Imagine for one minute – you are the owner of a business. You have created a product, but you know you need to be more than just a business selling a product. There’s many businesses out there selling similar products, that pretty much do the same thing as yours. No, it’s not enough for people to buy a product from you – they need to want to buy your product, You need a brand.
Santa Claus. Father Christmas. St Nicholas. Whatever you call him he is a symbol of Christmas for everyone, regardless of age. But for children he represents so much of the joy, vitality and energy of Christmas – because they believe.
We all believe that our brand and business is unique, that no-one else could possibly do what we do, that we are the one and only. But is an obsession with uniqueness necessarily true, or even helpful for our business and brand?
Let’s start by defining what we mean by ‘brand’? Brand is a term which is often used to describe a business. A brand is not the business. A brand is shaped in the minds of the consumer – through identity, meaning, and experience – so as such the brand is created and not the creator.
We might argue as to the merits of the 4Ps of marketing, but do we even agree on what the Ps stand for?
