The Brand Gap

As we often help companies and organizations take their branding online, I attended an American Institute of Graphic Arts branding workshop at the Seattle Art Museum in July.

Marty Neumeier, author of THE BRAND GAP, president of Neutron, and consultant to Apple, Gap, Herman Miller, Kodak, Hewlett-Packard, gave a workshop built around six key disciplines:

• Identify the Gaps - bridge the distance between business strategy and creativity
• Differentiate - beat the clutter by standing up and taking your claim
• Collaborate - today it takes a village to build a brand
• Innovate - how to zig when everyone else zags
• Validate - let audience feedback show what works and what doesn't and why
• Cultivate - deliver on the brand promise across the board and over time

The biggest take-away was that your company's or oganization's brand lives within your clients and/or grantees. No matter what you project as your brand image, people have a gut feeling about your product, service or organization. Your brand is not what you say it is but what they say it is. It's time to ask your clients and customers what your brand means to them.

Neutron's top 5 (out of 70) critical points for brand improvement:

• Mental Ranking - Do your customers think you're first, second, or third in your category?
• Value Proposition - How strong are your brand's functional, emotional and self-expressive benefits?
• Brand Essence - Do you have a single, clear, unique vision that drives your organization?
• Market Position - Do you have a single, clear, unique idea that drives market share and margin?
• Head Start - How big is the buffer zone around your market position?

If you would like to learn more about branding, email jane@superwebgroup.com to setup a presentation time. As a workshop participant, I received a copy of the entire presentation to share with my clients.