Brand creation: Not what you think
Brand creation comes in basically two forms. What other brand agencies do and what we do. They are barely the same thing. Let’s count the ways.
Other brand agencies create what benefits them most.
That means impressing their peers with eye-popping visuals. Clever taglines. And based on research that’s barely skin deep. They are trying to win the meeting. So most of them come up with a splashy presentation that’s meant to wow. Not to solve your problem. They believe you’ll be so knocked out you’ll overlook that it doesn’t address the issues at hand.
How to spot meaningless brand creation
In fact, there’s a way to spot the meaningless of their brand creation. Wipe all the CGI graphics from your mind and consider if the meaning is persuasive. Ask yourself, “Would it really change a behaviour?” Because if you don’t change behaviours, then you’re not stealing shares. You’re asking people to stop doing what they currently do. And do something else. Choose you. Do they approach the problem with cleverness? That’s the easy giveaway. Clever often wins a room.
But rarely, if ever, works. Clever is your enemy. Because audiences see it as fake. As marketing. It’s simply not believable when you want audiences to hear you as getting them. In the gut.
Brand creation based on faulty research
Research makes up the foundation of all brand creation. Without it, you are spitballing like a blind man throwing darts. And often just copying what your competitors do. Most market research simply tests attitude and usage. While those are important, they don’t tell you how to align with target audiences emotionally. Other brand agencies will also test the things they already know. Like why beer drinkers like their favourite beer. Because they like the taste, silly!
Most brand research is simply lazy. It tells you nothing that’s actionable or useful. It simply sounds like it’s insightful. “Brand creation is only about stealing market share. Otherwise, there’s no reason to do it.”
Our approach is different
brand creationLet’s start at the end. The look and feel of the brand creation. Our stuff looks great. And it’s unique. But that’s not how you should judge it. You judge it based on the strategy. The meaning. When viewing our work, ask yourself this. Is it persuasive? Does it align itself with an emotional intensity? Is it different from the competition?
We don’t expect you to dive into competitive analysis to answer that last question. But we’re confident you’ll see the strategy and emotional component in everything we do. And that’s it’s different. Because that’s the only way you become a choice. If you have the same message as your competitors, you are not a choice. You just blend into the noise.
How we get there
With quantitative market research. With the right questions to ask. Usage & attitude studies will only get you so far.
We test precepts, the emotional drivers for choice. What we believe to be true about ourselves and the world forms the choices we make.
Once you align your brand with the single most emotionally intensive precept in the market, audiences are unable to choose someone else.
It’s a scientific approach that’s proven. Every one of our clients has stolen market share after working with us. Every one of them.
Brand creation to steal share
Once the research has been analyzed, we diagram the competition. Because the more of different choices you present, the greater the opportunity to gain market share. Especially when hitting on an emotional precept. Hitting a nerve. The key to stealing market share is to position yourself against the competition. Not with the same product benefits your competition owns. But with an emotional tug that carries along with the target audience to your port. So much of what other brand agencies do is put a spin on the competition’s messaging. But audiences are too clever to buy it. So you go through the process again. And again.
Make it the final process. The one that steals the market for the long term. Brand creation is only about stealing market share. Otherwise, there’s no reason to do it.
