What is branding?

Q: What is the highest level of branding?
A: When you have successfully transferred the allegiance of your (potential) customers from your products or services to an artificial personality known as your brand

Our definition of branding is:
The creation, development and maintenance of a mutually-valuable relationship with a strategically selected group of customers, through the medium of a fresh and compelling elaborated proposition that is delivered consistently over time by an artificial personality.

The key elements of this definition are:

1. “a mutually-valuable relationship” – customer retention can be the result of a “mutually-binding relationship” where the customer is held hostage through the effects of a monopoly or contractual terms, but this will not be a valuable relationship, even to the supplier. Customers who are hostages become terrorists, raising significantly the supplier’s cost-to-serve, and declining cross-buying or additional purchase opportunities. As Bain & Co has amply demonstrated, customers are profitable only when they appreciate the supplier
2. “a strategically selected group of customers” – means that strong brands segment their potential customers carefully, and do not expect to be able to supply a valuable service to everyone. BMW reputedly count who should not be driving BMWs, and start to worry if more than 12% is outside their focused market segment, as it is strong evidence that the BMW brand is being diluted. The respect/stature part of a brand can be as warm as sunlight and attract everyone, but the intimacy part of a brand should be like a laser beam
3. “a fresh and compelling elaborated proposition” (brand definition) – is one where the key emotional and visual elements have been defined, as well as the rational benefits. What is the personality of the brand? What is its central organising thought? What does it stand for, and against? And the proposition must be continually refreshed. New stories must be told about it. During the Labour Government of the 1960s, Premier Harold Wilson insisted that a new topic be addressed every week. The recent Blair administration clearly used the same technique to keep the government looking on the ball
4. “delivered consistently over time” – by whoever touches the brand. The marketing communications have to be consistent, but so does the call center, and the stories told by employees at parties, and how distributors (and other intermediaries) treat the brand. Research suggests that loyal brand customers are somewhat forgiving of occasionally inconsistent marginal behavior – a brand is a human being, after all – but this should not happen too often
5. "by an artificial personality" - the strongest human relationships are not with things but with other people. A brand can be such a person, someone to respect, admire and love. In its strongest form, your brand is the leader of a cult / tribe, an "A" list personality, a major mover, shaker, and shaper of the world that people want and even need, to be associated with and to accompany along the way

Do you have an edge? How is your brand? Is it recognized? Is it defining what the business should be? Does it say professionalism? Are you attracting your target group? What about personal branding ?