Brand WarfareDavid F. D’Alessandro

10 rules for building

the killer brand

Michaël huyghens, Gert Maes, Joey Van Locke, Anneke Schack, Lowie Van Holme and Gert-Jan Jeddens

BRAND WARFARE (2001)

CAREER WARFARE (2004)

David F. D’AlessandroBRAND WARFARE (2001)

CAREER WARFARE (2004)

EXECUTIVE WARFARE (2008)Marketeer of the Year ‘86 (Ad week)

50 Best CEOs ‘01 (Worth)

Four Best New CEOs ‘01 (Money)

100 Most Powerful People in Sports ’02 (Sporting News)

It’s the brand, stupid

THE EARLIERS

The number-one brand simply

stayed the number-one

brand

NOW

No longer the biggest guy

who wins, but the fastest,

smartest guy with the best

command of new command of new

technologies

3 events toppled the number-one brands:

1. Consumers’ attitudes changed

2. It costs less to enter a business and create brand

3. The unlimited access to information that consumers now

have

Customers have infinite knowledge and choice

Sell an experience!

Codependency can be beautiful

Paradox

The more brands consumers have to choose from, the more

they need to cling to one good brand

Good brands do 3 things for stressed-out

consumers:

1. Saving time1. Saving time

2. Projecting the right message

3. Providing an identity

The brands: comfort, trust, convenience and identity.

Consumers: promise

Consumers need good brands as much as good

brands need them

Rule 3:

A great brand message is like a

bucking bronco - Once you’re on,

don’t let go

• Brand message = most important

• New brand Established brand

• No need vast advertising budgets

– First wave e-commerce

• Back to old media

– Second wave e-commerce

Then why are so many ads so obscure?

Engineers not marketeers

Perpetual spinelessness Perpetual spinelessness

Apple (1984)

Legitimacy

It was

no

Only established brands are allowed to be obscure

Communicate, do not celebrate

A brand message has to speak to consumers

and

Knowledge•Self-knowledge

•Self-awareness

Discipline

Keep it relevant

– A brand message

• Never ending

• Cannot stand still

• Can be remade

Keep it consistent

– Virgin example

If you want great advertising,

be prepared to fight for it.

Rule 4

• Brand

= Know where it stands for

= To give a voice through advertising

• NOT Personality-free clichés

Advertising Agencies

don’t want to help !

– Flatter the client and win the

account

– Generate the greatest revenue

The key to great advertising

“A lot of people who know nothing somehow feel

completely qualified to override the ideas of people

who spend their lives writing, designing, casting

I’m not a creative person, but …

who spend their lives writing, designing, casting

and directing advertising.”

BE MEMORABLE

• Most companies are afraid to produce

advertisings that suggests anything

unpleasant.

• DON’T BE AFRAID OF CONTROVERSY.

BE MEMORABLE

• Don’t change the advertising

because you’re bored with it

It doesn’t mean that

• Tell the story of your brand

It doesn’t mean that

the public is tired of it

1. Know what your brand stands for

2. Let the creative people write and design

3. Protect the creatives

Great work will follow its own accord

Transferring emotion

from an event or

Make use of the HALO effect

from an event or

person to the

sponsoring brand

Halo

EffectPositive

Effect

But do not forget that sponsorships are risky

Halo effect �������� Horn effectHalo effect �������� Horn effect

Horn Horn

EffectEffect

NegativeNegative EffectEffect

Get in for the right reasonsGet in for the right reasons

Think twice before spending millions of Think twice before spending millions of

marketing dollarsmarketing dollars

Understand your players

Know what to expect from

the sharks

The Event Organiser

• Do not allow your exclusiveness to be attacked.

• Get it in writing

Be tough, or be

prepared to be

gouged

The Television Networks

• The network probably overpaid for the sports

property.

• Buy only the commercial time you need to buy• Buy only the commercial time you need to buy

Any more � is wasted.

The athletes and their

entourages

• Olympic games sponsored by REEBOK– The Event� REEBOK

– Athletes � NIKE– Athletes � NIKE

• Who do you think was remembered?

So don’t waste money

Look for a balance

of power

Event organizerEvent organizer

AthletesAthletes

Television networksTelevision networksSponsor

DO NOT CONFUSE

SPONSORSHIP WITH A

SPECTATORSHIP

HALO

Reaching millions

85%

Industry

leaders

Good Cause

80%

excellence

& quality

Use your sponsorship

Use your sponsorship

1. Check the moment

2.Win goodwill

3. Appreciation

Right Expectations

Right Expectations

This is not Halo!!

Inkind Marketing

15%: More likely to buy

50%: actively hostile

Real

Measurable

Sponsorship = Investment

Not working? GET OUT!

DO NOT ALLOW

SCANDAL TO SCANDAL TO

DESTROY IN 30

DAYS A BRAND

THAT TOOK 100

YEARS TO BUILD.

Scandals

�

DOVE AXE

UNILEVER

Brand is

destiny

Are you really as greedy as you are portrayed?

You need a basis

of trust

Define YOURSELF

Key rule of marketing:

Do not allow your enemy to define you

You

1

You

can

be

better

2 You can be cheaper

3

You can

attackattack

Failure

to

answer,

makes makes

you

look

weak

Do not stall

You can run, but

you can not hide

The Perrier benzene scandal

MAKE YOUR

DISTRIBUTORS

SLAVES TO YOUR

BRAND

Internet: liberated consumer

Death of the salesman

1. Willingness of manufacturers

2. Ignorance of consumers

Smart brand do not frustrate their consumers!

� Face up to your limitations

Beat your distributors into submission by creating

demand for your brand

USE YOUR

BRAND TO

LEAD YOUR

PEOPLE TO

THE THE

PROMISED

LAND

“What do you do?”

Your identity

=

What you accomplish

Looking for a job

The pay

The positionThe position

Character of the work environment

Those are sacrificed

The best people want to work for the best

brands

Why?

• Status

• Personality of the workplace• Personality of the workplace

• Big names: magic on a résumé

A strong brand makes a tough decison easier

See the various points of view through

the prism of the brand.

What do I have to do to support the brand?

The Brand

A strong brand will inspire the people

on the inside

The greatest motivator: the brand

=> a greater purpose

=> let your people live the brand=> let your people live the brand

Ultimately, the brand is the CEO’s

responsibility – and everyone

else’s, too

1. Convince your employees to worry about the

brand

2. Keep the brand front and center in

all decisions

3.Do not forget what the brand means

4. A healthy respect

for the brand is

contagious

Conclusion

“Will the decision hurt or help the brand?”

A business focused on its brand is a business

primed for success!

It’s the brand, stupid

Codependency can be beautiful

Rule 3:

A great brand message is like a

bucking bronco - Once you’re on,

don’t let go

If you want great advertising,

be prepared to fight for it.

Rule 4

DO NOT CONFUSE

SPONSORSHIP WITH A

SPECTATORSHIP

DO NOT ALLOW

SCANDAL TO SCANDAL TO

DESTROY IN 30

DAYS A BRAND

THAT TOOK 100

YEARS TO BUILD.

MAKE YOUR

DISTRIBUTORS

SLAVES TO YOUR

BRAND

USE YOUR

BRAND TO

LEAD YOUR

PEOPLE TO

THE THE

PROMISED

LAND

Ultimately, the brand is the CEO’s

responsibility – and everyone

else’s, too

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