Steven Donaldson, President, BGDi

- It's about building and sustaining customer value to build long term revenue.

If a brand isn't focused, clear and offering truly distinct value to the customer, it will not succeed.

It's a simple truth: the way a company positions itself or its products in the market really affects its growth, market share and value. That positioning is the foundation of the relationship between the customer and the company. Whether it's building a web site, a brand identity or an ad campaign, each component of the brand message builds the impression of value to the customer and leads to bottom line revenue generation for the company.

Saying you're a better value to a Customer is about building that value in their mind. You can't have five different voices.

Many companies think and act as though the essence of their value and position is based upon the technology, price point, or features of their products relative to other products. Likewise, the design firm, web development company or ad agency often approaches the relationship with the client as though they need to promote or construct "what their client tells them to". This becomes a fundamental problem in the client relationship and hinders a company's ability to create continuity in the look, feel and content of their branding message. Caught in the details of their technology or lost in the frenzy of a "cool idea", a company loses the focus of its brand. Consultants and vendors cannot produce their best work without the clarity and focus a well-defined brand can bring.

You have to build a simple message that separates you from the 5 competitors all saying the same thing.

Each of the specific items related to "the latest cool idea" may have value but are they the essential aspects of any company's strength and relationship to their customer? That's the real measure of success in developing and building great client and business solutions and creating sustaining value to customers -- even in a downturn economy. Customers still unite around core brands who's positioning is clear and compelling. Brand equity is some thing grown, cultivated and sustained over time.

Features alone offer little in the way of sustaining value and market share for a company. Building the brand and its value in the customer's mind may use technology features as a foundation; the strategy for the customer relationship has much more value and longevity because it takes into account all the critical factors of the arena the business survives in. This also gives real clarity and understanding to everyone supporting company initiatives whether inside or outside the company. It's like everyone knowing and speaking the same language.

So, what is a brand and why does it matter? - Revenue Generation!

So, what is a brand? The brand is defined, ultimately, as a relationship between customer and product or company. It's not the item you use or the company that makes it. We all too often confuse the "brand" with the defined image of product or company -"thing". The brand is really about the customer's emotional, experiential relationship to a company or product. When you mention a business like In &Out Burger to the right crowd, people go nuts because of what the brand name conjures up from individual experience: taste, quality, service---the whole range of emotional and experiential associations that build relationship and loyalty. This instant, personal connection to the brand is reflected in the bottom line---more sales, sustained customer relationship and growing market share.

Why define the customer relationship? - what are you offering that you can own? Defining this relationship is like crafting the code, the colors, the banners of a country. You are building all the values behind symbolic visual representations of emotional and experiential things. It's very subtle, but what you see you remember. Your memory triggers experiences that are emotionally and physically real. This is the bottom line visceral relationship you have with a brand.

So , what's this getting to?

When a company spends the time to define its brand message based on the strengths, the emotional content of its company or product brands, it then has real collateral to offer consultants and vendors in working with them. Everyone gets on the same page about the essence of the brand---- the feeling, the personality, the colors, the experience the consumer needs to have that represents the brand - in all environments, at all times and in all ways. This is the power of a united brand message.

The power of offering more and being more

When a company really understands what it can be to its market---its essence---it can build value behind an extended range of products or services to extend the depth of the customer relationship---without losing sight of the core strengths that brought that customer to them in the first place.

Clarity in positioning - know your customers' experience

When Intel built its brand - "inside Intel"--- they really focused on and understood the value of building equity about the superior position of a piece of hardware you never see and never touch. The customer wants to feel confidence - they want assurance that their computer will work. This relationship is so powerful because the brand lets you know that it really makes the difference in how your PC operates. The brand values resonate with the customer.

More clarity in positioning - know your competitors

The differentiation story is clearly part of the core brand positioning---the customer wants to know why to choose Brand X over Brand Y, Every buying decision is both rational and emotional: the brand positioning must speak to both parts of the buyer's mind in setting the brand apart from its competitors.

How the brand identity guides the brand relationship

Building a clear brand structure and identity communicates to all stakeholders--- vendors, employees and customers - why you want specific images and messages and their communication in media from Web site to print to product identity. This integrated approach is critical to creating coherence and understanding in the delivered message. The result: the customer understands what the brand does for him, the brands relationship to him.

Managing the brand requires evaluation

Launching a brand is the result of a focused process of inquiry, definition, planning, creativity and implementation. But the work's not over: does the brand message really speak to the market (the famous resonating phenomenon)? After all, the brand only truly lives in the mind of the market---otherwise it's only a marketing manager's fevered pipe dream. Within 3-6 months after launch, the market response should be evaluated, and adjustments in the brand---messaging, personality and positioning----should be made as needed to keep the brand aligned with its market.

Leading is the Goal

Ultimately, the brand needs to stay ahead of the competition and ahead of the expectations of its market. Good research and dynamic brand building will enable a brand to play the lead role in the minds of its customers in their market. When brands know their customers and know their market they are continuously revisiting this living brand relationship to build and grow it.