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experiential branding

Copyright © 2006 The Bay Charles Consulting Company Inc. All rights not expressly granted are reserved. The trademarks, service marks, designs, and logos(collectively, the "Trademarks") displayed are the registered and unregistered trademarks of BC3

Globalization has resulted in an almostuntenable situation for most marketers

Contents

Purpose of branding pg 2Definitions pg 3Developing pg 5Input • Output • Activation pg 6Learning pg 8Solutions pg 9

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“There is almost nothing thatsomeone cannot make a little worse

and sell for a lot less,or make a little better

and sell for a little less”- Laurence Bernstein

In other words, the days of building brandsbased on differentiated products are over. In order to

compete in this environment marketers need topackage the product or service in the context of anoverall experience that, because of its complexity

and uniqueness, cannot be duplicated

Hence the need for experiential branding:translating product features, attributes and benefits

into meaningful, differentiated customer experiences

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an introductionto experiential branding

definitions

3

Objective of branding

The reason for branding is to beneficially differentiateyour product or service in somebody’s mind for the express purpose

of creating greater desire (creating positive opinion)

Delivered Brands

the product is manufactured and sold to consumerseither directly or indirectly

• Consumer goods brands: products generally purchased through a secondary channel and consumed off-site

Co-created Brands

the product or service is “created”in real time for immediate consumption by the consumer –

without the consumer there would be not product

• Retail/Transactional brands: where the product is the value added in selling a consumer good or service directly to the consumer

• Experience brands: where the product is the experience, such as adventure travel and theme parks -- the end results are memories

• Service brands: where the product is consumed at the time it is manufactured, such as foodservice,leisure and hospitality

Types of brandspurposeWhy brand?

2

• Experiential branding: beneficially differentiating a product or service in somebody's mind by focusing on the totality of the experience, rather than focusing on the features, attributes or benefits of the product

• Experiential marketing: integrating brand orproduct messages into consumers’ lives in the form of interactive experiences, rather than delivering them

through traditional inert media (such as print or television)

The process of ensuring that the brand essenceis consistently reflected in all aspects and consumer

touchpoints of the brand:

• Operations -- an integrated brand is reflected ineverything the company does

• Communications -- an integrated brand is expressed consistently in everything the company says

• Integration starts with the realization that the brand underlies the overall business strategy and therefore needs to be clearly defined and consistently explained to all aspects of the business, from the outset

• Champions of successful integrated brands think of the brand as the business equivalent of pre-linguistic,pre-behavioral determination - the company'ssuperego that informs everything it is and does 54

Brands exist only in the minds of consumers -- they are intangible and as such rely on marketers forlinguistic interpretation: definitions that accurately describethe mental pictures that the brand conjures or should conjureup. In order to accomplish this effectively, we need first todevelop the learning (inputs) that will help us crystallize anunderstanding of what the brand is (the brand essence).Following this, we need to describe the essence in a commonlanguage that gives clear direction to all stakeholdersto ensure consistency at every touchpoint (outputs).Finally, we need to develop and execute implementationstrategies to activate the brand (activation).Brand integration

Experiential branding vs. experiential marketing

experiential brandsdeveloping

Inputs

Crystallizing the brand essence is dependanton a deep -- we say empathetic -- understanding of three separate

but interrelated aspects -- we call the brand trinity.

• The company and its heritage• The product/service and the category• The consumer and his or her demographics, psychographics,

attitudes and beliefs

Outputs

The brand essence is described in three parts

• Position • Personality• Promise/reward

Activation

The brand is activated through the design and implementationof three strategies

• Operations• Communication• Business

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Brand PositionTargetFrame of referenceRelevant differentiating experience(RDE©)

Brand PromiseThe criticalpromise we maketo our customerwhich is theunderpinning ofall we do and say

Brand RewardThe benefit theconsumer getsfrom engagingwith the brand

BrandPersonalityTone of voiceValuesCharacter

CompanyHeritage & visionValuesCompetenceBusiness needs

CategoryCompetitive frameof referenceTrends and factsU&A insightsProduct insights

ConsumerInsightsDemographicsPsychographicsAttitudes & valuesPreviousbrand historyCompetitivelandscape

BrandCommunication

Strategy

BusinessStrategy

OperationsStrategy

BRANDESSENCE

INFORMATIONINPUTS

BRANDDESCRIPTION

BRANDSTRATEGIES

OutputsInputs Activation

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Our solutions include

Comprehensive Brand Strategies • Brand Operationalization •Communication and Connection Strategies • Customer ExperienceManagement • Consumer Insight Research • B2B Brand Solutions

To learn more about our firm and about turning features, attributes and benefits into meaningful customer experiences, go to our website ore-mail us at experiential_branding_solutions@baycharles.com

It all starts with learning

Creating the right brand experience begins with customer researchthat helps companies get closer to customers, guided by real lifestimuli, actual customer lifestyles, and living environments.

Insights are used to develop an experiential brand platform that is relevant to the customer’s life and appeals to their senses, heart andmind. This platform is used to guide new executions and ensurean integrated brand through communications, products, service,personnel, and every customer contact.

has been leading the way in experiential brandingsince 1997. An executionally neutral strategy and researchconsultancy, the firm has applied its unique approach tomajor brands in the US, Canada and China.