In Part 1 of my review of Brand Simple, I focused on brand-related definitions and an explanation of Allen Adamson’s 5 steps to helping your brand succeed.
Another key takeaway from the book is Adamson’s explanation of the Brand Asset Valuator (BAV) – an incredibly powerful proprietary diagnostic tool for understanding how a given brand is performing relative to all other brands in the market.
To begin the analysis you must score the brands for:
- Differentiation: How different is the brand from others in its category?
- Relevance: How relevant is the brand to its target audience?
- Esteem: Does the target audience like the brand?
- Knowledge: How much does the target audience know about the brand?
According to Adamson, there is no “correct” method for how you should develop a score for each – that is really up to you and the industry that you are in. If you are able to do primary research, these four questions could easily become objectives for a consumer survey. In an academic setting, you could secondary research to compare brands using the BAV. The key is to be scientific, keeping your analysis methods consistent across the different brands you are studying.
Based on those scores (i.e. the bar charts), your brand falls into one of four quadrants relative to Brand Stature and Brand Strength. As in most 2×2 tools, the top right quadrant is often considered the most interesting. Note that the difference between Leadership and Mass Market is differentiation. To reference some well known examples, Coke and Pepsi would likely be considered mass market, while Apple would likely be considered to be in a leadership position because it is more differentiated from its competition.
Adamson doesn’t spend a ton of time on this tool in his book, but it really could be an entire book on its own. He points out that the BAV is more than just a brand’s report card, it can be a diagnostic tool for identifying what areas the marketing team should focus on to improve the brand’s stature and strength. This type of methodical analysis can focus a fragmented strategy by identifying next steps for improvement.
I find that I go back to Brand Simple at least once a year for reference. To keep up with Adamson’s latest work and/or just to review the concepts covered in this book, check out the Brand Simple blog at http://www.brandsimple.com/blog/.
Rachel Colello
Zer0 to 5ive Senior Strategist
Twitter: @Rachel990306
Brand Simple, written by Landor Associates expert, Allen P. Adamson, is essentially a “brand bible.” First published in 2006, it explains in clear, actionable language, what the best brands know and how the most successful brands succeed. Yes, the examples are now six years old, but for me it is Adamson’s clear language that keeps this book relevant and useful.
[For a more comprehensive outline of the book itself, visithttp://www.brandsimple.com/]
Key takeaways from this book include:
1. Clear vocabulary and definitions
Brand idea: Simple, differentiated, and relevant meaning. What a brand stands for in people’s minds.
Branding: Process of creating and managing the signals that generate images and feelings about a brand.
Brand signals: Anything that is an expression of the brand idea.
By keeping it clear and simple, it is possible to define a brand in a useful way – bringing branding down from the concept clouds into the land of action.
2. Five steps to help your brand succeed:
- Establish your brand idea
- Capture the essence of your idea
- Get your employees engaged in the idea
- Consider your brand’s name
- Create brand signals beyond the name
For each one of these steps, Adamson shares simple tips that seem like common sense, but it is their simplicity that makes them actionable and useful.
Some of his tips include:
- When establishing your brand idea in step one, keep it simple! Get out of your office, talk to your customers, and don’t get bogged down in research (use it, but be cautious of drowning in it).
- It is important that the essence of your brand idea be clear. By identifying your brand driver, you’ll have the structure in place to then choose your name, symbols, and tagline.
- Adamson stresses the importance of dissecting the customer’s brand journey, and then working with your employees to ensure that the brand is carried consistently through each step of that journey. This method is not only a prudent way to think about the customer experience, but also to help ensure employee engagement.
- When creating the brand signals, it is important to go back to the basics and ensure that all four “P’s” of marketing are included: price, promotion, place, product. Seems obvious, but again, we need the reminder – it is all too easy to get caught up in new flashy logos and website designs.
Following Adamson’s methodical steps will help to ensure that your brand is comprehensively pulled through your entire marketing mix.
Stay tuned for Part 2 of my Brand Simple review, Adamson’s explanation of the Brand Asset Valuator!
Rachel Colello
Zer0 to 5ive Senior Strategist
Twitter: @Rachel990306