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People, places, and companies become brands. The most successful brands become icons. They represent culture—a way of life. Companies: Coca Cola. Apple. Harley Davidson. Entertainers: Marilyn Monroe. James Dean. Marlon Brando. Places: New York. Paris. Beijing. Leaders: Abraham Lincoln. Winston Churchill. Franklin Roosevelt. Athletes: Muhammad Ali. Michael Jordan. Babe Ruth.  

When the brand fails, the business fails—because customers buy brands not companies. There is a recognized set of failure-factors for brands: Customers have more contemporary choices A discontinuous innovation enters the category and the market The functional and emotional benefits of ownership have lost their significance When business declines—invest in the brand.  

It is very expensive to change the name of a brand. Customers are lost. Markets become confused. Competitors have a new advantage. Choose a name that describes your business. Create one that clearly, crisply differentiates you from your competitors. And you must own the .com—the top-level domain for commerce.  

In order to realize the desired investment objectives, financial portfolios are built with specific ‘categories’ of products. In order to realize the desired business objectives, brand portfolios are built with specific ‘categories’ of brands. To be successful, both brand and financial portfolios must be flexible, resilient, and mitigate risk.

Big data—quantitative research—is the province of big brands. Smaller data—qualitative research—is the province of smaller brands. Conduct ten one-on-one interviews with your primary target customers. Each interview should be about fifteen minutes and recorded with the permission of the interviewee. Smaller data equals big data. 

Shareholders don’t. They invest in mutual funds that own hundreds of companies. Employees don’t. They work for companies that will pay them the most for what they know. But customers do. Don’t believe me? Try competing in a market without a brand. Customers choose brands—they don’t buy companies.

Creating choice—you cannot be chosen unless you are a choice Simplifying complex purchasing decisions Signaling assurance and guaranteeing quality Commanding a price-premium Developing long-term customer loyalty Organizing markets for customers Communicating leadership There is no other asset, whether tangible or intangible, that can deliver this much value.

Brand. Company. Competition. Customer. Your Company: brand defines the promise your company makes to its customers. Your Competition: brand differentiates you from your competitors in the minds of your customers. Your Customer: brand communicates the benefits of buying your products to your customers. Brand is your connective tissue.

General Motors selling cars with known defects. Major League Baseball players abusing steroids. Martha Stewart guilty of conspiracy and obstruction of justice. These brands are self-healing because they share three attributes: Elasticity—competing in numerous sub-categories simultaneously Strong Competitive Positioning—preferred choice Archetypal Stories of Origin—foundational and shared myths

In the mind of the customer, a strong, favorable, and unique brand personality differentiates a brand from its competitors. We form relationships with those individuals whose personalities we enjoy and respect. So it is with brands. You must identify your three key brand personality traits.

It is said that for most of human history, we have counted as follows: one, two, three, many. A brand should have three benefits, three personality traits, three features, three messages, and three points-of-differentiation. Any more than three is one too many. Any more than three does not count.

We have been repeatedly taught about the resistance of any intangible, such as a brand, being accurately quantified on a balance sheet. I disagree. Every day, every hour, and every minute consumers and companies are purchasing brands. Conduct qualitative research with your best customers. They will tell you how much your brand is worth.

There are over one million words in the English language. And every word has a unique meaning. The strongest brands are those that choose one word and, as a result, have a unique meaning. For example, Google has chosen ‘search’, Disney has chosen ‘family’, and MasterCard has chosen ‘priceless’. Choose your word carefully. Sacrifice is good.

In the mind of the Xerox customer, the brand is not elastic enough to stretch from office copiers to office computers. In the mind of the Caterpillar customer, the brand is elastic enough to stretch from machinery to footwear. You must measure the elasticity in your brand.

Brands influence what customers think and feel—how they see themselves and their roles in the world. Brands compel the behavior and actions of customers. Brands that influence and compel command a premium price. They have sustainable advantages over competing brands, creating barriers for new entrants and discouraging the development of disruptive technologies.

Business strategy creates an offering. Brand strategy creates customers for that offering. Marketing strategy creates demand for that offering. The youngest of companies often move from business strategy directly to marketing strategy—from building the offering to entering that offering into the marketplace—only to find the customer is missing. The customer is everything.

Just about everything you say about your business can be copied by competitors. Except your Story of Origin. Why, where, and how you started your business is your story. Create opportunities to tell this story to those who matter the most to the brand. One more thing. Always use the same words to tell your story.

An orange ... is an orange ... is an orange. Unless, of course, that orange on a tree just happens to be a Sunkist™ orange, a brand that 80% of consumers know and trust. Invest in your commodity. And invest in your brand.

Consumers choose one brand over another because the customer-benefits are relevant and meaningful. There are two types of customer-benefits. One type is intrinsic. It makes customers feel good about themselves. The second is extrinsic. It says something important about your customers to others. You must identify the most compelling set of intrinsic and extrinsic customer-benefits.

Your competitor set is a primary source for sustainable differentiation. However, too many companies let their customers determine the brands that they compete with. Customers create competitor sets based primarily on points-of-parity, rather than on points-of-difference. You must identify what makes you different and then design a competitor set in which that difference is strong, favorable, and unique.