Gyan on Brand...

“ Can eggs be branded” ? was the question put to us in strategic brand management paper. I wrote “Anything can be branded”? Let’s try branding you. So in marketing “Kotler “is brand. Other writers are commodity (oops !!. my mistake…All writers are brand except myself because I am not writer). I am a commodity but I am brand for my daughter, husband, and my parents because I bring value in their life. For them Maid is commodity. So it depends to whom and how you position yourself. A discussion on the difference between a brand and a commodity is going on at one of my groups on LinkedIn. This discussion was initiated by Kate Wright. More than 150 comments have been made so far, highlighting marketing and sales professionals love for this topic. It is interesting that respondents presented their own definition and description of a brand and commodity, no author was quoted and the comments varied greatly. I noticed two significant trends as follows: a) Though there are more than 150 highly different comments, these could be grouped into eight major categories. That is, most of the respondents differentiated between a brand and a commodity either from value-addition perspective, loyalty and relationship, functional & emotional attributes, brand personality & experience, perceived value & expectations, needs & wants, unique identity or price. b) The respondents come from a diverse professional background including Business & Financial Consultancy, Sales & Business Development, Account Management, Marketing, Business & Franchising, and Real Estate. Most of the respondents are from other than marketing profession. Having worked in the marketing , I considered branding a purview of marketing because marketers are responsible for creating consumer pull for brands. This differentiation is getting blurred and branding is a cross-functional discipline now, especially in B2B set up. I took the liberty of picking the brand descriptions that I liked most and present these to you here along with the name of the group member. A brand is a product that is elevated above commodity level because of its added value in the mind of a shopper or consumer. By Lynn Wentzel Commodity resonates with consumer at the functional level; brand goes beyond, resonating at the emotional level. By Keith Kelley A Brand is that Commodity with a personality! By Thomas Bullock A commodity is a product, a THING, tangible. A brand is a[n] idea, a thought, a feeling and is intangible……. As Herb Lubalin said, “Products are made in the factory. Brands are made in the mind.” By Bob Bischoff …… THAT THE BRAND PROMISES AND DELIVERS By Valerie Skala Walker A brand provides an ‘experience’, a commodity does not. By Chad Symens A brand improves the life of its loyal consumer because it constantly brings a new and better feature or experience – it innovates. By Dana Mosora Brand is what people identify with. A commodity is traded, bought or sold. By Craig Castle And my take is as follows: Brands create and satisfy consumers’ wants, commodities meet consumers’ needs. Taking a leaf out of Kotler’s book, Brands live in the penthouse of Maslow Hierarchy of Needs; commodities live in its basement. How Do You Go From Commodity To Brand? Here are few suggestions:- 1. Know and Express Your Value. I love a “value statement” using this structure: “[Your business] helps [this target audience] with [this problem] to [achieve these benefits.] For example, Fit In Fitness helps busy moms with small children Fit In time for Fitness, so they can Fit In the clothes they love. I made that one up, but you can use the formula to make your own. 2. Differentiate Yourself from Alternatives. Have a polite and specific response to “Why should I work with you instead of that other coach?” Yes, you’ll need to study your competitors to do this, which can be enlightening! I was laughing my heart out when I saw competition benchmarking report in one of my ex companies. In that report they had positioned themselves as the best whereas they were one of the worst. So it’s very important to understand where you stand instead of projecting yourself erroneously. 3. Deliver an Experience. A brand is the unique identity for your business, and it’s all the thoughts, feelings and expectations that are associated with that identity as well. This total perception, living in the heart and mind of your client, is your brand. What can you do to make working with you memorable? Multi-sensory? How can you stand out in ways that no one else is doing? If soda pop can take someone back to childhood, imagine what you do when helping your clients change their business or lives!........Need help ?? Contact me :)