Say what?

What the heck is operationalizing a brand? Simply put, it’s the buy-in of all those who are stakeholders in a brand to “be the ball”, be what the brand stands for, be its distinction – the brand promise – at all times.

I have found working with some of our clients, that success in “being” a brand really depends on being successful in four specific brand-driven areas:

1. Getting total alignment between the business strategy and the brand strategy. (Who’d a thunk?)
2. A real commitment to brand building by top executives inside the organization. If they don’t really believe, others can smell it.
3. Tailoring the interactions your customers and stakeholders have with your brand, based on what your brand stands for and then making sure your “unique value proposition” (bam!) is delivered upon.
4. Turning your company into a brand-driven culture (super bam!), which includes having all employees understand the brand’s promise, know the role they need to play in bringing it to life, and the importance of changing their behaviors to align with what the business and brand strategies are trying to achieve.

The process that we then recommend to “make it happen” with clients is what I like to call the “fantastic four”-phase approach. (with yes, a nod to the superhero group with similar nomenclature)

Bear with my further use of the superhero 
group comparison

Phase 1

The “Invisible Woman” -like beginning. The gathering of “transparent” information to create a force field… Hey, I’m painting a picture here!

• Intelligence gathering – what the heck is the lay of the land?
• Brand Insight Assessment™ – some great research we have to access what the heck your stakeholders know/think about the brand.
• Discovery session – a process to get together with key folks and get understanding on “the ball.”

Phase 2

The “Thing” stage as I see it. The part that gives solid strength and endurance. The rock. (Work with me.)

• Outcomes/positioning
• Outcomes/validation
• Brand architecture study/review

Phase 3

The “Human Torch” type phase as I see it. The most visual part of the phases gets the most attention and gets the brand to fly….(nice).

• Internal brand adoption
• External brand adoption
• Creative/graphic style guidelines

Phase 4

And finally the “Mr. Fantastic” like portion of the program. The part where it now becomes “scientific” on how the brand expands and stretches in the right directions.

• Product opportunity Segmentation
• Brand Pulse™ Benchmark Research

Finally, don’t let your brand succumb to “Dr. Doom.” Start your own “brand league” in your organization today.

I realize this may now have gotten out of hand, I know I’ve used too many “quotes,” and, it’s time to close this stream of consciousness.

So, If you find yourself curious about our four phased approach or any of the processes contained in it, or talk about your love of comics (of which admittedly I know little about, other than over exposure during Saturday morning cartoons of the seventies) feel free to give me a call and I would be glad to share more details of this process, or our group with you.