BRAND ESSENCE

A brand’s essence is the single most telling feature that differentiates one brand from another. But arriving at the essence is like peeling off the layers of an onion. At its core is knowing how your customers experience your brand. It begins, at the top level, by examining a product’s basic features – or attributes – then the functional benefit. But the goal is to progress deeper to emotional benefits, tapping into a customer’s experience in a way that creates value and fulfillment in that person’s life or work.

At Brand Essence Solutions, we arrive at the essence of your brand through a process of focus and discovery. The more focused your brand essence, the more differentiated your brand. Here’s our 5-pronged measuring stick for assessing an effective brand essence:

Single-minded should be your singular focus. The fewer words it takes to articulate your brand essence, the better. Drill down to the core of your brand and distill and articulate this essence in the least amount of words. Take Volvo, for example: it makes you feel safe.

Once you’ve uncovered the essence of your brand, it’s important that your essence sets you apart from the competition – that you stand for something that is unique to your category, or at least articulated in a fresh way.

The goal is to peel back the onion and get to the core of what your audience feels. Tangible attributes resonate in the mind, but intangibles speak to our heart. You feel them. While customers are attracted to products for concrete reasons, it is at this emotional level that so many purchasing decisions are made and repeated. BMW may make an excellent car, but it’s really all about… the joy of driving.

A brand’s essence must be authentic and resonate with the target audience, or a brand will ultimately be rejected. Your audience knows better than anyone – their feedback is important. Even if your brand essence is aspirational, it has to be true to that promise. And, a brand essence (the intangible) must be aligned with the brand’s features and benefits (the tangibles).

It’s one thing to encourage trial of a product, but another to seal brand loyalty. This comes through a brand essence that’s delivered consistently. Disney is the perfect example: the experience is magical (ie, the Magic Kingdom). And the experience is magical time after time. The only thing worse than no brand promise is a broken promise.

A brand essence creates a special feeling.

A strong brand has a well-defined, accessible essence – one that gives customers a positive gut feeling about a product, service, or company. And how you make people feel – and the emotional connection you create between people and products – is just as important as what you make.

A strong brand essence also serves as a springboard for crafting relevant messaging and a measuring stick for evaluating your marketing strategies. Finally, it will help you achieve the ultimate goal – trial and brand loyalty – delivering on the promise of a singular, consistently favorable brand experience time after time.