Brand ?

What’s does a brand mean – quizzed a friend today .

A brand symbolizes an experience that the consumer expects and then subsequently expects – of a product / service / place / person .

The ‘experience’ is pivotal . It’s important to focus and stay focused on the essence and quality of the experience at all times . It’s all too easy to get derailed into focusing on the parts , sum of parts even and lose sight of the whole .

The net has expanded and democratized  the brand universe . Today an artist at Etsy is as much a brand ( to her niche audience ) as is Gucci . It’s also a far more interconnected world where the (regular) experience at a café influences our expectation of service from a bank.

In this interconnected , seemingly infinite option world – the ‘brands’ that will succeed are ones that stand for something deeper than the quality of the product /service .In a way the profusion of options is bringing about a situation where honesty , creativity , passion , emotion make a difference rather than superficial , physical characteristics alone ( most of which can be easily replicated anyway ) , large ad spends etc .You can’t add value unless you have values to add.