A 10-Step Brand Development Process

by Meg Asaro, Friday, January 7, 2011, 7:45 AM

Brands are built on cultural DNA and therefore, must evolve with the times and shifting
consumer desires. To successfully navigate such turbulent
waters, we recommend for marketers to steward brands
through a "trend process," recognizing that the brand
essence resides in quintessential equities -- visual, sensorial, experiential and personality
-- that create truly emotional bonds with consumers.

For over more than a decade, we have refined a "Brand Effervescent Trend Forecasting
Process" that funnels macro trends into a brand essence. Each higher trend level feeds the
one below in a 10-step brand development process.

Applying Trends to Brands

While every project presents its own challenges, this process can help marketers apply the
right trend to a brand's living space.

1. Trend Signals

Seek visionaries; stay future focused. Big discoveries can come from the fringe, unfamiliar
territory that can even elicit a touch of fear.

2. Benchmark Cultural Signposts

Trends are rooted in culture so look to key influencers in architecture, design, media, art,
technology, social media, politics, religion, the economy, even healthcare. Aim for signals
in at least three disciplines to indicate a trend.

Validate whether this trend has "peaked." Nothing is worse than discovering a "new trend"
is on its way out.

Information overload is the greatest challenge in the search for emerging trends. To cut
through the clutter, try these resources:

Trendhunter, Trendwatching, Coolhunting (trend sites)

Psfk (trend aggregator)

Huffington Post, Daily Beast (news aggregators)

Marketing Daily (marketing)

Ad Age (advertising)

The New York Times, USA Today (mass perspective)

Guardian, BBC (cultural cross-over trends)

The Dieline (packaging)

Dexigner (design)

Daily Candy, Goop (fashion)

Industry blogs, magazines

Ffffound.com (sensorial trends)

ICFF, Milan Furniture Fair, Future Trends (trade shows)

Twitter, Google Alerts, RSS

Trend Professionals

3. Visual Incarnation

"Visual positioning" ensures that the proper interpretation of a trend storyline is infused
into the brand essence. This step collapses the senses into a primal experience, evoking
touch, taste, smell, and sounds to enhance the brand experience.

Let's look back for an example. The visual vocabulary of the '80s was masculine, boxy,
structural and hard-edged. In the late '90's, a feminine biomorphic aesthetic became in
vogue and design responded with colored iMacs, Bilbao, the redesign of the VW beetle, for
instance. This step requires a visual sweep of the trend but aids in creative translation.

4. Name It

Define the trend. This helps you own it and explain it to others.

i.e. Connectivity, Kidult, Green, S/he, Authenticity, Time Famine.

5. Identify and name the Consumer Group(s) that Embody the Trend

Trends need an audience. It is ultimately consumer interest that sustains or kills a trend.
This also adds an emotional element that might otherwise have eluded you. Demographic
groups are generally too broad so, dig deep and define their lifestyles and needs.

i.e. Dinks, Global Nomads, Millennial Hippies etc.

6. Look Outside Your Industry

In London, restaurateurs recently co-opted the retail pop-up shop concept to refresh the
dining experience, a breakthrough that provided emerging chefs market exposure.
7. Define Category Trends

This is where most research resides. We recommend using a "birds eye view" to track
category trends to remain true to your brand equities.

8. Don't Chase

With everyone vying to be the first on the scene, there is a desperate nature to trend
hunting. By not chasing others, you keep your brand front and center.

9. Go Against the Grain

Being a game changer is scary business. U by Kotex positioned the brand as a fashion
accessory and changed the feminine care conversation. Market share ballooned from 5% to
8% in six months.

10. Apply to your Brand

Applying the trend to a brand's living space is the true challenge. Marketers must
understand their brand's essence and visual positioning in the consumers' mind or risk
arbitrarily translating trends rather than adapting them in a compelling manner.

For example, we have worked with a major packaged goods manufacturer since 1998. Back
then, launching a blue female razor was revolutionary. It was assumed blue = man and
pink = woman. But human's relationship with color runs much deeper that that. By melding
a mythological story -- which addressed women's need for pampering and reconnecting
with the natural world -- the visual equities of color, texture, movement were brought to
life in a trend-focused way and the product was on track to become the #1 female shaving
brand.

Trends are an exciting territory to explore. They can add an element of humanity to the
branding process. By following this roadmap you can be confident that your brand will stay
current and deliver results for years.

Brand Development Process

We use a trademarked methodology called 2020 Brand Focus™ to develop brands that build more value into
businesses. This process translates a business strategy into a brand strategy that serves as the foundation for all
marketing communication tactics.
Grant Marketing will assess your company's internal brand perception, and then conduct a brand discovery
session to uncover your company's brand essence. We will review your company's strengths and weaknesses;
research your competitors, and review your offline and online marketing materials. Once we have determined your
unique brand franchise, our brilliant creative team will develop positioning statements and images. We will conduct
ROI analysis to assure your company's business growth.

We believe a company's business strategy should be in alignment with its brand strategy. A strategic focus on
brand can and should drive sustainable growth and lasting change.
WHAT IS A BRAND WORTH? »

Measure Your Brand Strength With Our Brand Report Card

Identify areas of your branding that may need improvement with our simple Brand Report Card.
This exercise will stimulate discussion among everyone who participates in your brand management. Take the test
online or download a copy.

CLICK HERE FOR OUR BRAND REPORT CARD »

Download "The Argument For Branding" White Paper

"A company’s brand and its acceptance by its customers is the new marketing tool/weapon. But brand
implementation differs vastly from tactical marketing implementations. It is much more holistic, more subtle and
most of all, more loyalty inspiring. Let’s face it—people love their brands. They identify with them. In this modern
age, where many rootless corporate drifters wander from place to place, job to job and town to town, the solidity of
brand and what it represents is comforting. Instead of individuals claiming they are from a town, a state, a church
or a college, many express their ultimate identities through a subtle combination of their brand choices. We relate
because we wear Ralph Lauren, or buy Maytag, or drive BMW or shop Gap. We are our brands."
Employee Loyalty is Brand Loyalty

by Bob Grant

The most important asset of your company’s brand to your customers and prospects is your employees. The
number one reason a person will change vendors is the interaction he/she has with the personnel of your
company. If your employees are not strong advocates for what your company stands for, your company is in
jeopardy of losing business.

Every company needs to strive to build a brand-based culture. The reasons to build a brand-based culture are the
following:

• It provides a tangible reason for employees to believe in your company, which keeps them motivated and
energized.
• It allows each employee to see how he or she fits into the grand scheme of delivering the brand vision
and promise to its customers and the effect of these efforts on the business goals.
• It develops a level of pride tied to fulfilling the brand promise.
• It provides a great recruiting tactic as well as a powerful retention tool.
• It confirms that the customer and the brand are the things to focus on.

Whether your business sells to consumers or whether it is a B2B model, getting your employees to understand the
company’s brand promise is an essential part of building a brand driven business that delivers sustainable,
profitable growth.

Southwest Airlines is an excellent example of carrying its brand of friendly affordable air carrier service through its
employees to its customers, which is clearly stated on the Southwest website:

“Our Culture is unique because of the SOUTHWEST SPIRIT of our Employees. Defining SOUTHWEST SPIRIT is
difficult, but one of the important components is an altruistic nature that places others before self. Our Employees
are famous for their warm hearts and giving nature, which is what makes Southwest a Company with a
conscience. The Employees of Southwest are committed to “doing the right thing,” which is why giving back to the
communities we serve and contributing positively to our environment is simply the way we do business.”

How do C-level managers keep employees informed and engaged in the brand’s evolving story and what it means
to them? Does there exist inside the company an internal marketing effort to increase employees understanding of
the brand while eliminating any perceived barriers to embracing it?
 We propose that a company needs to look inside itself and perform an internal assessment of how employees,
including management and channel partners perceive of the corporate brand and how it delivers its brand
message to its customers.

Brand Insight Assessment

Download the Brand Insight Assessment description to understand how a Brand Insight Assessment might be
conducted.

to get to the brand positioning statement and communications strategy, we go through a series of steps called the brand
development process. it is a structured way of thinking that examines the drivers of a business to ensure the relevant
information is being considered in the positioning. below is a schematic of the process:

there are five major steps in the process. the first is the preparation stage, in which relevant background information is
gathered, including business objectives, reviewing or conducting research if required, looking at current materials from the
brand and it’s competitors, and interviewing the key stakeholders in the organization.
the second step is to conduct the analysis stage, including looking at the major aspects of the business (current and future
objectives, and risk factors), the brand (core strategy, leverageable differentiators, and organizational values), the market
(trends, customer needs, and brand perceptions), and the competition (positionings, strategic gaps, and emerging players).
the third step is the definition stage, where we determine the brand objective (what do we do?), the differentiators (what are
we best at?), our credibility (why should they believe it?), and our personality (who are we?). this leads to crafting our brand
positioning statement (the what for whom, why).
the fourth step is the implementation stage. it includes developing the communications strategy, determining the internal and
external communications tactics, the measurement tools, and agreeing on how to kick-off the program with employees.
after the brand positioning statement, the communications strategy, and the implementation tactics have been developed, then
the appropriate communications tools, such as websites, collateral, advertising, media relations, and events can be determined.
this becomes it’s own separate process.
Brand Development Process

Learn more:

Brand Process
Brand & Marketing Case Studies
Brand Glossary
Brand Development

Case Study:

Read how Garrison Everest helped Breakthrough Health & Wellness develop and build a brand that was
then sold to Weight Watchers.

Brand development is the process of taking your business strategy and discovering what makes it
unique and distinct.

Our best-practices process is designed to "dig" for the "claim of

distinction" that can be developed into a comprehensive plan that
outlines the customer value proposition, positioning statement
and brand attributes (personality, promise, mission etc.).

Below is a brief description and outline of the process we take to

uncover your business' brand essence and how we take the
intangible benefits and form those into brand points that are
shaped to resonate, produce customer loyalty and create a
strong reputation that influences the buyer's decision to
purchase.

1. Prepare, Survey and Goal Setting

Your input will lay the foundation on which the success of the
brand is built. We seek to understand your goals, culture,
competitors, ask questions about your internal initiatives and
external marketing objectives and other insights to understand
where you are now and where you want to go.

2. Discovery and Development

The second step is the discovery and development of the brand
strategy. Here we gather all of what we have learned in Step 1
and divide our information into a comprehensive plan that details
the brand's 20 key points of communication. If more information
is required, secondary research is conducted.

3. Create and Execute

The brand strategy is then implemented into a creative platform. Upon approval of the creative platform the
brand concept is then executed across the designated media touch points that may include: websites,
newsletters, stationery, emails, intranets, posters, direct mail, demos, collateral, advertisements, packaging
etc.
4. Internal Alignment, Adoption and Delivery
Brand adoption and alignment can only be accomplished by your organizations key stakeholders and
employees. Adoption starts from the top down. To be successful the process must include the involvement
of the company's leadership to ensure a successful rollout. We help you designate the brand steward within
your company and implement the tools necessary to equip your employees to accurately deliver the brand to
your customers.

Contact us today to learn more and how we can help your business succeed in today's cluttered
marketplace.

Contact Garrison Everest for

a no obligation brand consultation
or call 303.847.4981.

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