The Branding Gourmet

How a consumer sees the world.

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The modern consumer is inundated with choices. There are multiple products and categories at the super-market and there are many categories of supermarkets, each one catering to a different level of consumer. Whole Foods is positioned towards a consumer who consciously makes his/her choices around organic and natural foods and they are not afraid to spend more for quality. As Branders, we try to learn about the consumers’ behavior, predict it and often alter it to serve our purpose so we can sell our product. As you enter the market with your product you need to remember that it will have to stand out against the extremely wide array of products already out there.

This is how Branding professionals see the world: A giant buffet of gourmet dishes. Some of the names on this table you have a clear idea about what they stand for, what their products represent in the consumer psyche. As we try to create a new brand we try to keep in mind a range of logos and names similar to this one. So it becomes quite a task to try and stand out. It is very important to know who you are.

It’s time to create your brand

How do you create your own brand?

What is a ‘Brand’?

a Culture a Movement a Way of Life

Brand {What is a Brand? A Brand is not a logo or even a range of products. As branders we try to create an environment around a name, a living organism.

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The Brand DNA code

The most successful brands have a culture and a belief system that consumers can belong to loyally. Consumers endorse the brand through their preferences.

The Brand DNA code is the necessary map of definitions of what the brand does and it stands for. Its products have to stand up to that code. Brand DNA allows us to create the Look & Feel, the “Voice” of the Brand, the components of Customer Experience and all the important assets that create the overall effect to the consumer. This code defines the culture and belief systems that underline the definition of the product. As we create the DNA code we begin the birth of a brand system.

What mental images do you conjure up when you hear the names: Coca-Cola, BMW, Starbucks?

What’s under these top brands?

Lifestyle

All these brands have created a Lifestyle. Creating a brand lifestyle is the ultimate brand success story. To begin creating a brand lifestyle, we need to create the DNA code. If your product or your company has the potential of becoming a household name that is easily identifiable it must contain a lifestyle component. Let’s look at the DNA code of these three brands and how they established their brand lifestyle.

Beyond its iconic bottle design…

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…Coca-Cola is synonymous for active lifestyle, Sports and youth.

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BMW is known for its design heritage…

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…but also for its luxury materials, it communicated Status. It says: You have arrived!

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Frappucino for many…

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…but for many also a place to work and hold meetings.

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How well have these brands infiltrated our lives?

Would you still feel the same emotional connection to these brands if we changed elements of their established Code?

Create products that always stay true to the DNA code you set up.

When we change one small but important component of the brand’s identity – its signature color – do we still have the same recognition of these brands? Our minds compensate and these alterations are rejected as false. This shows us how pervasively these brands have become a part of our lives and our subconscious choice mechanism.

Branding Ingredients

Just like a great dish, we need some key ingredients to create the DNA code of our brand.

Where did you come from? What are your inspirations? What is your story?

Origins

What do you believe in?

Belief

What words/images/symbols would you use to describe your product?

Creation

Who is your customer? What does he look like? Where does she live?

Audience

Rituals change behavior. What ritual can you invent to effect that change?

Rituals

Venti / Latte / Egg McMuffin, etc.

Vocabulary + Language

…is good. What can you learn from it?

Competition…

Branding Tools

With our ingredients in place we can use these tools to begin crafting our brand. Any tool that appeals to the senses and to the emotions of our audience is helpful.

Emotion Images Taste Smell Sound Touch (in packaging)

A Brand Mood Board

Examples

Now that we outlined the first stages of creating a brand, let’s look at two examples of successful gourmet brands: Daniel Boulud and Emeril Lagasse. Daniel Boulud caters to the affluent New Yorker whereas Emeril Lagasse has nurtured a wider audience as his celebrity audience. Both are accomplished chefs and restaurateurs and they built their brand imagevery diligently.

Daniel Boulud

FRENCH!!! / Super-chic / Refined / Leader / Reassuringly Expensive / Ambience

DB’s Code

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Through gorgeous photography, Daniel’s brand is communicated for its essential mastery and innovation of high end meals. Throughout the materials there are shots of well-dressed diner enjoying the ambience of the fine dining establishments Daniel offers.

Emeril Lagasse

American / Southern / In your face / BAM!!! / Mass Market

Lagasse’s Code

Emeril’s DNA code is more mainstream to capitalize of the instant connection the chef’s face can make with his audience. Emeril became famous for his network cooking show. His packaging offers more reminders of Emeril being synonymous with the cuisine of the South.

Packaging Trends

Wholesome / Organic / Handmade / Clear /Environmentally Conscious / Vintage /

New Keywords

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Three things to remember.

Don’t lose sight of the big picture: If you have an idea for a product see if translates well as a category and not just as an isolated product. Look at Chobani. The most successful brands have a global/macro view. Use your product idea to define your own voice/brand for the market. Don’t be seduced by trends. To build a strong brand following you need to know your voice and stay consistent on the course. Even if you fail a few times.

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