Wham bam thank you brand
June 24th, 2010 § Leave a Comment
Catchy title eh? I thought so too. But it begs the question, at what stage does a place need to be in the branding process before it markets to consumers? Does a brand build a city, or does a city build a brand? I’ve talked a lot about making sure your place brand truly represents the place that you are branding. This is essential for many reasons, but most of all because people do not like to be lied to. And when you lie to them by promising them something that is not true, via branding, they are not happy. And unhappy people like to tell others what made them that way. You get the picture, and eventually all of the time and money you spent on building this perception is gone—along with any credibility you had, virtually erasing the chance of building a successful brand in the future.
That is my take. But then I read this article by Simon Anholt, the inventor of the place brand. It’s about a lot of things, but the part that speaks to this issue in particular references the World Cup in South Africa. As many of you know, there were a lot of people who didn’t think Johannesburg was ready to host something as big as the World Cup. They still have many issues of their own they need to deal with, and people got angry when they began to pour money into the “disneyfication” of their city for all of the visitors who would expect this kind of world class atmosphere. What about schools and crime they would say? But the government thought they knew what they were doing and went on with it. I did not think that they knew what they were doing, and I was sure they were headed for failure. But guess what? Simon Anholt has a lesson to teach us.
According to Anholt, this money is just as well spent now as if it would have went to education, etc., on one condition—that they continue to build the brand. And it makes sense. If they can build that brand to be a strong and successful tourism industry, then they can gain another source of revenue to take them past the troubles of the past and into a new future. But things are still rough, and I am not sure that the people who are there are ready to accept this as a vacation destination. It’s a big gamble, but it’s interesting because it opened my eyes (and maybe yours) that it may be possible to start sharing your brand before it’s done. Like a museum that is open during renovations. Maybe, in part, it can be wham bam thank you brand—thank you for drawing enough attention for people to see that my place is worth the trip.
Brand Audience: Bored or floored?
June 20th, 2010 § 2 Comments
The other day I posted about how important stakeholders are in the place branding process. Now chances are, if you found my blog, you already know the huge role that audience plays in any branding or communication effort. But here’s the thing, in branding the audience is so essential that they are the brand. If your audience doesn’t buy your brand, then they wont live it. And if they won’t live it, other people won’t catch wind of it. And if it isn’t being lived or spread, it’s dead.
This is troubling to some people– especially people who have dedicated their time (or even lives) to brands that have failed– because your audience is not always apparent. You may not know who they are, what they look like or what they want, and that makes failing very easy. If your audience doesn’t like your brand, it could mean back to the drawing board. Sometimes the brand needs some tweaking and can be re-released. Sometimes the brand is dead and a new approach needs to be taken. In either of the cases, your audience should be the one behind the wheel, telling you what route to go and why. Here’s an interesting post on the differences in branding, albeit not place branding, between Microsoft and Apple. Why does one brand struggle while the other flourishes? I’d say its the understanding of the audience.
This idea of audience plays an important role in our own lives, as well. Personal brands are something that have been coming up more and more in recent conversations, especially with the job market the way that it is. Your personal brand is becoming a way for you to open doors, or close them, and should be given the same type of consideration as a place brand or product brand would be. It is important to take your stakeholders into perspective when building a personal brand, because you never know what is coming next. You may think that it won’t matter that you posted pictures of binge drinking (buzz word) on Facebook until you don’t get a job because of it. Or that you ranted and raved in the comment section of a blog until you find out that blog is written by a client. You get the idea. Brands are meant to be enjoyed, lived and spread. Stakeholders are the medium through which that happens. Do right by your place (product, etc.) AND your audience in most any branding situation, and success will follow shortly behind.
