FUNDAMENTAL THOUGHTS ON THE SUBJECT OF BRANDS

“Don’t tell me how good you make it; tell me how good it makes me when i use it.”

We place particular emphasis on consistent brand management. A brand shouldn’t be a string of product benefits. It should be a captivating story. Your brand as a whole will benefit if your customers see your unique selling point. And that’s how we approached the 30 or so brands we’ve launched and positioned over the last 17 years.

Recognition

Create linguistic and visual anchors!

CONTINUITY AND CONSISTENCY

Your activities should not just be a flash in the pan.

TRUST AND AUTHENTICITY

Be authentic.

HEART BEATS HEAD

Emotions make the difference.

Recognition

We learn recognition from a very early age. We see a logo, some lettering, striking colours and shapes, and instantly associate them with specific products or services.

A brand’s visual identity encapsulates its stance, values and substance. Coherent, consistent brand management ensures that your company is seen as being ‘cast from a single mould’. This gives customers peace of mind and presents a consistent, complete picture that reinforces the way they identify with it.

Using a holistic, consistent approach to design, language and communication, we make sure your corporate image is credible and convincing.

Trust and authenticity

Everything starts with trust.

A company is much more than a name or a logo. It’s a quality promise and a message. So your communication has to be exciting and varied. Because to delight customers, you need to deliver more than just information.

Advertising should also be tantalizing and ‘larger than life’ – but always within the bounds of credibility. The secret of credible corporate communication is transparency, sincerity and authenticity.

Good Vibrations

An example: You have to choose between two brands of car, Ford Galaxy and VW Sharan. We all recognise this situation, considering two products that are physically the same and, without really knowing how to explain it, we have a strong sense of preference for one of the two. Here lies the difference between product and brand.

And precisely here lies the problem when it comes to describing, developing and shaping a brand: Brands are irrational entities that cannot really be objectively defined, and the performance of a brand is easier to feel than it is to describe.

Brands are quite clearly the key to success because products grow ever more replaceable, creating no emotional attachment. Returning to our example: If we could rely entirely on people’s common sense, then the Galaxy would sell in significantly higher numbers than the Sharan because the Galaxy is several hundred euros less expensive than the Sharan: in fact, however, significantly more Sharans are sold.

The balancing act

Brands provide orientation. At first glance consumers know what they are being offered. They recognise a thing that they are already familiar with and do not have to form a new opinion or constantly need to be making new decisions. However, a prerequisite for the above is that the brand is managed consistently.

Brand management is a balancing act. The aim of the game is to lend homogeneity and continuity to the brand and at the same time to make it appear innovative, dynamic and timelessly young.

This is based most importantly on a precise differentiation between the absolute values that define the character of the brand and the brand areas that can be changed and indeed have to be adjusted in order for the brand to keep in touch with changing times.Ausdrucksformen.

You have a free choice regarding the way your brand will “move” in particular situations. On the other hand there is no freedom in terms of the principal content or forms of expression.

First impression

Continuity in a brand image means constant communication. A brand also communicates constantly. Paul Watzlawick, the renowned expert in the ‘science of communication’, argued that people are incapable of not communicating. Communication can, however, be controlled. And this is where we come in.

Form indicates content. What we see communicates the way we should think of it. First impressions are important: packaging immediately starts to shape our view on the product contained within. We find it very hard to change this spontaneous verdict later. You should remember this when you are making decisions that will affect the impact your brand will make on the consumer.

Added value does just that – it adds value

Truly great brands have succeeded in moving beyond any concrete plus point in the product and creating a related emotional gain for the target group.
80 percent of all “full-flavour cigarettes” are actually of the same quality as Marlboro. The “powerful” world of cowboys itself makes the powerful taste of a Marlboro cigarette inimitable.

NIVEA skin cream is mild on your skin, and just as mild or even more so on your soul.

The silky taste of Milka chocolate is smooth not only because of the milk from the Alps that is used to produce it, but also because of the feeling of security engendered by the wholesome Alpine milieu.

So we must never lose sight of what our brand stands for, its significance, and why consumers should have a preference for our brand in particular.

The big picture

We believe the big picture is crucial. Launching a brand costs money. So there’s no point unless you look after it properly once it’s out there.

That’s why we place particular emphasis on consistent brand management, always keeping an eye on what’s happening in our peripheral vision: especially with complex corporate structures. In these circumstances, a corporate design manual is key, as is defining and disseminating consistent values across all departments, production sites and subsidiaries. For a brand to prosper across the whole business and over the long term, it needs a continuous story that people both inside and outside the company want to know and experience.

Purpose and innovation

“If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.” (Henry Ford)

Think outside the box, and do it. In marketing, nothing beats a strong brand. It’s a springboard for all things new. A keen awareness of the brand core is vital. But you also need to be daring enough to take your communication to the next level. Values like quality and tradition are key, combined with your innovative products. Successful companies stand out because they have a fundamental understanding of what their brand represents and the promises their products fulfil. Because brands put power behind innovations.

About us

Our approach

organization structure