Building A Remarkable Brand Experience

ABSTRACT

SMALL AND MEDIUM Enterprises (SMEs) exist in a challenging context, as a result of highly competitive marketplaces. As an example, in The United States of America there are 27.5 million SMEs, which represent 99.9% of the total of all U.S. companies (SBA Office of Advocacy, 2010). It is of vital importance that SMEs discover a strategic way to differentiate from their competitors and position their brand offerings in the mind and the heart of their customers. The introduction of design thinking, brand strategy, and a human-centered approach can help SMEs to add value to their brands, create brand-led companies, and engage with their customers. Here lies the importance of telling a compelling story and captivating customers in an emotional brand experience. The inclusion of new and affordable technologies such as Web 2.0 into SMEs’ business models represents an opportunity for these companies to create online conversations, participate in virtual communities, develop their networks, and thrive on the use of new channels of communications such as the social media. Likewise, incorporating sustainability into SMEs’ business strategy offers the potential to leverage their brands’ values, align with customers’ principles, enhance companies’ reputation, and ultimately, create a favorable brand image. “Remarkable” is a professional brand consultancy, which has designed a proprietary set of tools that consists of the core elements that add brand value. At the same time, this tool helps SMEs to create holistic brand experiences that win customers’ loyalty and commitment.

INTRODUCTION

WHEN navigating the seas, it is crucial to clearly identify the ship’s position, and that of the destination it aspires to reach. In order to do so, the captain needs a set of navigational tools that helps him establish the ship’s direction and follow it without loosing its way. Similarly, this analogy can be applied to a company that embarks on the journey of becoming a brand-led enterprise; it needs a set of tools that leads it in the right direction. 

THIS essay considers the creation of “Remarkable”, a branding consultancy company, which helps SMEs to develop their business models and enhance their brands. “Remarkable” proposes a strategic approach to transform SMEs into brand-led companies, by offering a set of proprietary tools that consists of four core principles that add value to SMEs’ brands. These principles represent “four cardinal points” that “Remarkable” identifies as an essential part of its strategic plan when redesigning brands. They are: New Positioning, Emotional Experience, Web 2.0 Technologies, and Sustainability Practices.

THIS paper is divided into five chapters. Chapter one provides a general context of branding in a new economy. Chapter two explains the need for a new positioning. Chapter three describes the value of delivering emotional brand experiences. Chapter four recognizes the importance of connecting brands with customers through the new technologies of the Web 2.0. And chapter five briefly discusses the relevance of building brands by engaging with sustainability values.  Each chapter is analyzed from three perspectives:

BRANDING THEORY supports how each “cardinal point” adds value.

“REMARKABLE’S” brand identity.

SMES’ potential to apply brand-led principles. 

CHAPTER ONE: THE QUEST FOR BRANDING

SMES navigate in an ocean of new and challenging opportunities, especially those created by the new “experience economy” of the “dream society”. Jensen (1999) describes it as “a new society in which businesses, communities, and people as individuals will thrive on the basis of their stories, not just on data and information” (p. 1).  And he continues to explain that a “dream society” could replace current information society in the same way that the industrial society replaced the agricultural society (Jensen, 1999; Friedman, 2005).  According to Pine and Gilmore (1999), the economy has continuously developed its offerings by adjusting to different lifestyle conditions throughout human history. At the same time, brand-led companies are divesting of fabrication processes and focusing their efforts to create brand value, equity, and customer loyalty. These companies use business models that outsource manual labor and production capabilities from supplier companies (Doblin, 2010).  Instead of selling commodities, it is time to build brands in the hearts of people.

BRANDS are much more than pictorial representations. As Neumeier (2003) argues “A brand is not a logo” (p.1). Brands have the power not only to communicate attributes of companies, products, or services, but also to engage customers in an emotional experience by appealing to their lifestyle, identity, and feeling of belonging.

A brand is a person’s gut feeling about a product, service, or company.  It’s a gut feeling because we are all emotional, intuitive beings, despite our best efforts to be rational. It’s a person’s gut feeling because in the end the brand is defined by individuals, not by companies, markets or the so-called general public. Each person creates his or her vision of it. (Neumeier, 2003, p. 2)

HOWEVER, this individual definition of brands is not left to unrelated perceptions. It is rather a process in which the strategist provides the communicational, emotional, and experiential elements that help people to reach a common understanding of a brand. This process is called branding and combines strategic and creative practices (Interbrand, 2007; Neumeier, 2003). In other words, branding is the art of integrating the principles that add value to brands. This can be done through the use of a practical set of tools.

“REMARKABLE” proposes the use of a set of branding tools called: “The Brand Compass” that is presented as a “Nautical Rose” in which each cardinal point is related to a branding principle that adds brand value.

The relationship is the following:

NORTH – New Positioning

EAST – Emotional Experience

SOUTH – Sustainability

WEST – Web 2.0 Technologies

A middle point connects each “cardinal point” in the following way:

– INSERT COMPASS CORE –

CHAPTER TWO: CREATING A “NEW POSITIONING”

IT IS IMPORTANT to determine if the ship’s position is accurate, otherwise the captain has to alter the direction of its trajectory. At that moment, creating a new positioning becomes the first strategic element that comes into consideration when redesigning brands. Especially when a brand competes in a saturated market, in which it has to clearly differentiate from its competitors by evidencing its value. Ries and Trout (1991) define positioning as “the art of designing the company’s offerings and image to occupy a distinctive place in the mind of the target market”. Likewise, Interbrand (2007) explains positioning statement as “the articulation of the positioning strategy that can be an inspirational, persuasive, or powerful set of words or images that creates a common understanding and aligns beliefs and actions. It becomes the platform of all brand communication” (pp. 96-97). Positioning is about discovering how our brand is unique, and what it has to offer the world that is special and different from its competitors. In the branding process, the strategist aims to provide all the communicational elements that help customers to create a mental image of the brand, its attributes, and benefits. However, creating a new positioning is much more than refreshing a brand’s appearance. It is about finding the brand essence, and communicating it to a target audience. In doing so, brands win a special place in customers’ minds and hearts.

“REMARKABLE” differentiates from other brand consultancies by its “unique voice”, caring spirit, and human-centered approach.  This is evident in the selection of its values based on human dimensions: Mind: Excellence, Heart: Commitment, Soul: Passion and Gut: Adventure (Gobé, 2001; IDEO: Human-Centered Design Toolkit, 2009). These values inspire “Remarkable’s” attributes, mission, vision, promise, and benefits. It is by establishing these foundations that “Remarkable” defines its distinctive identity (Wheeler, 2009). At the same time, this authentic individuality helps it to establish a unique positioning among other competitors, which reflects in its brand’s offerings and services (Braun, 2004; Gobé, 2001; Healey, 2008; Interbrand, 2007; Kania, 2001; Knapp, 2008; Neumeier, 2007; Ries & Trout, 1991).

IN ORDER TO establish an accurate positioning, “Remarkable” has to understand the competitive branding consultancy landscape.  This process requires intense research of all potential competitors, how they look, what their offerings are, how they add value, but most importantly, what positioning they claim (Preddy, 2004). This competitor’s analysis considers the selection of eight brand and design firms, classified into two categories: primary, local competitors, and secondary, international competitors. This study is helpful to identify opportunities in the landscape and set a positioning that addresses unmet customers’ needs (Neumeier, 2007; Preddy, 2004).

“REMARKABLE” understands that SMEs have entered an era in which they can no longer differentiate by the products and services they provide. There is vast competition due to the large number of SMEs in the world. As an example, in New Zealand there are 463, 278 SMEs, which represent 97.2% of all New Zealand’enterprises (Ministry of Economic Development, 2010) Undoubtedly, New Zealand’s economy is led by SMEs. Comparatively, this business panorama is similar in many countries of the world. In Latin America, the percentage of SMEs varies from 50% to 86% according to the country (Banco Mundial, in Garmendia, 2006). In European countries, SMEs “are the engine of the European economy” (European Commission, 2003, p. 3). In this clustered market of options, Neumeier (2007) suggests that companies standout from competitors and “become the leader in a new market space” (p. 34) by innovating and doing something nobody else is doing. He continues explaining that to gain customers’ attention it is crucial that companies totally differentiate by providing new and exciting attributes instead of traditionally good quality, or price.  “Don’t offer more, offer different” (Neumeier, 2007, p. 26). Creating unique brands is how SMEs can gain an advantage over their competitors. 

WHEN SMEs discover how their brands are different, they also identify what makes them authentic. By establishing an authentic identity, brands communicate what they stand for and what makes them special. Knapp (2008) explains, “genuine brands rise above the marketplace and are sought by consumers because of their distinctive qualities and attributes…if a brand is to be distinctive, there are endless possibilities and countless options that can be explored. The secret is to develop distinctive attributes that customers will value the most and seek out the brand for” (p. 235). Now more than ever, there is a broad and exciting opportunity for SMEs to innovate and transform their business-led companies into brand-led enterprises. However, this paradigm shift has to be followed by SMEs’ recognition to adopt a new philosophy and culture that integrates all members of the company. “To become brand-driven, individuals and organizations, regardless of size, must think like a brand” (Knapp, 2008, p. 237).

CHAPTER THREE. THRIVING ON AN “EMOTIONAL EXPERIENCE”

EVERY journey can become an extraordinary story that conveys strong feelings if the captain narrates it passionately to the ship’s crew. Similarly, brands have the ability to engage emotionally with people, represent their values, and create tribes. Outstanding brands can motivate, inspire, and stimulate action. “The essential difference between emotion and reason is that emotion leads to action while reason leads to conclusions” (Calne, as cited in Roberts, 2004, p. 5). Emotions play an important roll when making decisions, especially when customers face different products at the store shelf. They are motivated, attracted, and moved by their previous experiences with brands. Roberts (2004) states “human beings are powered by emotion not by reason” (p. 5).  Gobé (2001) explains that brands need to engage customers appealing to their emotions through their sensorial experiences. This connection can bring brands to life and nurture long-lasting relationships.

STORYTELLING is a powerful tool that branding cleverly harnesses. Stories arouse in people a sense of realization, better comprehension, and inspiration to act, believe, dream, and belong. “When companies and brands communicate through stories they help us to find our way in today’s world. They address our emotions and give us the means to express our values. In other words, the brand story gradually becomes synonymous with how we define ourselves as individuals and products become the symbols that we use to tell the story of ourselves” (Fog, Budtz, & Yakaboylu, 2005, p. 20). Telling an inspiring story immerses people in an emotional experience they will want to believe. 

“REMARKABLE” engages with SMEs’ owners and managers by understanding who they are, what their context is, where they find information about managing their businesses, and especially what they need to do to become brand-led companies. “Remarkable” makes this knowledge practical when, inspired by its values, provides a caring service. At the same time, it offers useful tools for SMEs to help them address problems related to brand management and business organization. For instance: through workshops and training, the consultancy finds an opportunity to interact with people from different SMEs’ organizational levels. At the same time it provides SMEs with valuable tools and information to incorporate into their businesses and brand management. “Remarkable” shows that it has gained valid insights about SMEs not only by studying their demographic profiles, but also by analyzing psychographic attitudes that affect SMEs when buying and interacting with design.

WHEN “Remarkable” tells its story it seeks to convey its innermost values and inspire SMEs to reach their optimum performance. The story is not only told verbally, but also expressed in all the interactions that surround the brand experience such as “Remarkable’s” promise, services, brand identity, and especially commitment to help develop SMEs.

EVEN THOUGH there are many aspects that limit SMEs to compete with larger companies, they still have an advantage over Multi-National Corporations (MNC), and that is their small size. SMEs need to return to the days when they knew their customers personally and participated actively in their small communities. “Every brand is built by a community…It is a complete ecosystem in which there are gives and gets all around. Everyone has a role to play, an everyone should be repaid for their efforts” (Neumeier, 2007, p. 76). SMEs do not need to invest large amounts of money in expensive advertising and marketing campaigns. What they need to do is use their size advantage strategically to engage with customers emotionally. Building SMEs’ brands just takes a change in attitude, and by doing so, they can become leaders in their industry. Roach (2010) states “one of the hurdles that befuddles SMEs everywhere is their own attitude”. He also urges SMEs to transform their mentality in their business field when he says “it takes guts and determination of the SME entrepreneur to take the leadership role” (Roach, 2010).

SMEs, at the same time, can make the best use of storytelling by assigning “marvelous” connotations to their brands. It is possible and it only takes creativity and an innovative spirit. As Fog, Budtz, and Yakaboylu (2005) propose, “The best storytellers will be the winners of the future” (p. 48). Storytelling plays an important role in business; it can create the overall concept of the brand, present brand values, motivate employees, and win customers’ hearts. This is called the core story, and it “expresses the fundamental theme, or, the central nervous system that ties all the company’s brand communication together” (Fog, Budtz, & Yakaboylu, 2005, pp. 48-49).

CHAPTER FOUR. CONNECTING THROUGH “WEB 2.0 TECHNOLOGIES”

SUDDENLY, SMEs find that the speed of their journey has accelerated. The seas are no longer calm waters; rather they have become fast-moving waves that companies, like ships, have to navigate (Neumeier, 2007). In other words, the Internet has transformed the customer experiences and expectations of a brand. Kania (2001) explains “the online audience behaves differently and has different expectations when interacting with a brand on the Web…Online consumers are on a mission, seeking information and solutions to their needs” (p. 14). But customers do not only look for; they also want to discover new and exciting ways to connect emotionally, and spend “quality time” with the brands they love. Brands now have the opportunity to provide meaningful experiences through the Web 2.0. They can also learn from their customers’ virtual activities and participatory conversations. These new technologies allow companies to gain access into people’s personal space, to build trust, and inspire love through emotional interactions.  Gobé (2001) explains “Emotions can be exposed and shared in cyberspace in a personal way with people, and that is the most important element offered by this new medium… It is an opportunity to build an intelligent path to winning a person’s trust and belief” (p. 232).

THE INTERNET provides multiple opportunities for brands to interact in a new social medium through “networked communications”. Shuen (2008) argues that Web 2.0 “is not about the underlying technology, but about the new ways that it enables large numbers of people to come together to work, share, and build. The network effects…are at the heart of Web 2.0 business opportunities” (p. xviii).  The Web indeed has changed societies and the way people communicate and interact.  Funk (2009) explains that Web 2.0 “is a social transformation that has put more interactivity and control of content into the hands of regular users, not just big site owners” (p. xv). Consumers no longer receive information passively from companies; they are actively participating, creating, uploading, sharing, and distributing information, not only in a two-way stream (company - customer), but also in multiple directions (Funk, 2009; Kania, 2001). Consequently, the network has become a powerful space in which brands can thrive. People enjoy talking about the things they like; this includes their favorite brands. Brands are being spoken in a virtual world that has transformed customers into “online authorities”. E-customers rate and suggest products, influence their social networks, establish new demands and expectations, move to different trends and fashions, but most importantly, have the power to sabotage businesses (McKeown, 2001). 

“REMARKABLE” incorporates Web 2.0 applications into its business model by providing its clients a space in which they can network, interact, and participate with other SME owners. In doing so, “Remarkable” acknowledges the importance of different sources of information, not only those provided by the company, but also those that other SME owners can share. If “Remarkable” functions as the center space in which all other SMEs can exchange information, create alliances, and build important business networks; it can impact positively on the progressive development of these companies.

 “REMARKABLE” is a human-oriented company that provides means to listen to its clients. Through the incorporation of web 2.0 approaches such as: “share your story”, “personalize this website”, “give us feedback”, and “propose articles”; customers can express who they are, how they feel about their brands, and what they really need in their everyday activities. “Remarkable” also recognizes the importance of interacting with its clients by providing tools such as: “brand feed-back advice”, “online quizzes: Are you in love with your brand? Discover your brand personality”, “useful links”, and “research articles”. These tools allow creating an open communication with SMEs and spending quality time by sharing valuable and entertaining information.

SMEs can also incorporate similar tools into their websites. They will encounter an extensive range of options in which they can participate in virtual communities and have a web presence that makes a big impact on how they connect with their customers. These options range from participating in blogs, social networks, to creating websites, and widgets. SMEs can benefit from utilizing the Internet to build their brands. The web represents a low cost communication media, reaches a targeted market, allows instant conversations, collects customer’s data, personalizes brand offerings, and delivers meaningful brand experiences (Funk, 2009; Kania, 2001; McKeown, 2001). It also speaks positively about a company because it shows it is continuously innovating, transforming, and adapting to trends.

NEVERTHELESS, SMEs have to use this opportunity strategically. It is important to determine what kind of web presence is more suitable for each individual business; as well as what expectations they have, and what outcomes they look forward to achieving. To build their brands on the web SMEs have to plan and organize the spaces they will utilize.   This is according to each individual business and their needs. The regular and consistent use of these spaces allows customers easy online access to a brand or to a company. It is also important to assure the authenticity and uniqueness of a brand name, because this becomes its online identity and makes it accessible through online search engines such as Google or Yahoo! An SME brand can build a large “digital footprint” if it integrates all its efforts to build its brand, participates in social media, monitors its activity, tracks feedback, publishes regularly and consistently (Baxter, 2010). 

CHAPTER FIVE: GOING GREEN: “SUSTAINABILITY PRACTICES”

IN ORDER TO maintain the ship in good conditions for an undefined period of time, the crew has to operate according to certain standards of performance.  This allows procuring a safe journey for everyone. Likewise, when a company monitors its social, environmental, and economical performance, it intends to achieve a sustainable trajectory.

WHEN building strong brands, one of the most significant elements the strategist aims to enhance is the brand’s reputation. Including sustainability practices into SMEs’ business models provides them with the possibility to build strong brands. However, it is vital that SMEs’ brands begin by restructuring all their actions around strong values. “With branding for sustainability at the center of every business decision, stakeholder relationship and company action; transactions become transformations, marketing becomes movement, and buying becomes being. This can grow the bottom line and change the world” (Bemporad & Baranowski, 2008, p. 4).

MANY brands are adopting a sustainability approach; therefore it is important to find a genuine brand position regarding its sustainability values. Bemporad and Baranowski suggest “five principles of sustainable branding” that help to integrate sustainability concepts into the branding strategy.

“REMARKABLE” acknowledges the favorable effect of associating sustainability values to brands. Because sustainable development is a fundamental part of “Remarkable’s” philosophy and activities, it strongly recommends its clients to engage with these principles. Not only for the positive impact it has on brands; but also because it represents an opportunity for SMEs to improve the communities they belong to.

SINCE the scope of this paper is not sustainability practices, the topic will not be developed into further detail, however, it is still considered as one of the core elements with the potential to add value to SMEs’ brands.

CONCLUSION        

BRANDING is a process that uses strategic and rational thinking. It adapts and structures relevant plans of action. However, it also requires a large amount of creativity, passion, and emotional engagement that brings brands to life.  It is about discovering a brand’s authentic identity and assigning meaningful associations, which help customers to understand the brand, thus gaining a special place in their hearts.  Brands create value, inspire stories and bring people together in tribes. They also generate delightful conversations, stand for principles and values, connect with people, but most importantly inspire deep affection and feelings. A brand is no longer a stamp on products.

“REMARKABLE” understands the power of branding.  But as a brand itself, cannot only offer design services, it has to aim higher.  “Remarkable” offers a holistic brand experience and promise to be delivered in every interaction with its clients: SMEs. “Remarkable” works towards ensuring SMEs’ success in a new economy. Therefore, it is crucial that this consultancy helps SMEs to integrate human-centered approaches, innovative design thinking, new technologies, sustainability practices, and emotional experiences into their business models and brands. Consequently, the strategic creation of a set of tools such as “The brand compass” has the potential to lead SMEs in their journey to become brand-led companies.

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