“Heart and its aura bestow personality; style and handling form identity!” – Heinz ‘Ramsey’ Ramseier
A strong brand is based on a clear profile of what the brand can generate in terms of identity and charisma – its personality. This illustrates that personality is about the external appearance and its related perception. It’s an expression of self-image, identity, and clarity of diversity, it’s distinctiveness. So how does a brand stand out from others, and what makes it different?
In this post, we go into the brand profile and show how relevant and necessary characteristics can be incorporated, are positively received in the subconscious and how a clear picture emerges. Setting parameters that show boundaries and leave the impression of what the brand is like is essential. This is important because too often, the flood of advertising impressions can no longer be managed rationally, diluting the brand.
In Holistic Branding, we look at the brand profile as the basis for how brand management emerges from the brand identity. In this regard, brand character must be highlighted – created from identity and culture, which feeds into the brand personality and relates to customers and consumers. Living and experiencing the brand is consistently derived from the brand values and brand culture.
How do I maintain the relationship with my customers & consumers? How do I shape this, and can I build a transparent relationship with them? I create loyalty through attention, constant dialog, relevant benefits, honesty, and authenticity. If people are happy to pay for a product or service because the benefits and the implementation are so inspiring, they will also become brand ambassadors.
So, let’s sharpen our brand profile and stick to the key starting points listed below:
- Product/service:only through unique features does a product or service offer the potential to become differentiated. So its profile will clearly show uniqueness!
- Benefit: lack of interchangeability can be prevented with a particular benefit, notable characteristics, and clear added value. Actual and emotional added value make it!
- Brand values: profiling with matching identification points, which are perceptible as resilient values, are in demand – no benevolent phrases or well-sounding made-up value words.
- Brand character: i.e., personality traits – character traits are considered the basis for tonality in communication, recognition characteristics and lend perception to personality. Am I cheeky, serious, reserved, direct, approachable – how am I seen?
- Brand essence: the central brand message in a nutshell, concise and succinct, does not encompass all aspects but is the brand statement in a radically abbreviated and condensed form, i.e., the brand essence!
Always focus on the essential messages of the brand. Refrain from profiling with unnecessary words because less is better! Here lies the challenge; “less is more” sharpens a brand so that an apparent differentiation of the brand is perceptible compared to competitors. The clearer the formulation for the brand, for what and why the more successfully one creates desirability!
As before, the brand steering wheel is an important basis for equating the performance promises as well as the positioning of the brand. The brand essence lies at the center and must be captured by the brand values and benefits (emotional/rational).
But how do I manage to precisely define and harmonize the individual building blocks? How do I apply a brand profile correctly and consistently? How do I present the perception of the brand experience in a uniform and consistent manner? What is the significance or interpretation of the brand identity? Brand DNA holds both the brand identity in the sense of sustainability of all company functions and is the protectorate of the entity’s principles for ethics, morals, appreciation, and respect. DNA acts so that externally brand charisma and charisma/personality is noticeable. The critical aspect here is the brand identity and image, which must be communicated through the levels of perception. Holistic brand management exists only if the message arrives precisely and correctly
Nowadays, the target groups of a brand/service can no longer be classified globally. Instead, you must specifically break down the layers, and go deeper into the needs and layout of the implementation so that the brand aspects are expressly understood. Emotion comes from the heart; the soul and the senses come from the head. Now it is a matter of breaking down the guard rails for all activities of the brand identity into individual core building blocks with their brand values. This is where the action and the action behind it are determined, which in turn is reflected in the mission statement, the philosophy, the personnel culture, and corporate communications.
The brand profile will unfold effectively with credibility about the brand performance/services and their benefits. With the skillful design of emotional brand experiences, the basic prerequisite for brand loyalty is set. We live this behavior internally as well as externally – because only in this way does everything come into the desired harmony! Your employees are your most important asset. Only when a sense of family is lived and experienced are strength, power, and energy transported into the brand profile. At the same time, desirability is experienced on all sensory levels. If you hit the heart and a corresponding brand culture exists, you achieve the “cult brand” status!
On a basic level, a profile of value concepts & value attitudes can anchor a brand’s core values of confidence, and independence and create new ones derived from these principles. Try it with the brand steering wheel internally and externally – compare with your team how the brand/service is seen and develop the brand core. We have enclosed a template for you to be able to use the management and control instrument yourself.
Brand Steering Wheel – Explanation
Fill out once for the internal perspective and once for the external perspective!
