A brand needs a vision. A brand vision is not just an idea. A brand vision is a determined goal. A brand vision is your definition of a future world in which your brand will win. Without a brand vision, your brand is aimless. The brand vision is the groundwork for your brand strategies.
The Seattle Seahawks won the Super Bowl, as we all know. Numerous video recaps of the game, a wide variety of articles, and a lot of insights from observers, sports analysts, and Monday-morning quarterbacks focused on the Seahawks formidable on-field strengths.
Decades ago, in the annals of advertising agency history, BBDO had an approach to creating winning communications. It was called The Four Point Process. The Four Point Process was a really big deal because, at the time, ad agencies had the best, most innovatively profitable research departments in town. The Four Point process made use of BBDO’s groundbreaking – and since widely-copied – Problem Detection Study.
Recent brand news is full of brand value chatter. Chatter, not serious discussions. Why? Brand executives still seem disconnected from how customers perceive brand value. Consumers understand that value, not price alone, is the priority. Consumer-perceived value is based on the total brand experience relative to the total brand costs (price, time, and effort). Brand executives also misunderstand customers because they believe their brands have a specific segment, which is the “value customer.”
Last week, I discussed the new brick-and-mortar Amazon entry: a big box store with a large helping of Amazon logistics, data mining, and merchandise expertise. As part of that Amazon discussion, two brand stumbling blocks came under scrutiny. One: Amazon’s continued lack of understanding of customers in brick-and-mortar grocery stores. Two, Amazon’s lack of designing and articulating brand-relevant differentiation.
