Branding isn’t Bollocks, by Mike Atherton
What’s the message behind the messaging?
The people who buy the products aren’t always the people who use the products
- Makes marketing and UX a mess
- Products get so complex that consultants get brought in so that users don’t have to use products
- Need begets new need – competitors come along
- Add features, they are empowering
- We end up with users saying “Now I can’t do the ONE SIMPLE THING I bought this for!”
How long does it take for a product to get 50mill users?
- Radio – 38
- TV – 13 years
- Facebook – 4 years
- YouTube – 6 months
- Angry Birds Space – 50 days
So products are getting features added faster and faster
- Sometimes this happens when users aren’t sure what the product is supposed to do
- People don’t buy features. They buy empowered versions of themselves.
- The products that stay true to themselves stay simple.
The first law of branding: focus
- If a company focuses their product around a few small things, they are more likely to be remembered
- What do we care about, and how can we reach out to the people who care about these same things?
You can’t do this in a silo
- Brands live in the minds of our customers
- Our brand isn’t what we say it is – it’s what they say it is
- We can’t create a brand in a boardroom
- We create a brand by connecting to our users
- People don’t buy what you do. They buy why you do it.
A mission is compelling to everyone
- Compelling to the people who work there – they feel a sense of purpose
- Compelling to customers – they buy why you do it
- Create a brand story – tell the tale of your past, present, and future
- Work backwards from what you do to what your core purpose is by asking “why” over and over again
- Core values: the qualities we care most deeply about (goes hand in hand with core purpose)
- Our values are not who we aspire to be. They are a reflection of who we are.
Having a personality isn’t enough
- Can’t have the same personality as everyone else
- Be true to yourself
- Be honest, authentic, talkable, appropriate
- Will users recognize your voice as your own, if they see it out of context?
Branding and “personality” is great, but not until the basic needs are met
- Must have core functionality
- Must have usability
- Only then do people care about personality
Choose words carefully – move from personality to positioning
- Marketing doesn’t run the brand
- Marketing is only part of the brand
- Retain the meaning behind the meaning
- Do fewer things better
If you are better than you look, fix your brand. If you want to look better than you are, fix your company.