‘I walked through
a hardware store last night and I came across 50 brands I didn’t know they existed.
They may be great products but they are not great brands.’
- Scott Bedbury, Creator of Brands such as
Nike and Star Bucks
Tata Tiscon Rods |
Branding a product is a delicate mix of ‘art’ and
‘science’ as it comprises touching the emotional and rational chords of the
consumer. The quest to building great brands, lies in the fine balance of managing this,
effectively and consistently. The changing consumer profile adds to the dynamism of brand
building and one can see that in the last century, brands such as Coca Colo and Kodak have
survived and grown, whilst brands such as Pan Am and Betamax have disappeared. More
interestingly brands such as Intel and Nokia have emerged as titans in the shortest
possible time.
In very simplistic terms, a brand is the
proprietary visual, emotional, rational, and cultural image that we associate with a
company, a product, service, person or a country. When we think Volvo, we might think
safety. When we think Nike, we might think of Michael Jordan or “Just Do It.”
When we think IBM, we might think “Big Blue.” The fact that we remember the
brand name and have positive associations with that brand makes the product selection
easier and enhances the value and satisfaction we get from the product.
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