I am the greatest

Outstanding Brands and their strategy

13. Februar 2023 - verfasst von Denise Bures

A brand represents so much more than just a logo, a cool colour palette, a mission statement or a slogan. Similarly, a brand strategy is more than sticking your brand identity over everything of what you create and do. Brand strategy defines the unique identity of a brand and connects all activities in terms of market success. As with any type of strategy, brand strategy requires a conscious thought about the questions of who, what, where, when, why and how behind your brand.

A good brand concept is the most important start for every brand. What's the first thing you think of the brand dyson? Maybe cordless hoovers. Or innovative hair styling appliances. Or the insane desire to furnish your home with futuristic home appliances. And don't forget the coolers! That's right: this is what a strong brand concept looks like in action.

In October 2022, the last COSCAMP takes place in Graz. students Sansani Bauer, Sophia Kraft, Katharina Sosulski and Emilia Stöckler decided to show how it’s done.

Here’s a review of the session “Outstanding Brands” of the COS22 students Leonie Nedden, Bianca Christandl and Allie Bridge. I will sum the session up by going into the relevance of a good brand strategy and by using examples that make the enormous power of branding even more understandable and connect it to a brand's own goals.

"Your brand is by far the most important investment you can make in your business." (Steve Forbes)

What is a brand strategy?

A brand strategy is the long-term roadmap to achieve a set of equally long-term goals that will ultimately lead to your brand being recognised and preferred by consumers. A successful brand strategy includes the brand's mission, its promises to customers and how these will be communicated.

Often being misunderstood, a brand strategy is not the result of your logo, colour palette or website - although these creative elements are an essential part of a a successful brand strategy. A brand strategy is all about immaterial elements that build brand awareness, brand equity and brand loyalty over time.

Brand positioning communicates the values, benefits and ideals of your particular brand to customers. It is a holistic strategy that uses various individual elements such as logos or slogans to show that your company stands out from the competition with the most important values.

Why is a brand strategy so important?

If you don't know who you are, why your business exists, what you believe in or what to aim for, your business will suffer. From problems in customer communications to the perception of your brand, the lack of a brand strategy leads to problems at all levels of an organisation.

A brand strategy helps you understand what your company's purpose is, what your vision, mission or values are. Based on this, you also reach your marketing and general business decisions to reflect these values. With a defined and coherent brand message, your content can be unified and you can clearly present your brand to the market. Visibility and positioning in the market are guaranteed for your brand.

Matching brand positioning to target groups

A brand positioning strategy is always aimed at a specific target group. This is because a brand does not have to appeal to everyone, but only help a selected group with certain needs. Therefore, brand positioning is preceded by a target group definition. This is the only way to ensure that the brand appeals to the desired consumers. If the brand positioning has to be changed, it is often a matter of reaching a new target group.

Braun

Business example

Braun was founded in 1921 in Germany and is selling electronic devices. Some of their first Products where Radio receiver. At the beginning they had strong awareness amongst older demographics and little relevance for younger markets. After the sudden death of 61-year-old Max Braun they created a new look & feel and a new communication strategy. This was the beginning of brand appearance. Erwin Braun saw the company not only as a business project, but also as a cultural one. They hired Authoritys for design and brand appearance, especially to get a new visual experience, a corporate design.

Then as now, Braun stands for quality and outstanding design. They used graphic design and testimonials, which guaranteed them eye-catching moments to gain the attention of the consumers. Campaigns like “Shaveyourstyle.com”, a niche content hub based entirely on beards, established a need for consumers to use Braun products to help shape their own identity.

Dyson

Business example

You can find quotes for the Dyson brand such as "The Apple of hoovers".

Dyson is an innovative, technology company not just any other company. This is the basis of its marketing communication that is different. The basis for this consideration is the specific competence of the brand, its credibility, its reputation and its appeal. In the BarCamp, the speaker asked the audience the following question: "When you think of the brand Dyson, what terms/keywords come to your mind? The audience gave answers such as "problem solver", "brand innovator", "technology brand", "trendsetter" or even "high priced products"

“Our mission is simple - we solve the problems other seem to ignore.” (James Dyson)

The British technology brand dyson is known for high-quality, aesthetically exceptionally good-looking and expensive high-tech hoovers. With their focus on problem-solving ability, the brand has taken it as their mission to make consumers' everyday lives easier. In recent years, the brand has successfully transferred that expertise to products in the dryer and fan categories in addition to hoovers. In 2016, dyson launched a hand-held hairdryer in a class of its own. From a branding point of view, this example is an extremely successful brand innovation. After all, when expanding into the new product category, dyson paid very close attention to sticking to the brand's competencies.

As a real problem solver, dyson ensures low noise levels when blow-drying, protects against overheating, is very convenient to use, offers aesthetics in everyday life through sophisticated design, and so on. This case shows very well how successful it is to transfer the typical top performance of a brand to a new product. Due to this wave of success, the brand name has also managed to establish itself as a proper name on the market: "I have a Dyson at home. (generic brand name=deonyms)

Airup

Business example

Air up has developed a globally unique drinking bottle system that can give water flavour only through scent. The original idea came from a bachelor's thesis in product design.

So what is the success story of the brand? The AirUp water bottle uses the science of retronasal smell. The pods transport natural flavors through your mouth up to your nose, where your brain interprets the scent as flavor. That’s how plain water can taste like Cucumber. A Startup from Germany, which was founded in 2018 created a game changing technology by drinking water. It sounds really simple by the topic, but it changes life of many people in a healthy and sustainable way. The brand is known from the TV show “Höhle der Löwen”, where they got an investor deal. But also, international companies like Pepsi and Stars like Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher invested in the niche brand. Airup’s slogan is “Healthy and sustainable lifestyle can be so simple. Thanks to 100% natural taste, only through scent.”

The world's first air-based hydration system. It’s a healthy and sustainable alternative to soft drinks like coke. With their bright colors, colorful pictures as well as their easy and simple wordings, the teenage slang and use of emojis, they focus on a young audience. They created a brand strategy on the mythm of happening. Because so many people wanted to try because of the mystery, if it is working or not. So the brand and the main idea behind is always the topic of conversation. Another great way, how a successful brand strategy could look like.

Duolingo

Business example

Duo is a big green bird who is successful on social media especially on TikTok. And he is the face of the language learning app Duolingo. The company was founded in 2011 by two IT scientists in Pittsburgh and is listed since 2021. The Mission of Duolingo is to personalize education, making learning fun and getting the content universally accessible.

“We created Duolingo so that everyone could have a chance. Free language education – no hidden fees, no premium content, just free.” (Founder of Duolingo)

The company focus on the storyline of Duo. During Covid Duolingo goes viral on TikTok. On TikTok they have 4,9 million follower and 98 million Likes. But they are not only posting videos. There is also an intense interaction with the community and other brands. Duolingos approach of TikTok changed how brands are interacting on social media (for example Empire State Building, Ryanair). The true value in Duolingo’s success on TikTok highlights their willingness to test and learn on new platforms. The platform opened up a new audience of younger technology users. The key here is not just joining to join but finding the right channel to find your target audience. This strategy has turned Duolingo into a pop-culture icon for a new generation – and has resulted in brand growth for them as well.

So Duolingo gained a big community. On the one side their goal is to offer free education and on the other side Duo is their personal little mascot in being visible with the brand.

Conclusion

We all know it by now. There is this one key word that comes to the foreground again and again: brand strategy. A brand strategy or brand positioning can be well likened to a to-do list. Both contain information about what needs to be done so that everything can be done properly.

A strong brand must do the following:

- It creates awareness

- It gives orientation to the customer and differentiates itself

- It inspires the target group and turns customers into fans

Developing a brand strategy does not mean investing enormous sums in building your brand. Not at all. And just because it works for one brand doesn't mean it works for all. Rather, it is crucial to recognise the importance of brand management and brand strategy for the success of the company. The brand is important, very important. This is applicable to B2B as well as to B2C. Test new channels, try new things and learn what works best for your brand. Just like Duolingo.

---