‘A licence to brand’
Phil Kay was a down at heal, not so cool, private eye – a life in US corporate marketing had taken its toll – he was cynical, worn down, balding and not convinced that a career move to industrial espionage was actually for him…but the life-coach lady (kindly paid for by HR) had said that the change would be good for him so…
His government client had asked him to dig some dirt on re-branding and come up with a plan that would take the opposition by surprise. It was late…very late, the city was dark and brooding and now he came to think about it: wet. He had thought about bringing the golf umbrella from the car but thought better of it as it was adorned with the name of a condo in ‘Vegas and well it would have looked out of place. He was a stranger to this city – he’d heard about it of course… the famous café quarter (where he was now) but had made a mental note to avoid a place called Queen street – where he came from this sounded like trouble.
The contact was to meet him at a bar where brains would be brewed and sold – he made another mental note: weird place Cardiff! Even at this hour the bar was busy – he took his coke to the quietest table – shook off his coat and slouched into a seat, staring at his wet West Coast loafers, now an amusing two-tone colour due to the light rain. He was quite unaware of the body that had sat silently down next to him until…
‘Psst! – WM sent me’
Phil jump started back into the bar – he looked at the stranger with a questioning look on his face.
‘The name’s: Squirrel’ said the stranger.
Phil replied: ‘not: Squirrel, James Squirrel?’
‘No’, said Squirrel, ‘just Squirrel – licensed to re-brand’
Later, during his de-brief back in Havelock Street, the red headed agent ‘Squirrel’ would recall this exchange and comment that Phil Kay had either spent too much time in the corporate marketing rat race or watched too many in-flight films!
‘Oh, pleased you could meet me’ said Phil, ‘ I need to know a few things about re-branding…but…’ his voice was no more than a faint whisper as he leaned over towards Squirrel, ‘I need to know what to do to future proof branding for a smaller firm’. This last statement was accompanied with the furtive look of a bloke buying a top shelf magazine in a corner shop full of WI members. He was obviously uncomfortable talking about future proofing and small firms…well ‘that’s text book marketing for you’ thought Squirrel.
‘Listen carefully’, said Squirrel, ‘I shall say this only once’ (which sounded faintly familiar) ‘And if you tell anyone that I told you this stuff…I’ll bury more than your nuts!’
‘Is that why they call you Squirrel’ said a pale looking Phil.
Squirrel shot Phil a withering look that was all the answer he needed, this was one squirrel you didn’t mess with thought Phil.
What followed in the next ten minutes would stay with Phil for the rest of his days as it all made sense and he began to question the years of corporate game playing that he had done all in the name of market development…
‘The first thing to remember’ said Squirrel ‘is that what happened to the Royal Mail still ranks as the worst re-branding exercise anyone has ever done. They lost the plot completely – on the first hand why change a name that customers and consumers have known for generations and on the other just changing a name is not fundamentally re-branding’.
‘What do you mean it’s not re-branding’ spluttered a shocked Phil,
‘Well it’s much deeper than just playing around with names and of course: logos, no branding and therefore re-branding is personal, a brand must have integrity, it must be memorable, its got to stand for something in the customer’s life…tell a story and above all it’s about emotion. Actually the really scary bit for most firms is that branding is more about what happens internally than externally and probably why most small firms are quite good at the emotional development bit – the passion for their business.’
‘Ill explain a little more’, Squirrel hurriedly but calmly continued, ‘if you had the cash, you could, without question afford to commission the very best design agency to design an outstanding and probably award winning logo, brand mark and brand name – skilfully presented in all the right colours and type face and when combined with some media planning you could get your new ‘brand’ in front of lots of people…but would it ‘mean’ anything? You see for a brand to have meaning it’s got to have some emotional attachment for the end user and that meaning is developed in a different place to all the graphic stuff…important though that is later on’.
‘So are you saying that branding is more about’, glancing round the bar to make sure that they were not being overheard, ‘ the experience’ than the function’, asked Phil,
‘Yes – a brand comes into being when the expectations of the brand matches the experience the customer has of the brand – when there are no disappointments and doubts’.
We live in a ‘post scarcity’ world – in reality we have so much brand choice that the only commodity that we should be concerned about is that of attention – because that’s the most valuable thing a customer can now give us and our brand has got to be worthy of that commodity.
To do that the brand has to connect with the consumer and increasingly they want brands that are authentic and real as opposed to fantasy creations … the real beauty campaign by Dove is a good example of an authentic brand that connects with customers…in that case real everyday women.
The trick is to develop that high quality brand experience and it’s one that customers will pay a premium for…because it connects emotionally. There are a ‘tribe’ of people out there called ‘transumers’ – these people are more switched on by the experience rather than the ownership of brands…they pay into things like ‘car clubs’ where they can ‘borrow’ a high end sports car for a day or two and enjoy the experience without all the hassle of ownership – and the next time they want one they can take out a different car…a different experience, a different story to tell’
‘But I thought ownership was a key factor of all this brand stuff…’ muttered Phil,
‘It was…until we entered the post-material twenty first century world we are in now: now the best brands help customers tell stories and shape their identities – for consumers, sharing their stories with their friends, their family, their neighbours, their colleagues, is the experience, is the value…is the brand’.
But such an experience must be authentic – the firm has to believe in it too – they also have to have an emotional attachment. When this happens the demarcation between supplier and buyer becomes blurred as everyone involved creates the value…’
‘That’s heavy’ said Phil remembering the words of his ‘client’ at the briefing two floors below the office block on the corner of Navy and Fern in DC, when he was told that he was going to: a small and clever country.
‘But the better future proofed brands will go one step further’, persisted Squirrel ‘they will not only connect with the customer but they will also enable the customers to connect with each other by creating on line social networking experiences … and thus become an integral part of the tribe. Such networks will be a place where stories can be exchanged and value created –future brand winners will live or die on the basis of the stories told and understand that it is the stories that are of value not the products or services they offer’.
‘You ever been involved with one of these units?’ probed a now alert Phil.
Squirrel visually interrogated him before giving an answer: ‘Well take my last project: code name ‘Virgin’ – they know what value is and how to create an emotional attachment to their brand, from the top down there is a passion about the experience and it comes from within – and they can operate in many markets because it’s not the product that matters but the story told – their brand has become in the eyes of their customer a ‘love mark’…’Squirrel tailed off.
Even though the bar was busy Squirrel had been aware of a tall, grey figure entering the bar, the male wore a long grey fur coat, which to the trained eye concealed a loaded copy of ‘an introduction to marketing’, which as Squirrel knew all too well could be lethal in the wrong hands.
Phil had followed Squirrel’s gaze and was asking the now empty seat beside him if this was character was trouble…he had made no sound as he disappeared into the crowded bar…but had left his calling card as authentication: the two halves of an empty hazelnut.
Jonathan H Deacon wears red socks and helps create the brands of tomorrow at the Newport Business School
Phil Kay was a down at heal, not so cool, private eye – a life in US corporate marketing had taken its toll – he was cynical, worn down, balding and not convinced that a career move to industrial espionage was actually for him…but the life-coach lady (kindly paid for by HR) had said that the change would be good for him so…
His government client had asked him to dig some dirt on re-branding and come up with a plan that would take the opposition by surprise. It was late…very late, the city was dark and brooding and now he came to think about it: wet. He had thought about bringing the golf umbrella from the car but thought better of it as it was adorned with the name of a condo in ‘Vegas and well it would have looked out of place. He was a stranger to this city – he’d heard about it of course… the famous café quarter (where he was now) but had made a mental note to avoid a place called Queen street – where he came from this sounded like trouble.
The contact was to meet him at a bar where brains would be brewed and sold – he made another mental note: weird place Cardiff! Even at this hour the bar was busy – he took his coke to the quietest table – shook off his coat and slouched into a seat, staring at his wet West Coast loafers, now an amusing two-tone colour due to the light rain. He was quite unaware of the body that had sat silently down next to him until…
‘Psst! – WM sent me’
Phil jump started back into the bar – he looked at the stranger with a questioning look on his face.
‘The name’s: Squirrel’ said the stranger.
Phil replied: ‘not: Squirrel, James Squirrel?’
‘No’, said Squirrel, ‘just Squirrel – licensed to re-brand’
Later, during his de-brief back in Havelock Street, the red headed agent ‘Squirrel’ would recall this exchange and comment that Phil Kay had either spent too much time in the corporate marketing rat race or watched too many in-flight films!
‘Oh, pleased you could meet me’ said Phil, ‘ I need to know a few things about re-branding…but…’ his voice was no more than a faint whisper as he leaned over towards Squirrel, ‘I need to know what to do to future proof branding for a smaller firm’. This last statement was accompanied with the furtive look of a bloke buying a top shelf magazine in a corner shop full of WI members. He was obviously uncomfortable talking about future proofing and small firms…well ‘that’s text book marketing for you’ thought Squirrel.
‘Listen carefully’, said Squirrel, ‘I shall say this only once’ (which sounded faintly familiar) ‘And if you tell anyone that I told you this stuff…I’ll bury more than your nuts!’
‘Is that why they call you Squirrel’ said a pale looking Phil.
Squirrel shot Phil a withering look that was all the answer he needed, this was one squirrel you didn’t mess with thought Phil.
What followed in the next ten minutes would stay with Phil for the rest of his days as it all made sense and he began to question the years of corporate game playing that he had done all in the name of market development…
‘The first thing to remember’ said Squirrel ‘is that what happened to the Royal Mail still ranks as the worst re-branding exercise anyone has ever done. They lost the plot completely – on the first hand why change a name that customers and consumers have known for generations and on the other just changing a name is not fundamentally re-branding’.
‘What do you mean it’s not re-branding’ spluttered a shocked Phil,
‘Well it’s much deeper than just playing around with names and of course: logos, no branding and therefore re-branding is personal, a brand must have integrity, it must be memorable, its got to stand for something in the customer’s life…tell a story and above all it’s about emotion. Actually the really scary bit for most firms is that branding is more about what happens internally than externally and probably why most small firms are quite good at the emotional development bit – the passion for their business.’
‘Ill explain a little more’, Squirrel hurriedly but calmly continued, ‘if you had the cash, you could, without question afford to commission the very best design agency to design an outstanding and probably award winning logo, brand mark and brand name – skilfully presented in all the right colours and type face and when combined with some media planning you could get your new ‘brand’ in front of lots of people…but would it ‘mean’ anything? You see for a brand to have meaning it’s got to have some emotional attachment for the end user and that meaning is developed in a different place to all the graphic stuff…important though that is later on’.
‘So are you saying that branding is more about’, glancing round the bar to make sure that they were not being overheard, ‘ the experience’ than the function’, asked Phil,
‘Yes – a brand comes into being when the expectations of the brand matches the experience the customer has of the brand – when there are no disappointments and doubts’.
We live in a ‘post scarcity’ world – in reality we have so much brand choice that the only commodity that we should be concerned about is that of attention – because that’s the most valuable thing a customer can now give us and our brand has got to be worthy of that commodity.
To do that the brand has to connect with the consumer and increasingly they want brands that are authentic and real as opposed to fantasy creations … the real beauty campaign by Dove is a good example of an authentic brand that connects with customers…in that case real everyday women.
The trick is to develop that high quality brand experience and it’s one that customers will pay a premium for…because it connects emotionally. There are a ‘tribe’ of people out there called ‘transumers’ – these people are more switched on by the experience rather than the ownership of brands…they pay into things like ‘car clubs’ where they can ‘borrow’ a high end sports car for a day or two and enjoy the experience without all the hassle of ownership – and the next time they want one they can take out a different car…a different experience, a different story to tell’
‘But I thought ownership was a key factor of all this brand stuff…’ muttered Phil,
‘It was…until we entered the post-material twenty first century world we are in now: now the best brands help customers tell stories and shape their identities – for consumers, sharing their stories with their friends, their family, their neighbours, their colleagues, is the experience, is the value…is the brand’.
But such an experience must be authentic – the firm has to believe in it too – they also have to have an emotional attachment. When this happens the demarcation between supplier and buyer becomes blurred as everyone involved creates the value…’
‘That’s heavy’ said Phil remembering the words of his ‘client’ at the briefing two floors below the office block on the corner of Navy and Fern in DC, when he was told that he was going to: a small and clever country.
‘But the better future proofed brands will go one step further’, persisted Squirrel ‘they will not only connect with the customer but they will also enable the customers to connect with each other by creating on line social networking experiences … and thus become an integral part of the tribe. Such networks will be a place where stories can be exchanged and value created –future brand winners will live or die on the basis of the stories told and understand that it is the stories that are of value not the products or services they offer’.
‘You ever been involved with one of these units?’ probed a now alert Phil.
Squirrel visually interrogated him before giving an answer: ‘Well take my last project: code name ‘Virgin’ – they know what value is and how to create an emotional attachment to their brand, from the top down there is a passion about the experience and it comes from within – and they can operate in many markets because it’s not the product that matters but the story told – their brand has become in the eyes of their customer a ‘love mark’…’Squirrel tailed off.
Even though the bar was busy Squirrel had been aware of a tall, grey figure entering the bar, the male wore a long grey fur coat, which to the trained eye concealed a loaded copy of ‘an introduction to marketing’, which as Squirrel knew all too well could be lethal in the wrong hands.
Phil had followed Squirrel’s gaze and was asking the now empty seat beside him if this was character was trouble…he had made no sound as he disappeared into the crowded bar…but had left his calling card as authentication: the two halves of an empty hazelnut.
Jonathan H Deacon wears red socks and helps create the brands of tomorrow at the Newport Business School
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