Al Ries: What Makes a Good Brand

Focus -
Know what you want to do with your brand
Mr Ries illustrated with Motorola and Nokia mobile phones as examples. Few people know it but Motorola actually invented the cell phone. Yet today because Motorola diversified into other mobile communications products, besides cell phones, it lost its focus and market share to Finnish mobile phone giant, Nokia. The ironical twist was, he added, Nokia used to do all the things that Motorola did. Then it chose to focus on cell phones alone.

Law of Expansion -
When you expand your brand, you weaken it
This was how Motorola lost its market share - by trying too hard to do other things beyond its core invention. Nokia on the other hand, saw the danger of doing too many things and stuck to cell phones only.

Law of Contraction -
A brand becomes stronger when you narrow its focus
This explains why Starbucks can succeed simply by selling coffee at premium prices. Likewise for Subway which focuses strictly on selling submarine sandwiches. Law of Opposites - Decide who your enemy is and then build the opposite This is works particularly well when you want to challenge a market leader. Mr Ries explained how Pepsi managed to be a strong Number 2 to Coca Cola. Coke is may be the Real Thing but it is 122 years old after all. So who wants to drink the cola that your parents - and even your grandparents - drank? Pepsi chose to market itself as the trendy cola for the new Pepsi generation.

Al Golin: Getting Real with Trust and Goodwill

A public relations legend with a remarkable track record of over 50 years, Alvin Golin is Founder and Chairman of Chicago-based GolinHarris, an international PR consultancy with 32 offices worldwide. At the Global Brand Forum, he spoke on "Why it is time for brands to get real". Here are Al Golin's reality rules for brands that last.

Be real. Be genuine.
Being real and genuine are vital in maintaining a brand and even a company's reputation in today's networked world where bad news travels fast. "Build deposits of goodwill in a trust bank," Mr Golin advised. "You will need to draw on this trust bank in a crisis."

He gave the example of the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty which used real women with real bodies and wrinkles instead of super-thin models with air-brushed assets.

Keep your customers close
The best way to do this, he suggested, is to make real connections with your customers: "It's important to know what you're good at and make sure you continue to give it to your clients."

He cited how McDonald's (his first customer who has stayed with him for over 50 years) recruited mothers as their Moms Quality Correspondents. These mothers visited McDonald's kitchens to see how food was prepared so they could talk about the healthfulness of fast food.

If you've got it, you don't need to flaunt it
Mr Golin insisted it is important to "practise humility even if you have a lot to brag about." Today's customers look for "real" people with a little humility and lots of authenticity" before they will trust a brand. Reality should start from the top so CEOs cannot afford to let their egos or success go to their heads. Look what happened in the Enron scandal, he said.

Celebrate your workforce
In the same spirit of being genuine and humble, recognising your employees for their contribution will go a long way in connecting with your customers, stakeholders and the community you live and work in.

Branding Qs & As

There were several burning questions for Mr Ries after the panel discussion. Here are the three most strategic ones:

1 Why is focus so important? How to expand yet stay focused?

See my Laws of Expansion and Contraction. Want to grow without cannibalizing on your brand? Launch a second brand under a different name. Fashion houses do it all the time. American designer Donna Karan has her ready-to-wear DKNY range. In the same vein, Lexus is Toyota's premium luxury marque.

2 How do I price my new product competitively?

Every product category has room for three price levels - high, medium and low. You have more PR potential with a higher price while a low price has more mass market appeal.

One way to help you identify your product's marketable features is to "launch" it say, six months before it's even available. This was what Apple did with their IPhone. Launch it with PR before it hits the stores. Media will write about it and then you can read the reviews and use them to help narrow the focus of your marketing collaterals.

3 Can I do short-term marketing?

When you invest in marketing, it is for the long haul for 10 to 20 years. Good marketing lasts a long time. Take, for example, diamond giant De Beers' tagline "A Diamond is Forever". This famous tagline was created for De Beers 57 years ago when men gave their wives gold wedding bands, not engagement rings. Yet it still resonates with consumers today half a century later, persuading people that they need to spend at least two months' salary on a shiny little rock that lasts "forever". ET