Our Understanding of Brand
Whether corporate or product brands, non-profits, service or manufacturing companies, SMEs or global corporations—we develop brand strategies that spark desire, drive willingness to buy, and contribute directly to business success. With hard facts and zero fluff.
A brand image is nothing more than a prejudice—a collective positive prejudice.
When many people share the same positive preconception about something, we call it a brand. In everyday language, we say: “They’ve made a good name for themselves.”
By that definition, anyone can be a brand who has built a good name: the baker on the town square, their products, the building that houses the bakery, the square itself, the neighborhood, or even the entire country. And, of course, non-profits, mid-sized companies, and national or global corporations.
From this understanding, we develop concrete strategies and actions that directly feed into business performance.
Brand Management Is Cause Management
A desirable brand image is always the result of specific causes. These causes are manageable performances that a company must consistently deliver over time.
Our task is to identify and map these cause-and-effect relationships. Based on decades of experience and proven tools, we uncover the specific (and manageable) drivers that create desire and willingness to buy among customers.
We bring these to the forefront within the organization—from product development and marketing to sales training and communications—and across all market touchpoints. At the same time, we separate them from less relevant or generic factors. The result: the company stops following its category conventions, ceases to appear generic, and develops a distinct, differentiating brand identity.
“Differentiate or Die” – Jack Trout
Those who fail to differentiate eventually disappear from the market. The range of more-or-less identical products today is overwhelming. Without cutting prices and thereby eroding margins, differentiation remains the only viable path to growth and profitability.
People crave orientation—especially in uncertain times of crisis and change. Brands can provide that orientation and sense of stability.
Brands that try to embody every trend, value, and code of their category lose their shape and become generic. The will to be different is perhaps the most entrepreneurial quality a brand can possess.
We help you break free from your category and your industry’s conventions—and get your brand on the path to success.
We Discover—Agencies Invent
Building a successful and profitable brand isn’t a stylish “quick win.” It’s hard, consistent work. Only when a company performs well over a long period—through good products or services—does it generate desire among customers.
That’s when people are willing to pay more, want to work there (employer brand), become loyal customers, and recommend it to others.
Conversely, simply calling your ad agency and ordering a new campaign does very little.
Many clients believe their products don’t differ much in the market, so at least their advertising must. This mindset leads to campaigns designed primarily to entertain—through a story or a shiny new design rather than through the product itself.
It sounds logical, but there’s a catch: entertainment is, by definition, something without practical relevance for the audience’s life. It entertains but means nothing—you’ve merely consumed randomness.
At worst, a sleek surface leads to disappointment when the product experience can’t match the advertising promise. At best, the ad entertains briefly—and is forgotten seconds later. Either way, your money is gone. Some brands even define themselves by not advertising—think Zara or Starbucks.
That’s why traditional advertising, PR, and design agencies are rarely the right partners for true brand building. Companies must take the right steps long before advertising or design ever come into play.
We walk that path with you.
