One Brand Good, Two Brands Better

Too often marketers confuse big, famous brands with brilliant brand strategies. Many of the most iconic brands were built decades ago and their approach to brand-building can be average at best. By the same token, sometimes the most boring and indistinct companies are building their brands right now with strategies that are deserving of our attention and emulation.

So in a break from the norm, I’m going to ignore big brand cliche’s such as Manchester United, Disney and Coca-Cola and tell you about a little-known company with a very successful branding strategy. Carl Zeiss is a German optico-electronic supplier. It generates global sales of more than £3bn from a presence in industries ranging from semi-conductors and consumer optics to microscopy. Its corporate brand positioning is unsophisticated and blunt. No wheels, pyramids or complex Venn diagrams for Zeiss – just four words: ‘We make it visible’.

Zeiss’ brand-building began because of its expertise in lens production.

Throughout the history of camera manufacturing Zeiss has provided, on a very selective basis, the lenses for some of the world’s most advanced cameras. In 1995, Sony was engaged in a major strategic push into the camera market. As cameras began to shrink, the demands on the lenses were rising and Sony made Zeiss a key component supplier for its cameras. Soon this relationship evolved in a manner entirely consistent with the German company’s brand positioning. Rather than simply being a Sony component, the Zeiss name began to appear on all of its cameras.

Co-branding had begun.

Co-branding describes the strategic combination of different brand equities to generate synergies. The permutations and motivations for co-branding are potentially endless. For example, an older brand often partners with a younger, more fashionable one. The older brand gains notoriety and access to a more youthful market, the younger brand gains status and general market share. In the case of Zeiss and Sony, both partners had much to gain. Sony bolstered its brand associations of technical legitimacy and specialist expertise from Zeiss, while Zeiss gained brand awareness and customer-centricity from appearing on more than 10m Sony cameras around the world.

Zeiss was not finished there. In the Spring of 2005 Nokia announced that its cameraphones would feature Zeiss lenses, and that the Zeiss brand would appear on every handset. Two years ago Louis Vuitton presented its first range of luxury sunglasses. Along with the cool retro-styling, there was also a new kind of lens – one that reduces glare and enriches color.

Zeiss, working its co-brand magic once again.

Thanks to associations with the likes of Sony, Vuitton and Nokia, the Zeiss brand is in the ascendancy and all the associated advantages of brand equity are being realised. In its more mundane, but profitable business-to-business (B2B) markets, such as industrial metrology, the Zeiss brand is now carrying its new associations and recognition across categories and into the decision-making of B2B firms. Employees at Zeiss are more loyal and appreciative of working for a company that their friends and family have heard of. The company’s share price is performing well, thanks to double-digit increases in sales and profits, but the Zeiss brand equity is likely to bolster it even further. More co-branding opportunities are also more likely.

Marketers who traditionally approach branding in a risk-averse and isolationist manner, can learn a lot from Zeiss and its approach to co-branding. In the US, co-branding has emerged as a wildly popular and marvelously economic way to build a brand.

No brand is an island. Take a look out on the horizon for other brands in other industries, with other strengths and different customers. You might just be looking at a brilliant brand opportunity.

30 SECONDS ON…CARL ZEISS

– Carl Zeiss opened his first workshops for precision mechanics and optics in Jena, Germany, in 1846. A year later, Zeiss began developing its first microscopes.

– Zeiss’ partner, Professor Ernst Abbe, was responsible for much of the scientific theory and developments, which helped Zeiss become a global brand. Abbe began working with Zeiss in 1866.

– The division of Germany after World War II resulted in the formation of two Zeiss corporations. The two rival companies were reunited in 1990 with the reunification of Germany.

– Zeiss’ headquarters are in Oberkochen, Germany, but about 80% of its sales are generated from abroad. It employs more than 14,000 people, with offices in 30 different countries.

– It has a presence in 100 countries, with production facilities in Europe, Asia, the US and Central America.