Building Brand Connection

Building Brand Connection

Introduction to Brand Compass

A planner at Wolf Olins once referred to brands as ‘bridges’. This idea has stayed with me over the years and it is a good one.

So how is a brand is like a bridge? It connects an organisation to its audience as a bridge connects two land masses. Across that brand bridge many kinds of transactions flow back and forth: money, products and services, information, ideas, feelings, emotions….

However, after many years of working with business owners and managers in evolving and developing brands I have realised that metaphors and similes are ultimately not that helpful. There are often too many pressing realities at board level for business owners to immerse themselves in brand-related matters. And, surely, that is the job of marketing?

We all know that strong brands are a powerful business asset, but a clear understanding of what a brand is or could be, and therefore why it is worth investing in, remains hazy. This is the case even amongst senior marketing people and especially amongst those to whom it should matter most - those I call Brand Owners (CEOs, MDs, Marketing Directors and Founders of organisations of any size).

I have made it my mission to challenge both of these major obstacles to brand comprehension and brand action. Brands do not belong to the marketing department, and I believe it is vital that business owners have a very strong grasp of what branding is and why it should be of paramount importance at the board table.

The idea of ‘brand’ and its significance in business has been my abiding fascination since working on the development and launch of Orange in the mid-1990s. Following the many brand projects and assignments I have worked on since that time, I have brought my experience and observations together in a guide: Brand Compass - Clear Direction for Building Strong Brands.

The Guide exists to:

• Provide clarity and a refreshed understanding of what ‘brand’ means

• Introduce a tool or organising framework called the Brand Compass. This is to focus management's thinking, planning and decision-making in such a way as to meaningfully connect the many activities of a business (i.e. the creation and delivery of products and services at profit) to customer needs and priorities

• Get brand into the heads and hearts of all employees and into the concrete reality of business operations

Brand Compass : Clear Direction for Building Strong Brands is freely available from my website,  stewartredpath.com