Comments on: The Secret to Making Your Brand Truly Great

By: Dan Hutson

Dan Hutson — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:41:41 +0000

Sounds like your experience isn’t too dissimilar from our experience in the States. And yes, your CEO and senior management team need to be on board. I’d argue that the CEO has to be your biggest branding evangelist and really lead by example. A CEO who delegates all the enthusiasm to others may be setting up his or her branding initiative for failure.

By: Raeda

Raeda — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:01:10 +0000

Hi Dan, i have been a strong proponent of the real branding culture within Pakistan whereby many organizations focus on the marketing and communications bit and when the brand experience at the touch points goes wrong all is blamed on the brand team as “… marketing not able to achieve their targets…”.

Further I have also seen that believing in the brand and making the entire experience a totally wow brand experience from the point of contact to delivery to the product use is largely dependent upon the senior management, MD, CEO whosoever is at the helm of affairs. If that person has the correct understanding of the role branding is to play, the right belief and attitude and is able to reinforce it , the same trickles down the line to all employees and then there is more likelihood of the entire organization working in tandem to achieve the results.

By: Dan Hutson

Dan Hutson — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 22:07:34 +0000

Thanks Cordila. One of the reasons the examples you cite stand out is because it’s so rare for organizations to do the kind of deep, transformational branding they represent. It’s hard work, and most people just don’t have the stomach for it.

By: Dan Hutson

Dan Hutson — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:54:36 +0000

Thanks Jen. Just out of curiosity, I visited Wikipedia to find out what they have to say about brand. Here’s how the entry starts out:

A brand is a name or trademark connected with a product or producer. Brands have become increasingly important components of culture and the economy, now being described as “cultural accessories and personal philosophies.”

It goes on (and on) from there, but how Wikipedia opens the whole brand discussion is typical of the confusion around branding and brand strategy.

By: Cordila

Cordila — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:10:38 +0000

You are right – the experience (both the customer and employee interface) is everything. There are so many great brands to hold up as examples: Zappos, Gilt, Apple, Virgin America. But before you can craft the experience, you have to know who you are as a brand. And even more importantly – who you’re NOT. People respond to an authentic representation of the brand. If you’re not authentically aligned, people will smell a rat and go running the other way!

By: Dan Hutson

Dan Hutson — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 03:31:22 +0000

Thanks, Denise. No argument here.

By: Denise Lee Yohn

Denise Lee Yohn — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:27:17 +0000

i, too, got a lot out of lederman’s book – and having gotten to know his firm a bit, i think their “brand integrity” work is extremely valuable. if i could add one thing, though, it would be an emphasis on the operations of the organization. employee culture (training, alignment, rewards, etc.) is important but equally, if not more, important is the actual operating system of the company. it must be designed and run to deliver the brand value to the customer. organizations that drive their operations with their brand thrive and grow because they are actually doing what they say they do.

By: Jen Jones

Jen Jones — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 01:19:06 +0000

Great post, Dan. I retweeted this, because I think people need to keep this in mind, in the industry. I’ve been thinking a lot about these very things. Needing to understand more about how your clients interact with your brand; finding strategic points of vulnerability; where people are leaving you in search of something else; strategic thrust; core competencies and checking those for relevancy, etc. Helps to have a solid brand platform, but if the organization can’t deliver consistently, it’s empty.

Keep up the good work.

Jen

By: Tweets that mention The Secret to Making Your Brand Truly Great | Poke the Beehive -- Topsy.com

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:43:59 +0000

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Dan Hutson, Peter Routsis. Peter Routsis said: RT @tweetmeme The Secret to Making Your Brand Truly Great | Poke the Beehive http://bit.ly/4mKmkP #li [...]

By: Jason Whitmen

Jason Whitmen — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:00:31 +0000

I found your site on technorati and read a few of your other posts. Keep up the good work. I just added your RSS feed to my Google News Reader. Looking forward to reading more from you down the road!