Function or Feeling - How Will You Position Your Brand?
Nobody wants a directionless brand. Wandering through the consumer world, aimlessly latching on to the newest flavor of the month trend, hoping to find where it truly belongs.
Successful brands have purpose. They have pre-determined areas of differentiation and a target audience. They have a brand position. With this sense of direction, they can focus their branding efforts in the same direction, allowing for the full effectiveness to shine through.
So we now understand that your brand needs a position. The next question is – what is that position going to look like? When creating your positioning strategy, there are two main aspects to use as starting points – function or feeling. But which one’s right for your brand?
FUNCTION:
These brands are built on the foundation of their product or service. With the goal of owning their competitive space, the brand elements all tie back to the points of differentiation between them and the competition.
For instance, Under Armour has built its brand on the strength of its product, specifically its unique athletic wear characteristics. It came into the market touting a product that was unprecedented in the athletic wear space, and Under Armour has taken that advantage as the centerpiece of its brand. Even as it has expanded into other product lines, the brand continues to harken back to itself as a solution to common athletic-related problems across the board.
In taking this course of action, a brand must plan not only for today, but for the future. Will your coming products and/or services be able to live up to the standard set by the brand? It’s not enough to have one revolutionary piece to the puzzle, but to position yourself as a functional brand, subsequent pieces much fit much the same way.
This is welcome news to brands that thrive in innovation. Under Armour, Apple, Google – these brands strive to be known for their breakthroughs, and have lived up to the challenge consistently, and as such they have built their brands around this fact. They want their brand to stand out as the leaders in creating products that provide solutions and outstanding experiences for their consumers, time and time again.
FEELING:
Connection. Happiness. Satisfaction. The brands who position themselves through feeling are searching for the necessary alignment with these reactions by their consumers. Their goal is to go beyond that initial interaction an establish an emotional connection that drives brand loyalty and builds brand equity.
Some of these feelings are reactionary, and some are aspirational. Reactionary-focused brands will look to highlight the immediate feeling or emotional response that comes with brand interaction. Whether it is a beverage brand touting its great taste or a food brand highlighting its healthiness, how the consumer reacts (or hopefully reacts) is the centerpiece of the branding efforts.
Aspirational brands want to shape how the consumer feels, creating and driving home their intended emotional connotations. Luxury brands often lead the way in aspirational feeling branding, positioning themselves as the source of consumer pride – elegant, wealthy, high-class, etc. Their goal is to be the brand that makes the consumer hope to achieve some sort of unattained goal or feeling.
Image Sources
Image 1
Image 2
Header Image
Is Your Brand Prepared to Capitalize on Recent Growth?
Is Your Brand Prepared to Capitalize on Recent Growth?
By Matthew Harris
Congratulations! For your company, 2014 was a banner year. From revenue and profits to number of employees and offerings, growth was the theme. The company is set up for continued success in 2015 and beyond… if you can continue making the right choices, specifically when it comes to your brand.
For companies that are coming off of a year in which they experienced their first true taste of success, the following year’s brand strategy actions and decisions can go a long way to determining how far the company can capitalize and continue to grow. One factor in this is understanding the power of your brand.
This growth has almost certainly increased your brand awareness and impacted your brand positioning. A company on the rise is likely to pique a heightened interest among its target audience compared to a company that has seen a growth plateau. Now, the challenge is to continue to increase your brand awareness and evolve your brand positioning with the goal of building a brand while not forgetting what got it to this point.
Long-lasting, successful brands are built on a foundation of meaningful brand strategy, one that provides a strong framework for what the brand is and what it represents. A successful brand strategy serves as a roadmap for where a brand should go in the future, and how to take it there, without wasting time or money going down the wrong path.
Additionally, strong brands know the benefit of not only focusing on externally-facing touch points, but also putting in the time and resources necessary to build brand awareness and strengthen the brand with internal audiences. For an employee of a growing company, the feeling of ownership and pride for the brand is a valuable asset to have for motivation and self-satisfaction in their role within the company.
Because your company has experienced success, there is a good chance that your brand is in a strong place and has some of the tools in place that can continue its success, so a complete brand strategy overhaul is likely unnecessary. However, the market is constantly evolving, and the risk of complacency for a growing company can quickly halt any momentum gained in the past. A company’s brand positioning needs to evolve as it does, following the growth from where the brand is today to where it wants to be tomorrow.
Before you begin to create your brand strategy, you should take stock of where you are. You will have many questions regarding your business on a number of important topics, including whether you are communicating the right thing to your target audiences, what brands in your portfolio hold the most potential for continued growth, and whether a rebrand would be a successful step to take. When faced with organizing and recognizing where you are as a brand, it is a good idea to bring in a third party to handle the research and analysis, who can provide objective results that cannot be reached when the work is done internally.
There are a few areas where many growing companies can find benefit in setting a strategy of evolution, including product and service lines, social media strategies, and how you position your company to your consumers. The main focus should be on ensuring that your brand can adapt and excel in an ever-changing business environment, without compromising your core characteristics.
Set yourself up for future growth – plan and strategize with the mindset that your past success was just the beginning and soon, your brand equity will carry enough weight to begin driving a portion of your business.
Follow us on Twitter @AddisonWhitney or join the conversation on Facebook and Google+
Brands Take to the Sky for Higher Reach
Airport security checkpoints create lines, pat-downs and frequent headaches for travelers. There are also the dull colored table trays on airplanes that make your snack and beverage look, well dull. Airlines have long wanted to engage travelers through these mediums so it was naturally when they invited companies to place advertisements on security checkpoint bins and on table trays to make it a more positive experience for travelers. Does this form of advertising work? Brands think so and are taking advantage of this advertising avenue.
Security Point Media, the leader in airport passenger security checkpoint advertising and the innovator of the Secure Tray System worked up a plan to provide free bins to airports in exchange for the right to sell advertisements on the bins. During a recent trip from New York to Boston, I noticed the ads at JFK airport. As I placed my shoes and other items in the bin, I saw an ad for Zappos that said “Place shoes here, buy shoes here.” I thought it was clever and made me remember that Zappos is a great store for shoe lovers and it distracted me for a few minutes as I made my way through the line. In my opinion, the ad worked as it was colorful, simple and reminded me how much I liked the brand and the products they offer. Brand recognition and recall are much more likely when advertising serves a practical purpose and is helpful to consumers.
Los Angeles International Airport, one of the program’s first test sites, was able to purchase long tables, seating, floor mats and other equipment from the ad revenue they have generated since the start of the bin advertising program. Airports like the program because it gives them a little bit of extra money and helps improve the checkpoint experience for passengers. Brands like Zappos are also helping absorb the cost that TSA would normally have to spend buying the equipment needed for security checkpoint. Sounds like a win win to me!
Another way to reach frequent travelers is by smacking an ad on a table tray while they’re on the airplane. On a recent flight, I saw an ad for Visitrichmond.com that did a great job of showcasing their cities history by having an ad that said “History. Rated “Gee!” From chilling ghost stories to thrilling roller coaster rides, history is for kids of all ages.” The ad featured a group of people enjoying a roller coaster ride. Whether it’s an ad for a hotel, cell phone or a tourism push for visitors, brands are gaining maximum exposure as the advertising images cannot be avoided.
While media companies believe table tray ads provide up to 3+ hours of guaranteed exposure and attention and a clutter-free environment with zero distractions, I believe frequent travelers would question if the ads make as much of an impact as companies would have liked. In a busy traveling world where people are rushing to get to their gate, do people notice advertisements on check point bins and table trays or are they more concerned with making their flight?
Google’s Cover Band
Uh oh. Looks like Google Music showed up to the party wearing the same outfit as iTunes. Unfortunately for Google, the outfit looks better on iTunes. Not to mention Google brought the less attractive date (Google+).
For anyone who isn’t aware, Google recently launched its much anticipated digital music application, Google Music (original name, I know). Finally another music marketplace to rival iTunes – sounds great. But what makes Google Music different? Well, song costs are comparable to iTunes and the layout isn’t anything new. And unfortunately Google wasn’t able to get Warner Music Group to sign on the dotted line, which leaves a huge hole in their music offering (Cher, Cee Lo, Diddy, Green Day, Van Halen, to name a few). But Google knew all of this before launch, so I was curious to see how it would position itself in order to get consumers excited.
So what does make Google Music stand out? The short answer is: Nothing. After taking a look around the application, Google Music seems to be positioning itself as the “instant-anywhere, shareable music place.” It sounds accurate, but is it unique? Let's take a look.
- Instant-anywhere – This is no longer ownable. Although it’s extremely important, the ability to download songs and instantly listen on any device has become an expected feature. As a player 8 years late to the game, it’s unrealistic for Google Music to position itself around this idea.
- Shareable – This is a more interesting approach. iTunes is not known for being a social proponent, so there is some opportunity here. Google Music does have some cool share features; however, everything links to Google+, which has been a social wasteland since its launch. It also doesn’t help that Facebook’s strong partnership with Spotify seems to be changing the way people share and discover music.
All in all, Google Music isn’t giving consumers a strong enough reason to switch to their services - just an eerily similar alternative. They have a foundation, now they just need to find their niche and own it.