Brand Personality

Moving over from the definition based approach which I had been following till now, this post will be more of an analytical based approach. 

Over forty years of research in marketing has shown that the perceptions and associations consumers have about brands go beyond their functional attributes and benefits, and include non-functional, symbolic qualities, often referred to as “brand image.” Among these aspects of brand image are perceptions and associations about the brand's “personality,” the “set of human-like characteristics associated with a brand”. The brand personality dimension of Jennifer Aaker is a framework to describe and measure the ‘personality’ of the brand in five core dimensions. The five core dimensions are Sincerity, Excitement, Competence, Sophistication, and Ruggedness.

Marketer’s often enjoy creative catch phrases to describe marketing propositions....brand essence, strategic positioning....and so on. Likewise, the concept of brand personality is found deep within marketing textbooks...the realms of consultants, professors, and lengthy whitepapers. Often, however it is discussed in disassociated terms – removed from the realities of a brand’s strategic and tactical efforts. Now coming back to the topic, every brand has got it – brand personality that is. Some, however evoke feelings, others are bland. The critical difference is that some brands focus on it, understand it, and exploit it. To them, it is integral to their brand’s experience, service interactions and, and customer relationships.

Personality gives the brand a dimension and a depth. It can breathe life into inanimate images. It can be cornerstone for service delivery...and connecting emotionally with customers. In saying this, one asks: 

• Is our brand's 'personality' unique and differentiated?...Is it authentic and real?
• Does it energize and excite? Does it create value?
• Does it strike images in the targeted customers' mind...ones that resonate and motivate preference?
• Does it bring to life brand's promises, products, services and experiences?

Some brands have well defined personalities. Nike's personality is unabashed...aggressive and empowering...somewhat self important. It is about achievement and winners...a passion for competitiveness. MTV is about total expression of youth, individuality, and breaking conventions...a loud shout for independence and free thinking. Analyzing these the thought which came to my mind is...arent the adjectives too many too handle....do these brands really need or are displaying so many traits. The answer to this is provided by the following para. 

Great brand personalities are multi-dimensional. As with humans, brand personality has both depth and multiple facets...and reveals four basic qualities of the brand.

1. Demonstrates a Brand's Passion and Expertise...defining the brand's ultimate purpose and differentiating from the competitive set.
2. Creates affinity with the targeted customer segments....touching and energizing their motivations.
3. Projects the brand's core values and beliefs...describing how the customer can expect to be treated.
4. Communicates and over-arching tone, style, and attitude about the Brand's experience and customer interactions.

Brand Personality can be considered as the “voice” behind a brand’s values … a brand’s competitive positioning … and a brand’s functional attributes. Personality communicates and projects these through human traits. It is understood and interpreted by the customer – and exists in the customer’s mind.

Brand Personalities can be created by effective use of marketing communication channels...by advertisements (Bajaj Pulsar)....by heritage (Harley Davidson, Marlboro)....by endorser (Lux)...by logos and slogans (Peter England, LIC) and by building personalities (MTV). Some of the examples are as shown below.

Bajaj Pulsar

Bajaj Pulsar | Definitely Male

Harley Davidson

Draws attention to its 'genuine' lifestyle personality.

Finally what we could say is, brand personality is not a panacea. The basics of sound product design, quality service and true market demand are much more important (well this can be a theorem for all marketers and marketing issues...but seldom recognized  by any of them....cause they do not have any jargon for it :P ). But building on these fundamentals brand personality can greatly energize and excite - creating value and differentiation. Brand personality communicates expectations and reinforces decision-making. At the same time, it can nurture trust and comfort. Strong personalities are multi-dimensional. They are demonstrated and reinforced throughout the brand's experience - both in front of the customer, as well as behind the scenes.

What is Branding??

Moving ahead, the next question which needs to be answered is “What is branding?” Also known as Brand Management, it was started as a discipline at Procter & Gamble PLC as a result of a famous memo by Neil H. McElroy. Branding (or Brand Mangement) is the process of making products and companies into brands. Branding is the consistent and disciplined way we communicate a brand’s essence to the public—employees, shareholders, vendors, customers. An adjunct is “brand development,” the process of identifying and establishing the brand’s essence and identity (well too many suffixes there...we will deal with these as we go ahead). Now let us understand what few learned men have to say about it.

• To start with...Wikipedia :)
  
  Brand management is the application of marketing techniques to a specific product, product line, or brand.
  Well this definition is more or less the same as explained above, but misses on a very crucial point which is that the application of marketing techniques to the brand should be consistent and is further explained as below.
• “There is a difference between branding and brand development....Branding consists of the tactics used to deliver a brand’s distinction, and brand development is the discovery process used to find that distinction. Remember, the definition of a brand is ‘a claim of distinction.’ Branding tactics are the consistent use of colour, graphics and spokespeople used to communicate a brand’s distinction. But please don’t think that colours, graphics or spokespeople are the distinction. Those could change with the next campaign.”
   —Jim Hughes, branding expert and president of The Idea House
  
  Branding and Brand development can be seen as the process of moving the organization up the hierarchy as shown above. Building on mission and business strategy, the brand architecture is defined. On brand architecture are built brand strategy and brand expressions—how the company’s products, services and communications demonstrate and articulate the essence of the brand (well again, I will try and discuss these as we move ahead). That in short is what I had to say about branding.

Well to end it....I will like to quote these words of Mark di Soma, Audacity Group (they somewhat justify what I had said in my previous entries)

"Brand is the 'f' word of marketing. People swear by it, no one quite understands its significance and everybody would like to think they do it more often than they do"

What is a Brand??

First of all, what is a brand?

People have different opinions about what brand is. Try asking few marketing enthusiasts about "What is a Brand??". I am sure not only would they be surprised at your question, the answers to those (if they give any :P) would be as random as you can think them to be.

So lets us understand what few of the learned men in the world have to say about it.

• To start with...Wikipedia :)
  
  A brand is a name or a trademark connected with a product or a producer.
  As simple as that. But as we discuss ahead we will see that Brand Name itself is one of the Brand Components. So the definition is a bit hazy, i would say, as according to this definition Brand itself is a part of Brand Component.
• A “brand” is not a thing, a product, a company or an organization. A brand does not exist in the physical world—it is a mental construct. A brand can best be described as the sum total of all human experiences, perceptions and feelings about a particular thing, product or organization. Brands exist in the consciousness—of individuals and of the public.
  
                     —James R. Gregory, “Leveraging the Corporate Brand”

• A brand is not an icon, a slogan, or a mission statement. It is a promise—a promise your company can keep....This is the promise you make and keep in every marketing activity, every action, every corporate decision, every customer interaction.
  
  —Kristin Zhivago, “Business Marketing” 
• A brand is more than just advertising and marketing. It is nothing less than everything anyone thinks when they see your logo or hear your name.
  
  —David F. D’Alessandro, CEO of John Hancock and author of “Brand Warfare: 10 Rules for Building the Killer Brand”

The above definitions must have given you an idea of what brand really is. It is what exists in the eyes or rather the mind of the beholder. On a lighter note it is nothing but everything.

the beginning...

Hey all


My first post...

This blog is all about 'BRAND'. But why only brand, whats so special about it? Well it is one of the few words in the English language which when taken alone has no meaning, or rather, insignificant meaning as compared to when it used along with other words (and if you do not believe me, try searching for brand on Google. the very second entry will not be of brand). BrandictionarY is an attempt to understand the meaning of all those words which are formed by adding prefixes or suffixes to BRAND (and believe me, well again, that there are many such words. in fact I am sure that the list would never end).