Key to this effort was finding an effective way to link the successful aspects of the Intel Inside campaign with the corporate brand itself, while simultaneously giving the brand a broader purview and a deeper meaning, letting it lead the next generation of technology advancements. And, like UPS, the rebranding set a bold new vision for the company. It absorbed the positive equities of the ingredient campaign, linked to the products in a more meaningful way, and inspired a large ecosystem of stakeholders, including employees, investors, partners, consumers and suppliers.
The lesson learned with Intel is that brands rarely exist in isolation. Often, the power of a brand has to be understood in relation to other brands and their inherent associations. Harnessing a brand fully can only come from comprehending the complete ecosystem of value created and the role of all the brands at play. Ideally, value is created from the parent down to the children, yet on occasion value goes in the other direction.
AMERICAN AIRLINES
Rebranding American Airlines represented nearly ten years of pursuing, cajoling, and pitching various leaders and executives. After nearly a decade focused on cutting costs, senior management realized that they needed to focus on delivering the best possible customer experience, starting with replacing an aging fleet with 600 new aircraft. This decision opened the door to reinventing the passenger journey from top to bottom. To showcase these important initiatives, American Airlines embarked on a comprehensive re-branding program.
As part of a consortium of companies from the Interpublic Group (a collection of marketing agencies) tasked with the airline’s brand revitalization effort, Claude Salzberger was invited to lead the FutureBrand team responsible for the evolution of the airline’s 40 year-old corporate identity. Claude notes: “The opportunity for American Airlines was to seize an important moment to re-define a nation’s flying experience and opportunity to restore the airline’s once proud stature in aviation. Perhaps more than any other industry, airlines present the challenge of having to seamlessly integrate the new brand across a diverse set of channels, touchpoints, and experiences. From planning your trip through to pre-check-in, check-in, in-flight and post flight, the entire customer journey is one continuous, revolving interface with the brand.”
As the customer journey has become increasingly enhanced by digital touch-points and channels, online check-ins, mobile apps, check-in kiosks, gate monitors, in-flight entertainment systems, and interfaces, managing the role and expression of the brand is key. Behind these screens are a range of systems, apps, and tools, all driven by disparate technologies, linked to even more sources of data and layers of digital infrastructure. Although the rebranding of physical elements is thought to be more costly and complicated, now the electronic domain presents an even greater transformation challenge.
To that end, the MBLM team worked tirelessly to ensure a consistent user experience that would express the brand personality to the fullest, understanding the effort and importance required to align and bring a new brand to life across its complex digital universe. To reimagine things like the mobile and online social experience, gates, and kiosks, we applied four guiding principles—personalization, consistency, simplicity, and usability. Recognizing the important role that stronger bonds can play, we created modular graphic user interface kits, digital guidelines, and detailed product specifications to enable these principles to scale and ensure a consistent user experience that would express the brand personality to the fullest.
The takeaway here is that the power behind cohesion and a consistent customer experience reaches across all touchpoints, of which digital is the most critical. How people experience a brand at any moment has impact, so ensuring consistent, frictionless engagement is paramount.
AMBITION AND SCALE
THE PALM
When a product is the brand, you’re generally working with a straightforward relationship, one that determines the connection between what is offered and how you want consumers to feel about it. From bubbles fizzing in your mouth to the smoothness of your shave, product brands have tangible, tactile powers that provide fertile ground in which to anchor a brand.
So imagine the challenge to define a brand when it is the world’s largest man-made island still five or more years from completion. The scale and complexity of this ambition was unparalleled, and changed our very understanding of what a brand can do or be—more than a product or a logo, it can be an icon, an inspiration, a community, even a destination.
In the case of The Palm (unnamed at the time), we were presented with something otherworldly, completely off the charts in terms of boldness and uniqueness. Compounding matters was that the development was located in the then little-known emirate of Dubai, in the Arabian Gulf, run by a handful of trusted government employees with no corporate entity and no real estate experience.
The secret of Dubai quickly became clear—visionary leadership. From the ruler, Sheikh Mohammed, to his trio of senior executives could be found the perfect combination of ambition, desire, and the ability to make things happen. With determination, speed, and focus as goals, we had to completely reinvent the very concept of brand building for a scale and pace that was never seen before.
What’s more, The Palm project forced us to define what a brand stood for years before it existed in reality, while giving it credibility, confidence, and wonder. “Owning the Eighth Wonder of the World” was our bold positioning for The Palm. The key word here was the first one—own. The Palm represented the first example of freehold property in the emirate, and so we chose to highlight this quality in every aspect of its emerging brand. To complement the strong language was a logo and visual style that was restrained, elegant, and premium. Materials were produced to portray a statement of professionalism and trust. This was a dream that was going to be made real; this was going to change the world of real estate and travel destinations. We stressed that this was something not just to believe in, but to be a part of.
The scale of this project also necessitated a range of unusual branding needs from naming every street on the island based on local date palm species to a program that branded an airship to deliver VIP experiences to owners and new prospects alike. And when your brand is something that is literally visible from outer space, you try to find every way possible to showcase the view of the product—and, in some cases, lift buyers and prospects, literally flying above the man-made island to appreciate The Palm from the air.
And the work didn’t end there. A complete brand foundation was created long before there was even a marketing department or a sales center. We designed renderings and drawings before there were finished plans and defined the language that would create the diverse products that were purchased at record rates and levels from buyers around the world.
The Palm helped put Dubai’s right foot forward on the global stage. And it was brand that led the way, for both the product and the business. It truly is a world-class destination of unique appeal and grandeur—a place formed by the vision of a few and a strong brand enjoyed by many and visible from space.
It taught us the importance of being bold and innovative, charting new waters and creating strong bonds with customers, even years in advance of a brand being complete. We learned to try and trial new ways to go to market, to not be afraid to experiment and to truly celebrate ambition and scale.
MEXICO
As if the world’s largest man-made island wasn’t challenge enough, how about the ambition of an entire country? We were hired to develop a new visual identity and positioning for Mexico, one of the world’s 10 most popular tourist destinations. The brand needed to represent the best of Mexico from its millenary heritage, colonial legacy and diverse landscapes to its vibrant culture and modernity. Further complicating matters was the sheer breadth and variety of its considerable target audiences. Thus, any change made to the brand would need to add value to multiple marketing initiatives across a number of state, regional, and city tourism boards, as well as across varied travel indu
stry sectors.
A multitier brand message and strategy was developed to appeal to key constituents, such as tourists, those working in the tourism industry, foreign investors, trade-makers, and international leaders. Effective relationships among all these stakeholders needed to be established, all while creating a powerful visual brand expression.
We thought the real challenge would be finding a singular focus within such a complex assignment, one that would allow us to take full advantage of Mexico’s diverse history and culture. We then realized that the brand’s focus should actually be the nation’s richness and breadth; that bonds could be built through highlighting authentic cuisine, architectural grandeur, striking nature and compelling history. The new Mexico country brand would thus visualize a place that has been in evolution for centuries.
Color was used to demonstrate elements inherent to Mexico’s culture, including merriment, history, optimism and cultural diversity, while each letter of the logo contained a decorative motif that represents a specific aspect of the offering as well as key features of the country.
Advancing the development of the country brand was a global launch strategy. We designed a number of communication materials and initiatives, such as the Brand Ambassadorship Program, where leading personalities of the culture, art, trade, sports, and entertainment sectors were recruited to spread the new message beyond traditional media, reaching out worldwide to celebrate and promote a nation with a unique human spirit. Additionally, MBLM established a new digital platform that would delight visitors by enriching the content and creating a curated, personalized experience for each key market segment. Engaging planning tools were also created to leverage the nation’s rich offerings. The site’s colorful design furthered the essence of Mexico’s country brand and reinforced the geographical and cultural diversity that makes Mexico a truly unique destination.
Mexico taught us that a rich, diverse country’s brand should be celebrated, not contained, and that destinations, with their experiential nature, should demonstrate their essence at every turn. Our digital work in concert with the brand development expanded the ability of the brand to build closer connections with travelers. Aligning multiple constituents under a single country banner also demonstrated the importance of coordinated marketing initiatives that together could change perception, versus disparate efforts that siloed mindshare. As Eduardo Calderon, one of the founding partners of MBLM noted, “We were able to help shape a brand that different regions, cities and agencies could rally around and be proud of. It created a stronger Mexico country brand and clearly a more cohesive experience.”
CULTURE AND ALIGNMENT
PayPal
Great brands are reflective of aligned and strong cultures, and the single biggest variable of any brand-building effort is employee adoption. Often overlooked or underappreciated, the time and energy required to effectively align and inspire internal stakeholders to evangelize on behalf of the brand is vital. Likewise, the role that all related partners, agencies, and vendors can play in building a brand is too frequently underutilized.
For nearly two decades, we’ve paid special attention to this aspect of brand launch and management, and have developed proprietary tools and techniques in order to effectively control the way a brand is evolved and nurtured. What began as software to manage the dissemination of assets and information for a brand in the mid-90’s has evolved to become a platform for social collaboration, engagement, and real-time help. Our proprietary software solution, BrandOS, has developed into a simpler and smarter way to equip brands to grow, adapt, and deliver in a 24/7 dynamic global marketplace.
One company using our software platform is PayPal. We were introduced to PayPal after they had rebranded. They were looking to sunset a range of different platforms and tools to simplify their brand management functions and promote internal adoption. PayPal needed to find ways to better arm their employees and partners with research and insights, and were also eager to inform and inspire internal teams and their networks of partners and agencies about their new brand. BrandOS provided them with a customized solution that effectively enabled their brand to be managed, maintained, and advanced across borders, geographies, and languages. From tactical requests to in-depth governance requirements, the software works to align cultures and brands by providing a platform for employees and partners to connect and bond with their brand, along with the resources to manage the brand more effectively.
PayPal taught us the importance not only of the message, but the medium. A powerful, user friendly tool that builds collaboration is a far more effective way of ensuring a marketing department’s success than uncooperative systems and uninspired platforms.
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PARADIGM SHIFT
The combination of a dramatically altered corporate dynamic and a seismic shift in the marketplace has prompted us to examine these forces in more detail. We have summarized three undeniable factors that are driving the need for a new paradigm in how we measure, build and manage brands.
BRANDS TODAY
The way we build, disseminate and engage with brands has changed drastically. The rules of the past—the one-way push approach from product to user and the role of a catchy name, logo or tagline—defines only part of the challenge for marketers today.
Brand is at the heart of this book. We have been in awe of the power of brands for over 20 years and are proud to have built some truly iconic ones. We have experienced their magic, been seduced by their siren song, and become devotees as well as architects of them.
We are also big believers in the power of brands. When a brand is strong, it commands price premiums, obtains a larger percentage of share, and outperforms its competitors. Brands also foster deep relationships and powerful bonds that can last a lifetime or more, passed down to the next generation. How many of us use the same laundry detergent our mothers did? Or still buy the same food brands?
That said, we’ll be the first to admit that the ways we interacted with brands 20 years ago are no longer relevant for today. So, we wonder, why should our methods for measuring, building and managing brands remain the same? We believe the best brands remain optimized for the world we now live in. While change is unsettling, it’s nevertheless clear that new thinking is needed to better align brands to the way they can thrive today. Brand is no longer just art and science; it’s psychology, technology, and just a bit of new religion.
While the definition of a “brand” originally meant a mark made by burning, intended to indicate a specific kind or make (such as branding cattle), its context has largely remained the same: a specific product, service or company; a relationship; a preferred connection; the sum of all associations, expectations and experiences that result in someone selecting a product or service over another. We believe “brand” is a term that has been hijacked and co-opted in modern parlance. Diluted, overused, and too often relegated to the land of aesthetics or inane campaigns—places of meaningless superficiality and transience. As the real meaning of brand is being eroded, so too is its potential to be effectively leveraged by business.
Part of this is because just what is considered a brand and what a brand means has changed drastically. Traditionally, brands were products or companies seeking to define (or redefine) their reputation and deliver a service or function. Today, brands are apps, people, political parties, countries, and sports teams, to name only a few variants. The methods of the past—the push approach which literally broadcasts the brand’s message to the masses in a one-way mode—are today only marginally relevant.
Let’s take a step back. In the past, smart companies would use market research to segment consumers and define a target audience. They would quantify the perceptions, wants, and needs of this target audience, and then craft a brand positioning that leveraged the brand’s strengths, differentiated the brand from the competition, and created a relevant and appealing proposition for target consumers. This brand strategy would be handed off to execute or activate with marketin
g, advertising and PR agencies, to name a few. Each would figure out the most effective ways to communicate the brand’s key messages to reach and win over the target audience. A unique and memorable brand identity would be created, campaigns would be built, media relations would manage perceptions, reputation, and manage crisis. Brand managers would then maintain and adapt the brand to evolving needs.
This approach (in one form or another) has been industry best practice, at least in most Western industrialized countries, from the end of World War II until the Internet boom in the latter days of the twentieth century. And it’s a very clear, linear chain, from establishing the value of a product or service to communicating it and finally optimizing it. Authorship of the brand is clear and the target consumer is fixed, defined and quantified.
If you’re a brand today, just being noticed—rising above the saturation in the marketplace—is a major challenge. The average consumer now receives 5,000 marketing messages a day.1 The average person now watches 12 hours of media each day and checks their phone over 110 times a day.2 Staying relevant and remaining trusted is a perpetual struggle.
And this is because brands are being redefined by their users, not their creators. What a brand stands for—how it behaves, relates, and appears in a customer’s life—is now heavily influenced by consumers. Perhaps that’s why 84 percent of millennials don’t trust traditional advertising.3 Therefore, how you create a brand, how it communicates and interfaces (and how often) must evolve in order to be effective. Five out of six millennials connect with companies on social media, and are seven times more likely to give out their personal information to a trusted brand.4
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