Brian Richards

Brand - Your Most Valuable Asset













A quick download from New Zealand’s foremost expert.

• Brand definition: There are three dimensions to a brand. Firstly, a unique point of difference that can be perceived or real. Secondly, a supportive culture both inside the company and extending along its value chain, and thirdly a unique story you have never heard before.
• Brand investment: Consider your investment in a brand as an asset that will appreciate in value. Done well it will stand you in good stead for a long time. The important thing is to remain consistent over long periods of time, in that we as customers need to become used to your brand name and its tone and manner. It becomes like an old friend to us that we reach for time and time again.
• The Unwritten Warranty: A brand is a kind of unwritten guarantee, a promise to deliver the same experience time and time again. We keep it fresh by telling a continuing sub-set of stories of our commitment.
• Storytelling: The power of storytelling is often overlooked in modern day marketing, yet we all love to hear unique stories containing engaging anecdotes. Being original is always a challenge but not impossible. Using the written word accompanied by visual interpretations can be very powerful. There are only a few New Zealand brands that understand storytelling power and deliver well.
• From the outside in: A brand is not what you say it is, it is what they say it is. You have to see it from the outside in. So many marketers want to tell a story that appeals to them using their language. If you're on the other side of the Earth it's a cold winter's evening and your looking in on a wine shop for a take home treat what appeal would you look for. Some remote distant piece of paradise, far removed from the concrete jungle you live in, or a piece of sophistication that could come from further up town. We should be able to deliver many kinds of stories that will appeal to different audiences. Telling a story from the outside in is such an important lesson to understand.
• Building Brand Assets: Brand investment is about understanding intangible assets as opposed to physical ones. Generally the value of our business assets (excluding land) goes down; hence we talk about depreciation all the time. Quite the reverse is the case for the brand, how many of us can recall old New Zealand brands that still resonate. Most people don't understand the value of intellectual property. They drop names casually without realising their residual value. Consider the loss of wonderful names and expressions when we deregulated our transport system. The Interisland Ferry, a long distance bus service called The Landliner. Old brands like old friends can be modernised. Consider Lemon and Paeroa, a most unlikely name yet one that continues to personify the kiwiana style we love it for.
• The Internet: represents an enormous new advantage for small niche players globally, not every company has taken this opportunity up well enough, using all the industry ‘smarts’ now available, - e-commerce sites, you tube experiences, etc., for when people are time poor and cash rich and they revert to these mediums in order to make their selections, shortening the odds of a whole day at the shops searching for something. Developing an entertaining and engaging website that is very ‘sticky’ and will continue to have people return frequently is like creating a piece of theatre with an ever-changing set of information. Keeping the website alive requires energy and commitment. There is nothing worse than dead editorial.
• Branding is about the unsolicited extras: The things you didn't expect when you went out to buy a particular product or service. It’s the associated extras around a product or service that can often add to your point of difference.
• Brand Value: could be as high as a third of shareholder value, there are examples in New Zealand where this figure has been greater. It's a sobering thought when considering the investment. Always consider the potential of an exit strategy if you do build a brand. Just the same as some people are farming for capital appreciation, then the same needs to apply to the building of an intellectual asset.
• The return on Brand investment: ‘Robi’ is something most people do not take into account. Being able to measure your investment is entirely possible. You should do it to understand the cost and benefits of marketing as opposed to selling. Few companies measure their own performance in brand terms. A good brand should offer the potential of higher price points in the category on a continuing basis.
• A three to five-year gestation: is the period it takes to establish a brand with continual investment. The important thing is not to give up half way or change direction too dramatically. You need to be able to fund the losses in the establishment period from other revenue streams. This often means repositioning your efforts by segment. Good business practice requires brand strategy to be costed carefully - management needs to have a clear understanding of the change costs. The worst thing that can happen is that you spend money, and run out of it, failing to realise the goal of launching and servicing a unique market position.
• Self-discovery: is the best way of understanding your brand. You need to give it time; you need to talk to experts if necessary, you should not be too proud to seek advice and external viewpoints. You need to involve your management team and staff; you need to avoid thinking about a brand as simply a visual thing in the first instance.
• The bottom line performance of a brand: it is important to understand that the reason for branding is to give you a better margin, a higher price point thus securing a strong pricing position in your category. Building a business plan, a metric model, around your investment in intellectual property is important to undertake. You need to know why you are doing it and the potential benefits clearly from the outset.
• Brands are more than a new suit of clothes: Many think it is simply about logos and graphics. The product has to be good, the company has to have integrity, the story has to be right, and the culture has to be supportive. There are many aspects to a brand well beyond its visual look and feel.
• Sustainability: We live in a land of abundance and are only just beginning to understand that our environment is a finite resource. We cannot keep plundering it or wasting the precious assets we have.
• A global connectedness: The problem is we are so volume-driven in our thinking. When the going gets tough we do more of the same with a vengeance. More tourists, more meat companies, more volume. We do not seem to understand that there is a global world out there who wants what we have. We have the raw materials, the ingredients for reaching high price points and selling less for more. Yet we struggle with the ability and know-how to do it.
• A special niche position: The opportunity for us in global niche positions in a range of markets is significant. New Zealand is well thought of in a subliminal way, yet when customers in export markets are confronted with our products, the products still do not come up to the expectation and we do not deliver the promises we have made.
• Self critique: We are too often self-congratulatory in our observations of ourselves. We are not harsh enough critics of our efforts to enter and succeed in markets globally. Comparing ourselves with our competitors in downtown New York can be a sobering experience, we need to do more of this.
• 1% worldwide: We as a country should seek to gain 1% of the global market at the upper end of markets worldwide. New Zealand's position is niche high-value unique products and services.
• Professional Design: From a design perspective have you made the investment in the development of a quality presentation or have you simply used the local art teacher or ‘desk topped’ it yourself. The importance of graphic design and photography in expressing the brand is a significant investment, are you prepared to make it?
• Name appropriateness: Is your product or service appropriately named, or did you want to call it after your first child? The importance of the naming of products and services is often overlooked. Too often people rush to a name without thinking of the global connotations.
• Presentation: The investment in graphics, photography, name development and protection, the presentation of the product all the way through to the marketplace is a critical area of investment.

By Brian Richards

Brian R Richards Ltd (BRR) are specialists in brand strategy, design and project execution. For more information about this and many other brand related topics go to www.brrltd.com