The BrandWerker :: Practical Branding Tools and Solutions

Nuts & Bolts

:: practical advice ::

You Got to Connect!
1. To stand out and be successful (especially now in this economic environment) your brand must make a strong connection with your customer.

2. Start by making sure your product is different. More flavor, bigger, more value, healthier...anything...as long as the difference is relevant.

3. Then, go deeper. A strong, emotional benefit will create a more enduring connection with your consumer, resulting in far greater sales potential.

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Brands That Connect

Brands make a connection with the consumer. Some may have a unique product difference that satisfies a physiological need, say, for better nutrition or refreshment. Others connect on a deeper level, fulfilling a higher emotional need that resides in the mind, heart or soul. The most successful and enduring brands connect on both fronts. Coca Cola is a good example. As "The pause that refreshes", Coke not only provides simple product refreshment, but a promise of emotional rejuvenation, escape and freedom.

At the BrandWerks Group we have been fortunate to develop and design some unique brands that connect on different levels...and stand out versus the competition:

The Art of Product Pappardelle's Pasta makes custom pastas. They are truly unique. So much so that Pope John Paul II requested them during his Denver visit to World Youth Day in 1993. Visually, Pappardelle's Pasta resembles art, so why not communicate this product point-of-difference in your branding and tag line?
	Emotional Rescue How do you differentiate a product like bottled water? After all there's only about a zillion brands out there. If you're thinking mineral content, low sodium, artesian vs. spring, etc., forget about it. Been done before. It's also boring and pretty much irrelevant to consumers. Instead, try to make an emotional connection. Aquamantra Bottled Water is based on the "Law of Attraction", that is, the quality and direction of your thoughts determines your reality. If you think, and drink, "I AM LOVED" you will be. Sound weird? Maybe, but the brand's on fire in Whole Foods, Albertson's and other water "flooded" venues.
Make It Personal There's no substitute for quality. If you got it in the jar or bottle, stand behind your brand. Put your name on it. Especially if your name is Frasche and your recipe comes from Provence, France. Heritage and tradition are strong differentiators that often deliver powerful emotional benefits.
	Go Deeper Yet To compete against the likes of Orville Redenbacher (ConAgra Foods) you'll need good taste...and more. The Rocky Mountain Popcorn Company makes some pretty special popcorn. It is light, fresh, fluffy, and big. Just like the clouds in the Rocky Mountain sky. Hyperbole aside, we'll just call it heavenly. From a product benefit standpoint, it's just simple, honest, and healthier popcorn. Going deeper into real benefit territory those fluffy popcorn clouds will take you to a special time or place where life is good, happy and fun. Isn't that what the popcorn experience is supposed to remind you of?

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