The brand gap : how to bridge the distance between business strategy and design : a whiteboard overview

Author: Marty Neumeier

This is a quick read…takes an hour and a half or less…
The book discusses the 5 disciplines of branding

  1. Differentiate
  2. Collaborate
  3. Innovate
  4. Validate
  5. Cultivate

Some of the points that I would like to remember…

“Rough answers to right questions are better than right answers to wrong questions”

Hawthorne Effect:
The process where people behave differently when they know they are being tesed/watched (esp. as in a focus group)

“Brand is not what you say it is, but what they say it is”

Brand is kind of a Platonic ideal
Eg. Horse —>”Horseness” (what it connotates)

Mind is hardwired to notice anything that is different.

Shift in emphasis of Marketing over the years:
What is is –>what it does –>What you’ll feel –> Who you are.

UBS -Unique Buying State (of the customers)

Tribe/Cult:
“On Sundays they worship Harley, God of the open road”

“Work is more fun than fun” -Noel Coward

Logic (left brained) strategists<------->Magic (right brained) designers
The CBO (chief branding officer) bridges the gap between logic and magic

Differentiate…”when everybody zigs, zag”

MAYA-Most Advanced Yet Acceptable

Communication model
Sender –>message –>Receiver –>Sender.

Barriers to Web Innovation:
Technophobia (fear of technology)
Turfismo (each department in the brand vying for its fiefdom in the homepage)
Featuritis (addition of more clutter )

“You’d be surprised by how much you can observe by watching”-Yogi Berra

Brand concept:

  1. Get the right idea
  2. Get the idea right

Don’t worry be crappy. Brand is a living entity. Changing clothes for different occasions doesn’t change the intrinsic You. So is the innate quality of a brand unchanged by its different appearances. So brands don’t have to always potray a stiff, corporate look.

“don’t act, behave”.Living brands are not stylistic veneer but pattern of behavior that grows out of character. Company’s behavior has the match the company image.

Qualities of a good name:

  • distinctiveness
  • brevity
  • appropriateness
  • easy spelling and pronunciation
  • likablikity
  • extendability
  • protectability

Branding is a process of connecting good strategy with good creativity.

Consumers :Information-rich, time-starved

People base their buying decisions on symbolic cues than features

“Become the number one or number two in your space.Can’t be number one or number two? Redefine your space or move to a different tribe”

“Who you are? What you do? Why does it matter?.these are key questions to be answered by any brand.”

“It is design, not strategy that ignites passion in people. And the magic behind better design and better business is innovation.”

“Radical innovation has the power to render competition obsolete. The innovator’s mantra:When everybody zigs, zag.”

“How do you know when an idea is innovative? When it scares the hell out of you”

“Quantitative research is antithetical to inspiration. For ephiphanies that lead to breakthroughs, use qualitative research.”

“Measure your company’s brand expressions for distinctiveness, relevance, memorability, extendability and depth.”