Does that sound a bit far-fetched? Ask orange farmers in the US, and they will confirm to you that an orange is an orange is an orange until that orange is a Sunkist. In India, an athlete is an athlete is an athlete, unless he happens to be Sachin Tendulkar. There is no doubting the importance of branding. The question instead is what is branding and what is the best vehicle to build a successful brand. Brand building is far more than just logos, slogans, advertising, typefaces and templates.
The basic elements of building a successful brand were broken down by David Aaker in Brand Leadership into: creating visibility; building associations; creating differentiation; and developing deep customer relationships.
To successfully implement a brand identity system, states Aaker, "... the brand position needs to be actively communicated at a target audience".
According to marketing guru Peter Drucker, the power of branding is greatest when it "communicates the business mission to all the company's audiences".
However, as author Scott Davis warns, "many companies assume that branding and advertising are the same; if they get a good ad agency, they expect good results". Instead, "brand-based communication is about determining the right mix of communication vehicles to maximise your potential for achieving the goals established in the brand vision".
Brand-building involves an integrated assortment of communication and association-building media. The challenge is to access alternatives and to manage them so that they create a coordinated synergistic impact. Public relations thereby becomes an intrinsic component of brand-building today.
Those that understand its subtle power in building a credible brand are using it extensively. Far beyond its role in securing third party endorsement from the media, which provides a powerful lever to boost brand image, independent from advertising, it has an important role in direct marketing, event marketing, internal communication as well as consumer, trade and sales promotions.
There are some basic tenets that brand building cannot escape. A brand must be consistent, for one. It must strike an emotional bond with a defined target audience and must hold a promise of a timeless benefit. Of course, a brand is an intrinsic part of and not a separate entity from the user experience.
So what do we need to keep in mind? Not advertising or public relations, but a synergy for an integrated communication of a compelling core message.
A sound strategic marketing plan that governs all communications, both internal and external and a homogeny of visual elements across all platforms.
And finally, the unique selling proposition. As Jack Trout trumpeted stunningly the USP of our times, differentiate or die.