“Great branding takes balls.” So says Karen Post.

It takes guts, a fearlessness, if an organization seeks to engineer a market breakthrough and develop an unforgettable reputation.

The following is what all too often happens, in this from Fast Company:

The tragic news is that a lot of companies get the process. Their leaders read books, attend seminars, and admire other great brands. They know to be a really cool, memorable brand, you’ve got to stand for something and be distinct. But when it comes down to their brand, the real distinction phobia sets in, causing brand nothing.

Do they dread peer resistance, experience a guilt trip over industry betrayal, or just convince themselves that the risk outweighs the reward? Possibly a mix of all — in any case, they are brand-debilitating malfunctions.

The reality is many brand decision makers talk the talk, but choose not to walk the walk. And that outcome is indeed tragic for those dependent upon the decision makers. Employees, board members, stakeholders, consumers, all suffer the opportunity cost.

For any organization seeking to find their brand and to grow their reputation, identifying the good thinkers to guide the search and remove fear from the journey is where success begins.

Great branding takes guts.

So there it is. The essence of branding.

What will you do about it?

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According to one source, strong brand equity offers the following benefits:

Facilitates a more predictable income stream,

Increases cash flow by increasing market share, reducing promotion costs, and allows for premium pricing, and

Brand equity is an asset that can be sold or leased.

Brand equity also creates an ownable competitive advantage, is your sole appreciating asset, and decreases advertising expense.

Read more here.

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“Branding is a competitive advantage without equal. People will wait longer, travel further, and spend more for a favored brand.”

This advice is offered by Dr. David A. Shore, PhD. Dr. Shore is an Associate Dean at Harvard University, School of Public Health, where he teaches Harvard graduate courses such as “Strategic Marketing: Gaining Competitive Advantage Through Positioning, Branding, and Building Trust.”

We agree. As offered previously, contrary to the depreciation experienced by every other balance sheet asset, a brand is the sole asset capable of appreciating in value. The natural result of an asset creating competitive advantage is value appreciation, and growth in balance sheet equity.

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A recent column in Advertising Age makes a point worth revisiting:

[During this year’s] Black Friday…many retailers seemed to go to new lengths to offer the deepest discounts…

The Sports Authority had “6-hour doorbusters,” with 25% off its entire stock. Toys “R” Us offered “Lowest prices ever” with 50% off and more. Sears featured “Insanely early Friday Specials.” The first 200 customers in each store got a free $10 reward card…

The day a chain starts down the continuous sale path is the day the chain is headed for trouble…

Strong brands do little sale advertising. I have never seen a Starbucks‘ ad offering two cappuccinos for the price of one. Nor have I seen an Apple ad offering half off on an iPod. Or have I seen a Rolex ad offering two watches for the price of one.

On Thanksgiving Day when all the other retailers were running their sale, sale, sale advertisements, Whole Foods ran an ad in…newspaper[s] with the headline: “Today we give thanks to all our local growers.”

That’s class. And that’s a powerful brand.

When a company’s brand shouts to the market little else than sale or low price or rebate, for the consumer it becomes impossible to determine what the brand stands for. And you can bet no one will stand around to ponder the answer. When that happens, when the consumer has no mental meathook by which to remember the brand doing the advertising, watch out. One need only look to brands such as Wal-Mart, Ford Motor, or United Airlines to survey the results.

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One university president understands the value of brand in creating competitive advantage for any university.

“Higher education is a competitive industry,” [UT president John Petersen] said. “We compete for students, faculty and staff and must maintain widespread support from alumni and donors, the General Assembly and the residents of Tennessee.”

He is right. As in any industry, universities and colleges would benefit by the use of a well conceived brand strategy.

Here’s the story, and other examples of university branding efforts.

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Our commentary making the case for branding a law firm prompted a reader to ask the following:

Smart people keep missing the difference between communication and branding, or advertising campaigns and branding. It is rather amazing. Do you feel there is some hurried sense of urgency to “get out there” and bring in business that leads these bright folk to do the “default” thing and rush into advertising?

We agree. It is amazing. Yet it’s a phenomenon repeated over and over again by otherwise certified smart men and women. Including many holding themselves out as brand strategists who skip the hard part, by instead offering a new logo or slogan and passing off either as a “brand.”

How does this happen?

The answer is simple. Simple is hard.

Branding is a search for the obvious. By far the most difficult process step of any branding project lies in successfully navigating the intellectual and emotional footbridge to find the positioning statement / value proposition in creating a breakthrough tip of the spear. Creating this authentic and unforgettable spear tip is the hard part of branding.

Any worthy brand consultancy would offer up the following four brand fundamentals, the identification of each crucial to developing a value proposition before proceeding with any brand implementation step such as, for example, creation of a new visual identity:

Pain Point and Solution – What is the problem your target seeks to solve, why and how do they experience pain in seeking a solution, and what is the solution they need and even crave?

Key Difference – Your best single point of competitive difference

Emotional Benefit – Identify the emotional payoff to your target consumer; what is the emotion an individual experiences by tapping into what you offer?

Affiliation Benefit - Uncovering how those who access your product or service want to be seen by others, and how the relationship with your brand enhances how your target sees themselves

Stated another way, the hard part of branding is the ability to articulate within seconds the answer to the question asked by the audience you seek to convert to your product or cause: Why Should I Care About You? Getting to the answer involves getting to the root of consumer thinking through qualitative research, and a crisp analysis of the competition.

Too often we see organizations create a value proposition that is little more than a string of instantly forgettable cheerleader statements. Such cheerleading leads to ineffective business outcomes such as this and other brand blunders.

But you don’t have to rely on us for this. Take a look at the March 2006 issue of the Harvard Business Review, and see for yourself.

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The word earlier this year had the Utah Office of Tourism working on a new brand. Utah announces the result in this press release:

Utah’s new “Life Elevated” brand was officially launched in Salt Lake City…culminating a seven-and-a-half month effort…

“The new slogan captures the essence of Utah because it embodies the heart and soul of our state,” says Utah Governor Jon M. Huntsman, Jr. “Our quality of life and growing business environment are second to none.”

“Our new tagline not only captures the essence and diversity of Utah, but it can also be used to promote business, arts and culture,” says Leigh von der Esch, managing director of the Utah Office of Tourism…

“The new brand voice of Utah is a reflection of all the people, past and present, who have come here to seek a richer, fuller life; to seek freedom and peace; to seek quiet and solitude; and to let the majesty and grandeur of the place shape their own independent aspirations,” states the branding platform. “You come to Utah to see; you leave with new eyes. You see vistas like nowhere else on the planet. You see desert scapes that are haunting. You walk in footsteps of ancient civilizations and follow paths cut by weather and the forces of nature. The result: your emotions are stirred, your senses are lifted. You soar. Your spirits rise. Your life is changed. You are elevated.”

One reaction is offered in this commentary from the Ogden Standard-Examiner:

Here’s the deal: If you have to explain a slogan, you’ve screwed up and have to go back to the drawing board. Just watch how much defensive explaining there is going to be for “Life elevated.”

We agree.

Advertising is explaining. Branding is demonstrating.

This difference is considerable in weighing the effectiveness of the Utah campaign.

One commonly used advertising technique is to rely upon an adulatory claim, such as We Are Better, We Offer More, We Cost Less. Anyone can make an adulatory claim. And, anyone can top the last one. Which make such advertising claims useless for effective branding.

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

Of far more consequence to Utah, an advertising message will never separate Utah from other tourist options. It is that separation, that key point of difference from ALL other places that the audience must hear to take action.

Branding uncovers and demonstrates that difference.

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

Instead Utah has developed a banal advertising claim, similar to those of Wisconsin - Like No Place On Earth, Maryland - More Than You Can Imagine, and Colorado - Enter A Higher State, rather than an authentic claim never before heard, such as What Happens Here Stays Here for Las Vegas, or It’s Like A Whole Other Country for Texas.

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

But then, that’s the difference between advertising and branding.

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When a country badly in need of effective branding starts off on the wrong foot, it’s difficult to watch the process unfold.

This report tells the story:

A consortium of economic development and branding experts are to spend the coming six months developing a detailed brand strategy and implementation plan for the roll-out of Botswana’s national brand.

A tough start. Groups such as these often lead to the banal rather than a breakthrough, through tradeoffs due to political and consensus considerations. Homogenized is often the result, with little or no chance of success. The report continues:

If developed and executed correctly, a national brand can provide a true basis of competitive advantage, change perceptions of internal and external audiences and therefore stimulate economic growth and diversification, and should therefore be seen as a core part of economic development.

Sounds good, but what of the process? The group will first develop a brand audit:

The national brand project will first assess the current economic realities, strategies and organisational capacities of Botswana together with understanding in detail the current perceptions within Botswana and internationally.

Sounds okay as an initial step. More on process:

The project team will then develop brand options and test these with key stakeholders and target audiences, resulting in a refined and fully-tested brand strategy. Finally, brand guidelines, an implementation plan and a brand monitoring framework will ensure that the project can move as smoothly and rapidly as possible towards implementation.

Not promising. A brand audit alone will not reveal the components so necessary for creation of a breakthrough brand. Rather than a brand, this process sounds as a rush toward an advertising or public relations campaign. With no mention of the need for competitive analysis or qualitative research, the process is fatally flawed.

Will this process answer the question, Why should the world care about the Republic of Botswana?

If not, the Botswana rebranding effort is doomed.

Unless Botswana uncovers the authentic key difference and emotional benefit engaging tourism and business investment audiences, this effort will waste a valuable opportunity, as with other place brands such as South Australia and Malta.