WHY BRANDING

IS IMPORTANT

And how to
take it to the
next level
WHY YOU SHOULD HATE
BRANDING

$
$
WHY WE SHOULD LOVE
BRANDING
(1 reason)

Branding forces management

to articulate, plan and manage
what they want the brand to
achieve for the organization
over the next 3-5 years, relative
to customer growth, revenue
and profit contributions.
 Value &
relation-
Brand ship Consumers
Profits
Innovation Information
& execution & input

Company
WHY WE SHOULD LOVE
BRANDING
(the other, more
important, reason)

“Heuristics”
 Sm
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bu cks esso r speed Maybank vs. CIMB
Star RAM vs. proc
 “Buyers make most decisions by relying on
their two-second first impressions based on
stored memories, images and feelings.”
Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking
By Malcolm Gladwell

“Because brand-influenced heuristics impact

R buyer decision-making, companies with strong
brands often have better financial perform-ance.
U The heuristics used by potential buyers lead to
greater access, shorter sales cycles, lower price
L sensitivity, better openness, and more
forgiveness for mistakes for well-branded
E companies.”
Business Market Management: Understanding, Creating,
S and Delivering Value
By James Anderson and James Narus
EMOTION
Some
Japanese
women
put off
having a Baby
baby until
they can
buy a
Louis
Vuitton
handbag
 B=T+V+E

SALE!
 SALE!
1. Price is the only way to differentiate
from competition
2. During last phase of product cycle
3. New product is being introduced
 QuickTimeª and a
mpeg4 decompressor
are needed to see this picture.

Strategic branding
1880s 1900s 1960s
Features Benefits Experience
1980s 2000s 2006 ->
Identification Segments Context based
 S-E-G-M-E-N-T-A-T-I-O-N
Behavioural

PA
Demographics, SS
etc. IO
N Collaborative filtering

Personal

Attitudinal
Social media
 tion
Bra nta
ndi m e
Pro ng e g
mo S o n
tion ss i
Pa

?
 TRIBAL BRANDING
Sense Define Deliver Sustain
• Tribal types • Purchase & • Operational • Focus on
• Passion that other triggers excellence retention
unites • How do you (service, • Encourage &
meet/enable quality, incorporate
• Tribal values
passion support, etc.) input
• Leaders/ • Differentia- • Innovate
• Consistent &
influencers tion committed • Develop new
• Require- • How do you sources of
engagement
ments for communicate value
• Economic,
value • How do you • Support
experiential &
• And more… engage customers &
emotional
• Messages the tribe
value
• And more… • Continuous
• Measure-
improvement
ment
HOW WE CAN ENABLE…
Tagging, Web 2.0, User Generated Content, Surveys,
Interactivity, Games, Stakeholder Panels, Review,
Personalization, Word-of-Mouth, Events, Demonstrations,
Purchase, Trial, Sampling, Subscription, Download,
Bookmark, Visit, Brand Ambassador, Measurement,
Customer Co-creation, Conversation, Links, Click
Streams, RSS feeds, Adoption, Advertising, Pass-alongs,
Videos, Podcasts/Vidcasts, Facebook Groups, Forums,
User Conferences, Seminars/Webinars, Ranking,
Referrals, Retention, Evangelism, PR, Blogs, Twitter,
Dialog, Social Bookmarking, Test Drive, Coupon
Redemption, Downloads, Investment… and more!

…ENGAGEMENT WITH YOUR BRAND

 SMART BRAND QUESTIONS

1. How do you create a customer experience that drives

emotion and ensures loyalty?
2. What is the best way to differentiate your experiences
from your competitors, and to make this differentiation visible
to your customers and prospects?
3. How do you ensure that front-liners consistently deliver a
quality customer experience? (staying on-brand)
 One of US largest banks;
operations in 25 countries;
20,000 employees

PROBLEM:
 Performance worst among competing
banks
 Employee morale low; talent leaving
 New low in stock price
 1/3 of new customers leave in 1st year
New CEO: Vision = “focus on customer experience
to be most admired financial institution in the
markets we serve”
SOLUTION: BETTER CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
5 strategic themes Initiatives Payoffs
 Enhance  Train employees to  Cross-selling
shareholder value follow up promises increased from 2.4%
to 5.5%
 Be the Trusted  Question skills to
Advisor understand customer  Deposits up 14%
needs  Earnings up 36%
 Execute “1Key”
 Retention rose 5%
 Integrated
 “Be Proud to Be  Employee
solution/cross-selling
at Key” engagement went
skills
 Live the Key from 3.78 to 4.26
 Single team
Values
manages 1 customer
relationship
 Employee
recognition for
customer focus
Thank you

Nick Wreden
Nickwreden@gmail.com