The Art of Branding

The Art of Branding: " In honor of the recent Macworld Expo and the upcoming Super Bowl (the two great branding exercises of every new year; one much more fruitful than the other), this blog entry is about the art of branding. My assumptions are that you don't have infinite resources and that you do have a great product (see Guy's Golden Touch). If you do have infinite resource and don't have a great product, there's still hope, but you don't need to read this entry any further. Seize the high ground. Establish your brand on positive attributes like “making meaning,” “doing good,” “changing the world,” and “making people happy”--not doing in your competition. Think about it: when is the last time you bought a product to hurt a company's competition? (Other than maybe Macintosh users.) That's not why you spend your dollars. If you want to beat your competition, establish an uplifting brand, but don't try to establish a brand based on your silly desire to beat your competition. Create one message. It's hard enough to create and communicate one branding message; however, many companies try to establish more than one because they are afraid of being niched and want the “entire” market. “Our computer is for Fortune 500 companies. And, oh yes, it's also for consumers to use a home.” Face it, V"