In order to develop and implement brand identity successfully, the following key lessons need to be considered (Esch, 2006; 2007).
Senior management buy-in: in order to implement brand identity successfully senior management commitment is of paramount importance. Thus senior managers need to support the ideas as well as the process of developing brand identity.
Do not underestimate the process of developing and implementing brand identity: the period specified for developing brand identity is usually too short. A lack of time for the process implies that necessary feedback loops to revise brand identity are neglected. In order to develop and implement brand identity successfully, the project team should also reflect all relevant areas of the company adequately, and start with an internal instead of an external analysis of the brand. The results of the internal analysis, which reflects the status quo of the brand identity, serve as the basis for interviewing external stakeholders.
When consolidating the internal and external perspective in order to establish the brand’s future identity, one needs to consider the brand’s history as well as the company’s future strategy.
Separate the wheat from the chaff: characteristic brand criteria must be differentiated from non-characteristic ones. This often causes problems, as central brand assets are often underestimated by managers due to the fact that they are often not aware of them. One hundred and forty years of experience within and for the chemical market are very impor-tant to BASF as these attributes support and convey the expertise of BASF as a leading chemical company in the world. Likewise these attributes reflect that BASF is a reliable and powerful partner that is ‘here today’ and will still be ‘here tomorrow’ to help shape the future of its business partners successfully.
Develop the brand’s big picture instead of patchworking: brand identity includes the essential and characteristic traits of a brand. These traits reflect rational as well as emo-tional, verbal and non-verbal impressions. The brand steering wheel considers those facets necessary for developing the brand’s big picture. The left-hand side of the brand Table 4.2 Sensory experiences of brands
Sensory experiences Examples of everyday life Examples of brands
Sight Empire State Ford Shelby
Building Pillsbury Doughboy
Chrysler Building Marlboro Country
Sound Sound of a phone Intel’s ‘drumbone’ tone
Smell Smell of leather Chanel No. 5
Smell of a barbecue Hawaiian Tropic
Touch Sponge Coca-Cola bottle
Nylons Absolut Vodka bottle
Taste Taste of whisky Tabasco
Taste of lobster Big Mac
Source: Andresen (1991).
steering wheel reflects the ratio and hard facts, whereas the right-hand side reflects the feel-ings and non-verbal brand impressions (Esch, 2007).
Raise awareness about the interrelations between the facets of the brand steering wheel: in order to develop a coherent brand identity, it is of paramount importance to make sure that the facets of the steering wheel are interrelated. Brand benefits must be reflected in brand tonalities as well as in the brand iconography which should convey the brand coherently and vice versa. In order to capture brand identity in such a holis-tic way, it is helpful to map the connections between the facets within a semanholis-tic network.
The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence: when developing a new brand identity, managers often want to possess the characteristics of strong competitor brands, although they actually do not match their own brand.
Fantasy world: since managers are often very positive about their companies, they argue that their brand possesses certain characteristics that are neither typical nor prov-able of that brand. Therefore brand characteristics need to be seriously questioned.
Furthermore, it needs to be proven how those brand characteristics affect how employees think, feel and act.
Politics and trends: politics and trends play an important role when crafting brand iden-tity. Nowadays every company wants to be sustainable, although sustainability is not often typical of a brand.
Implement brand identity inside the company: many companies are misled by the impression that brand management is primarily externally focused and that a nice adver-tising campaign is all that is needed in order to build strong brands. A brand can only unleash its potential when the employees live the brand inside as well as outside the company. The process of successfully implementing a brand depends on the employees’
commitment of living the brand throughout their daily routine.
Overcome barriers: the implementation of a brand identity can be considered as a change-management process. Within this process, several barriers need to be overcome.
Such barriers are rooted either within employees or in the situation itself. These barriers must be identified in order to solve them with appropriate measures.
Get organized for internal brand building: in order to implement brand identity effectively, it is extremely important to coordinate that process through a project team, which acts as a feedback and control authority and guides the process. Crucial questions that need to be considered when setting up a project group centre around their composi-tion and persuasive power.
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