Branding Secrets of
Fortune 500 Companies
Creating Contagious Brands
By Kennan Burch,
Brand Catalyst & Coach
CONTENTS
Foreword: Life, Lobster, and Branding ... 1
Transitioning From Product Driven Company to a Brand Driven Company ... 3
What Is A Brand? ... 7
The Core Elements of a Brand Promise ...9
Brand Promise Part 1: Target Audience ... 10
Brand Promise Part 2: Category Name ... 13
Brand Promise Part 3: Most Compelling Benefit ... 15
Putting It All Together ... 19
Inspired Insights: The Key to Developing Your Most Compelling Benefit ... 20
Brand Vision: Your Highest Calling ... 23
Brand Personality: Why Your Fans Love You ... 25
Raving Fan Identity: Why Your Fans Love Themselves ... 28
Contagious Brand Strategy: Putting It All Together ... 31
Brand Catalyst Partners: Contagious Brand Strategy ... 32
Copyright © 2011. Kennan Burch, Brand Catalyst Partners. Winter Garden, Florida U.S.A. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical or electronic, including photocopying and recording, or by any information
storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author or publisher.
Throughout this ebook, are references to companies that are licensed and protected under law as a trademarked, registered, service marked, or
otherwise protected proprietary property. It is not the intent of Brand Catalyst Partners to imply or suggest endorsement by, or affiliation with, any
of these entities.
Life, Lobster, and Branding
foreword
Like most of what we accomplish in life, I didn’t become a branding expert solely on my own. Yes, there was a
great deal of hard work involved on my part and a measure of good fortune to be in the right place at the right
time, but there were also many people who along the way taught, mentored, guided, and sometimes hit me
over the head with their wisdom and expertise.
In a critical leg of my journey, I spent twenty years with Darden, a $7.5 billion brand building company. During
the time I was a part of Darden management, my team invested over $1 billion in branding/marketing
initiatives, primarily in building the Red Lobster brand.
My colleagues at Darden included elite brand builders from Proctor & Gamble and other packaged goods
companies. I was literally working side by side, in a company of champions, individuals whose creativity,
knowledge, and insights were enlightening, and fortunately for me, infectious. Together we learned what it
takes to move from a product or service driven company to a brand building company.
Supporting our efforts over the years were three of the most prestigious branding and advertising firms in the
United States: Grey Advertising, Euro RSCG, and The Richards Group. Although I worked with and learned
from all of these marketing icons, I was fortunate to work more extensively with Stan Richards, founder of The
Richards Group, and one of the most respected brand builders in the world. Under his leadership, The
Richards Group conceptualized the touch points and strategy behind the branding messages of Chick-Fil-A’s
Cow Campaign; Home Depot’s You Can Do It, We Can Help; and Motel 6’s We’ll Leave the Light on For You,
along with Corona Beer, Red Lobster, and the messages of hundreds of others you likely know and have
internalized into your life.
1
Stan’s “Spherical Branding Process” was the most impactful
branding experience the team at Darden and I went through. It
laid the groundwork for six consecutive years of strong sales
growth at Red Lobster. It was also the real world experience of
this process that convinced me to pursue becoming an expert in
the nuances of branding. In 2008, I left Darden and founded
Brand Catalyst Partners; a branding firm committed to helping
CEOs create strong and contagious brands … brands that grow
naturally, without a strong need for advertising.
Stan was my guide at Darden and continues to be my mentor
today. For companies that have large media budgets, I highly
recommend The Richards Group. For everyone else, I highly
recommend Brand Catalyst Partners.
Brand Catalyst Partners brings robust energy to brand building,
partnering with CEOs who need to take their company’s brands
to new levels but don’t have the internal experience to navigate
this process. Our impact is being felt across a wide spectrum of
product and service categories including logistics, beverages,
eyewear, publishing, data security, financial services, schools,
legal, entertainment, insurance, ministries, media campaigns,
non-profits, and film production. But it is not the specific
product category that matters, it’s how Brand Catalyst Partners
helps companies align all of their resources to maximize the
impact of the brand on sales and profits.
2
“Having worked with Kennan Burch
for several years, I can attest to his
affinity for building great brands. He
understands the power of brands
and how to achieve the
organizational conviction that
results in a brand promise.”
Stan Richards, Principal,
The Richards Group
Transitioning from a Product or Service Driven
Company to a Brand Driven Company
As a graduate student at Florida State University, I remember the morning the university’s placement officer
came into my first hour marketing class. “Red Lobster will be here on campus on Thursday,” he said. “If you
are interested in interviewing with them, please make sure to sign up for one of the open time slots.”
My first thought was that I wasn’t going to grad school to go to work in a restaurant.
But, after learning that the company was headquartered in Orlando, Florida, I decided the possibility of a trip
to Orlando combined with the chance to practice my interviewing technique was sufficient motivation for me
to add my name to the list.
The recruiter caught me by surprise as he revealed the strategic thinking and the depth of the leadership team
that had grown this restaurant chain to over 200 locations at the time. They were growing at a compelling rate
and at the time I was graduating, were looking for well-qualified MBAs to come into a rotational leadership
program that would expose these new employees to all the disciplines of executive
leadership.
“I wasn’t going to grad school to go
to work in a restaurant.”
To make a long story short, I moved to Orlando, joined the Red Lobster team, and began a
twenty-year journey of growth and learning—all avenues of learning.
3
At the time I went to work for the company, Red Lobster was a
part of the General Mills Restaurant Group. In time, General
Mills decided to spin off the restaurant division into a new,
publicly traded company called Darden, named after Red
Lobster’s founder, Bill Darden.
Joe Lee, the cofounder of Red Lobster, became the company’s
CEO. Over the years, the Darden team also developed the Olive
Garden, Bahama Breeze, Smokey Bones BBQ, and Season’s 52.
Additionally we purchased Longhorn Steakhouse and Capital
Grille to round out the Darden family of brands.
Yet with all of these restaurants, how could Darden continue to
grow and not cannibalize sales at existing locations? The
answer: Create unique brands that cater to different dining
preferences and occasions.
Joe Lee and the Darden leadership team recognized that from a
macro perspective, the most important shift that had to be
made was one of going from a specific product or service
company to becoming a brand building company. The
distinction between the two is subtle, but very important.
Even hiring practices for Darden’s executive leadership began to
subtlety change. Historically, the leadership of the company had
been restaurateurs/operators. Today the executive leadership is
primarily experienced branding experts from Proctor & Gamble
and other packaged goods companies.
4
Subtle Changes Can Begin To
Make a Big Difference
When Darden was launched, the
name was always referred to as
Darden Restaurants. The ticker
symbol on the New York Stock
Exchange is DRI for Darden
Restaurants Incorporated. However,
now you only see the company
name as a single word— Darden.
The company now describes itself
as “a brand-building company” not a
“restaurant company.”
(See the cover of the Darden 2009
Annual Report on page 7.)
“Yet with all of these restaurants,
how could Darden continue to grow
and not cannibalize sales at
existing locations?”
5
Does the brand building strategy
work?
Critical Question:
Today Darden is the largest full-service restaurant company in
the world, with sales of $7.5 billion. They have six distinct
restaurant concepts (brands) that cater to the specific occasion
needs and desires of consumers.
But Darden is simply one example of a company that focuses on
brand building. In a competitive marketplace, if you are not
strategically focused on building your brand, you will inevitably
see a competitor show up and take your market share.
Why is brand building so important
to you and your business?
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People are loyal to brands not products
People pay more for brands
People like affiliating themselves with brands that make
them proud
People trust brands
6
Do you (your company or
organization) have a strong and
contagious brand?
What is a Brand?
Start by filling in this blank: A brand is a ______________________.
Are you surprised to learn that most people—even people
within the same company—do not usually give the same
answer to this question?
In Brand Catalyst Partners Workshops™ conducted for companies of all sizes and representing a range of
industries, I always ask the question, “What is a brand?” The responses generally include words such as:

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

Identity
Mind space
Connection
Perception
Feeling
Logo
Mark
7
If the management and/or
marketing team within a company
does not all have the same answer
when asked, “What is your brand,”
how can they possibly move an entire
organization to deliver a consistent
brand message?
The most genius and useful definition I
have found in all my years of experience
is that a brand is a promise.
Now ask yourself, what is the highest
promise my organization can make
to its customers
… and keep?
8
Critical Difference Maker:
Great organizations define their
brand promises so clearly that
everyone on the staff knows what
they need to deliver/communicate
to their customers, every day.
The Core Elements of a Brand Promise
Developing a strong brand promise is like pulling back on a bow and arrow. You generate power and then aim
at a specific target—your target audience.
Great brand promises have three parts to them:

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Target Audience
Category Name
Most Compelling Benefit
To better understand the core elements of your brand promise, complete the following sentence:
To __________, my company is the ___________________ that uniquely
_________________________________________________________________________.
Fill in the first blank with your target audience; the second with your category of product or service; and the
last blank with the most compelling benefit your company or organization has to offer.
9
Brand Promise Part 1:
Target Audience
Your Trade Secret:
Great brands pick out a certain type of person and develop all
branding and marketing initiatives around that one type. All
decisions are then filtered as if you are viewing them through
this person’s eyes.
Some business leaders protest, saying, “But I don’t want to
eliminate anybody. I want to sell to everybody.” However, if you
try to be everything to everybody, you will become nothing to
everyone.
When you identify a specific type of person and you develop
your brand with him or her in mind, then that person becomes
your Raving Fan.
Your Raving Fan brings up the “bell curve” and brings everyone
else with him. Your Raving Fan becomes the heartbeat of your
marketing.
…And this is how a contagious brand begins.
10
Most companies never share their
full brand promise with the public.
Only the brand stewards and
insiders know the full promise. It’s
almost like a trade secret.
Companies may share a piece or a
part of the promise with the public,
but not the entire thing.
(Learn why it is a secret when we talk about
branding strategies used by Hummer.)
But what other attributes should you consider when defining
your target … that person who becomes your Raving Fan?

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Ask, “Who loves us the most (or will love us the most)?”
Who proudly associates with us?
Consider the needs, motivations and concerns that your brand can address in someone’s life
Look beyond demographics … understand how your target thinks
Be brief, simple, and imaginative
Why is it critical to define your target so specifically?

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You’ll save money by not marketing to people who are not your fans
You’ll be able to better make decisions because you know to whom you should be listening (and talking)
Creative decisions become easier because you know whose opinion counts the most, in terms of your
product or service
11
Here’s an example that made Hummer such a successful vehicle in the
competitive market of trucks and automobiles for many years.
Hummer’s target:
Affluent men seeking unique experiences as a means of self-expression
You probably already realize why Hummer never announced its target audience to the outside world.
Although the Hummer strategy was excellent and highly effective, sharing it publically would only have
worked against the brand.
When the economy was better and gas prices were reasonable, Hummer was an incredibly strong brand.
Hummer understood that the market that would love it most, proudly associate with it, and be motivated to
own, it was very specifically, affluent men seeking unique experiences as a means of self-expression. These
men were the Hummer target and were the market that made the brand successful.
“Companies may share a piece or a
part of the promise with the public,
but not entire thing.”
Did Hummer sell vehicles to women? … Yes, of course! But not because Hummer
marketed to women. Women bought Hummers because the men who bought them
made owning a Hummer adventurous, which attracted some women who felt a desire to
‘join’ in the fun.
12
Brand Promise Part 2:
Category Name
What are you? What is the word that consumers use to describe the category in which you compete?
Years ago, the question was, “What section of the Yellow Pages are you in?” Today, a better question is,
“What Google phrase (keywords) do you want to own?”
Some of the most compelling and strategic category names
are found when you answer this question: “What’s your Blue
Ocean*?”
When defining your “blue ocean” you are simply trying to move away from the red bloody ocean where all the
competitors are fighting for the same customers with the same rules and strategies. You are attempting to
create a new way of doing business so you don’t have any direct competitors.
Great examples of the Blue Ocean Strategy include:


Southwest Airlines – An airline with rules and values that are different from those of all other airlines
Cirque du Soleil – Entertainment that combines the high production value of a Broadway show with
incredible circus acts to create an experience that is entirely unique
(*From the book, Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne.)
13
When Hummer launched, in what
category do you think it competed?
Car?
Can you be so unique, new, and
different, that you have no direct
competitors?
Truck?
Van?
Can you essentially create a new
category of product or service?
SUV?
No, Hummer called itself an “All Terrain Vehicle,” which at the
time, was a wholly new consumer category. If you wanted an
“all terrain vehicle,” you needed to buy a Hummer.
For years, Hummer won. Anytime you create a new category
that consumers need, then you win!
Example:
What am I?
What is ‘a Kennan Burch’?


Critical Questions:
I’m NOT an agency; my focus is not on selling creative
work/advertising
I am a brand catalyst and coach; I partner with CEOs to help
develop their brand strategy without the pressure of buying
creative work/advertising
14
Brand Promise Part 3:
Most Compelling Benefit



What is the one thing that you (your company or organization) must deliver to your clients or customers
every time?
What is the key to keeping them excited and proud to be associated with your brand?
What do they want most from you?
Identifying the singular compelling benefit is the most difficult of all branding processes. Most companies have
so many good things they sell and good things they do that getting to one thing may seem daunting. And
unfortunately, many companies never discover what that one thing is.
Benefits can be tangible or emotional.
The natural inclination is to sell tangible benefits or features of a product or service. Simply come up with a list
of all the tangible reasons someone should buy from you, and go sell.
For example, the touch screen on my iPhone is a tangible benefit. When iPhone first introduced its touch
screen, it was the only one like it. The world had never seen a touch screen that could perform and interact
with software the way the iPhone did. It was incredible. However, tangible benefits can be copied.
15
Now, a host of competitors boast a similar type of screen, many for a lot less money. But Apple has a very
strong brand with an emotional connection to its core users. So, it really doesn’t matter what the competitors
do.
While other phones may now be technically superior to my iPhone, I’m not really paying attention. For some
reason, I love my iPhone. In spite of the fact that I have strong negative emotions about my wireless carrier.
Every day when I drive within 500 yards of my local wireless carrier store, if I am on my iPhone, my phone
drops the call. And sometimes in the middle of important discussions … so, by conditioning, my anger rises
every time I pass their stores, even when I am not on a call.
My personal love/hate relationship with my iPhone that I love, and my wireless carrier that I decidedly do not
love, is a great example of emotional connections with brands; a strong positive connection with iPhone and a
strong negative connection with the other.
Emotional connections can be incredibly compelling …
Or incredibly repelling.
“When people have an emotional
connection with a brand, it is
almost as if they put cotton in their
ears and don’t even listen to what
competitors are saying.”
The emotion sells a brand. When people have an emotional connection with a brand, it
is almost as if they put cotton in their ears and don’t even listen to what competitors
are saying. It doesn’t matter. They are emotionally content. They don’t even want to
know if there is something else available that is better.
16
Let’s look at what Home Depot used to sell. (I’m intentionally using past tense here.)
When asked this question, most people simply respond by saying, “Home Depot sells home improvement
products.”
And this is true.
However, what was their tag line? “You can do it, we can help”
So, what were they selling? What was the emotion?
They were selling confidence.
When Home Depot swept the country with incredible growth, they did it with one word: confidence. Home
Depot instilled confidence in people who historically did not have the expertise or the experience to handle
their own home improvement projects. Everyone in the entire Home Depot company was focused on
delivering one thing to America—the confidence that any of us could go home and successfully tackle a
project.
At one time, when you walked into Home Depot, an employee greeted you at the door and inquired about
how Home Depot could help you with your project. If you answered, “I’m laying new tile on our bathroom
floor.” The Home Depot employee, exemplifying full confidence in your capability to handle the project, would
respond saying, “Great! Go see Bob on aisle fourteen. He will help you.”
Unbeknownst to you, Bob was a handyman working part-time for Home Depot because he loved the place and
he received benefits for working there. His job was not to sell to you, but to instill confidence in you. After he
had explained everything you needed to know about tiling, he then invited you to a class on Saturday morning
17
so the two of you could work on your tile laying skills together.
He was ensuring that you had confidence in yourself to do the
job.
Did Home Depot win?
Absolutely! They experienced incredible growth for over twenty
years.
Are they still “instilling confidence?”
… Candidly, it doesn’t seem that way.
In recent years, with leadership changes and cost cutting
measures, Home Depot no longer invests in their confidencebuilding strategy. In 2010, they launched a media campaign
reflecting current market conditions. Their new tag line is,
“More Saving. More Doing. That’s the power of the Home
Depot.”
The new strategy seems to be more about being the low cost
provider, which is a tangible benefit, but not an emotional one.
As a brand observer, I recognize that this strategy will prove
more challenging for garnering the same results, as did their
previous campaign. However, Home Depot is now uniquely
poised to be able to deliver on this new promise.
18
Critical Questions:
So, what’s your most compelling
benefit?
Is it tangible or is it emotional?
Putting it All Together
In revisiting the Hummer example, what is the most compelling benefit to those, “affluent men seeking unique
experiences as a means of self expression?” The answer is, “a vehicle that goes where no other vehicle can
go!”
For men who purchase a Hummer, the feeling of knowing they can conquer any kind of terrain, and go
anywhere, is a very powerful emotional feeling when they are behind the wheel. They feel like conquerors!
After looking at the three components of a brand promise, we can now put the parts together. For Hummer:



Target Audience – affluent men seeking unique experiences as a means of self-expression
Category Name – all terrain vehicle
Most Compelling Benefit – that goes where no other vehicle can go
The entire brand promise statement would read like this:
To affluent men seeking unique experiences as a means of self-expression, Hummer is the all terrain
vehicle that goes where no other vehicle can go.
Remember, the full statement is not communicated to the outside world and is only for use by the internal
leadership team of the company. Yet knowing this promise ensures that a company knows:



Who its target is, and why
What is its unique position and why
What is its most compelling benefit … and how the company can deliver this every time
19
Inspired Insights:
The Key to Developing Your Most Compelling
Benefit
If you are having trouble determining your company’s most compelling benefit … welcome to a very large
club!
Each year, many Fortune 500 companies spend millions of dollars in research trying to determine their most
compelling benefit. Sometimes, the results are inconclusive.
But there is a strategy that potentially unlocks a company’s most compelling benefit. The concept is called an,
“inspired insight.” It is a nugget of truth; an insight that stands above all the others and provides the
opportunity to meet an unmet need in a consumer.
Can your brand meet an unconscious need of your customer?
Inspired insights help us determine these needs.
In the case of Home Depot, the company discovered an insight that led to its brand strategy. While I am not
speaking with firsthand knowledge, it is obvious to me that Home Depot discovered the following inspired
insight:
There are millions of people all across America who do not have the confidence to replace the wall
socket or the ceiling fan. If we can meet this basic need, then we win!
20
Unlocking the secret
At Red Lobster, our research, trials and experience led us to discover:
Lobster, crab, and shrimp are more than twice as cravable as any other protein (steak, chicken, fish, turkey,
etc).
We discovered that when we showed close-up food photography of lobster, crab, or shrimp, we ignited a
visceral craving within people and they went to Red Lobster restaurants to satisfy that craving. Over time, we
even removed all people from our advertising because having people in our ads clearly didn’t matter. Instead,
the cravability of the food was the determining factor in Red Lobster’s success.
I can share this information with you now because Red Lobster has since moved on to other insights, but it
remains to be seen if any other insight will be more compelling for seafood lovers.
“… there is a strategy that
potentially unlocks a company’s
most compelling benefit.”
21
Can you guess what the inspired insight
is for the Olive Garden?
Critical Questions:
What is your inspired insight?
You’ve seen the commercials … uncles, cousins, mama … around
the dinner table. Family celebrations, Italian-style.
So it is credible to hypothesize that The Olive Garden’s inspired
insight goes something like this:
Millions of people have a hole in their heart because they
have a dysfunctional or broken family that doesn’t sit
down to dinner together in a warm and loving way.
If the Olive Garden can make people feel like family, then they
meet an unconscious need of many consumers—the longing to
experience family moments.
Because the Olive Garden is an Italian restaurant, and there is a
generally held perception that Italian families love each other
and gather around the dinner table in a way that is bonding and
supportive, the implied promise becomes believable.
The Olive Garden’s tag line is, “When you’re here, you’re
Family.” The entire company is set up on that one promise … to
make customers feel as if they are family.
22
Do you have one?
Brand Vision:
Your Highest Calling
Most companies have a vision statement. However, very few companies have a truly compelling and engaging
vision that galvanizes all the leadership and employees in a unified direction.
A great brand vision statement does these things:
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Articulates the headlines 20 years from now. In other words, what’s the greatest headline that could be
written in ten words or less about your brand?
Motivates and inspires the entire organization to get out of bed and come to work every day. (it should
elicit positive energy or emotion)
Helps direct allocation of resources and company growth
Guides strategy decisions
Is memorable
Stretches the organization to meet it
Is known by everyone in the organization
Is used frequently by the CEO, both internally and externally
Very few vision statements accomplish all of these, but the more of these qualities you can incorporate, the
stronger the vision will be.
23
After working through this process with over forty organizations and researching many others, I’ve learned a
few nuances that help create stronger brand visions. One of the simplest examples of brilliant brand vision I
know came from the Walt Disney company:
“Keeping alive the magic of childhood”
This statement is brilliantly simple and meets all of the criteria for a great brand vision.
One of the exercises I provide clients is to give them a list of over 400 action verbs, all ending with ‘ing.’ Words
such as, “inspiring, awakening, helping, guiding, providing, etc.”
Starting a vision statement with an active verb creates positive energy and movement. Some examples of
other short but compelling vision statements include:
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Moving people seamlessly
Redefining love by the way we serve
Empowering children to brighten their futures
Inspiring the revolution of second
Preventing unauthorized access
Fueling families with uncompromised organic nutrition
Sharing happiness through extraordinary chocolate experiences
Accelerating the expansion of your vision
Inspiring people to radically change their world
While these statements may not provide you with the entire picture of the brands, you get a strong sense for
the direction they are moving.
Do you have a clear, compelling brand vision?
24
Brand Personality:
Why Your Fans Love You

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
The brand vision is your highest calling
The brand promise is what you must deliver to your clients every day
The brand personality describes the manner and style in which you deliver the promise
If ten people stood in front of you, and one by one, they each looked you in the eye and articulated the same
promise to you, the natural inclination would be to feel drawn to some and to move away from others.
Why? We naturally gravitate towards certain personalities and away from others.
The same is true for brands. We naturally gravitate to certain ones we like, and we stay away from others we
do not like.
The brand personality is a short list of distinct characteristics that define the brand. These words/phrases
articulate your brand’s most compelling attributes. It completes the following statement:
Our fans love us because we are…
___________, ___________, ___________, and ___________.
25
The words you use to fill in these blanks should be the highest,
most compelling, most “uniquely you” words possible. The goal
is to differentiate your brand from all others that might make
similar promises. Why should a customer love you more than he
loves other companies or brands?
For example: Hummer fans love Hummer because the brand is:
sophisticated, powerful, rugged, and irreverent.
While all of these words are important to the brand, the word
“irreverent” is the differentiating word that makes the brand
incredibly compelling to the target. The “affluent men seeking
unique experiences as a means of self expression” love the idea
of being a little irreverent.
For the target to love the Hummer brand, Hummer had to
ensure that the product met expectations. Knowing the brand’s
compelling attributes armed the vehicle designers with clear
directions for designing Hummers so that expectations were
met and prepared the advertising team for creating the
collateral material, messaging, and TV spots to communicate
this.
Hummer TV ads showcased the vehicle going places that no
other vehicle would dare go—and this resonated with the
target consumer who wanted to uniquely express themselves.
Hummer’s messaging matched the brand personality and
showcased the product’s most compelling benefit.
26
Critical Fact:
When implementing the personality
traits of a brand, it is important to
develop “proof points” or “reasons
to believe” behind each trait.
Simply writing the words on paper
is not enough. The brand attributes
must come alive in the brand
experience.
Knowing the personality traits of your product empowers your creative team to develop the necessary
defining touch points for communicating to your target. When this is done effectively, the brand comes to life.
The creative team can better choose fonts, color schemes, and create design elements, brand marks, etc, to
communicate the message you want to share with the market you want to reach. The core team also now has
a filter through which to evaluate all creative decisions.
This set of adjectives makes decision-making vastly easier and takes out many of the personal opinions and
biases that individuals naturally bring to the table.
Do you have any initial thoughts on your brand personality?
NOTE: It is important that your core team of brand stewards work together to define your brand personality.
You must also have a clear understanding of your target audience before you attempt this process.
Our fans love us because we are…
___________, ___________, ___________, and ___________.
27
Raving Fan Identity:
Why Your Fans Love Themselves
What makes your clients or customers proud to associate with you? What makes them proud of themselves
when they do business with you?
The Raving Fan Identity is a set of ego building phrases that compel the fan to be loyal to the brand. What
does a brand say about me if I buy into it?
Let’s look at the average Starbucks consumer as an example. He (or she) is a very proud consumer, right?
Picture this consumer going to Starbucks on the way to work one morning. He orders his favorite drink, a
Double Tall Cappuccino, Extra Dry. He takes a few sips on the way to the office but he wants to savor some of
it during his morning conversations. After arriving at the office, he heads to the break room where twenty-five
of his colleagues have gathered for a little birthday celebration.
Just before he walks into the break room with his coffee, let’s pretend that you can “stop time” for a few
seconds. You remove the Starbucks cup from the consumer’s hand, pour his coffee into a gas station branded
coffee cup, and put this cup back in his hand. You then resume time.
The same coffee is in the new cup, but the cup is now in a gas station branded coffee cup. What do you think
will happen with this person? Will he walk into the break room and have the same conversations with the
same confidence as he would have felt with the Starbucks cup in his hand?
In all likelihood, life has now drastically changed for this person. Most Starbucks fans would not walk into the
room with a gas station branded coffee cup. They may drink the coffee quickly and throw the cup away, or
hide it somewhere. Under these circumstances, the chances of them continuing into the break room and
having standard morning conversations are slim.
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I mean no disrespect to any gas station brand. These brands also
have Raving Fans. They are just a different target audience with
a different motive for buying coffee.
So, what is going on here? Do invisible words appear on the
front of a person’s shirt or blouse when he has a Starbucks cup
in his hand, or any other brand for that matter? When Starbucks
fans walk into the room with a Starbucks cup, they feel that the
brand says something about them and they like it! Conversely,
when they walk in with a gas station cup, they feel it also says
something about them … and they do NOT like it.
Note: The role of a brand is to make people feel better about
themselves! To make them confident!
This concept is the key to effective branding of any product or
service. What does your brand say about your customers? If
they had words written on their shirt, what would it say to make
them incredibly proud?
People like to affiliate with things that make them proud, that
make them feel better about themselves.
What are the most compelling words
(Raving Fan Identity) that make your
Raving Fans love themselves?
Back to the Hummer example … why do Hummer owners love
themselves?
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Critical Fact:
The role of a brand is to make
people feel better about themselves.
To make them confident!
Hummer Raving Fan Identity:
“I’m a thrill-seeker who finds exhilaration in power and enjoys breaking new ground. I am secure
enough to not need to prove myself or justify my decisions. I love Hummer.”
These words ring true to the affluent men who want to express themselves uniquely. They are proud of these
words and proud to own a Hummer.
When developing the brand messaging, the ideas, and
concepts in the Raving Fan Identity need to be incorporated so
the fans know the traits and characteristics with which they
are identifying themselves.
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Contagious Brand Strategy:
Putting it All Together
Let’s now combine all the brand components onto one page:
Brand Vision (Highest calling of the brand)
Brand Promise (What you deliver every day)
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Target (Your Raving Fans)
Category (Your unique position/category)
Most Compelling Benefit (singular thought that makes the brand compelling)
Brand Personality (Your fans love you because you are …)
Raving Fan Identity (Why do your Raving Fans love themselves?)
This one page brand strategy is the most important document
your company will ever need. It will guide all your business
planning and strategy discussions.
As an example of a one-page contagious brand strategy document, see the Brand Catalyst Partner’s one
page contagious brand strategy document that follows.
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Brand Catalyst Partners
Contagious Brand Definition
Vision:
Invigorating brands to maximize their impact
Promise:
Target: CEOs without internal strategic branding expertise
Category: brand catalyst and coach
Most compelling benefit: that aligns all resources to maximize the impact of their brand on sales and
profits.
Entire Promise:
“To CEOs without internal strategic branding expertise, Brand
Catalyst Partners is the brand catalyst and coach that aligns
all resources to maximize the impact of their brand on sales
and profits.”
Personality (Our fans love us because we are … ) Paradigm shifting, Ingenious, Inspiring, Motivating, Effective
Raving Fan Identity (Why our fans love themselves … ) “I am a brilliant, prepared, and confident CEO. I am
very proud of our brands and what they stand for. Our Raving Fans have now made our brand contagious. I
love Brand Catalyst Partners.”
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What is this Process Worth to Your Company?
After one of Brand Catalysts Partner’s client branding engagements, I decided to ask the participants
to provide feedback in the following way:
"Pretend we did not go through this process. Based on current trends, what do
you think your annual sales will be 10 years from now? Write down the number.”
Then I paused and asked another question:
"Now, since we went through this process, pretend we use this one page brand
strategy document to make all of our decisions. What do you think your annual
sales will be 10 years from now? Write down the number."
We then went around the room and revealed both numbers. On average, the difference in the two
numbers was $20 million in annual sales at the ten-year mark. If you add up the incremental sales
for each year, the impact of this one sheet of paper is worth, in their own words, over $100 million in sales.
What is the value of utilizing this process? Many would say its "priceless."
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Brand Catalyst Partners Can Help You
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Do you lack senior branding level expertise on your leadership team?
Do you need to better align all your organizational resources?
Do you need a competitive edge in your category?
Could you use a part-time Chief Marketing Officer to guide your decisions?
If you answered “yes” to any or all of these questions, then Brand Catalyst Partners can definitely help you.
Standard Offerings from Brand Catalyst Partners:
1) Contagious Brand Definition
2) Ongoing Brand Implementation and Coaching
Offering 1: Contagious Brand Definition
The result of this phase is a one-page brand strategy document that will be used for all decision making in the
future. This definition includes:
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Brand Vision
Brand Promise (Target, Category, Compelling Benefit)
Brand Personality
Raving Fan Identity
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Offering 1 includes:
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Brand Catalyst Partners’ initial research on your company and your category
Interviews with key personnel
Developing a pre-workshop assignment for your team
Conducting a two-day workshop
A competitive response to your brand
Offering 2: Ongoing Brand Implementation / Brand Coaching
Offering 2 includes:
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Defining/reviewing all touch points
Developing a strategy to align all touch points with the brand definition
If necessary, oversight of the development of the visual brand identity package; new brand mark / creative
elements / colors, etc.
Develop new strategies/tactics to maximize the brand
Oversee the design and implementation of any new materials
Educate/inspire/motivate your team to fully implement the brand
Costs vary depending on size of company and scope of work.
For a customized proposal, contact:
Kennan Burch at:
Kennan@brandcatalystpartners.com
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