Make your brand identity and your marketing statements deliver deep meaning to your audience.

It’s tough keep up with all the different types of marketing and brand statements needed by all the PR, marcom, and advertising folks. Here’s a brief summary of the brand identity construct with the value proposition, positioning statement, mission statement, elevator statement (or pitch), and vision statement. I have tried to describe whether internally or externally focused—and how to simply write them.

The way I remember this stuff is that Brand Identity/Business Strategy is the core of your business and is not one statement—but a number of constructs—that taken together give a rich representation of your brand (below is one for Virgin) .

Within the brand identity, we find the brand essence or the soul of an organization; the core identity, those 2-4 critical associations that define the core values, promise, and key differentiation of a company; the extended identity, where we bring in personality, leadership associations and symbols to provide richness and texture to an often terse core identity. We also have the important value proposition, with its functional, emotional, and self-expressive elements and we have the customer-brand relationship construct.

So what is your Brand Identity/Business Strategy, in its simplist form? It’s is a bullet list of associations and dimensions, that when viewed together, builds a differentiated picture reflecting top management’s promise to customers. Dimensions include the long-term, strategic elements that must be generated by the CEO and/or CMO that will build brand equity in contrast to the short-term tactical model of managing brand images—usually left to outside agencies.

Examples of elements included in Brand Identity/Business strategy are strategic vision, corporate culture and differentiation. Companies collect stories, write books and create videos and internal learning training programs (such as Nordstrom) to make their bullet list of brand identity/business strategy associations come alive to teach new hires.

Virgin Brand Identity

Brand Essence

• Iconoclasm

Core Identity

• Service Quality

            Consistent best-of-category quality delivered with fun and flair

• Innovation

            First with truly innovative value-added features and services

• Fun and Entertainment

A fun and entertaining company

• Value for money

Provide value in all its offerings, never just the high-priced option

Extended identity        

• Underdog

Fighting the established bureaucratic firm with new creative offerings

• Personality
  • flaunts the rules
  • Sense of humor, even outrageous
  • Underdog, willing to attack the establishment
  • Competent, always does a good job, high standards
• Virgin Symbols
  • Branson and his perceived lifestyle
  • Virgin blimp
  • Virgin script logo

Value Proposition

• Functional Benefits
  • A value offering with quality, plus innovative extras delivered with flair and humor
• Emotional benefits
  • Pride in linking with the underdog with an attitude
  • Fun, good times
• Self-Expressive benefits
  • Willingness to go against the establishment

Relationship                                     

• Customers are fun companions

Brand Leadership by David A. Aaker and Erich Joachimshtaler

The point is that if your employees get a clear message of organizational priorities, they can make day-to-day decisions reflecting them and present a clear, consistent experience to customers. I recommend that you read Brand Leadership by David A. Aaker and Erich Joachimshtaler to get lots of ideas on how to elaborate on and present your brand identity/business strategy. As I mentioned though, I believe company stories are the single most powerful way to clarify your brand and make it stick in the minds of all your stakeholders.

Positioning statements

A positioning statement is a brief, but very accurate, message that explains what a company is, what it does and most important, how it’s different from competitors. A positioning statement is externally focused.

A positioning statement is a challenging exercise for many reasons, including: (1) the statement must place a company within context of the external “system” it already occupies; (2) the competition must be the reference point, (3) the statement has to be brief (because people have very short attention spans) and (4) every part must be defensible.

The fact that a company has a positioning statement means it’s been able to reach consensus about how it views and talks about itself. If you can’t agree on a simple, defensible way to talk about your company, then how do you ensure a common frame of reference, a common purpose, a common view?

The positioning statement template of choice was authored by Geoffrey Moore. The framework goes like this:
For (target customers)
Who (have the following problem)
Our product is a (describe the product or solution)
That provides (cite the breakthrough capability)
Unlike (reference competition),
Our product/solution (describe the key point of competitive differentiation)

Here’s a filled-in template Moore developed for SGI years ago when they were at their peak:
For movie producers and others
Who depend heavily on post-production special effects,
Silicon Graphics provides computer workstations
That integrate digital fantasies with actual film footage.
Unlike any other vendor of computer workstations,
SGI has made a no-compromise commitment to meeting film-makers’ post-production needs.

Mission statements

Mission statements have been the rage within corporations for years because they unify employees around a common set of goals and objectives. A mission statement is a corporation’s mantra, its raison d’etre. It describes the overall purpose of an organization.

Some mission statements are quite elaborate. Mission statements don’t usually address the issue of competitive differentiation which is the heart and soul of a positioning statement. A mission statement can also include a company’s value system. Mission statements often become visible externally.

Mission Statement example:
The American Red Cross is a humanitarian organization, led by volunteers, that provides relief to victims of disasters and helps people prevent, prepare for and respond to emergencies.

Elevator statements

An elevator statement is the shortest possible explanation of “what a company does.” The term refers to a person’s ability to tell a stranger—in an elevator between floors —what their company does with brevity and accuracy. A classic elevator statement would take one minute to say. Positioning statements can be used to develop brief elevator statements.
Here’s a great example from Volvo abbreviating the Moore positioning template:

“For safety conscious car buyers, Volvo is the automobile provider that keeps you and your family safe.”

Vision statements

A vision statement is aspirational. Unlike a positioning statement, it does not focus on defining who your company is or how it’s different. It is not internally focused like a mission statement. Rather, it focuses on a definition of what the company is trying to be and achieve.

Talk about a vision statement with vision! The following was written in 1888 by Northwestern Mutual Life (The Quiet Company). Note how the statement is aspirational:
“The ambition of Northwestern has been less to be large than to be safe; its aim is to rank first in benefits to policy owners rather than first in size.”

Here’s a vision statement by Levi Strauss:
“We all want a company that our people are proud of and committed to, where all employees have an opportunity to contribute, learn, grow and advance based on merit, not politics or background. We want our people to feel respected, treated fairly, listened to and involved. Above all, we want satisfaction from accomplishments and friendships, balanced personal and professional lives, and to have fun in our endeavors.”

^{Nokia Brand and Design Priorities - A Very Human Story}

^{Roy: Just to recap, we are speaking with Lee Ann Morse, brand advisor at Marketing Accelerated from NYC and Jerusalem, Israel. Lee Ann is coaching us on how we can strengthen our brands on a shoestring budget. The first part of the interview discussed the importance of ensuring that a company’s business strategy and brand identity are one and the same. We used the example of Virgin and saw that remembering the brand/strategy elements in a way that would make them inspirational and actionable was easier with an acronym.}

^{In the second post, Lee Ann told the Richard Branson David and Goliath challenge story to illustrate how the story contained the Virgin company business strategy/brand elements. Moreover, the brand elements were elaborated to a degree that Virgin employees could not only draw inspiration from the story, but draw actionable information to make everyday trade-offs and practical decisions. “What would Richard say?”, became concretely expressed. And finally, Lee Ann described how to create a company culture favorable to story spotting and scooping. In this way, you can collect your own powerful brand stories to inspire your employees and propel your brand organically.}

^{You’ve mentioned that business strategy should = brand identity. For those of us new to the formal branding process, how do we arrive at a solid list of business strategy/core brand identity elements?}

^{Lee Ann: There are nine questions I have my clients ask themselves to qualify their brand elements (not all brand elements are used in any one particular context):}

1.    ^{Is it believable?}

2.    ^{Can we prove it?}

3.    ^{Does it energize employees?}

4.    ^{Has it been accepted by employees as critical?}

5.     ^{Is it “sticky” and does it resonate with customers?}

6.    ^{Does it serve to differentiate our brand from the competition?}

7.     ^{Does it strengthen our perception of the company’s brand identity?}

8.    ^{Does it capture an element important to the brand and its ability to provide customer value or support customer relationships?}

 ^{Roy: I’ve read a lot about differentiation. How do you successfully differentiate your product or service and (1) not be imitated by your competitors, and (2) have success with customers?}

^{Lee Ann: The simple secret of successful differentiation is: Don’t look for it around the core benefits of your product or service category; rather, think “off-core differentiation.”}

^{“Core benefits” are the benefits that the consumer already expects to receive from your product or service. This is the list of what’s important to your customer. “Core benefits” are more than the essential product benefits. The core benefits of today’s hand-held devices include much more than video and the potential of conducting a mobile conversation. Consumer expections and feature creep have already been built into to the core benefits. These are the benefits that all of your competitors offer, and will continue to refine like a steamroller ready to run you down because they define the essence of the product. It is simply impossible to compete in the market without them.}

^{According to Dan Herman, PhD, “That is precisely why—if you really invest your efforts, and are truly innovative and make a major breakthrough in improving core benefits—do you know what will happen? They’ll imitate you at warp speed. You must understand that in that case, your competitors can’t allow themselves not to imitate you. You’d do exactly the same thing.”}

^{Roy: Can you give some examples of misguided focus on core benefits?}

• ^{Nokia invested a fortune transforming its handsets into beautiful design pieces. Then Motorola and every other extant competitor washed away its design strategy in one quarter.}
• ^{Starbucks thought that its coffee shops would be cozier and look more like a neighborhood hangout if all their chairs weren’t all identical and if they had easy chairs and sofas. What a great idea! Today, you’ll find it in almost every coffee shop in the world.}
• ^{Colgate Palmolive combined all of the known beneficial characteristics of toothpaste and created Total. The innovation caught on completely. I would dare to say that there isn’t even one manufacturer in the world that hasn’t imitated the idea, first and foremost Crest from P&G.}

^{Nokia Brand and Design Priorities - A Very Human Story}

^{Roy: How do you create a differentiation that won’t be imitated?}

^{Lee Ann: You have to think beyond the core benefits that are (already or even just in potential) considered important in your market. The companies that have succeeded in maintaining their differentiation over the years and weren’t imitated even though they were making tremendous profits are those that innovated in qualities beyond the core benefits of their market”}

^{Apple is a great example of this. At the beginning, its differentiation was an operating system with a user-friendly interface. As computer users increasingly became mainstream folks and not designers or computer pros, that user friendliness became an important core benefit. Could Microsoft afford not to imitate it?}

^{Over the past few years, Apple has changed its differentiation strategy. Now, its differentiation is based on sophisticated design, an approach that views the computer as a part of the well-designed office, with the Powerbook, iPod, and iPhone as showpieces. Has anyone invested in imitating its computer design?}

^{Let’s return to our Virgin example. As an airline, Virgin Atlantic is not any better than any of the other companies. It doesn’t have better planes or more comfortable seats. It’s not on time more often, doesn’t fly faster, doesn’t serve better food or offer a better timetable of flights than British Airways. But, years ago, it negotiated Boeing to be the first to include video seat screens. It’s about service and innovation and it tries really hard to do things differently.  But please note—none of these belong to the core benefits of the “airline company” category.}

^{And the result: British Airways isn’t imitating it. Why? In the eyes of British Airways managers, Virgin Atlantic probably seems immature and ridiculous.} 

^{Roy: Can you give some examples of a successful focus on off-core benefits?}

·        ^{Jet Blue Airlines offers a zen-focused, jet-setting approach to flying, with no-frills friendliness and DIRECTV and XM Satellite Radio at every seat. Jet Blue even offers a “Shut Eye Kit” created by Bliss Spa, to embrace its trendy, young flying hipsters.} 

·        ^{Swatch decided to treat the watch face and band as a design area. What does this have to do with the core benefit of a watch? Exactly! So no one has imitated them.}

·        ^{The Body Shop There’s no place for another drugstore chain that actively fights against animal experiments, for the environment, and for the needy wherever they are. No one even thinks about imitating them.}

^{According to Herman, you may say that only a few companies have become leaders by means of an off-core differentiation. True. In fact, most companies never become leaders, nor do they need to. However, if you are in a competitive market and are trying to make a living, then an off-core strategy is the best chance you have to give a group of consumers a good reason to give you their loyalty.}

^{Roy: Any last suggestions?}

^{Lee Ann: Stay off-core not on-track–sometimes an off-core differentiation can eventually become a core benefit, such as with Nokia. This happens when the differentiation is not really off-core but is actually based on deep insight into the direction that the market is going.}

^{Lee Ann: I believe that stories are the best way to communicate the brand identity/business strategy elements in a way that motivates and clarifies decision making. However, though we will largely focus on harnessing stories today, I just want you to be aware that there are other ways in which to elaborate your brand that can add richness to your brand experience including:}

^{-Defining Your Company’s Type of Leadership}

^{-Defining Your Company’s Personality}

^{-Defining Proof Points to Your Brand Identity elements}

^{Roy: So stories it is—but stories seem so subjective and imprecise.}

^{Lee Ann: True, but people remember them. And, a set of stories can have the breadth necessary to paint a vivid and accurate picture for employees to use to clearly drive daily decision making. Let’s look at Branson.}

^{He tells a story of the little guy taking on the bully, the classic David & Goliath challenger scenario. With his high school magazine failing him, Branson sets up a record mail order business in 1970. A tenacious 20 year old, Branson then places record ads in the magazine and soon realizes the high demand for records. He drops out of high school and focuses on his new business, now making a profit. This modest success allows him to rent an empty shop on Oxford Street in London in order to set up a music store. His magazine staff transfers to the discount record store and the operation takes off. At a loss for a name, one of his staff suggests ‘Virgin’ since they were “complete virgins at business”.  With that, the Virgin Empire was born.}

^{When we tell our own business story, we have the opportunity to draw our customer audience to our side. According to Chip and Dan Heath in Made to Stick, there are three basic plots that characterize inspirational stories: the Challenge Plot, the Connection plot, and the Creativity plot. In the Challenge plot, if we want our customers to care more about us than our competitors, it is vital that we create a common enemy. Here’s where Branson inserts his brand strategy and allies his audience against the dark side. A good strategy drives actions that differentiate the company and produces financial success. The key here is that a good strategy drives actions.}

^{Let’s see how Branson drives action. His story line frequently flows like this: “Although the combined Virgin Group is the largest group of private companies in Europe, each company is relatively small in its sector (we’re the underdog, David character). So we have the advantage,” Branson explains, “of being the nimble ‘underdog’ player in most markets.”}

^{But company ideas won’t go far in the Virgin universe unless those behind it share Virgin’s strong service ethos. “I feel very strongly,” Branson asserts, “that young, independently-minded businesses can provide customers with great service; it’s the monoliths and the business establishment (goliath characters) that make customers’ lives a misery. Virgin companies are focused on the customer.” This was clearly the approach Branson used to start a mail order service in 1970, a recording company and a record business that was “outrageous, irreverent, and long-haired”. Branson’s personal brio fits well into the Virgin brand stories as he is also known for his adrenaline-filled pursuits to break numerous world records as well as his personal fortune.}

^{Here’s the acid-test: When Virgin employees ask themselves whether they should go that extra mile, they ask themselves, “What would Richard do?” And, invariably, they get focused on a fun and entertaining customer experience in ways that the monoliths and the business establishment never would. That’s a huge brand success that is clearly actionable.}

^{Roy: What can the rest of us do who don’t have a built-in story like Branson? Next time, Lee Ann will discuss how the rest of us non-Branson CEO’s can spot and select the “right” company stories to inspire our employees and propel our brand.}

^{Below is a description of three other worthwhile brand elaboration exercises:}

• ^{Defining Your Company’s Interpretation of its Type of Leadership}

^{-A supportive leader who encourages with positive reinforcement (Nordstrom)}

^{-An innovative, cutting-edge leader who pushes technology boundaries (3M)}

^{-A “break-the-rules” leader who introduces unusual and sometimes outrageous programs and actions (Virgin)}

• ^{Defining Your Company’s Personality}

^{-LL Bean is Friendly: LL Bean is easy to approach because it cares about its customers. It is comfortable and familiar without pretension}

^.

• ^{Defining Proof Points to Your Brand Identity elements}

For Nordstrom, proof points of its core identity dimension of customer concern would be any “assets, skills, programs and initiatives” that support the customer concern focus including:

-A current reputation for customer service

-A current return policy that is well-known and has credibility

-A compensation program geared to rewarding customer service

-The quality of the current staff and hiring program

-An empowerment policy permitting innovative responses to customer concerns

For LL Bean, that has an identity dimension of being geared toward outdoor enthusiasts, proof points include:

           -A flagship store that stays open 24 hours a day for the convenece of outdoor-oriented customers

           -The expertise and professionalism of the customer contact staff, which allows them to offer value-added advice on outdoor activities.