What is Your Favorite Brand?
You have five seconds to answer this question. What is your favorite brand?
Take the first brand that popped into your head and think about why that brand
resonates with you.
I ask this question often because it gets to the core of what differentiates great,
memorable brands from average ones.
For me, the first brand that always comes to mind is Nike. I am moved by their
brand story, that if you have a body you are an athlete. It encourages people to get
up and move no matter their level of fitness. The brand helps people to feel athletic,
to feel confident. I can still remember the feeling of unwrapping my first pair of
football cleats before every football season. For me the brand marked the
excitement of the upcoming season, and the hard work that I put in over the
previous year to get better. I had swagger when I was in my Nike's, and I have been
a loyal customer for years because I like the way the brand makes me feel.
Others that I have asked about their favorite brand have responded with a variety of
answers, including Apple, Starbucks, and The New York Times. When I follow up
with "why did you choose that brand?" the answer always has on uniform quality.
The brand always plays an important role in a deeply personal story from the
person's life.
The person that answered Starbucks chose the college they would attend while at
the coffee shop, and then for years later got their first job offer while at the same
Starbucks. The person that answered Apple used the FaceTime app to talk with her
brother overseas while he was deployed. The person that answered The New York
Times started every day of her childhood reading the paper while sitting on her
father's lap, until she was big enough to get her own chair and read it every day next
to her dad.
Many companies have great products and wonderful service, but it is the brands
that consistently make a positive impression on the lives of individuals that are
remembered and loved.
What Does Your Tagline Say About Your Brand?
This morning I had the pleasure of enjoying a morning coffee at my favorite Caribou
Coffee. This particular Caribou is my favorite coffee shop, not because they have the
best coffee (the coffee shop next door actually has better coffee), but because they
do the little things right to make my experience better. I go to Caribou to get a boost
of caffeine, but also to do creative work, and Caribou provides the perfect work
The coffee shop is outfitted with comfortable lounge chairs, perfect for sitting for
long periods of time to write or brainstorm.
The walls are covered with chalk-drenched blackboards where customers are
encouraged to document their random thoughts and write down questions that
arise while doing creative work inside Caribou.
They have music playing. Not too loud. Not too fast. Not distracting.
All of the little things add up to create a great work environment.
When I was at Caribou this morning I was thinking about the importance of brand
consistency when I noticed the tagline on their coffee cups. Their motto is “Life is
short. Stay awake for it.”
Then they posed the question, “At Caribou Coffee, we’re inspired by more than just
the perfect cup of coffee. What do you stay awake for?” This message connected
with me because it felt like they understood why I was at Caribou in the first place,
and they asked me a question to involve me in a dialogue. I go to Caribou to work on
things that matter to me, because “Life is short,” and they get that.