specific remit to be part of the solution. Interesting recent examples include Belu, makers of bottled water in the very first compostable bottles (made from corn!) and Innocent, the smoothies makers, who state their commercial decisions are always guided by sustainability considerations.

There are also signs that businesses are starting to come together to find new solutions. The CEOs of Starbucks, O2, Marks & Spencer, Tesco, Carphone Warehouse, BSkyB, HSBC, Man Investments and B&Q met Tony Blair and Secretary of State for the Environment David Miliband in December last year for talks on forming a partnership to cut carbon emissions. Together, they have more than 250m customers and 30,000 retail outlets. The scheme, being coordinated by The Climate Group, is due to be launched in March, and will set targets for a reduction in emissions not only by the companies themselves but also by their customers. And the CBI held its first meeting of the CBI Climate Change Task Force on January 11th, chaired by BT Chief Executive, Ben Verwaayen – it includes, amongst others, the heads of Barclays, McKinsey, BP, the London Stock Exchange and BA, and is tasked with establishing the role business can play in tackling climate change.

But who can consumers trust?

Momentum is building. But, the question that consumers are increasingly asking in this debate is 'who can we trust'? Who is acting in a sustainable way and who is just claiming to – simply applying 'greenwash'? Which are the brands that people can really believe in?

The Brand Union embraces a core philosophy that companies and their brands need to be both True and Compelling. To succeed, they have to speak truthfully about their beliefs and activities, and be compelling in the way they describe them. This is of particular importance in the sustainability arena. For the companies and brands which hope to survive and be successful in the future, the big question that will be asked of them is 'Are you sincere in your stated sustainability claims, and how well are you using real changes in attitude and actions to forge a new competitive advantage?' How truthful and how compelling?

Some companies have always held the high ground in the sustainability stakes. Cadbury's Bourneville Village in the late 19th century embraced the building of a factory in a pleasant 'green' environment, enhancing overall quality of life. The Co-op, founded on 'co-operative' principles, was the first UK supermarket to ban animal testing on own-branded toiletries nearly 20 years ago, the Co-op Bank was the first to launch an ethical policy and they are a leader in 'fair-traded' products. The Body Shop, established in 1976, has always supported a range of sustainable initiatives, many related to animal rights and testing.

More recently, things have begun to really hot up, but the landscape is becoming more diverse and difficult to navigate.

Some early examples of the rise of the modern sustainability movement’ 'include companies associated with the Fair Trade movement, such as CafeDirect, founded in 1991. BP was forming a new view of the world in the mid-1990s with its 'Positive Energy' concept, revolutionary for a 'planet-polluting' oil company. BP's ULTIMATE Fuels range and their 'Alternative Energy' initiative are evidence of their commitment to a more 'sustainable' future, though they are still seeking approval to further oil drilling ventures in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, despite warnings of an ensuing natural disaster.

And we are seeing other significant changes in business behaviour – for example, companies changing product formulations in response to the growing backlash against fatty, sugary and salt-laden products. We are also seeing more 'low emission behaviour' - travel companies in particular have delivered carbon-offsetting schemes.

For others, the story is far less positive.

ExxonMobil's stance over recent years has been that the evidence for climate change is inconclusive. Shades of the cigarette companies throughout much of the latter half of the twentieth century?

McDonalds have discovered that drive-thrus are a huge success in China. They are so pleased with the results that half of their new restaurants there are to follow this format.in a country with a growing environmental problem and a car market already growing at 25% per annum.

True and Compelling in practice

Two great examples of businesses that are succeeding in being both true and compelling in their sustainability offers are The Grameen Bank and Marks & Spencer.

Muhammad Yunus, from Bangladesh, founded The Grameen Bank three decades ago. The bank was a pioneer in micro-credit - small loans given to people with no security to help them work their way out of poverty. It has been a liberating force for the five million borrowers to date - especially for women, often living in repressive social and economic conditions. Revolutionary. Compelling. True.

Another great example is M&S and their 'Look Behind the Label' campaign - a direct response to research that told them their customers wanted to know more about their ethical standards. They include salt reduction in foods (20% over the last year), sustainable fishing, Fairtrade coffee shops and clothing and animal welfare – eg. they were the first major UK food retailer to sell and use only 100% free range eggs. A recent Citigroup report said this had been a major success for M&S – overall sales were up 10.5% on the previous quarter and this campaign is credited with playing a strong role in this increase. Continuing their leadership stance on sustainability, M&S announced on 15th January that they are targeting to become carbon neutral by 2012.

Four key pointers for future success

Given this growing evidence, 2007 seems likely to become a turning point for the global sustainability 'movement' - particularly amongst the business community.

At this time of fresh thinking and new solutions, we would like to suggest four key pointers for companies and their brands who genuinely want to be seen as examples of sustainable business success.

Companies and/or their brands must ensure that 'sustainable' policies and action plans are at the heart of their businesses. Those who move soonest will gain the greatest competitive advantage.
Finding compelling ways to promote these aspects of the way they operate as a business should become an increasingly important part of their marketing and promotional strategy.
But…they will need to be rigorous about what they claim is true – no greenwash! Those who aren't will be found out, and it will be worse for their business than if they had done nothing at all.
Sustainability is about finding solutions that are both environmentally and economically sound – and about the rediscovery of the social contribution businesses can make. Cadbury and others knew this over 150 years ago. It is about business people rediscovering their wider role in society – way beyond philanthropy and self-promotion. It is about business asserting its potentially positive role on the development of our society.

This can be a win-win situation for all of us. There is no single magical solution, but a range of solutions each of which will feed into or support each other.

What is clear is that the business community needs to take an extremely active role. But businesses need to be true to what they say, and compelling in their sustainability claims, to gain significant competitive advantage. There can be little question that those that achieve this will be amongst the great business success stories of the future.

Brand-Bonding Drives Desire

Wed, 03 Jan 2007 02:27:00 GMT

Shopping and logical thought are often worlds apart. Why do we buy the car we do? Not because it gets the best gas mileage or because it’s the best deal. We buy it because we want it. It’s about pure desire, rationalized either before or after purchase.

Recently I heard Don Diforio, senior vice president of research for the Advertising Research Foundation, speak at Columbia University about the new neuropsychological theories that are replacing the old consumer beliefs. No longer is it believed that consumers think, feel, do, or follow AIDA (awareness, interest, desire, action) buying patterns. Rather, according to those who look inside the brain to study the connection between physiology and psychological responses, we are all driven first by emotion. This emotional connection leads to brand desire, which ultimately leads to demand. Granted, convenience factors and rational concerns play a part in the decision making process, but it is a feeling that acts as the initial spark of interest. Given the masses of information that we keep in our brains, we all still act based on primitive, emotional instincts. It seems we’re just cavemen with cars after all.

I had what Oprah calls an “Aha moment.” When I’d first learned of AIDA, I thought about my brother-in Billy. The model didn’t seem to apply to his “buy now, explain later” purchasing process. When he sees something he wants, he gets it. It can be a car, a pair of sneakers, or Swedish fish. He can provide you with an exhaustive litany of reasons for his purchase of a BMW: “You can’t drive clients around in a crap car.” “It handles well.” “It’s a sports-car-in-a-sedan package.” The truth is, Billy buys into the brand – the lifestyle surrounding BMW. In his mind, it equals success.

This “feel first, think later” advertising model is in line with theories surrounding brands. We as brand marketers and those who work with us believe that brands are simply the established meaning or reputation of a product or service within the minds – and hearts – of consumers. These brands then have values, ideas, and feelings attached to them that allow consumers to make unique emotional connections with them. This is why the Prius brand equates to cool hybrid, green, environmental awareness and BMW equates to success and a sports car in a luxury package.

Given this new model, the role of brand in marketing becomes even more important. As Diforio pointed out in his recent lecture, the goal of advertising is moving from “creating brand awareness” to creating brand demand.” Not only do consumers need to know about your brand, they need to want your brand. To create this demand, consumers need to attach value to a brand that not only is unique but also motivates them on an emotional or instinctive level.

Now that we know that consumers behave emotionally – at any price point – it is our job to build brands that are differentiated and connect to the target market emotionally first. As Diforio put it, “Emotion involves and motivates and can transfer positive perceptions to the brand.”

At The Brand Union, we believe that this connection is made when a brand is built on a “compelling truth.” To get to this, we first assess the company, product, competitors, and the market. These elements are analyzed to deliver a basis that is powerful, actionable, and appealing to the brand’s target audience. The compelling truth is transformational, ideally creating emotional preference and differentiation.

When a brand’s compelling truth is delivered consistently across the customer experience, it drives emotion and breeds motivation.

Let’s not forget about Billy. His life has changed since he first started driving BMWs. He has a beautiful daughter, Elizabeth, and another little on the way. He’s now driving the car that fits his new desires and lifestyle. Want to guess what we recently found in his driveway? That’s right, he’s driving the quintessential family car – a Volvo.

Tuning in to Tone

Wed, 03 Jan 2007 02:27:00 GMT

A brand’s identity, or the face it presents to the world, is more than logos and names. It’s also how the company speaks and what it says. At the base level, this communication should position the brand uniquely and consistently across all touch points. Most companies seek to create this integration, first, via a visual system that expresses the brand through color, images, logo treatment, texture and beyond. But truly bringing a brand to life requires not only a unique visual system, but also a written and spoken voice that is a reflection of the brand.

“Branded language” isn’t just the development of names, strap lines or messaging, although it works with all of those. Branded language allows a brand to express its personality through a distinct tone of voice, manner, structure and vocabulary system. Like design, branded language takes its cues from brand positioning to ensure that the communication expresses the truth of the brand. Some brands choose to make their language highly noticeable in this way, while others count it as a success that their language simply fits the brand.

The benefit of branded language is not only consistency, but the fact that it also permits a wider scope for creative expression to reflect a brand. For example, Richard Branson’s Virgin is always irreverent and fun. This sensibility doesn’t just come from the visual identity; the brand uses language to convey these values.

Since the sale of its record label, the company’s largest American business may be its airline, Virgin Atlantic. When you fly Virgin, you’re part of a club — a flying nightclub with a language conveying a certain friendly exclusivity. A passenger who visits the Web site is often greeted with “Hello, Gorgeous,” while the frequent flyer program, “Flying Club,” provides “irresistible offers” and the company’s first-class cabin, “Upper Class,” allows for “drive-thru check-in so you can bypass the terminal and head straight for the Clubhouse.”

Sure, Virgin is an unusual brand with an unusual leader who encourages pushing the envelope. But as this example shows, branded language is not limited to consumer companies having some fun. Business-to-business companies and more conservative consumer brands can express themselves through branded language. If a brand doesn’t pay attention to the language in all of its communications, at best it could be missing an opportunity to use language as a consistent, creative expression of the brand. At worst, inconsistent language can sabotage public perception of the brand.

To achieve consistent creativity in communications, a branded language program establishes the language personality of the brand. The process to develop branded language begins with an audit to understand a brand’s current communications and its positioning. This step reveals what a brand needs to say, to whom and through which modes of communication. The next step focuses on the positioning and characteristics that drive and differentiate a brand.

The findings can then be used when rewriting communications materials. The new, revised copy can be tested internally and externally, both to find out whether it expresses the brand clearly and whether users like it. Once vetted, the brand language is then captured as guidelines, on paper or electronically. Training — to make sure all the relevant communicators, from copywriters to speakers to customer service reps, know how to express the brand consistently — is the final step.

Ideally, branded language should deliver a structure that frees writers to be creative, while providing enough constraint to make sure that nothing off-brand gets through. And often, that’s a case of working closely with companies and their writers. Sometimes, this collaboration results in additions and changes to the guidelines to capture what is discovered on applying the brand’s language in new areas. If the process seems odd, remember it’s analogous to what happens with visual design.

We’re used to accepting that strong brands consider color, images and typography when communicating their message graphically. Today, strong brands also consider not just what they’re going to say, but how to say it. A distinct tone and vocabulary allows a brand to express its personality.