A Brand is What Customers Say Behind Your Back!

How do we really control and build the brand the way we want it to resonate in the hearts and minds of our stakeholders? This is when it gets confusing for the rest of us - How do you build a brand? Is it how you position your logo? Is it the charm and personality of your CEO? Is it your product offerings? To the uninitiated - the concept of brand building and development is "too conceptual" or "elusive."

At the risk of sounding pessimistic, brands are formed and maintained in the market place with or without the active participation and influence of companies. One of the best definition is "a brand is what your customers say behind your back!" Harsh? Really, it's a customer's gut feel about your product, services or company (the good, the bad and the ugly). Brands are more about the emotional connection or response rather than rational though. Good brands are formed and maintained in the market place with or without the active participation and influence of companies. Good brands are promises fulfilled and values shared at all level - customers, employees, partners and society at large. The perception of authenticity, reliability, delight and trustworthiness are keys in building a good brand.

A brand is not a logo, an identity, a product or a strategy. Simply put, it is a grade company receive from stakeholders - customers, prospective investors, existing investors, employees and the marketplace at large. It is the ability to fulfil the needs a company promise to address. Many companies' marketers who do not believe in the importance of branding hold up positioning at the ultimate strategy for winning minds and markets. As on the other end, there are those who understand the concept of branding but fail to align it with the ultimate strategy. Really, the two disciplines are two sides of the same coin. Strong brand loyalty, over time, builds brand equity which makes the customer's affinity much harder for the competition to break, copy or steal.

In conclusion, brands can be formed and maintained in the market place with or without the participation and influence of the company, but it is the customers who are in control. The speed and convergence of social and technological change make it difficult to execute a successful game plan without understanding where and how fast customer needs and expectations are heading.