Branding is Not Marketing. It’s a Business Strategy

I see branding as my personal ministry. It is how I help organizations and products become what they ultimately can be. I help them take ownership of their unique symbolic value, embedding themselves at the nexus of human emotion and social culture. When business strategy goes beyond transactional and functional value to add the layer of personal meaning, it builds a fortress of a competitive advantage.

Powerful brands are like powerful art, they intrude upon us, bring us in and take us to another place — instantly. It is not product performance, price point, or package design alone that seals the deal with people, but the context in which people experience all of it. Why? Because, ultimately, what people choose to consume has meaning beyond the raw functional value. Their perception of that meaning affects their choice, which is why brands matter.

For over 25 years I have witnessed the transcendent power of brands done well and the benign power of brands done poorly. Reflecting on all of the organizations I’ve met, even among the global 1000, very few have had an understanding of what these creative constructs are and what they can do. Those who see branding as the business strategy pushed to conceptual value, are the only ones who experience the enormous rewards — and forever stand by their brands. If you want real transformation in behavior and to forge enduring commitment from people, you need to connect with people beyond the functional to the meaningful.

What have I seen powerful brands do? Actually open closed minds. Ignite sleeping imaginations. Evoke a new sense of hope. These are the triggers of change. Brands catalyze new outcomes by making a hidden advantage both tangible and actionable. Branding work also brings greater focus, clarity and precision to business about strategy and in doing so liberates new thinking and actions.

I’ve seen branding work pivot executives to see their company and customers in a new way, and to realize that compelling ideas and principles are what forge enduring relationships and influence people. Products and leaders will come and go, and there will be good and bad days. The brand ideology, however, lives on and is what guides people. The unconditional love of Johnson & Johnson. The hardworking farm ethic of John Deere. The impeccable precision of time well-managed of FEDEX. Priceless intellectual real estate.

Success can be achieved without fussing with brand strategy if you have an extensive unique advantage (Google, Amazon). Most companies and products, however, do not have an extensive unique advantage — and if they do have one, it’s usually not sustainable. For most companies, success hinges on the mercurial commitment of people. The brand is the single tool that captures a unique motivating essence, packing both emotional and rational power that can be used to fuel growth a myriad of ways — offensively and defensively.

Most companies stop short in their business strategy, reticent to move into brand strategy because they don’t really understand it or think the intangibility of brand ROI somehow makes it nebulous. In a world with an explosive abundance of choice and high commoditization due to the rapid commercialization of innovation, the brand is the indispensable asset that supports enduring value and distinction. It also brings humanity into the business equation. For some, this is the last remaining bastion of new value. Brands may be conceptual and reside in the minds and imaginations of people, but they are a real trigger behind real behavior. They form the interpretive lens that shapes personal value assessment and choice.