STUDY TASK 5 - Branding Initial Research

Lean Branding: Creating Dynamic Brands to Generate Conversion

The idea of a brand being more than just a logo, or advertisement. A brand is a concept, is a community, a group of people all being exposed to an idea and choosing to follow, to like or dislike. Whether people identify with the brand or not, a sense of self within a brand might be created.

The idea of brands being for one person is false, brands are for the people, not for those designing - needs to be taken into consideration. 

Designed with target audience in mind, use info about audience to shape design - then test and see if it appeals, develop, test, develop, test until audience has strong relationship to brand.

- Coca Cola, strong connotations of red, Christmas adverts, etc. 

 - Nike, 'just do it', the tick, related to sport celebrities e.g. Serena Williams, strong characters, strong following.

Keller and Lehmann (2004) - Brands and Branding. Research findings and future priorities.

What is branding? - the product, 'anything that can be offered to a market to satisfy what they want.' Kotler and Keller (2015)

Important things in branding:

Brand Positioning - 'setting the direction for marketing agencies.', key associations within target audience, making sure the audience is able to find who they are at the right moments.

Brand Intangibles - things other than physical objects (e.g. ads) being associated with a brand. Using lifestyle, inspirational imagery, to promote a specific way of being, and therefore a specific product to support that.

Brand Personality - The idea of the audience being a part of the wider picture. The personality of a brand will affect people differently depending on the situation/setting, people associate a brand with where they saw it advertised. For example, coca-cola sponsoring the london eye = big company, popular, trustworthy, reliable etc. Placement of ad connotes personality of brand.

Brand Relationships - Various dimensions in feeling towards a brand, consider brand-customer relationships, as well as brand loyalty. If brand has a strong relationship with customers, can target specific groups to make products appeal more.

Brand Experience - the importance of successful customer service within a brand, think about the visual experience a customer has with the brand as well.