The crucial ingredient in the success of any brand is its claim to authenticity.
Customers want brands that are narrow in scope and distinguishable by a single word, the shorter the better.
It’s better to be first in the mind than to be first in the marketplace.
Branding is simply a more efficient way to sell things.
Good things happen when you narrow your focus.
It’s the first company to build the mental position that has the upper hand, not the first company to make the product. IBM didn’t invent the computer; Sperry Rand did. But IBM was the first to build the computer position in the prospect’s mind.
Strategy should evolve out of the mud of the marketplace, not in the antiseptic environment of an ivory tower.
If you can build a powerful brand, you will have a powerful marketing program. If you CAN’T then all the advertising, fancy packaging, sales promotion and public relations in the world won’t help you achieve your objective.
Marketing is a battle of perceptions, not products.
The only reality you can be sure about is in your own perceptions. If the universe exists, it exists inside your own mind and the minds of others.
The single most wasteful thing you can do in marketing is try to change a mind.
The mind, as a defense against the volume of today’s communications, screens and rejects much of the information offered it. In general, the mind accepts only that which matches prior knowledge or experience.
Today brands are born, not made. A new brand must be capable of generating favorable publicity in the media or it won’t have a chance in the marketplace.
A perception that exists in the mind is often interpreted as a universal truth.
The primary objective of a branding program is never the market for the product or service. The primary objective of a branding program is always the mind of the prospect. The mind comes first; the market follows where the mind leads.
Don’t play semantic games with the prospect. Advertising is not a debate. It’s a seduction.
With a name like Smucker’s, it has to be good.” Most companies, especially family companies, would never make fun of their own name. Yet the Smucker family did, which is one reason why Smucker’s is the No.1 brand of jams and jellies. If your name is bad, you have two choices: change the name or make fun of it.
Building your brand on quality is like building your house on sand. You can build quality into your product, but that has little to do with your success in the marketplace.
Quality is a nice thing to have, but brands are not built by quality alone.
You build brand loyalty in a supermarket the same way you build mate loyalty in a marriage. You get there first and then be careful not give them a reason to switch.