Back to the Bone - Stripping your brand to its simple state

Brand confusion

Over the past few days three separate things happened that seem to have an interesting connection:

1.     Out walking with the wife and we wondered why a local cafe/ restaurant that was so successful at its out of town unit had failed to replicate that apparent success when it opened a place in the centre of town.

2.     With the impending arrival of our new puppy I was looking for some reading material about training dogs. Our local puppy centre highly recommended a book by a well published and famous dog trainer. I found his web site and was keen to find out more about his ideas – but then one of the pages on his site promoted another part of his business where he made and sold guitars. I came away slightly confused and didn’t really follow up on his material.

3.     In looking for someone to come and do some repair work on our house – (some minor jobs) I ended up getting so frustrated trying to find a professional that in the end I asked a neighbors daughter if she wanted to do the work as I knew that she did this type of thing in her spare time.

Although these are seemingly different stories – the one common thing that binds them is the problem of customer confusion and how this can degrade and in some cases block the sales process.

• For the 1^st one – we think the problem stems from the fact that the original place was a café on a local industrial estate. So there was a perfect mix between the customer need and the service provided. It was a café offering what we believed was the best value food in the area. For their new venture they were trying to mix the café and restaurant experience and for us it was hard to get our heads around. The result was that if we wanted ham and chips we went to a café in the high street and if we wanted smoked ham with French Fries we went to the restaurant. That fitted our mental model of the food we wanted and the surroundings we would eat in.
• For the 2^nd point my confusion is that I wanted to get advice from the best dog trainer in the world. The moment I see he is also selling guitars then in some way (and I know this isn’t logical) I was less interested because I didn’t really understand where his priorities lay.
• For the 3^rd one almost every builder or decorator I spoke to wanted to convince me that no matter what job I wanted resolved they were the person to fix it. Painful experience has taught me (leaky roofs, falling down ceilings and dodgy guttering!!) that if I want a wall plastered then I will use a plasterer – not a plumber who has a bag of left over plaster in their boot.

The common problem here is one of brand confusion. And in times when the market is poor, with many alternative service providers and cash is tight maybe we all need to think very carefully about how best to present our brand to the market. If our brand pitch presentation does not have the necessary clarity and focus then the risk is the customer will look elsewhere.

In a world where the “job” is dead and we are all on a six-month contract then you need to manage and protect your brand like you would a newborn baby. If your brand is not pitched to the market in the optimum way then the chances are you will struggle to compete and survive.

BRAND THEORY

This idea of brand management is explored in my Personal Networking book. In this I explore the idea that personal brand needs to be considered using four primary dimensions.

• Simple - Simplicity exposes the quality of an idea. Its helps others to remember you and your brand. Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple is quite difficult
• Singular - Dare to be different - seek to be unique within your chosen market - ‘Be distinct or be extinct’. Your personal brand recognition needs to be instantaneous and sticky. If you are not sure what makes you different - then ask e others what they believe makes you stand out
• Symbolic - Make it easy for people to recall you and your personal brand – ensure you don’t inadvertently alienate people. This can be a logo, story, artifact, drawing or catch phrase – something that represents who you are and what you do. It must be easy to read/understand/recall, eye catching, recognisable, timeless and memorable.
• Sincere - Design your brand around you – not you around your brand. People know when someone is faking it, so always ensure your brand is authentic and true to your beliefs and values. Work inside out – discover your beliefs – don't import someone else’s because they are convenient.

For me all three stories suggest that the "Simple" test had been compromised. That cafe trying to be a restaurant, the dog trainer selling guitars and the builders trying to cover all jobs. For me contact with each one left me slightly confused as to what they were offering and more importantly where their core expertise

Link - "The global brand simplicity index is a report published by Siegel+Gale, a global branding and communications company that highlights the simple fact that customers pay more for brands that provide simpler services.
The global study asked 6,000 consumers across seven countries questions relating to their experience of using services and buying products. The data showed that between 5 and 15 percent of UK consumers are willing to pay more for brands they believe offer the greatest value of simplicity.

“The Global Brand Simplicity Index™ then generates a Simplicity Score™ which is a rating of each brand and its category on the elements used within the simplicity methodology”. Basically this means that Siegel+Gale can rank brands based on how simple they are to interact with."

Testing your brand simplicity

If you want to be sure that your personal brand be not being presented in a confused to your market then maybe take a few minutes to talk with clients and ask the following:

• Can they describe your brand to otherwise in a few words or does it need to be explained?
• If your brand were on the bag of a playing card would people get it?
• Can people get an emotional as well as a logical connection with what you do?
• Can you sum up what you do in ten, then five then one word?

The key to brand simplicity is the need to be merciless. Strip away that which does communicate value immediately, strip out fluff and if you cant do it then get someone else to tear your brand pitch to pieces.

Finally – I do believe that the secret to developing brand simplicity is about detachment. I once heard Elton John say that he left the selection of a single to others because he was too close to the creative process. In the same way often we can be too close to what we do and love to be able to be ruthless and cut away the crap. This is where it is key to use other people. Find people you trust and then trust the feedback they offer on ensuring that your brand pitch is simple.