Branding. A DNA-based survival code?

About this whole brand idea.

It’s important; very important if you are a product manager, to have a crystal clear understanding of the basics. If you can’t explain branding, brands and brand management to someone in about 60-seconds, you are probably confused. And it wouldn’t be in the least bit surprising if you were; confused I mean. In the course of my 25 years in marketing, I’ve come across an interesting variety of ideas about brands, branding and brand management. And I have met many marketing professionals; some with their own ideas about brands and branding and surprisingly many who have never thought about it or who feel it’s not really all that important. And, this won’t surprise people in the medical marketing business; I’ve met many sales people and physicians who think medical professionals are above responding to branded marketing efforts. I’ve even met a VP Director of Marketing who believed fervently that “The internet has signaled the end of branding.” And have we ever made a simple thing complicated to learn. A quick google-search shows 40,500,000 web sites discussing branding in some way. Visit a local book store and check out the marketing shelves. I guarantee that you will see dozens of books on, you guessed it, branding. It’s so confusing it makes you want to crawl into bed and go fetal. But I promise, if you read the next few paragraphs and ask yourself a simple question; does this make sense?, you will have a clearer understanding than you’ve ever had before and you will feel more certainty about the things you do to persuade others to choose your brand. Let’s do it.

I like clarity.  So I’ll answer some basic questions simply, and clearly.

WHY EVEN BOTHER WITH BRANDING?

PEOPLE WANT EASY DECISIONS. IT’S IN THE DNA. The human decision-making process IMHO is largely based on branding. But not branding as most understand it. Branding as a core component of human nature. As a marketer, it’s important to understand human nature, because if you know how people make decisions you’ll learn how best to sell to them.  And you will really begin to understand how to build a great brand.

WHAT IS BRANDING?

Branding is an autonomic human decision-making mechanism that has been elemental in mankind’s rise to species dominance. It’s one of the reasons we dominate this planet in spite being a physically inferior species. Think of it this way. Branding is a human mechanism that helps us make the best decisions, fastest, bettering our chance of surviving… longest. Because this is an autonomic process rooted in our DNA, we have no choice in whether we brand or not. We can no more stop branding than we could willingly stop breathing. We brand everything, all day, every day. Branding is the process of mentally sifting through the onslaught of everyday information and making decisions…about everything. You branded your husband. You brand your children and your friends and relatives. You brand streets and neighbourhoods. You brand countries and groups. We do this as a means of organizing our world so that we can make good decisions, fast. What does this DNA-based survival code look like in our modern world, where we no longer compete with other species for dominance? The modern equivalent of SURVIVAL is SUCCESS. We now use our innate ability to brand, to self-promote the modern version of survival – success. And we do it from the moment we gain consciousness. A baby knows it’s mother very quickly, and comes to know father, brother, sister etc. very quickly thereafter. KEY CONCLUSION: MAKE DECISIONS EASIER FOR YOUR CUSTOMERS, AND YOUR CUSTOMERS WILL LOVE YOU.

WHAT IS A BRAND? A brand is quite simply, an idea that has found a well lit parking spot in your brain.  Some examples: Your favorite coffee shop. The fastest route to work. Everest (world’s highest mountain).  Miss Universe (world’s most beautiful woman). Green (the environment). Red white and blue (USA). A man walks down the street wearing a hoodee jacket, dark sunglasses…most women instantly brand him “dangerous” and cross to the other side of the street or walk carefully past him. When you meet someone new, you are almost subconsciously, instantly evaluating everything.  Appearance, smell and sound create an immediate impression that effects your decision to want to know more or not.

WHAT IS PROFESSIONAL BRAND MANAGEMENT? The things a professional marketer does to make it easier for their customer to choosing their product or idea. My job as an ad agency professional is simple. I make decisions easier to make.

So next time a doctor says that marketing plays no role in their selection process, smile, nod politely and continue branding your product and ideas, because whether they believe or not, you are lighting up a parking space in their brain where your product or idea will sit, waiting, patiently, until the next time the good doctor needs to make a decision quickly.

IDEAS

This is a forum for ideas. And my first idea is to ask you for yours. If you have a question about marketing you’d like us to address, just ask it and we will respond to you, personally.

COMMENTS

Comments are welcome. Post your thoughts here, but remember kids, this is a public place so let’s keep it clean.

Thanks, and stay in closer touch with me at twitter:

www.twitter.com/lawrencebinding