If you were working directly with JWT, this process of developing/defining the Brand Funnel and Brand Vision would take place in a ‘Day One’ session (so-called because it manages to compress the usually protracted process of brand positioning development into a single day). At a Day One session, all participants work together towards an agreed Brand Funnel and Brand Vision.
Crucially, the participants should comprise not just the client and their agency partners (for example advertising, media, PR, design), but also any colleagues from related functions (such as production, distribution or consumer research) who can contribute a relevant additional perspective. By involving all key decision-makers in the Day One process, a sense of collective momentum is also generated which can then be sustained throughout all subsequent stages (from the communications planning to the creative development and beyond).
Equally important is that the Day One should be held off-site (away from all those emails and emergency meetings). It should take place in an environment which stimulates fresh thinking and brings the consumer to life (for example for a kids’ entertainment site, the day might be held in a multiplex entertainment centre). The final ‘rule’ of the Day One is that all participants should spend the entire day in the consumer’s shoes – to the extent that they try to articulate all comments in the consumer’s ‘first person’ voice. To help facilitate this process, the participants are surrounded by a rich variety of stimuli. For example, if we were dealing with an eTrading brand, this stimulus might comprise the financial press, clips from Nicola Horlick’s various TV appearances and representations of the purchases which the aspirant eTraders are hoping to buy with their profits.
If the Brand Vision is the internal expression of what your brand should stand for, the Branding Idea is its external manifestation. It is the enduring, ownable expression that gives your brand fame, meaning and distinctiveness. And it stems directly from the brand positioning, as articulated by the Brand Funnel and the Brand Vision.
A successful Branding Idea is a multi-faceted expression that tells the brand’s story to all its audiences so well, so powerfully, that nobody else can ever attempt to do it in the same way. An enduring Branding Idea does this by generating Brand Properties that provide a powerful way to identify the brand. And because the Branding Idea transcends any specific creative execution or media channel, it also helps the team to avoid making premature media assumptions (for example ‘We’ve got to have a TV ad’) and concentrate, instead, on finding the core creative property which will bring the brand alive for the consumer.
With more and more brands out there, more and more competition for people’s attention, and more and more countries added to the business’s field of operation, it is vital that all of your communications are as integrated as possible. The advantage of the Branding Idea is that it provides the springboard for every creative execution, across every media channel, thus ensuring overall creative coherence. It’s no accident that some of the most distinctive and compelling brands – across whatever category – have a strong Branding Idea at their heart.
The job of actually creating the Branding Idea is undertaken by the creative team within the lead communications agency. It is essential, therefore, that this team is fully aware of the project background, including the overall plans and objectives for the brand. The best way to achieve this is for this team to play an active role in the Day One, helping to develop the Brand Funnel and Brand Vision.
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