Brand Management In A Week

How To Be A Successful Brand Manager In Seven Simple Steps

Paul Hitchens, Julia Hitchens

• Publisher: Teach Yourself
• Year: 2014
• Print ISBN: 9781473627550
• eBook ISBN: 9781444197990
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business Development
• Index: Business

Brand management just got easier
Successful brands provide meaning: a higher purpose, a vision of a better future, a code of values, and a culture that drives performance. Brands with meaning stand out in their marketplace and attract like-minded people: customers, employees, suppliers and investors. Successful brand management clearly differentiates organizations, products and services from their competitors and inspires advocacy from all stakeholders. Building a strong brand takes much more than a week: it requires an on-going commitment to excellence. This updated second edition of Brand Management In A Week provides a proven seven-day program on the principles of brand management. It takes you from the conceptual and planning stage through to implementation and sustainability. It's packed with tips and insights gained from decades of industry experience to help you jump-start your brand and give you the tools and confidence to manage it through the hurdles of the business landscape.Each of the seven chapters in Brand Management In A Week covers a different aspect:
- Sunday: Determine your brand focus
- Monday: Define your brand strategy
- Tuesday: Express your brand through its identity
- Wednesday: Evolve your brand culture
- Thursday: Build your employer brand
- Friday: The importance of design
- Saturday: Sustaining the brand

The brand strategy is the brand’s road map to success. It identifies who we are travelling with, where we are going, why it matters and what is required. There are lots of ways of getting from A to B and the brand strategy should pave a pathway with confidence and charisma. A bold brand strategy requires a combination of sound logic and a leap of inspired faith to take the brand where other brands have yet to venture.

Planning and research are key, as is the self-questioning courage to answer truthfully, ‘Is this really possible?’ The better prepared you are and the more you know about your destination, the greater your chances of success.

Today we will look at the key brand criteria for the brand strategy.

• Purpose – What does the brand do?

• Vision – What is the brand’s ambition?

• Values – What does the brand stand for?

• Mission statement – How is the brand going to achieve its vision?

• Proposition – Why do I need the brand?

• Positioning – How does the brand compare with its competitors?

• Personality – What is the brand’s character?

• Audience – Who is interested in the brand?

What are the key brand criteria?

A brand strategy is the plan for a brand’s delivery and it answers the big questions: who, where, why, what and when? These essential questions are answered through the key brand criteria: purpose, vision, values, mission statement, proposition, positioning, personality and audience.

Purpose

How do you make the world a better place? What is your ‘big idea’? What is the inspiration that drives you to succeed? What is the clear benefit your brand provides?

If you are left scratching your head at these questions, you have a problem, because successful brands have a well-defined sense of purpose. An authentic purpose is like a calling, or impulse; it is something you feel compelled to do and that you are passionate about. A clear sense of purpose is bigger than a charismatic leader and will outlast the management team. Political parties survive leadership changes because they are based on an immutable idea. A sense of purpose is attractive to customers, employees, investors and suppliers. Brands compete at the most primal level by the quality of their ideology. Successful brands provide an emotional value that exceeds their market price.

Who are you and what do you stand for? Is your purpose a compelling invitation to like-minded people? In an era when society has high expectations of corporate social responsibility (CSR), a purpose must engage all audiences, both from within the organization and from outside. Remember that your customers have a role to play in the future of the brand. Some of the most progressive, dynamic brands share their sense of purpose with their audience. For example, Innocent Drinks has an ambition to ‘Make it easy for people to do themselves some good’ and The Body Shop’s ambition is to raise public consciousness of ethical issues and stop animal testing for cosmetics.

Considerations for identifying a shared purpose

• Is it an authentic sincere extension of who you are and your beliefs?

• A purpose is much bigger than just delivering a profit – it’s more compelling if it makes the world a better place.

• A shared sense of purpose stimulates high levels of employee engagement and creates a strong sense of community.

Ask yourself what your product or service does and why it should matter to anyone. A good cause can be infectious. What’s yours?

Vision

If purpose is the brand’s ‘big idea’, then the brand vision is the ‘big picture’ of how that idea will blossom and thrive. As the saying goes, ‘From small acorns, giant oaks grow.’ The brand vision is an ambition for the future that should be both inspirational and achievable. It may be an aspiration for five or ten years’ time and should have clear benefits for the organization and its extended community of customers and suppliers.

Considerations for setting the brand vision

• It must be succinct and easy to comprehend.

• Focus on the destination and not the journey...

Table of contents

• Cover 
• Title
• About the Author
• Dedication
• Contents 
• Introduction
• Sunday: Determine your brand focus
• Monday: Define your brand strategy
• Tuesday: Express your brand through its identity
• Wednesday: Evolve your brand culture
• Thursday: Build your employer brand
• Friday: The importance of design
• Saturday: Sustaining the brand
• 7 × 7
• Answers
• Copyright