{"id":1936,"date":"2012-11-30T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-11-30T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.leonorapolonsky.com\/food-for-thought\/are_you_faithful"},"modified":"2012-11-30T05:00:00","modified_gmt":"2012-11-30T05:00:00","slug":"are-you-faithful","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/csmhosted.com\/lpa_archive\/?p=1936","title":{"rendered":"Are You Faithful?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Article contributed by Matt Carcieri
\nStrategic Marketer and Branding Expert, Leonora Polonsky & Associates LLC
\n<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Brand-building is an exercise in self-discipline.<\/p>\n

What consumers value in a brand is its familiarity and clarity of meaning.  <\/span>As brand-builders, the way we create business value is by deepening that familiarity and intensifying that meaning over time.  <\/span>That requires a steadfast commitment to a time-honored course.<\/p>\n

Take Coke®<\/sup><\/strong><\/span> for example. Who wouldn’t want its brand-building and business-building results?  <\/span>Coke has achieved them by remaining committed (for the most part) to a firm set of identity guidelines: happiness, refreshment, the color red, its iconic bottle shape, its signature white script.  <\/span>Even in its current holiday execution, a Coke can looks a lot like its 1970s predecessor.  <\/span>Over that same time period, Pepsi®<\/sup><\/strong><\/span> has wandered the branding wilderness.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Staying faithful isn’t easy for marketers.  <\/span>The temptations are everywhere.  <\/span>You want to be sexy for a younger audience.  <\/span>An enticing, new segment beckons.  <\/span>A hot, new initiative seeks to be noticed on shelf.<\/p>\n

In the end, however, the best way to find and keep love is to remain true to yourself.  <\/span>It starts with a set of identity guidelines that capture your brand standards as simply and clearly as possible.  <\/span>There can be no ambiguity, and the best way to do that is with the fewest possible words and visuals.  <\/span>Volvo®<\/sup><\/strong><\/span> is boxy and “safe.”  <\/span>Coors Light®<\/sup><\/strong><\/span> is silver, mountains and “cold.”<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/h5>\n
<\/h5>\n
If this was “smashed,” even a dog could still tell it was Target<\/em><\/span><\/h5>\n

Then you need to execute your marketing with “creative rigidity.”  <\/span>That is, use your fixed assets in delightfully imaginative ways.<\/p>\n

How do you know if you’re faithfully executing your brand identity?  <\/span>Use Martin Lindstrom’s “smashability” test.  <\/span>If you <\/a>tore up your print ad or shattered your new package, would consumers still recognize your brand in the pieces?  <\/span>If not, you’re not being faithful.<\/p>\n

The Bible says that faithfulness yields fruitfulness.  <\/span>So what do you hold sacred in your brand?  <\/span>Do you have firm identity guidelines?  <\/span>And are they sufficient to yield smashably excellent work?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Article contributed by Matt Carcieri Strategic Marketer and Branding Expert, Leonora Polonsky & Associates LLC Brand-building is an exercise in self-discipline. What consumers value in a brand is its familiarity and clarity of meaning.  As brand-builders, the way we create business value is by deepening that familiarity and intensifying that meaning over time.  That requires […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1936","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/csmhosted.com\/lpa_archive\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1936","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/csmhosted.com\/lpa_archive\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/csmhosted.com\/lpa_archive\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/csmhosted.com\/lpa_archive\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/csmhosted.com\/lpa_archive\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1936"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/csmhosted.com\/lpa_archive\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1936\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/csmhosted.com\/lpa_archive\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/csmhosted.com\/lpa_archive\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/csmhosted.com\/lpa_archive\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}