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WHO IS YOUR BRAND
CHAPTER ONE
ALL ABOUT A BRAND
What is a brand?
Principles of branding
*Creating brand identity
*Choosing Products with a meaning
*Brand language and communication
*Choosing the right name for the brand
*Evaluating brand awareness
*Brand protection
Design is Everything
Importance of sensorial experiences in branding
New marketing model in fashion
Conclusions
CHAPTER TWO
WHAT THEY DO THAT YOU DONT
Dolce & Gabbana
Diesel
Custo Barcelona
CHAPTER THREE
OUR GOALS, NEW DIRECTIONS
An overview of IAF 2003 Fashion Branding Session
How Turkish Industry Can Become Global?
Communicative Fashion Brands
How Should a Fashion Brand Operate?
CONCLUSIONS
RECOMMENDED READING
CHAPTER ONE
ALL ABOUT A BRAND
WHAT IS A BRAND?
Today everybody is talking about branding, brand management and “a brand”. What really does a brand mean? Why the term branding has become so hot recently? Before going into what a brand means, lets look at what a brand isnt.
* A BRAND IS NOT A LOGO
The logo is simply a symbol of a brand.
* A BRAND IS NOT THE CORPORATE IDENTITY
A corporate identity defines the ways and means of using the company symbols, logo on printed materials, publications, etc.
* A BRAND IS NOT YOUR PRODUCT
Marketing people in the company are mistaken by thinking that they manage brands. Instead, they
manage their products, sales etc.
So what really is a brand?
A brand is the SOUL, the MEANING and the AURA surrounding your product. It is actually the emotions and feelings of the person about your product, service and company. It is the intangible quality you create in the minds of the people. We are all emotional rather than rational and in the end the brand is defined by individuals, not by companies or markets. When a sufficient number of individuals arrive at the same gut feeling, then a company really has a brand. You can compare a brand with its competitors only by looking at what makes it different. Brand management as Marty Neumeier explains in his book “The Brand Gap”, is the management of differences as they exist in the minds of people.
Products under one brand are introduced, they live and disappear, but brands endure. The consistency of this creative action is what gives a brand its meaning, its content, and its character. The brand tells why products exist and where they are going. It must be able to adapt to the times, to changes in customers and in technology. A brand is built up from day to day, it is never set down at once and for all. However, a brand moves in one direction, otherwise it can lose its meaning and become void of content. Most enduring brands have meanings that describe their content and sense of direction. For example, BMW and Volvo use the same ABS braking system but the identities are completely different. The differentiation is what meaning the identity gives to each brand.
PRINCIPLES OF BRANDING
* Creating brand identity
One should answer the following question when creating a brand:
“Who are we?” or in other words “who is this brand?”
Then the following questions come forward:
“What do we do” or “what does this brand do?”
“Why does it matter” or “why does the brand exist?”
In order to answer these questions a brand identity should be developed which consists of the following:
– Why does this brand have to exist? What would the consumers be missing if the brand did not exist? Your answer to this question is where your brand differentiates and what gives your company its reason of existence.
– Vision
What vision does the brand have concerning its product category or the world itself?
– Values
What are the core values of the brand?
– Mission
What changes does the brand want to bring into peoples lives?
– Territory
In what product categories the brand is legitimate in achieving this mission?
– Brands style and language
What language and style are typical of the brand?
– Brands customer base
Who will buy your products?
* Choosing products with a meaning
The more ambitious the brand, the greater the importance given in chosing the product