Neustadt

Creative
Marketing

Tips for Research-based Branding

and Marketing

July 11, 2008

Preliminary comment

• Confusion about the concept of branding is created

because the term ‘brand’ is used in two separate, valid,
but different senses:
 “Brand” is a strategy for conveying a service’s or
product’s benefits and features in terms of a
comprehensive image or personality.
 When one talks about “enforcing one’s brand,” one
is referring to consistent employment of an identity
system consisting of a logo, color, and specific set of
typefaces.

Neustadt
Creative
Marketing
Brand strategy

• A brand strategy must meet a few simple criteria to be

successful:
 It must distinguish you from the competition
 It must respond to market desires
 It must have a high level of authenticity

Neustadt
Creative
Marketing
Brand strategy (cont.)

• A brand strategy must be based on market research

 The major drawback of branding is that it cannot be
executed without a considerable amount of costly
research
 The research must be predominantly qualitative

Neustadt
Creative
Marketing
Three stages of marketing

research strategy execution

situation analysis message strategy public relations

competitive analysis communications marketing:

plan
market analysis word-of-mouth
direct mail
web-based
advertising
Neustadt
Creative
Marketing
Examples

• Colgate University is a small college with big school

spirit.

• UMBC is Maryland’s honors university

• Of the top universities, Tufts is particularly engaged

with the outside world and not hidebound by tradition

Neustadt
Creative
Marketing
Three stages of marketing

research strategy execution

Neustadt
Creative
Marketing
Creative execution of a brand strategy

• To manage the creative implementation of a brand

strategy, you need to be informed about creative
elements (i.e. typography, photography, color, text style)
as symbols with culturally established connotations.

Neustadt
Creative
Marketing
Creative execution of a brand strategy
(cont.)

• Typography

Neustadt
Creative
Marketing
Creative execution of a brand strategy
(cont.)

Neustadt
Creative
Marketing
Creative execution of a brand strategy
(cont.)

Neustadt
Creative
Marketing
Creative execution of a brand strategy
(cont.)

Neustadt
Creative
Marketing
Creative execution of a brand strategy
(cont.)

Neustadt
N
Creative
C
Marketing
M
Creative execution of a brand strategy
(cont.)

• Photography

Neustadt
Creative
Marketing
Creative execution of a brand strategy
(cont.)

Neustadt
Creative
Marketing
Creative execution of a brand strategy
(cont.)

Neustadt
Creative
Marketing
Creative execution of a brand strategy
(cont.)

Neustadt
Creative
Marketing
Creative execution of a brand strategy
(cont.)

Neustadt
Creative
Marketing
Creative execution of a brand strategy
(cont.)

• Academic
applications:

Neustadt
Creative
Marketing
Creative execution of a brand strategy
(cont.)

Neustadt
Creative
Marketing
Creative execution of a brand strategy
(cont.)

Neustadt
Creative
Marketing
Neustadt
Creative
Marketing

Tips for Research-based Branding

and Marketing

July 11, 2008