Category Archives: Brand Management
(From Wikipedia) Brand management is the application of marketing techniques to a specific product, product line, or brand. It seeks to increase the product’s perceived value to the customer and thereby increase brand franchise and brand equity.
Brand Jordan
NBA lockout is about to end. The hot topic of discussion is what’s the damage to Brand Jordan?
Michael Jordan is arguably the greatest basketball player of all times. But his skills and will are not enough to explain how he became the magnetic person that he is. During his Hall of Fame induction speech, Michael Jordan said: “There won’t be a new Michael Jordan.” This is a false statement, because who we knew and adored as “Michael Jordan” was actually not an individual. The magnet was the “Warrior/Hero archetype.” Read the rest of this entry
You and me: The Brand Relationship Theory
I love the TV series “the Office”. In one of the episodes Michael Scott has herpes and wants to know who gave him the disease. He starts working backwards through his partners, chronologically. Michael Scott being the person he is, instead of informing his past partners of his infection, he asks them relationship-related questions such as: “What went wrong? Did I make more of what we had than was really there?” What does Michael Scott have to do with branding? Everything, according to Dr. Susan Fournier’s brand relationship theory. Read the rest of this entry
Life. Simplified.
All of a sudden, the earth has started to spin too fast. So much going on in the world. We are all overloaded with information and choices. It is not a surprise that brands that simplify our lives are very successful these days. Googles and Apples strive by actually giving their customers less! About a year ago, we talked about “paradox of choice”. The more you give to your customers, the less happy they become. Sounds weird eh? I recently read a great article about this topic and wanted to write a follow up to my previous article. Read the rest of this entry
Scarcity and escalation of commitment as means of persuasion
Last weekend we went to a factory sales event of a clothing brand. Apparently, the event was so well advertised that the factory was jam-packed with warrior/shopper women. Honestly, I can’t remember how many times a lady hit me in the shoulder or stepped on my foot (Albeit, I don’t recall receiving a single apology). According to their ad everything was “up to 70%” off. But, I am fairly sure there was an item or two that were actually 70% off. The rest of the cloths were in the range of 30-40%. However, when you commit to spending at least part of your Saturday in a factory, you automatically convince yourself that everything is indeed 70% off. That was the trap we fell into. We tried on some jackets, but none of them were interesting enough. Then we said, at least let’s buy a belt! But, two days later we realized that we actually paid almost the full price for the belt! How did that happen? Are we that silly? Well, there were two psychological factors in play. Let me explain them. Read the rest of this entry
Smoothies and Tim Hortons… Success or failure?
Last week we talked about Starbucks’s recent experiment of serving alcohol in some of its locations. We ended up recommending them to create a second brand. We also said, on our next article we will focus on a successful line extension from Canada: Tim Horton’s, one of Starbucks’ archrivals. For those of you who are not familiar with the brand, here is how Wikipedia describes Tim Hortons: Read the rest of this entry
Alcohol and Starbucks… Success or failure?
I recently read an article by Mr. Martin Bishop from Landor about Starbucks serving regional wine and beer in some of its Seattle locations. Lately, Starbucks successfully updated its identity and announced that it aims to be more than a coffee company. The brand’s little experiment clearly shows that it means it. But I think such a line extension is the wrong way to go. Let me explain why. Read the rest of this entry
What’s in a name?
I love working with a brand named after its founder because they make my life much easy. The majority of brands still communicate merely what they’ve got (their products, their services, or their features.) Only a small number of brands communicate their “promise”, which is definitely a better marketing strategy. A promise is the universally-accepted definition of a brand. But… Even that communicating your promise is not enough anymore. Today, brands need to communicate their purpose as well as their promise, because people are looking for “meaning” these days. And there is no easier way of creating meaning than telling a compelling story about the founder of a brand. Read the rest of this entry
The art of effective writing
Almost a year ago I decided to start this blog, primarily because I realized that as a non-native speaker, I needed to improve my writing skills, a problem far beyond writing error-free articles. I had to improve the structure of my articles to be a more effective communicator. Structured writing was a skill that I was taught neither at school nor at work. So, there you have it. This blog is a selfish act. That said, I truly enjoy sharing my knowledge and experience with you. Therefore, today I will share with you some of the little secrets of structured writing. Read the rest of this entry
The role of respect in brand building
As a citizen of a developing country, I am used to being treated as an afterthought by my municipality. Usually, everyday people like myself feel “blessed” when the governing body of our city offers us a new service. At least, that is what they “think” we should feel like. If the City decides to extend the subway line, as a citizen, you should just cherish even though the stations are eye soring, and trains are painted in hideous colours. Again, coming from a developed country, I am used to that. But, to my surprise, I learnt that things are not totally different in North America, particularly in Toronto. Of course there are some exceptions. And Montreal’s STM is a case in point. Read the rest of this entry
The role of customer experience in branding
Spoiler alert: Customer experience has become the bread and butter of branding. You can have a beautiful logo, a smart tagline, a wonderful package and a state-of-the-art product. Yet, if you fail to deliver a pleasant customer experience, your brand cannot go too far. This applies to all brands, whether they are B2B, B2C, product or service brands. Not surprisingly, customer experience is particularly important in hospitality industry. Now that the winter is upon us, let me share with you my observations on the Nordic spa experiences in Quebec. Read the rest of this entry
