The CEO of BMW Korea has this to say about branding within the automotive industry:

“The gap in automobile technology will be getting more closer in the future. The real opportunity for everyone is to figure out how to map out a distinct business approach in brand…”

Reminds once again of the CEO role as brand builder, and how closely tied branding is to business strategy.

Read more about this story here.

[More posts about Automotive Branding | More posts about Brand Differentiation | More posts about Brand As Asset | More blogs about Automotive Branding]

Friday, February 22, 2008

The Weekly B.S. is a conversation of thought-provoking reports addressing brands and B.S., otherwise known as brand strategy.

The key to any effective branding effort is to change and take ownership of the conversation. You are invited to this conversation of brands and the stories they tell.

The Weekly B.S. is hosted by Whisper. Contact us to learn more of how to own the conversation® among audiences you seek to attract and influence.

This week’s B.S.:

From Media Post - New York, USA
Looking For Insight? Tiptoe Into Customer Call Centers
In the latest grab for consumer insights, more marketers are tapping into an often-ignored in-house resource: The customer call center. True, many of the consumers are cranky and calling only because they’re already disenchanted with a product or service. But call centers can deliver boatloads of data, often in a much faster time frame than other forms of research.

From the New York Times - Toyota City, Japan
At Toyota, a Global Giant Reaches for Agility
“It’s extremely important to have the same common Toyota Way infiltrated to employees in all corners of the world,” said Katsuaki Watanabe, the company’s president. “But on the other hand, in each corner of the world, in each region, there are inherent characteristics that need to be respected.” Mr. Watanabe said that Toyota had learned, especially through experience in the United States, that it could not simply impose Japanese practices on workers in other countries.

From CMSWire - San Francisco, USA
Brand Strategy: Distinct or Extinct
Before you can even consider placing a word on your website, you need to establish a brand strategy.

From VietNamNet Bridge - Hanoi, Vietnam
Businesses lack branding strategies
Vietnamese enterprises lack a comprehensive awareness of how to build and manage their brands. In Vietnam…many enterprises view marketing as a cost, not an investment, so they advertise without a strategy or goal in mind, he said, making the marketing ineffective and a waste of time and money.

From NewKerala.com - India
Commodity branding far predates modern capitalism
It has been long believed that the concept of commodity branding was born in the West with the Industrial Revolution. But a new study has challenged the notion, by revealing that the idea of brands far predates modern capitalism, and in fact modern Western society.

From BusinessWeek - USA
Budweiser, Miller…and Tsingtao?
Now that Chinese companies are starting to expand overseas, they are finding their lack of brand-building experience is a huge liability. For example, “Tsingtao is an exporter. It’s not a brand-builder.” “If you don’t give a brand, U.S. consumers give you a brand called ‘Made in China,’ and the majority of ‘Made in China’ products are low quality.”

From Moscow News - Russia
The Perils of Brand Management
With vaults of money at stake, and inspired by the old maxim that if you aren’t growing, you’re shrinking, it is no surprise that sports leagues are doing what any good soft drink manufacturer would try to do and grow their brands overseas.

From the New York Times - USA
No Polo Pony, but Penney’s New Label Is Pure Ralph Lauren Americana
What do you get when the J. C. Penney Company and the Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation team up to sell an extensive new line of clothing and home furnishings? A branding mash-up that some might call Polo Penney.

From HBS Working Knowledge - Boston, USA
Does Democracy Need a Marketing Manager?
Federal government and local governments can market themselves more effectively to constituents. First of all, they have to view their organization from a customer viewpoint and ask: Who are our customer groups? How are we going to add value to those customers?

From Advertising Age - New York, USA
To Build Truly Global Brands, You’ve Got to Break the Rules
How to build a global brand? …[M]anagers never seem to listen. Instead, most of them go back to pursuing the same tactics, tired strategies and familiar “best” practices as their competition. I call this approach to business “small think.” Building global brands requires that you think big. And that means you have to break the rules, challenge convention and kill some sacred cows.

[More posts about The Weekly B.S. | More posts about Brand Strategy | More posts about Own The Conversation® Strategy | More blogs about Brand Strategy]

Brand strategy is business strategy, yet examples abound of Fortune 500 CEOs unable to grasp this simple truth.

If an interview in The Wall Street Journal is any indicator, the latest demonstration of this inability to grasp the obvious comes from the Chief Executive of Circuit City Stores Inc.

Too often the new CEO of an under-performing company focuses first on cost-cutting rather than revenue growth. The reason is that cost-cutting is easier than increasing sales. A cost-cutting plan may also be more quickly implemented, telegraphing “action” to a quarterly-focused Wall Street.

In contrast, developing a plan to build sales while increasing margin is more difficult, and more time consuming. It requires the CEO to ponder why their organization and products matter in a competitive marketplace.

To effectively drive sales, the CEO and his/her team must be able to define why they are, so that they become the only logical choice for what they offer. For many an otherwise certified smart CEO, it is a counterintuitive task at which many languish and even fail.

In the Wall Street Journal Q&A with Circuit City’s CEO, Philip J. Schoonover offers this:

WSJ: How is Circuit City’s multichannel approach — store, Internet and call centers — any different from the approach of its two bigger rivals, Best Buy and Wal-Mart Stores Inc.?

Mr. Schoonover: We have a culture that is beginning to cooperate and work together to provide a customer experience that is different and better. One example is our 24/24 promise. Order online, and we’ll have your purchase ready for you at a store in 24 minutes. If not, we’ll give you a $24 gift card. Our technology is unique and allows us to make that promise. Another is content. We have product reviews by leading consumer magazines. We have a whole explanation on what you need to make this new digital entertainment world work.

Mr. Schoonover claims Circuit City is different by being “unique” and, well, “different.” Instead, he would do well to look at the recent experience of another CEO who failed to understand the importance of articulating a simple brand promise demonstrating a memorable point of difference, and the predictable result.

The story of Paul Pressler’s reign at The Gap offers a cautionary tale of what happens when a CEO fails to think of brand strategy as business strategy. It is a lesson best illustrated by the backstory of Mr. Pressler’s failed development of a new Gap Inc. retail concept, Forth & Towne:

Gap designed Forth & Towne to offer baby boomers a miniature version of the department stores they grew up with, stocking four different labels under one roof…

Forth & Towne, or F.A.T, …never developed an engaging story to support the concept. And it never settled upon a single point of difference to set it apart from competitors. Forth & Towne tried to be too much for too many audiences.

How did this happen?

In a stunning display of corporate homogeneity, the suits at The Gap failed to articulate a simple guiding promise for the new brand, as demonstrated by how they settled upon a name for the new concept which offered no clue of a reason to care about it. The team at Gap Inc. thought they were playing it safe, when instead their decision had the effect of issuing an execution order for the new concept before it was launched.

Circuit City’s CEO makes the same mistake, as he fails to articulate what about Circuit City is truly different when compared to competitors such as Best Buy, Costco, and Wal-Mart. By speaking in platitudes, Mr. Schoonover fails to demonstrate why Circuit City exists, so that they become the only logical choice for what they offer.

This failure to focus on brand has been devastating.

Mr. Schoonover became CEO at Circuit City in March of 2006. Three months later Circuit City shares traded at a high of $30.49. Since then the stock has fallen to $4.95 per share at market close on February 12, 2008, a decline of 83% in some 20 months.

Yet a turnaround could be achieved with an effective rethink of the Circuit City brand.

But that takes guts, and appropriate leadership.

[More posts about Brand Relevance | More posts about Circuit City Brand Reputation | More posts about Brand Promise | More posts about Brand Differentiation | More posts about Consumer Electronics Branding | More posts about Retail Branding | More posts about Brand Strategy | More blogs about Retail Branding]

The Czech Republic brand opportunity was previously discussed here.

So when tipped to a column addressing the same topic we read it with interest. The author makes this point about destination brand efforts and why they so often fail:

Sadly, last year’s attempt at designing a logo and strapline based on speech bubbles to reflect the many facets of Czech life, is typical of many misplaced place branding efforts - trying to satisfy all stakeholders but failing to capture and dominate a single market segment.

We agree. If a brand attempts to satisfy everyone, it stands for nothing.

The same column further suggests a unique characteristic of Czech life that could be mined to competitively separate the Czech Republic from other nation brands:

The other area of promise can also be found throughout the country, but it is in the capital city - Prague - where the cultural contradiction is most visible… Prague’s skyline - dominated by some 200 Church spires - yet at ground level, over half its population claim to be Atheists.

As reprinted in The Age, in 2003 the Los Angeles Times looked at the state of religion in the Czech Republic, finding:

Recalcitrant and suspicious, Czechs are not entirely godless. They just don’t care for organised religion…

There’s a hostility toward what religion did to them in the past… The Czechs say they’re the most atheist country in Europe, and they say it with some pride. This is how Western civilization may look in 50 years, because people here believe they live a full life without any religion.

If a country were looking to change the conversation about itself to that of an unforgettable place, few would engender more emotion than to stand as the place of no religion. Such a brand position would tap into a ready made global market of approximately 15% of the world’s population, or some one billion people of secular/nonreligious belief.

As with any effective brand position, you must give up something to gain market share. Its part of an own the conversation® strategy. By acknowledging, for example, that John 3:16 believers are not a target market, a brand promise based on a core idea such as “where spirituality lives without religion,” would offer competitive separation and a unique entry point for engagement of a sizable slice of the global tourism market.

Such a promise is a provocation. To qualify as a provocation, a brand promise must contain what most would refer to as negative messages for the goods and services the brand represents.

Fortunately, consumers process these negative messages positively. As long as the message authentically maps to one of the positioning points of your brand, consumers rarely take the meaning literally, and the negative aspects of the message give it greater depth, creating a greater opportunity for audience attraction, engagement and ultimately conversion.

For the Czech Republic, such a promise would change the conversation to a basis the Czech Republic could easily claim, own and extend on a global basis. For example, use of such a brand strategy could ensure massive free media coverage, if managed properly on an evergreen basis. And, it would further elevate tourism as an economic driver in the Czech Republic.

While not a strategy the evangelical or fundamentalist believer would embrace, for those charged with the success of Czech Republic tourism, such a brand demonstration would be the answer to a prayer.

[More posts about Brand Differentiation | More posts about Brand Positioning | More posts about Brand Promise | More posts about Destination Branding | More posts about Place Branding | More posts about Nation Branding | More posts about Czech Republic Brand Image | More posts about Prague | More posts about Czech Republic Tourism | More posts about Czech Republic | More posts about Brand Opportunity | More posts about Emotional Branding | More posts about Own The Conversation® Strategy | More blogs about Destination Branding]

Dubl!n suffers an infection of exclamation points!

As previously chronicled here, an infection of exclamation points is an indication of cheerleading disease, a condition suffered by many among tourism and convention and visitor bureaus, and government agencies, involved in tourism and destination brand decisions. The disease manifests itself through symptoms we refer to as The List.

What is The List? The List is the often repeated litany of “attractions” commonly promoted by most any city or province attempting to lure tourist traffic, such as these offered by Dubl!n Tourism:

“Now you can get a taste of Dublin before you even arrive! Our Dublin DVD showcases a range of the sights to be enjoyed in and around the city of Dublin. If you’re looking for a [1] young, lively city with a [2] vibrant nightlife, a [3] glimpse of an ancient civilisation, a [4] cultural feast, a [5] musical odyssey, [6] stunning scenery, and a [7] spectacular coastline - you’ve come to the right place! Dublin has all of this… [8] and more! Take a look for yourself!”

Dublin Tourism sets The List to music in this promotional DVD:

Rather than an effective tool for tourism purposes, the Dublin DVD is a music video backed by what many would argue is Dublin’s best export of the past two decades, the Irish rock band U2. The video is similar to others of the genre, such as those for the Isle of Man, the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the Canadian province of Manitoba.

As put to use by any number of cities and other destinations, The List also includes other commonly promoted features such as [9] museums, [10] shopping, [11] dining, [12] hospitality, [13] personal fulfillment, [14] theatre, [15] sporting events, [16] festivals, and often [17] outdoor attractions.

Cities, states, nations each make a mistake by a primary reliance upon The List to brand themselves. Why is this strategy a mistake? The List does not point to the uniqueness of a place. Dining, shopping, museums and other similar features are available at any number of other tourism destinations. Instead, to attract the tourism dollars coveted by many, the lure is the attraction one cannot find closer to home, often an emotional truth a city, state or nation may uniquely define and own.

Rather than being all things to all people, tourism brand decision makers must step outside the conference room and into the shoes of the tourist they seek to influence and attract. They must develop a unique and authentic answer to the question, Why do we matter?

Only then may those exposed to The List begin to succeed in eradicating cheerleading disease among destination brands everywhere.

Won’t you help?

[More posts about Brand Differentiation | More posts about Destination Branding | More posts about Place Branding | More posts about City Branding | More posts about Brand Strategy | More posts about Government Strategy | More posts about Dublin Tourism | More posts about Dublin Brand Image | More posts about Tourism Branding | More blogs about Destination Branding]

The folks over at BNET, one of the CNET networks, do a post mortum of the failed GAP attempt to attract baby boomer women in this commentary.

The GAP failure of its Fourth & Towne concept is not discouraging to Ann Taylor, as they will soon attempt to achieve what F.A.T. could not.

As shared in this from the Globe & Mail, the secret is this simple, and this hard:

Companies show they care about female customers by discovering the single, subconscious emotional truth that is relevant to their brand and fits in the context of her world.

As the BNET piece suggests, to attract baby boomers, “focus on their lives, not their ages.”

Let’s watch to see if Ann gets it right.

[More posts about Brand Management | More posts about Apparel Branding | More posts about Retail Branding | More posts about Brand Differentiation | More posts about Brand Strategy | More posts about Brand Naming | More posts about Gap Inc. | More posts about Forth & Towne | More posts about Ann Taylor | More blogs about Apparel & Retail Branding]

Okay, we admit it. We like pizza. But then, who doesn’t?

On the lookout for a great pizza wherever we go, from New York to Newport Beach, from Indianapolis to Italy, it is rare to find a restaurant that redefines the pizza category through an effective brand name. Such was the case this past week, while in Portland, Maine, where we were introduced to the joys of Flatbread, located on Commercial Street across from the Casco Bay Ferry Terminal. Flatbread not only has a brand name that changes the conversation to a basis they can win, they back it up with a unique product—no sauce pizza, err, flatbread. Founded in 1998, the Flatbread concept has grown to multiple New England locations with a unique brand strategy demonstrated at key consumer touchpoints through the product, the employee and customer experience, all without advertising. This own the conversation® strategy builds the brand organically through endorsement and word of mouth. Sounds familiar.

Stop by any of the Flatbread restaurant locations, and tell us what you think about the brand…and the Flatbread product.

[More posts about Brand Differentiation | More posts about Brand Naming | More posts about Flatbread Company | More posts about Portland, Maine | More posts about Own The Conversation® Strategy | More posts about Branding v Advertising | More posts about Brand Strategy | More posts about Brand Reputation | More posts about Pizza Branding | More posts about Best Pizza | More posts about Restaurant Branding | More blogs about Restaurant Branding]

François-Marie Arouet was a French Enlightenment writer known for his wit and defense of civil liberties, including freedom of religion and the right to a fair trial.

Arouet, more commonly known by his pen name Voltaire, he the author of Candide, ou l’Optimisme, or Candide: Or, The Optimist, also offered us the following, which today applies to the discipline of branding:

“The best way to be boring is to leave nothing out.”

Too often organizations rush to tell consumers everything about themselves. Think of the vast majority of tech companies that rush to share the story of the science behind their technology. Zzzzzzzzzzz. It’s the equivalent of demanding that the consumer pay to hear a brand story—pay, literally, by paying attention with their time and mental effort, neither of which a consumer is likely to invest when a brand offers a book about itself. For organizations wanting to tell everything about themselves, it’s arrogant, narcissistic and yes, boring.

Instead, consumers will readily stop and invest their time and mental effort to hear a simple thought, elegantly expressed in a new and entertaining way.

We discuss the topic of simplicity as it relates to effective branding often in these pages. Voltaire helps make the point.

But then Voltaire, a font of memorable quotes, also is credited with this:

“It is one of the superstitions of the human mind to have imagined that virginity could be a virtue.”

What does virginity have to do with branding? With an assist from François-Marie Arouet, we leave that to you.

[More posts about Brand Differentiation | More posts about Brand Simplicity | More posts about Voltaire | More posts about Laws of Branding | More posts about Brand Strategy | More posts about Brand Virgin | More blogs about Brand Simplicity]

A research report takes an in-depth look at a recent effort to brand the State of Kansas, as well as efforts on behalf of states from Alaska to Utah. The report, issued by Kansas Inc, offers a good synopsis of many recent U.S.-based destination / place branding efforts. Among a variety of topics, the report addresses the difference between branding and advertising.

What is otherwise a good 44 page compilation and analysis goes awry with this conclusion:

Kansas has tremendous opportunities in regards to economic development. The image of Kansas plays an important role in these opportunities, and we must do what we can to make our image as appealing as possible to both ourselves and others. While traditional stereotypes and clichés may never change, we must find a way to embrace who and what we are, and use that to our advantage. We must realize that we can change certain parts of our image, and certain parts we cannot – we are what we are. If we can project who and what we are, we can make our image work to our advantage. We must focus on our strengths and downplay any potential negatives. Kansas is both similar and different from other states and regions, and we can use our differences as an asset. [Emphasis ours.]

To become unforgettable—a brand ingrained in popular culture—any state, city, nation brand must own the conversation within its competitive context. To do this first requires taking ownership of the conversation about itself. Those behind the Kansas Inc. report make an all too common mistake, suggesting Kansas should essentially ignore it’s real and imagined deficiencies in sharing the story of the state. It is a mistake they make at their peril.

Readers of these pages know we have offered commentary on the Kansas brand effort more than once. The current Kansas message, As Big As You Think, is a cheerleading claim, one that quickly fades from memory unless supported by a Fortune 500 ad spend. Unfortunately, few states, cities, even nations, offer the advertising budgets of a Fortune 500. Which is why a cost effective brand strategy, rather than an expensive advertising strategy, is so important to place brands everywhere.

Unless people are given a compelling reason to shuffle the brand deck, they’ll stand with what they know rather than look again. Without a brand message to shuffle the deck, people feel they have all the information about Kansas they need and thus tune out.

Kansas cannot control how their state brand is perceived unless they begin to control how the state is presented. Changing the message about the state to one never heard before, one that snaps existing stereotypes yet remains authentic, is the only way to change the conversation about the state. Any great brand acknowledges the negatives about itself, for in so doing audiences gain trust and will stop to listen to what you have to say. For example, What Happens Here, Stays Here as the Las Vegas message offers both a negative and positive connotation, mapping authentically into the stereotypes of the city as a tourist destination.

Kansas is no Las Vegas. Nor should it be. But it can offer the world a stereotype snapping message reframing how it is presented, and ultimately how it is perceived. It is hard work, and too few place brands succeed in creating such a message, as they often settle for that which is safe, and of appeal to leaders sitting at the table as brand message decisions are made, rather than appealing to the tourists or business investors who must be convinced.

As the Kansas Inc. report also concludes, “we must find a way to embrace who and what we are, and use that to our advantage.” Indeed.

[More posts about Destination Branding | More posts about Place Branding | More posts about Brand Differentiation | More posts about Kansas Slogan | More posts about Kansas | More posts about Own The Conversation® Strategy | More posts about Branding v Advertising | More posts about Brand Image | More posts about Brand Cheerleading | More posts about Kansas Tourism | More posts about Kansas Advertising | More posts about Adulatory Claims | More posts about Government Strategies | More blogs about Destination Branding]

Honda wants to own the safety position within the automotive industry. Only one problem with this strategy; the position has been owned for decades by a competitor.

According to the New York Times:

From the time it started selling cars in the United States 35 years ago, Honda has fostered a reputation for building fuel-efficient vehicles.

Now it is taking a new tack: it wants to join Volvo as an automaker best known for safety.

To get there, Honda is promoting safety as a key part of its public image…

Volvo, which has been stressing safety since it began building cars in 1927, is not overly concerned about competition from Honda.

“We have no plans to give up safety to Honda or anyone — we have an 80-year jump on them,” said Dan Johnston, a spokesman for Volvo Cars, who said Volvo was “flattered” by Honda’s efforts…

Honda’s me-too brand strategy will not work in expanding their audience unless they frame the safety dialogue in an entirely new way to the consumer. More than a slogan or advertising campaign, the safety claim must become a difference ownable to the exclusion of all competitors.

As the safety position is owned by Volvo, Honda is left with an ineffective adulatory message rather than effective brand strategy.

The adulatory message? An instantly forgettable “We are safer than Volvo.”

Read more here.

[More posts about Automotive Branding | More posts about Brand Differentiation | More posts about Brand Positioning | More posts about Brand Promise | More posts about Honda Brand Strategy | More posts about Honda | More posts about Volvo Brand Strategy | More posts about Volvo | More blogs about Brand Differentiation]

Ecuador announced a new brand in an attempt to grow international export markets for its products:

“Ecuador quality of origin” is the new brand that is going together with the Ecuadorian exports. The country-brand campaign is addressed to the main markets in Japan, the EU and the US.

FreshPlaza.com, a news source for companies operating in the global fruit and vegetable sector, also published this explanation of the new brand:

Ecuadorean exporters rely on their export brand to differentiate their production at the international markets. The international consulting group Chias Marketing proposes “the recognition of Ecuador as a country with a privileged geographic and natural position which produces and exports several products with differentiated characteristics for importers and consumers around the world”.

And how does the consulting group hired by Ecuador differentiate Ecuadorean products? They don’t.

…[Q]uality is the most important recognized determinant of Ecuadorean products; if one talks about quality perception at the national and international level, there is a reinforcement of the idea of quality as the determinant to exploit in the promotion campaign.

The consultancy further labors to explain what their efforts created for Ecuador at this link.

Because it is overused, Quality is not a unique differentiator. [Just ask the Republic of Turkey.] Framing a brand story around quality is the equivalent of claiming a unique difference because we are unique. And, according to this in Business Week, the word Quality is the most overused word in advertising, as “every product worth buying is a quality product,” so much so that a claim of quality is hollow and meaningless.

The result? For the good people of Ecuador, their new “brand” is instantly forgettable.

How might Ecuador create an unforgettable brand?

To create a breakthrough brand, to offer a compelling story engaging the audience it seeks, any nation brand must offer a difference, a unique something unheard of elsewhere. True, there is far more to the story of Ecuador exports than one unique difference. However, to create the opportunity to tell the broader story of it’s products, to own the conversation, Ecuador must first stand for a single uniqueness not heard of elsewhere, prompting the audience to care long enough to stop, and to stop long enough to be influenced.

As a first step, Ecuador’s decision-makers may wish to consider these questions:

What is it about Ecuador’s exports that uniquely separate them from other alternatives?

How do these products fulfill a need, a passion, an affiliation not satisfied elsewhere?

Why should anyone care?

If the audiences Ecuador seeks to influence can answer these questions for themselves within seconds, only then does Ecuador offer a brand that matters. One that appreciates in value and creates economic opportunity. One capable of being remembered above all other competing nation export brands.

For Ecuador’s decision-makers responsible for creating such a brand that’s when the fun begins, for that’s when they receive credit for being very smart, rather than falling into this trap.

[More posts about Brand Differentiation | More posts about Tourism Branding | More posts about Place Branding | More posts about Nation Branding | More posts about Destination Branding | More posts about Brand Strategy | More posts about Government Strategy | More posts about Ecuador Brand | More posts about Ecuador | More posts about South America Brands | More posts about Overused Words | More blogs about Nation Branding]

A thoughtful Op-Ed from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel brings clarity to the struggles faced by the Milwaukee 7 in their efforts to brand the seven counties of Southeastern Wisconsin.

Among the insights offered by the Journal Sentinel editorial are these:

…Milwaukee is a brand.

If we look only at how we might resemble other cities, we’re missing the point. To be one more city with financial services, restaurants and coffee shops does not let us compete.

All cities have that.

And this:

[W]e can’t be ashamed of how we’re perceived. We have to be ourselves, celebrate ourselves, and invite others to the party.

And this, reinforcing how an effective brand strategy must tap into the authenticity of a place:

It’s easier to ride a horse in the direction it’s going. When Las Vegas stopped pretending to be a family destination and returned to its roots (”What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas”), it took off like a rocket.

Read more here.

[More posts about Brand Differentiation | More posts about Destination Branding | More posts about Place Branding | More posts about City Branding | More posts about Brand Strategy | More posts about Government Strategy | More posts about Milwaukee Brand | More blogs about City Branding]

How often do those responsible for brand development decisions copy the strategies of others? In the case of governmental agencies responsible for their place/destination brands, the answer is more often than one might think.

For example, city and nation brand decision makers for New York City, Hungary, Dubai, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Denmark each rely upon the heart as a brand icon in visual identity:

Poland also takes up the icon, as The Heart of Europe:

And then there is the !; the exclamation mark serving as cheerleader.

As shown here, the ! is found in Me!bourne:

And in Johannesburg:

And !ndia, ¡Madrid! and Dublin!

We before addressed the tendency of some government agencies to replicate the brand strategies of others, as with the visual identities of Greece, Malta and Cyprus.

To create a breakthrough brand, to offer a compelling story engaging the audience it seeks, any destination brand must offer a difference, a unique something unheard of elsewhere. True, there is far more to the story of Greece or India or Dubai or Melbourne than one unique difference. However, to create the opportunity to tell the broader story of the place, to own the conversation, each of these cities and countries must first stand for a single uniqueness, a door opener, prompting an audience to care long enough to stop, and to stop long enough to be influenced.

However, a caution. Simply claiming to be unique does not create an effective brand.

Instead, consider these questions:

What is it about a city that separates the experience from other alternatives?

How does a nation fulfill a passion not satisfied elsewhere?

Why should anyone care?

If an audience can answer these questions for themselves within seconds, as often supported by a unique visual identity, then we see a brand that matters. One that appreciates in value and creates economic opportunity. One capable of being remembered above all others. For those government decision-makers responsible for creating such a brand that’s when the fun begins; when they receive credit for being smarter than their competition.

[More posts about Brand Differentiation | More posts about Destination Branding | More posts about Place Branding | More posts about Nation Branding | More posts about Brand Identity | More posts about Brand Strategy | More posts about Government Strategy | More posts about Malta Branding | More posts about Dubai Branding | More posts about Denmark Branding | More posts about Hungary Branding | More posts about Bosnia-Herzegovina Branding | More posts about Melbourne Branding | More posts about Cyprus Branding | More posts about New York City Branding | More posts about Greece Branding | More posts about India Branding | More posts about Madrid Branding | More posts about Dublin Branding | More posts about Johannesburg Branding | More blogs about Destination Branding]

On Tuesday Gap Inc. [NYSE:GPS] announced that “following a thorough assessment of its store concept, Forth & Towne, it has decided it will not move forward with a full roll-out. As a result, the company will close its Forth & Towne store concept after an 18-month pilot that began August 2005.”

“We made the tough decision to close the brand and focus our efforts on stabilizing the existing businesses,” said Robert Fisher, Gap’s chairman and interim chief executive.

According to the Wall Street Journal:

Gap designed Forth & Towne to offer baby boomers a miniature version of the department stores they grew up with, stocking four different labels under one roof. One section of the store, for example, was aimed at career-oriented women who shop for suits at Talbots Inc., while another resembled the loose, flowing styles at Chico’s. Part of the store held classic Gap T-shirts and jeans, redesigned for a less-skimpy look. The concept required a lot of space — and a lot of work to keep the sections distinct…

Forth & Towne’s stores “never gained much traction; suffered from fit, style and image problems; and became a big distraction.”

Forth & Towne, or F.A.T, also never developed an engaging story to support the concept. And it never settled upon a single point of difference to set it apart from competitors. Forth & Towne tried to be too much for too many audiences.

How did this happen?

In a stunning display of corporate homogeneity, the suits at The Gap failed to articulate a simple guiding promise for the new brand, as demonstrated by how they settled upon a name for the new concept which offered no clue of a reason to care about it. The team at Gap Inc. thought they were playing it safe, when instead their decision had the effect of issuing an execution order for the new concept before it was launched.

Forth & Towne might as well have been a stuffy bank, rather than the Chico’s killer it aspired to become as the name, and the story behind the name, offered no aspiration, no reason to want to affiliate with the brand. The brand had no spear tip by which to gain entry into the minds of female baby boomer crowd it so desperately wanted to influence and attract.

The result of such decision-making is easy to predict.

R.I.P F.A.T.

[More posts about Brand Management | More posts about Brand Blunders | More posts about Apparel Branding | More posts about Retail Branding | More posts about Brand Differentiation | More posts about Brand Strategy | More posts about Brand Naming | More posts about Gap Inc. | More posts about Forth & Towne | More posts about Chico’s | More blogs about Apparel & Retail Branding]

Some four years ago The Isle of Man began a process to brand itself as a destination for tourism and business investment.

In 2006 the Isle of Man launched a new national brand using the strapline, Freedom to Flourish. The country’s government offers this explanation:

“The Isle of Man is a land of possibility where people and business will find the right environment in which to reach their full potential, whatever they feel that might be.”

“Freedom to flourish” is the strategy approved by Tynwald to promote, protect and improve the Isle of Man.

Sounds eerily familiar, given this recent effort by another government also attempting a rebrand:

In Kansas, our wide open spaces give people the freedom to dream and make big things happen.

Rather than an effective story demonstrating a unique difference offered by this self-governing British Crown dependency, the good people of the Isle of Man were left with a banal explanation, and bill of £500,000. They were sold advertising, rather than branding. See what their money bought:

Advertising is explaining. Branding is demonstrating.

Explaining chases the audience you seek to influence. Demonstrating engages them.

This difference is considerable in weighing the effectiveness of the Isle of Man campaign.

One commonly used advertising strategy is to rely upon an adulatory claim, such as We Offer More [”unrivaled quality of life”], We Are Better [”land of possibility”], We Cost Less [”low personal taxes”], and others offered here. Anyone can make an adulatory claim. And, anyone can top the last one. Which make such claims useless for effective branding.

The more a brand relies upon an adulatory message, the higher the advertising expense.

Of far more consequence to the Isle of Man, an adulatory message will never separate the country from other tourist and business options, because these claims are equally true of any number of competing destinations [such as, Freedom to Flourish - Dublin, Freedom to Flourish - Edinburgh, Freedom to Flourish - Wales]. It is this separation, that key point of difference from ALL other places the audience must hear to take action.

Effective branding uncovers and demonstrates that difference.

The Isle of Man misses a golden opportunity to uncover their one unique, authentic, engaging difference, setting the country apart from ANY tourism destination. Had they done that, the Isle of Man’s message would become unforgettable, rather than setting themselves up for the large year-over-year advertising spends of a Fortune 500 with little hope of success.

What is it about the country that separates the Isle of Man experience from other tourism and business alternatives? How does the Isle of Man fulfill a passion not satisfied elsewhere? Why should we care about the Isle of Man? The new campaign fails to provide compelling answers. But these are the questions a good brand strategy should instantly answer, within seconds.

An authentic story of a brand that is engaging, not heard elsewhere, and that matters, is by itself unique. And that remains the Isle of Man’s golden opportunity.

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