How a business becomes a brand

There are four pillars to a business’s identity; when a business has these four pillars aligned, it becomes a brand. The four pillars are Personality, Value System, Differentiation and Innovation. To understand the branding process, we need to recognize that 1) Branding theory assumes customers don’t feel affection for concrete products or services per see, rather they can be attracted to the intangible, underlying character of a business. 2) A brand is not something intrinsic or necessarily natural, it is rather the outcome of consistent efforts to make a business stand for ideals beyond the actual goods or services it renders. Keeping this in mind, let us explore each pillar.



Personality: The famous advertising agency Young and Rubicam conducted a six-year study of 50 brands and found that businesses strongly aligned with single archetypes (personalities) gained economic and market values at a rate of almost double those that had no clear archetypal alignment. What this means is that in order for a business to be well branded it needs to choose one personality type and consistently align itself with it. There are different sets of archetypes that have come up throughout history. Carl Jung’s archetypes is one of them. Based on Jung, Carol S. Pearson created a set of 12 archetypes that specifically relate to brands. You need to build the personality you choose into the very fiber of the company, mimicking it in every way possible; its focus, ethics, values, disposition, temperament, creativity etc. When choosing a personality for your business, keep in mind that a brand as a personality interacts and is judged by its target audience in five ways. 1) As a friend- Do you enjoy spending time with this personality? 2) Inner feelings- What feelings do you have while interacting with this personality? 3) Trust- Do you trust this personality to generate a level of performance you expect through this purchase? 4) Personal Association- Is this a personality you wish to associate with? 5) External Association - Is this a personality you want others to see you associated with?



Value System- A brand knowingly or not, stands for some kind of value. Business by its very nature, is here to help people in some way, shape or form. It might be promoting higher quality, speed, health, knowledge, convenience etc. Instead of just monotonously going about offering whatever goods or services it sells, it needs to embrace the underlying benefit or value it gives to the world and extend it to all areas of interaction. In 1975, when Bill Gates declared “a computer on every desk and in every home”, he stood for the value of the individuals of the world utilizing technology to enhance daily life. In his own words (perhaps words his marketers told him to say), “Every day, we're finding new ways for technology to enhance and enrich people's lives.” The value your business embraces should be articulated in its vision statement.


Differentiation- Branding is about lodging your business in the minds of consumers so that your business becomes their adoptive “go to” place. This is called “mindshare”. The greater share of mind your business owns in its target customers heads, the greater the chance that they will bring their business to you. Consider this: If business A and business B are identical in every way possible, you will automatically go to the one you always went to, simply because there is nothing motivating you to change. The only way for a new business to win you over is by superimposing itself in your mind as being better or more relevant. This is accomplished by differentiating itself in a way that connects better and resonates stronger within you than its competitors. There are many ways to differentiate, some subtle while others more drastic. It is worthwhile to recall the 4 p’s of marketing: Product, Price, Place, Promotion as they are all possible areas for differentiation. Other areas are the other three pillars of branding we are discussing now: Personality, Value System and Innovation. “Different strokes for different folks” is the idea here. A variety of different targeted audiences can appreciate your product or service. Pick which one you want to target and find a differentiation factor you can assume that’s connects and resonates strongly within them.

Innovation- There is two types of innovations a business must be engaged in. First, as the world progresses, it is imperative for a brand to constantly stay abreast and follow the trends, or else it becomes irrelevant. In the past 15 years alone, the world has progressed commercially, in ways that are truly mind-boggling. 15 years ago, most people didn’t own a cell phone, forget about a BlackBerry. 15 years ago, film was costly and needed to be inserted into cameras in order to take pictures. Today with digitalization, we snap thousands of pictures without ever changing a roll of film or spending a penny. 15 years ago, we needed to carry a bag of tokens in order to drive on the parkway. Today there is EZ pass. 15 years ago, we would consult maps and atlases before taking a trip. Today we turn on the GPS. 15 years ago, data was transported via fax or mail. Today we use email, instantly getting the exact file in the exact condition and the same clarity as the original. The world keeps on innovating and unless you do too, your business will be left out in the cold. The second innovation a business needs to maintain is its own internal, goal-oriented innovations. It needs to find extraordinary ways to promote the ideals it stands for. Let’s say your business takes on a Sage personality, you should be exploring innovative ways to educate customers. If your brand personality is that of a Jester, consider innovative ways of making people laugh. If your businesses value is quick- in and out service, consider innovative ways to cut down or eliminate peoples wait times. If your business value is promoting communication between different groups of people, consider sponsoring networking events. Constantly innovating in ways that reinforce everything your brand stands for is the best way to create and maintain brand name status.

Yaacov Weiss is a brand strategist and founder of Tug branding, in Lakewood, NJ. If you’d like Yaacov to position your business, call 732-276-6432. You may also email Yaacov at yaacov@tugbranding.com.

Kodak Misapplying their market research

Kodak’s new marketing campaign being released this month is a great lesson in how marketing research can be misread.

Kodak carefully chose the words “it’s time to smile” as the tagline for its new year-long, fully integrated marketing campaign. At the heart of the campaign is the company’s commitment to strengthening and deepening relationships through sharing images. The campaign began with social media activities supported by public relations in summer 2009 and will blossom into a dedicated advertising push starting October 31, 2009.

The campaign is based on extensive research. Recognizing that relationships are struggling, Kodak commissioned the “Future of Reconnectivity” report to analyze how U.S. and European populations assess their relationships and the role that digital imaging plays in facilitating deeper bonds. Across five countries, the study found a common desire for people to reconnect with loved ones in the face of numerous barriers that prohibit individuals from reaching out to others. The study also found that digital photography and the sharing of personal images is helping to bridge this divide as 93% of respondents indicated that sharing photos make them feel closer to friends and family by serving as reminders of past enjoyable moments shared with one another.
“The Kodak brand has always been about human connections and capturing and sharing important moments,” said Leslie Dance, Vice President, Worldwide Brand Marketing at Kodak. “‘It’s Time to Smile’ represents our commitment to helping our consumers strengthen their relationships and make it easier than ever to share moments and memories with family and friends.”

The multi-faceted campaign was developed to reach consumers through both online and offline engagement, as well as a television-advertising launch, bringing “It’s Time to Smile” to life by focusing on the relationships and moments that define our lives. These 15- and 30-second spots will run through the holiday season. They have developed three new social media applications consisting of the:

Kodak Konga Line: A Facebook application allows users to create community photo albums surrounding an event or theme. Invite friends to share their images and watch the Konga line grow.

Kodak Smile Meter: Also a Facebook application. It invites users to send custom smile messages to brighten a friends’ day. The application maintains a running message total—the Smile Meter.
Kodak Smile Maker: A new free iPhone application. It allows users to paste unique smiles over existing photos, which they can then share with family and friends.

To support its relationship platform and help consumers reconnect, Kodak identified the existing cultural trend of “BrightSiding” (creating moments that bring people together and make them smile), as well as existing “BrightSiders” who were already practicing the trend. In July 2009 Kodak teamed with the “Compliment Guys,” two Purdue University students who had built a following by sharing free compliments and generally brightening the days of fellow students. The Compliment Guys spread the Kodak “It’s Time to Smile” message by bringing smiles and free compliments to 10 cities along the east coast. The Kodak BrightSide Tour was supported with a dedicated blog (BrightSideTour.com), as well as traditional and social media engagement.

Sounds nice? Well here is what is wrong with the campaign: The campaign is focused on the front end of this smile-sharing thing, rather than the back end. “It’s time to smile” to me is another way of saying “say cheese”. It talks to and is about the photo shoot. Despite the social media apps being about sending a smile to someone, the fact that they are smile-centric, relates to the smiling that one does during a photo shoot, rather than the closeness one feels upon receiving a photo of a beloved one. The problem with that is that Kodak’s relevance in the photo industry is no longer at the photo shoot. That went out with digital cameras. The notion of a “Kodak Moment” lasted only as long as rolls of film were being used and changed during photo sessions. Today with digital cameras, the only things that have relevance at photo shoots are photo equipment and possibly props. Despite Kodak’s efforts to remain in the digital camera business, they will never be recognized as a camera authority. With the exception of disposable cameras, Kodak no longer owns any piece of the photo shooting experience. Therefore, the association between a smile and Kodak no longer exists in people’s minds. The “Kodak moment” is history.

The odd thing here is that the research Kodak conducted and its conclusions have nothing to do with the photo shoot, either. The research concluded that “sharing photos make people feel closer to friends and family, by serving as reminders of past enjoyable moments shared with one another.” Does that sound like “it’s time to smile”? No, it's about printing photo’s and making photo albums to give to loved ones. Consider this, When you pose for hundreds of pictures as you go about your vacation or whatever else you’re capturing on camera, you’re not smiling at the friend or relative. You are simply capturing good times for posterity. It’s in the days after, when life returns to normal that you may contemplate becoming closer to a friend or relative by sharing the photo’s with them. Indeed, the research does not suggest anywhere that it is necessarily a smiling pose that you will consider sending, to build or improve relationships. The key words in the research are simply “sharing” and “reminder”. Sharing a photo replaces a detached present with closeness and is achieved through a reminder of a precious moment that occurred in the past. Sharing photos is what Kodak’s theme should have been. It’s what the research indicates as a sellable moment and it’s where the Kodak brand can shine. Kodak photo processing and Kodak paper are recognized as the best in the industry. Viewing a crisp, clear, vivid picture of beloved people and precious moments, facilitated by Kodak processing and printing, can connect someone to those moments and people.

The first ad of the “It’s time to smile” campaign entitled, “Little moments,” features a personalized Kodak Gallery album with photos chronicling precious moments of a young person, being flipped through. Interestingly, there is not a single photo of someone posing with a smile for the camera. Maybe the creative’s at Ogilvy, understood the foolishness of focusing this campaign on a smile and redirected it to the back end of photo taking; sending friends and family a printed picture or album. That is the area where Kodak really can really stand for something meaningful.