A NEW BRAND WORLD: Scott Bedbury with

Stephen Fenichell

8 Principles for Achieving Brand Leadership in the 21
st
Century










































- CHAPTER ONE: All aboard the BRAND-wagon:
Almost every brand in existence today can be reduced to the status of a
commodity if it fails to EFFECTIVELY EVOLVE both its PRODUCTS and its
MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS. You cant do just one or the other.
The most valuable assets of a company are no longer physical (factories,
trucks, warehouses, materials, employees)
There is now more than ever a pressure for companies, to behave more
responsibly as citizens
Be, seen, heard, and remembered. While also maintaining a level of respect
and desirability.
Never confuse brand awareness with brand strength.
Success = A compelling product that EVERYONE can understand, a business
model that actually works, utilize common sense when reviewing creative
ideas
A product is no more than an artifact around which customers have
experiences
- CHAPTER TWO: Cracking Your brands genetic code:
Every brand has at its core a substance that gives it strength. You have to
understand it before you can grow it.
No two brands are EXACTLY alike. Founders are a bit like the parents, their
discipline, beliefs; visions for the future (etc) are embodied by the brand. The
aim of the game is to have your brand outlive and thrive any expectations.
Essentially, cracking you brands genetic code all boils down to tapping
into the essence and an ethos that truly defines who you are to the people
who matter: the customers, the potential customers, as well as employees.
Define the mantra of the product. Brand mantras are not slogans, but
[rather] touchstones that help to shape what kinds of products/services, how
they conduct their business, and how decisions are made as to what kind of
people they hire.
Though it is important to demonstrate consistently to the outside world that
you know what your brand is about, ultimately it is even more important
first to demonstrate this internally and to continue to do so at every possible
opportunity.
- CHAPTER THREE: Building BRANDwidth:
[The spandex rule of branding]: Just because you can doesnt mean you
should.
Striking the right balance between the imperatives of growth and the need
for ongoing brand preservation and conservation is and will continue to be
the chief challenge.
It is a mistake to pursue growth for growths sake.
Whenever a company attempts to broaden its brand---for increased
revenues or for profits---it shouldalways be diligent about assessing the
impact that additional brandwidth will have on its brands strength.
Look into Co-Branding? Perhaps strategic alliances could be lucrative.

- CHAPTER FOUR: Show some emotion:
Transcend a product-only relationship with your customers
Belonging: We all want to belong to something bigger then ourselves
Rugged Individuality and Freedom: The near universal desire for greater personal
freedom, and the more than particular American quest for rugged individuality, are
what we might want to call cultural emotions. These feelings draw upon a nostalgic
appeal for a particular culture and are often felt more strongly by those outside the
culture than inside.
Refer to Maslows scale of human needs: The need to feel safe, The need for love,
affection and belongingness, The need for esteem, The need for self-actualization
Effective brand building requires making relevant and compelling connections to
deeply rooted human emotions or profound cultural forces.

- CHAPTER FIVE: Brand Environmentalism:
What is brand environmentalism? No brand steward worth his or her salt can
ignore the fact than brands absorb all impressions, negative/positive, whenever and
wherever they spontaneously occur. This means that the environment in which a
brand exists is wherever that brand is discovered or discussed, not just where a
corporation desires it to be. Brand environmentalism is about more than just how
the brand looks at the retail level. Brand environmentalism means accepting the
responsibility to protect your brand and present it in the best possible light
whenever and wherever it may be found.
B.E. also means undertaking a commitment to constantly improving and
safeguarding the integrity and associative value of everything that surrounds the
brand in all phases of development.
Feel what they feel, See what they see, Hear what they hear, Smell what they smell
When thinking of ways to cut costs, begin in areas that customers cannot readily see.
Then work back from there. Above all else, be consistent across all customer contact
points. You are only as good as your weakest presentation.
Elevate the brand while cutting costs. Become a master at mass customization.
Remember that nothing is trivial or insignificant, and that nothing can be ignored.

- CHAPTER SIX: Brand Leadership:
All brands need good parents
Brands are imperfect and forever flawed concepts because they are ultimately and
inescapably human creations. It is the people who bring the brands to life, people
who reinvent them, people who manage them, and people who sustain them.
Great brands have leadership at the top and in the trenches.
There are two forces at work in every business. One force is dominated by hyper-
logical, The other by intuitiveness
In any worthwhile organization, both left and right brain thinking must not only
coexist, but enrich each other in order to achieve balanced and enduring brand
excellence
It is ultimately the people within a company who shape brands
Brands need leadership from within and at every level
- CHAPTER SEVEN: Branding and the corporate goliath:
Big doesnt have to be bad
The issue of image pertains to all companies, regardless of their actual size- its the
perception of market dominance that matters
When a company becomes too big in the eyes of some customers a perception
typically fostered by special interest groups and bolstered by the press it
inevitably faces the public relations problem of how to deal with the perception of
size. What to do? Teach the elephant to dance. Make him a welcomed neighbor.
Never be a big fan of the quest to be cool
Coping with negative problems engendered by growth and size is a problem that
every brand should have at least once in its lifetime. Its one of the rites of passage.

- CHAPTER EIGHT: Brand Future:
Relevance, simplicity, and humanity not technology will distinguish brands in the
future
When creating a brand/brand logo, depending on the target audience, its important
to remember to give meaning to it, a means of familiarity and comfort to the
customers.
Seven core values: (in times of uncertainty, it pays to study societal values)
Simplicity: Dont play games, keep your brand as straightforward as possible,
Patience: The answer depends on what kind of brand youd like to create,
Relevance: Its human nature to seek like-minded people. Start with your customers
and allow them to define value in their terms, Accessibility: Customers simply
want an open relationship that is respected, Humanity: Laugh at yourself/Show
genuine compassion/Stand for something/Listen to you mistakes/Admit your
mistakes/Find your soul (every company has a heart, a brain, and a soul. Once you
have it, protect it, honor it, and never, never lose it in a merger), Omnipresence:
brand omnipresence is about placing your brand where it needs to be, where it does
the most good for the community, Innovation: How does one accomplish this? The
best way is with people people whom you respect, and for whom you do whatever
you can to help them unleash their potential. Innovation happens when great people
and not necessarily creative people are brought together in an inspiring
environment where they are valued and rewarded for taking risks and challenging
the status quo.