Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

It’s Only Common Sense: It’s All About the Brand

Remember the Pepsi Challenge way back in the dark ages of the ‘80s? Pepsi did live blind taste tests with real people taking a drink of two identical cups of soda—one with Pepsi and the other with Coke? Remember that Pepsi won, as most people said that Pepsi was better tasting than Coke? Experts say it was because Pepsi is sweeter than Coke and we all love sweet.

Do you remember what happened then? Coke responded by coming out with New Coke. This was a disaster, as people realized that with the coming of New Coke came the demise of the Coke they had known and loved for years. Consumers rebelled. Coke had to apologize and bring back “Classic Coke.”

Now, the interesting part of the story is that even though people claimed that they preferred the taste of Pepsi over Coke, they still preferred to drink Coke. When all was said and done, Coke Classic became the best-selling soda in the world.

Why was that? Simple, people loved the Coke brand, probably even more than they liked the actual soda. They felt better being a Coke person than a Pepsi person, which, in the end, is what branding is all about.

To further prove my point, let’s talk about another beverage—Guinness. I am convinced that no one in their right mind likes the taste or feel of Guinness. I was once in the oldest pub in Belfast, Northern Ireland with a friend of mine who lived there. Once we sidled up to the bar, he actually said to me, “I hate this shite, but tradition has it that when you are in this pub for the first time you have to have a glass of Guinness.” He proceeded to order us two of the smallest glasses of beer I have ever seen. In the end, I believe that no one likes the taste of Guinness; they just think it’s cool to order and drink it. They love the whole BS ritual of the slow pour. They love being part of the Guinness brand tribe.

What is your brand? Is it so strong that your customers will follow it anywhere so they can be part of your brand tribe?

I’d like to share some ideas on branding from a very cool new book I am reading called, interestingly enough, The Non-Obvious Guide to Marketing and Branding, by Rohit Bhargava.

The American Marketing Association offers this definition: “A brand is a name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller’s goods or services as distinct from those of other sellers.”

Bhargava talks a lot about the value and importance of brand consistency, as well as ways to define your brand. Here from the book are some guidelines to developing a strong brand:

• A brand is a way to identify your products and services as distinct from the competition
• Consistency is the most important tactic to building a strong brand
• There are a total of eight types of brand names:
  • Familial: Personal and authentic. Based on the name of the founder. (Ben and Jerry’s, McDonald’s)
  • Logical: Based on the product and services you sell (Burger King, Budget Blinds).
  • Benefit focused: Based on the benefits of dealing with your company (Best Buy, Rubber Maid)
  • Geographic: Based on where you come from (North Face, Credit Suisse)
  • Thematic: Based on recognizable word or phrase (Tide, Glad)
  • Mashup: Based on a combination of words or ideas (Clearasil, Facebook)
  • Random: Random but recognizable words (Apple, Shell)
  • Domain: Based on the recognizable URL you register (www.yahoo.com)

The key takeaway here is distinctive. When thinking about the name of your company, ask yourself these questions:

• Does it truly define what we do?
• Is it easily recognizable?
• Is it cool? Do people like being associated with this brand enough to want to stay with us?
• Does it provide pride of ownership? Are our people proud to be part of a company that has our brand?
• Are you customers proud to be part of your brand tribe?

Remember that you can build a brand around any name. You can choose any name and go with that name. But if you choose the right name, if you really put some good thought and effort into the name of your company, your brand will be much more substantial and self-defining. Truth be known: choosing the right name for your company actually represents half the battle of brand development.

And one more thing. The developing of the right brand is appropriate and important for all companies no matter the market or the industry. When you are competing with other companies it is important to stand out from the herd and the best way to do that is develop and, most importantly, to live your brand!

It’s only common sense.

Dan Beaulieu is president of D.B. Management Group.