With the 22 laws of branding Ries and Ries recommends managers, entrepreneurs ways of building brands by showing the common mistakes done by various brands and good examples of how to build a brand.
1. The Law of Expansion: As the scope of the brand expanses, the power of that brand will diminish. Expansion may create higher sales in the short run however sales is not a way to measure the power of a brand. Sales are one of the ways that shows the strength or weakness of the brand in the competition.
2. The Law of Contraction: Narrowing the focus of the brand increases the force of the brand. The brand should be to the point and concentrated in order to sustain its power in the long term. It is good to become a specialist rather than being a generalist.
3. The Law of Publicity: Publicity is more effective than advertising. Actually the brands are born not made. For a new brand to be born, it should generate publicity. The best way to generate publicity is being first most of the times.
4. The Law of Advertising: Once the brand is born with publicity, advertising comes into the picture to keep it alive. Advertising is crucial to maintain the power once it is gained. Many brands goes through two phases: Phase I: Introduction of new category, it is crucial to gain publicity; Phase II: Rise of the company that pioneered the new category. The strategy transforms from publicity to advertising as the brand evolves from phase I to phase II.
5. The Law of the Word: “What comes to mind when you think about owning a Mercedes Benz?” Most people identify the word prestige with Mercedes Benz. A brand is associated with one word in the minds of consumers. It is critical to own a word which is free when building a brand
6. The Law of Credentials: Focusing on brand’s claim of authenticity rather than its benefits is critical. Customers do not believe in product claims such as healthy etc. The most direct way to establish credentials is to focus on leadership of the brand.
7. The Law of Quality: The perception of quality is shaped the customers’ mind. Quality must be available as much as affordable in any brand image however quality is not the only indicator.
8. The Law of Category: “The leading brand should promote the category, not the brand” It could be easier just to promote the brand not the category but promoting both is the most effective strategy. Categories take more attention than the brand by consumers and the brand being a leader or first mover in the category, you should not forget about marketing the category.
9. The Law of Name: In the short term, unique idea, concept and being first in a new category and an identifying word is critical for a brand however in the long run your name distinguishes the product from the competitors.
10. The Law of Extensions: Putting same name to all products is the worst thing to do. Since the core brand is successful, the name of the core brand is used for each new product. In the end of the day, the core brand name may be destroyed and some big opportunities could be lost.
11. The Law of Fellowship: The dominant brand in the market should welcome the competitors since the competition increases more consciousness in the category, resulting in higher consumption for that category.
12. The Law of Generic: It is hard for a generic brand to break into the minds of the consumers and create differentiation. Since majority of brand communication is done verbally, it is critical to be able to differentiate the brand verbally most probably with its name.
13. The Law of Company: The brand name should never be mixed with company name. Brands are important for the consumers and it should be the focus of attention and most preferably company names should not be used together with the brand name.
14. The Law of Subbrands: Subbranding tries to push the core brand to other directions which the brand does not belong actually.
15. The Law of Siblings: The key to product family approach is to create new brands for each family member. A unique brand with unique identity. Six recommendations for creating a sibling friend are as follows; focus on common product area; select a single attribute to segment such as price or age or sex; set distinctions among products, no overlaps; create different, not similar brand names; new sibling brand is established only when a new category is introduced; keep control of the sibling family in order to keep the powerful brands.
16. The Law of Shape: The ideal shape for a logotype is horizontal and two an done fourth units wide an done unit high. The most crucial thing is it should fit both eyes. Legibility is also critical. It is the name that carries the brands’ power not the logo.
17. The Law of Color: “A brand should use a color opposite to its major competitor’s” It is best to select from the main colors palette. Colors are not equal according to people, because of the physical reasons. Colors on red spectrum are focused behind the retina, it creates the image that it moves toward you and colors on blue spectrum are focused behind the retina so it creates the effect that they move towards from you. Also moods that the colors are associated with are critical when choosing the right color for you brand. White is the color of purity, black is the color of luxury, blue is the color of leadership, and purple is the color of loyalty, green is the color of loyalty.
18. The Law of Borders: Expanding to new categories is not the only way to grow. Creating a global brand with narrow focus is also a way of growing. In order to be a global brand; you need to be first in the country and the product should fit to the perception of its country of origin. There is a general perception that watched from Switzerland are valuable so a Swiss watch
Brand could be a global brand since it satisfies the second rule.
19. The Law of Consistency: It takes years for a brand to be built properly and consistency of the product over these years is crucial for brands’ success. “Markets may change but the brands should not”.
20. The Law of Change: There are always exceptions in rules, brands may be changed under these 3 circumstances: “Your brand is weak or nonexistent in mind”; “You want to move the price of the brand down”; “Your brand is in a slow-moving field and the change is going to take place over an extended period of time”.
21. The Law of Mortality: It is wise to admit that the brands also have a life, they born, they grow and they must die. So we should let the brands die at some point.
22. The Law of Singularity: The brand should not lose its singularity. A brand could be identified only with one thing such as; safe car: Volvo, expensive Swiss watch: Rolex. The successful brands are identified with single thing.
In my opinion, main ideas that the book gives to the readers is building a brand has both a marketing and corporate perspective. The corporate strategies dominant in determining the duration of the brand. Authors discuss that expansion, contraction; sibling brands and category are the crucial laws that may lead the brand to lose power. These laws are affected by the companies’ corporate strategy rather than the marketing strategy. Only a top down strategy will not be sufficient, in order to build a sustainable successful brand a company should adopt a bottom up strategy.
106604201
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment