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There are three common myths about corporate
image and name identity: Big money will buy
you a big image, customers are just sheep, and
constant bombardment will bring constant sales.
Corporate image and name identity form the backbone
of any business. Without them there will be
no growth, no IPOs, no M&As. It is critical
to understand how to play this game, blindfolded
or with clear vision.
Let's explore some of this
mythology.
Blowing on an Image
Traditionally, the branding
advice has been that a big branding budget coupled
with a big blowout fireworks will ensure a great
corporate image and identity. Sure, it worked
in the 1960s or 1980s, but not in the “years
of the zeros” during 2000 to 2005 and beyond.
There has been a serious meltdown
and erosion in this thinking. Today, big spending
cannot guarantee a big image. The real truth
is often traveling much faster than the sugar-coated
image. Now it is necessary first to put the
result in front to match the talk about the
image.
Money helps to get some of
the things in motion. However, "the bigger
the amount, the bigger the image" is a
thing of the past. Today, the right money with
the right image and corporate performance will
bring out a great corporate identity. Take a
look at Google; it had no advertising agency,
and simply relied on shoestring marketing with
smarts and record-breaking performance. Now
it is the top brand in e-commerce, all without
any big branding bucks.
There are thousands of corporations
exploring such strategies, while hundreds of
others with thousands of dollars a day in branding
budgets are still scratching their heads and
going nowhere. Branding costs are there to help,
but the idea that unlimited budgets will give
you unlimited growth is just a myth.
Are Customers Really Sheep?
Big agencies believe that
consumers are large herds of sheep and will
follow to any creative exploitation, and for
that reason, they encourage wild and bizarre
campaigns.
Perhaps it was true in the
past, as until recently, customers simply followed
the wind and worshiped the sun; anything shining
was good enough to follow. Not today. Now they
are very clever and overly exposed -- stalking
for the best deals, ignoring the lure while
frustrated by the crazy blast.
All customers want is simple
name recognition as a calling device, something
to remember and something easy to type. The
rest of the fanfare is lost in the multi-media
jungle. Today, the key is marketing one-to-one,
delivered with some clarity and respect. Today,
success through wild branding fanfare to the
masses, as if they were all sheep, is just a
myth.
Bombardment of Messages
How much bombardment of the
message is required until the masses have succumbed?
How often should a name be repeated in a commercial
before they can recall a name, and how often
should they be jolted with shock before they
are all mesmerised?
Hypnotised or dazed the customers
might be. However, often for other reasons,
like the daily grind of life, they are not buying
the old beaten up mantra of repetitiveness.
The more you repeat the dysfunctionality of
a message, the more they shut out.
A simple, clean message is
more than enough. A clean corporate identity
message with a sharp name designed to simulate
their needs rather than make fun of their intelligence
is what's required.
The old concept of "thousands
of repeated ads will get thousands of orders"
might have worked in the past, but not today.
The radio age or the TV age was responsible
for this thinking, but not now, as in this cyber
age it is a one-to-one format. The idea that
repetitive messages will bring repetitive success
is just a myth.
As e-commerce matures, it
opens a great door for smart marketing based
on some fundamental laws of common sense, which
should address bringing out honest and clean
messages to ease the pain of the customers.
Global cyber-branding demands the application
of proper rules.
Smart messages with powerful
names will grow in time, and don't require permanent,
expensive fireworks support to attract customers.
Today, corporate identity requires a serious
re-evaluation and, most importantly, it must
be done in light of all this mythology.
About the author
Naseem Javed, author Naming
for Power and also Domain Wars, is recognised
as a world authority on global name identities
and domain issues. Javed founded ABC Namebank,
a consultancy he established a quarter century
ago, and conducts executive workshops on image
and name identity issues. Contact him at njabc@njabc.com
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