Brands for the people

A brand is more than the product itself. Instead, how people view a brand gives it real value.

“A brand is not what you think you are. It’s what people think you are. A brand is the sum of all expressions by which an entity intends to be recognised. Everything you do in that organisation is your brand. The guy when you walk in, the security guard when you park... he is part of your brand. That’s the experience. Because branding, in the end, is going to be the experience you have with it.”

Kenrick Attale, executive chairman Lonsdale, Saatchi and Saatchi Advertising Ltd, made the statement at the TT Chamber of Industry and Commerce’s breakfast meeting, Brand Equity: Unveiling the Magic, recently held at the chamber building in Westmoorings.

Also speaking at the event was Chamber CEO Gabriel Faria who explained, “Brand equity is focussed on the core of marketing – what it is and how it can help you to sell more product at a higher price than the commodity value of the product that’s produced.”

He said the greatest asset of a company is its brand. He therefore warned against organisations leaving the responsibility of their brand to the brand manager as the manager could take it in a direction the owner did not want. Instead, he said every organisation should have strong brand guidelines and do its best to facilitate and support the brand’s growth.

He said if the owner made the right investments in their brand, it could become valuable to the consumer and become a brand preference, which would make them willing to pay more than the product was worth.

Attale explained that brands were a combination of visual, verbal, and emotional factors that distinguished a brand from the competition. Its two main attributes were the rational and tangible – packaging, positioning, price, image, customer experience; and the emotional or intangible – smell, taste and touch, reputation, value perception, fashionable, smart.

He said brands carried a perception of quality and personality, which was why social responsibility of a brand defined how people saw it. It was also why companies should be consistent with their brand promise which was a statement of purpose and the most compelling thing about the brand.

Therefore, he said, continuous research was key, adding that it was necessary to know what consumers thought about the brand – who you are, whether or not you are delivering value, and especially what they would like to see done differently as customer trends could change.

He explained that all brands started as a registered trademark. The company made a promise, people used the brand, the promise and quality remained consistent, so people began to trust it, and eventually love it. “The highest in customer loyalty is when it becomes a lovemark. And with that lovemark they become advocates of the brand, and advocacy is the greatest thing you could get for your brand.”

At that point, he said, customers build an emotional, long-term connection, loyalty beyond reason to the brand so that mistakes were often forgiven with a simple apology where a weaker brand would be destroyed.