Blog

The new millennium brought a big change in the world of branding. Brands are no longer just marketing tools to attract customers. They should lead the company as a whole, inspire and involve internal and external stakeholders.

This led us to write “Rethinking Prestige Branding” in 2015, an analysis of the way Ueber-Brands are built – brands that go beyond their competition, incomparable and priceless. Our latest work “Brand Elevation” translates the theory into a step-by-step action plan. There are four things in particular that marketers need to understand if they are to build a brand that is wanted – beyond the material, for the meaning that it has.

1. Start with yourself

This is nothing less than turning the traditional branding strategy model on its head: don’t start with market or consumer research, but with your ideas and ideals.

Of course, customer and business realities still matter, but only if you are clear about what you want your brand to do and why. Then you will use them to validate your concept, adjust it, find the right goal, ensure profitability, etc.

When looking for nooks in the market first, you will never be anything other than opportunistic instead of leading with a sense of mission. You have to inspire what could be, not be defined by what is.

Today brands are primarily agents of change. Their job is not to make exaggerated promises, but rather to give us hope for a slightly brighter, better tomorrow to help us become who we want to be.

There are many good examples, including Airbnb, which not only revolutionized the hospitality industry but also made us feel we belong everywhere.

2. Don’t let data make your dream come true, share it

Marc Pritchard, CMO of P&G, was one of the first to initiate a more mature and balanced assessment of our shiny new digital world in 2017, declaring that the days of the digital world were numbered. This attitude is becoming increasingly important. Adidas is one of the youngest companies to announce a shift in focus from performance marketing back to incorporating more traditional branding communications.

The Burning Man Festival doesn’t spend a penny on social media campaigns. Her magic lies in keeping everyone “closed”, such as disabling live posts and feeds, and instead creating thousands of personal experiences that attendees share organically and personally.

None of these big players reject the possibilities of online communication, data mining, re-targeting, individualized interaction etc., but they recognize and use these possibilities while being aware of their limits.

There is a difference between tactical communication and strategic branding. Quantity and quality are often opposing goals; Efficiency is not the same as effectiveness. Individual marketing fulfills different functions than public campaigns, so it can never be one or it always has to be “as good as”. The big data party isn’t over yet, but it seems we’re coming to our senses again.

Data and performance marketing can be helpful in connecting with goals, but shouldn’t be adopted.

3. Elevate the material by reaching for the immaterial

“The secret and the protocol are not there to keep us apart. It’s there to keep us alive. “Says Olivia Colman as Queen Elizabeth II in the crown. The same applies to Ueber brands. You need the right context and entourage to rise, but most of all you need puzzles and myths.

In order to overcome everyday life, you need to ascend to a higher level. Merely associating emotions with your brand is not enough. You have to lift people up and connect them to what they want to be, what could be: it’s about aspiration.

That’s why we made writing your myth the second step in creating an over-brand, right after you’ve set your mission. A brand narrative is not just a means of structuring and integrating communication and interaction, but primarily a way to shine brighter and lead higher, retain meaning and have cultural significance, inspire followers and all of us to evolve. For the same reason, not every story is enough, you need one with mythical properties.

Myths speak of our “collective dreams,” as Joseph Campbell put it. They hold us together as societies, connect groups and inspire movements and help us to find out individually who we are, what we want to be and where we want to go. Check out Tesla, which is much more than a story of technological advancement. It is the myth of an outsider who pushes boundaries and takes us higher and further than we thought possible. That’s what makes the brand such a strong over-position.

Tom Szaky, founder of the recycling company Terracycle, makes us dream of “getting rid of the waste” through his conversations, his company’s community-based initiatives and manifestations of the brand myth like his office made of recycled materials pictured above.

4. Do not declare. Do

We live in an experience economy. People are fed up with boring, self-congratulatory branding, even if they just watch some sticky unboxing on YouTube. They want brands to add value when they show up, not just promise it.

Uber brands thrive on “ideas that do it”. The entire content and community craze in marketing has certainly led to a certain excess – not every shampoo has to come with a tutorial on equality for women. But there is no turning back. The “podcast class” prefers entertainment and education, advice, assistance, connections and experiences over unsolicited and uninteresting trademark statements or irrelevant messages. Who can blame them?

One of the biggest advantages of the digital revolution is that brands have many more (often more economical and effective) ways to interact directly with people. Let’s use them and think twice before we yell or realign them with the 20th deal on flights to Venice they booked three months ago.

Creativity no longer means covering the “bitter” brand message with sugar. The challenge we all face is to constantly develop new, surprising ways for our brand to have a positive impact on people’s lives and society as a whole.

However, “doing” is not just a requirement in order to achieve your goals and to interact with them. It is the rule for brand building as a whole. That’s why it comes before brands start talking and daring. You have to live your brand mission and myth in everything you do. Explaining without doing is not good, but not doing as explained is worse.

Contribution to Branding Strategy Insider by: JP Keuhlwein and Wolf Schaefer, based on their book Brand Elevation – Lessons in Ueber-Branding, which offers insights from marketing managers at Starbucks, Acqua di Parma, YouTube and Airbnb, among others.

At The Blake Project we help clients from all over the world at all stages of development. Redefine and articulate what makes them competitive in critical moments of change through online strategy workshops and extended engagements. Please email us to see how we can help you compete differently.

Brand Strategy Insider is a service from The Blake Project: A strategic brand consultancy specializing in brand research, brand strategy, brand growth and branding

FREE Publications and Resources for Marketers