The Changing Face of Branding

Recently I have been meeting with a wide range of folks to discuss the shifting foundation of brand management. Whereas many see branding as a superficial marketing function - driven by digital imagery, catchy phrases or splashy ads - dynamic brand management is something much more fundamental to the success of any company, product/service, or individual.

Effective brand management needs to begin during product development. Because strategic branding is based on expressing differentiation and value, brand managers must have a role in actually defining products and experiences. The product/experience is the brand message, and the customer engagement with it needs to be congruent with the desired brand objective.

In short, branding is an action and not a marketing communications deliverable. Brand managers need to act first, and speak later.

Being global - and who isn't these days - also challenges brand managers on how to adapt brands and build consistent experiences. As an example, how wealth is perceived and treated varies greatly by culture and geography. Whereas in some parts of the world the display of wealth (for let's say luxury products) is highly valued and should be featured prominently in the brand, in other places discretion/understatement are the appropriate "brand voices."

So, brand managers must build, with their product counterparts, brand platforms big enough to work across these differences then devise brand segmentation strategies to address different markets. No stock answer works; only awareness, agility, and adaptation.