Building a Brand


To build a brand from scratch, you need a deep understanding of its core values. What does the brand stand for? What does it believe? Does it have a compelling idea – a reason for being? Hopefully, that reason for being is different from that of its competition. You also need smart people to take the values and attributes of the brand and articulate them in a way that clearly differentiates them in the marketplace. And you need to do that in interesting, fresh ways over a number of years. Volvo’s core value, for example, has always been about putting people before cars. That is why Volvo focuses so deeply on safety leadership in building its cars; it also shows concern for the environment and the world as a whole. Volvo’s tag line, “For life,” captures the company’s core values perfectly.

Going from nothing to an established brand doesn’t happen quickly, and many lessons can be learned from dot-com companies: It’s nearly impossible to build a brand in just a few months. In trying to do so, many dot-coms failed miserably, and many advertising agencies should have known better. They took the money these companies dangled, but branding just doesn’t happen that simply. Even the companies with high-visibility commercials failed. You don’t start with a Super Bowl commercial: You start with a business idea and a set of values. Those values and attributes have to have relevance to the audience with which you want to communicate.

Successful brands all have a clear business and marketing strategy. A brand’s tone of voice comes out of that strategy and allows the brand to communicate consistently: It looks and feels constant over several years even as it continues to grow. For example, Nike has had a clear tone of voice for a number of years even as it evolves. Consumers recognize that and know Nike stands for a different set of values, human achievement, and not simply for athletic shoes or apparel. This is very different from brands that try to hit “home runs” and breakthrough all the time. The mentality of breaking through has people trying to do things that might be one-shot wonders, like a firework that goes up and crashes down again. There is no shortcut for building a brand that will endure.




The Art of Advertising. CEOs from BBDO, Mullin Advertising & More on Generating Creative Campaigns & Building Successful Brands
The Art of Advertising: CEOs from Mullen Advertising, Marc USA, Euro RSCG & More on Generating Creative Campaigns & Building Successful Brands (Inside the Minds Series)
ISBN: 1587622319
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2002
Pages: 68

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