Before we get started, let me warn you: This is going to hurt a
little. Creating branding ads that resonate with your audience is
certainly not the easiest thing you'll ever do. However,
following my tips will help you simplify the process.
Having read hundreds of mission statements, I remain convinced
that they're worthless as a source of brand essence. If you
peel back the idealism and happy talk, you'll find that what
companies say in their mission statement is quite different from
what they actually do on a daily basis. This is also why most
branding ads don't work. To be successful, your brand must be
built on what you actually deliver.
Look at your policies, procedures and daily management
practices: What behaviors are you measuring and rewarding? Examine
your purchasing and pricing practices; these impact your brand far
more than anything you might say in your ads. Finally, look at your
décor and lighting through the eyes of your customers, and
listen to the sound of your store through your customer's
ears--you'll begin to glimpse the truth of your brand. Examine
the soul of your company through your daily actions, not your
beliefs, and you'll soon write branding ads that will ring like
a bell.
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The keys to successful brand writing are these:
1. Find out what your customers are saying about you. Bad
ads are filled with phrases you like to say about yourself. Good
ads are filled with what your customers say about you when
you're not around. To be successful, your branding ads must
sharply echo "the word on the street" about your company.
Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon, got it right when he said, "It
has always seemed to me that your brand is formed primarily, not by
what your company says about itself, but what the company
does." You'll discover the truth behind your brand when
you can explain why customers come back to you.
2. Substantiate your claims. Overstatement is passé.
Today's customers are equipped with a sensitive hype-meter
whose needle jumps at the slightest sign of "big talk."
So be sure to offer proof to back up what you say, even if that
proof lies only in the customers' past experience or in their
long-held assumptions. Branding isn't just about the facts:
People buy brands with their hearts as well as their heads. Brand
loyalty is built on the fact that our purchases remind us--and tell
the world around us--who we are.
3. Double the verbs; whack the adjectives. Search for
evocative words. Sniff out overused phrases. Stimulate
customers' minds with thoughts more interesting than the ones
they were previously thinking.
Count the verbs in this famous branding ad I wrote a few years
ago: "You are standing in the snow, five and one half miles
above sea level, gazing at a horizon hundreds of miles away. It
occurs to you that life here is very simple: You live, or you die.
No compromises, no whining, no second chances. This is a place
constantly ravaged by wind and storm, where every ragged breath is
an accomplishment. You stand on the uppermost pinnacle of the
earth. This is the mountain they call Everest. Yesterday it was
considered unbeatable. But that was yesterday. Rolex believed Sir
Edmund Hillary would conquer Mount Everest, so for him they created
the Rolex Explorer. In every life there is a Mount Everest to be
conquered. When you have conquered yours, you'll find your
Rolex waiting patiently for you to come and pick it up at Justice
Jewelers. I'm Woody Justice, and I've got a Rolex for
you."
4. Link your "first mental image" and "last
mental image." The psychological principles of primacy and
recency mean that in any list, the first few words and the last few
words will be the easiest to remember. Great ads focus on a single
point and contain that point in both the opening and closing
statements of the ad. When possible, link your last mental image to
your first mental image, and you'll elevate customers'
ability to recall your ad. The Rolex ad was focused on you and your
accomplishments. The watch was merely a symbol of those
accomplishments. "You are standing in the snow...I've got
a Rolex for you."
5. Be consistent. The consistent use of the same colors
and fonts is often called "branding," but true branding
extends far beyond a visual style signature. The brand essence
you've translated visually must now be translated into an
auditory style signature in your radio and TV ads, as well as
throughout your store. Does the auditory style signature of what
your customer hears while "on hold" agree with the
balance of your brand essence?
Brands are built on consistency, and the roots of consistency
are patience and attention to detail. It's going to take a lot
longer to build your brand than you feel it should. Here's the
bottom line: If you think you're going to be able to measure
brand progress at the end of 12 short months, you're dreaming.
Brand development isn't measured in months, but in years.
Twenty-four months is the soonest you can hope to begin seeing
fruit from any brand orchard you might plant today.
Hey, I told you this was going to hurt a little. (Notice how the
last mental image-pain--is linked to the first mental image in this
column?)
Good luck with your brand.
Roy Williams is the founder and president of The Wizard of
Ads, a company serving the advertising and marketing needs of
business owners around the globe. Williams is also the author
of The Wizard of Ads and Secret Formulas of the Wizard of Ads.
The opinions expressed in this column are
those of the author, not of Entrepreneur.com. All answers are
intended to be general in nature, without regard to specific
geographical areas or circumstances, and should only be relied upon
after consulting an appropriate expert, such as an attorney or
accountant.
- Best
Businesses to Start in
2005
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