Advok8 Smart Branding 2019

As branding is perhaps one of the top five things a Marketing Department does, initially, it becomes very important to understand that this is a by product of four things. Vision, intellectual property, culture and desired consumer behavior. What is the organizational vision that the President or CEO desires? What intellectual property does the organization possess, particularly in terms of artistic license? What are the cultural attributes that the organization projects to the marketplace? Who is the desired customer, and how do they look at the world?

So instead of a logotype, the idea of branding should be a world view projection. Many people, smarter than I have created lists of things a grand should accomplish. I will try to take a number of good things I have read or used in branding and list them:

1. The brand should represent a world view of the organization.
2. The brand should be a replicable and consistent icon of the organization’s desired characteristics.
3. The brand should represent a scientific logotype that is a by-product of good marketing skill.
4. The brand should be memorable within a world of noise, over a long period of time
5. The brand should be a creative and inventive symbol representing the organization’s vision.
6. The brand should be a symbol that will ultimately be time tested, and it should become part of the intellectual property (either via trademark or registered mark)
7. The brand should be friendly to digital and electronic media.
8. The brand should avoid media traps that could cause problems (gradients, shadows, bad coloring, bad sizing, etc.)
9. Last but not least, the brand should be flexible and extendable to future enhancements.
10. The brand should take into consideration all existing and potential competitors and their branding.

When marketing presents a brand concept, there should be a rationalization for their brand based upon at least these nine perspectives of a smart brand. In 2019, these elements become important as branding has become so important in an environment when the new product introduction success rate has reached an all-time low. https://www.inc.com/marc-emmer/95-percent-of-new-products-fail-here-are-6-steps-to-make-sure-yours-dont.html

In fact, when Advok8 is hired to advance new products or startup companies, we look at the most successful brands in the specific market segment. We treat it much like a race in which our goal is not to be independently branded but to be connectively branded to the market leaders. Much like stock car racing, we want to ensure our brand “drafts” off the brands in front of us. Or least effort to create the greatest brand impression.