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The Brand Personality is one of three types of brand positioning guidelines (or "platforms") developed by The Brand Development Company. Although "Brand Personality" might be the term more frequently known, we've found that "Creative Platform" is more interesting to clients.
In Brand Personality 101, you learned that a brand is much much much
much much much much (much!) more than a logo and you still owe me a
nickel for that.
In 201, you learned by example how a Brand Personality
applies choice of wording and choice of color strategically to connect
on a very emotional level with the targeted audience.
To your credit, you don't seem to have touched the Rolaids but I wonder if you're thinking that all this
branding stuff is a lot of unnecessary mumbo-jumbo made up to wrench those nickles from your fingerpainting hand. I wonder if you still don't believe that the nickles you invest in a Brand
Positioning Statement, Brand Message and Brand Personality actually
deliver a strong return on that investment.
In 201, I used the example of LoanTrader to show the powerful impact of branding. Branding accelerated LoanTrader's ability to attract visitors
(and, right after that, investors) to their new internet marketplace for wholesale mortgage products. Branding also enabled us to quickly scale down ad placement
in mortgage industry trade publications --from two-page spreads and full-page ads to third-page verticals. All
readers needed was to see the edges of our
orange-yellow-red tie-dyed layout. Just a sliver was all that was needed to catch their attention.
The fact is, a Brand Personality can make a difference in single word if it's the right word.
Imagine a series of exercises and discussion with 3-6 of your key
people generating a wheelbarrow full of words that best describe how
your company should be positioned to your target audience.
Imagine
words such as youthful, friendly, enthusiastic, vibrant, motivated,
helpful, sincere, interested, interacting, innovative, creative, and so
on.
That's a lot of words to put in an ad. Definitely too many for a bumper
sticker. (Think of all the accidents it would cause people following too
close, squinting and mumbling complaints.)
But if then your branding guy comes up with the word "zippy."
"How do you feel about zippy?" he asks, charging you $120/hour.
"Does 'zippy' kinda sorta say what all these words say?"
He dramatically writes "zippy" on a Post-It
note and puts it on the wall above all the other words.
Imagine your 3-6 people leaning forward, squinting and
mumbling complaints while you're still trying to get over
that $120/hour rate.
Okay. You're a little upset;
feeling mightily ripped off. Feeling like the emperor in that new
suit of clothes sold by the wily tailor.
Now, all of a sudden, that branding guy comes back in the room
presenting a guerilla marketing campaign built around the word "zippiddyishuss" -- a word combining your wowrkshop's "zippy" word with the
already-established-and-familiar Dairy Queen word "Scrumdiddleyishuss."
Not long afterwards, your company name and that weird
zippiddyishuss word are all over town, all over the internet and all over your
customers.
The next thing you know, you're anchored someplace warm writing that branding guy a check for five cents.
Later, as you're laying out on deck, catching a tan, with rum dribbling
down your chin, it dawns on you that it onkly took one little word on billboards,
buttons worn at trade shows and bumper stickers, chalked on sidewalks
at subway stations and at airports and convention halls, and dragged behind a
bright yellow bi-plane to maker your company a gargantuan success.
And it cost you practically nothing.
Maybe then you'll finally be a believer in the power of banding. Maybe then you won't
forget to mail the Brand Guy that check next time you stop at the docks for ice.
BRANDLAND CHALLENGE:
By the end of this work week, get five of your friends to say
zippiddyishuss as fast as they can five times and have them get five
other people to do the same. (But please don't tell them that their dog will
die it doesn't happen in the next five minutes and please don't conduct
this exercise in viral marketing over the internet.)
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