A Brand Is a System

by Chris de Heer

My neighbor Kevin just bought a 1970 Chevy truck. We were talking the other day, and he mentioned he was going to start doing some work on the engine. So I asked him where he learned to work on cars. He said he hadn't yet, but explained that he has a good understanding of how combustion engines work and a manual.

Hmm. At first I had visions of big, greasy pieces of metal strewn about Kevin's driveway, Kevin standing over them with a defeated look on his face.

But after thinking about it, his attitude seemed somehow reasonable, that simply by understanding the components of the engine, their function, and having instructions on their assembly, there's no reason Kevin couldn't diagnose a faulty distributor, replace a carburetor, or whatever.

Demystifying complex systems is empowering. Breaking them down into more easily understood components allows us to ask better questions and make choices based on knowledge instead of ignorance and fear. It allows us to be proactive instead of reactive because we can anticipate how our actions will impact the system.

And yet most of us resist systems. Their inherent messiness and endless dependencies make us feel unsure and uncomfortable. We prefer instead to think in terms of simple, quantifiable things.

When asked to define the word "brand," for example, most people answer confidently that a brand is a name or a logo—the Clorox brand or the Kleenex brand. Brands are marks that have little circled R's next to them, most people believe. It doesn't help that even professionals offering brand-related services often reduce brands to their most superficial features.

But a brand is a system. Its five components — the offering, brand identity, brand experience, brand image, and context — are inextricably tied and interdependent.

The Offering

The offering is the plain, unembellished thing you provide. It can be a service or collection of services, a product or collection of products, or any combination. It's the what, not the why. If you're a plumber, you offer plumbing services. If you're in the software business, you sell software products.

It seems simple enough at first. Yet failing to clearly describe the offering is one of the most common mistakes companies make in their marketing communications. Why? Because characterizing the offering can be confoundingly difficult if what you offer is complex or so innovative that it's difficult to explain.

My client Turnitin.com, for example, offers a suite of online services, only one of which has to do with deterring plagiarism in schools. Yet because combating plagiarism is such a pressing problem for schools, Turnitin is forced to choose between being known as an anti-plagiarism service, or more accurately — and perhaps less effectively — as a suite of online tools to help improve learning.

There's not always an easy answer. Nonetheless, this reasonable and fundamental question is the first thing consumers ask, and if you don't answer it for them satisfactorily up front, they're unlikely to invest the time figuring it out for themselves.

Brand Identity

A brand identity is about what you tell people. It's the calculated way you characterize, package, and position your offering. Everything about a brand that has to do with attracting attention, setting expectations, making an impression—those things make up a brand identity. Names, logos, slogans, advertising, packaging—they all have to do with choosing to put a certain face on your brand.

Brand identities are important because they provide the information consumers use to make determinations about whether to purchase your products or services and what they should expect from the experience. If a brand identity is clear, compelling, and well executed, consumers will feel confident that the brand will live up to its promise of value. If a brand identity is vague, muddled, or unappealing, consumers will be reluctant or unmotivated to risk their time and money.

When most people say brand, they're usually talking about brand identity. The problem with using brand identity as a surrogate for brand is that it places a misleading emphasis on the impact of how you package your offering while excluding other equally important considerations. When we analyze successful brands, we typically attribute their success to more operational factors like good leadership, reliable quality, a commitment to customer service, or innovation, rather than the brand's look, name, or slogan. Although brand identities contribute to a brand's success, in the final analysis, we can't judge a brand by its cover.

Brand Experience

Brand experience is the aggregate of consumer perceptions that come from interacting with a brand. Those interactions may occur in the form of a phone call to your technical support representative, a conversation with one of your salespeople, navigating through your Web site, or using one of your products.

But all experiences are not equal. Consumers assign different levels of importance to different facets of their experience, sometimes for example discounting a mediocre sales experience in light of a high degree of product satisfaction. Because most companies must make tradeoffs among service, quality, and cost, it's important to set expectations appropriately so consumers choose to weight the facets of their experience in a way that corresponds to your commitment.

Ikea, for example, promises affordable style. Although the experience of shopping at Ikea isn't for everyone, their overwhelming success proves that many consumers are happy to stand in long lines and assemble their own furniture because Ikea set their expectations appropriately about how they balance service, quality, and cost.

Brand Image

Brand image is the perception consumers have of a brand. Your brand image can be based on anything, including first-hand experience with your products, an article written about your company, or even preconceptions about the kind of business you're in.

Brand identity can influence brand image because it's one of the factors that consumers use to form impressions, even without having first-hand experience with a brand. If you were to do a survey comparing consumers' perceptions of various washing detergents, there would probably be a correlation between the advertising promises and the consumers' expectations of each product, even if the consumers questioned haven't tried most of the brands.

However, brand images are unwieldy beasts because so many things beyond how you package your offering can contribute positively or negatively to your brand's image. If you ask people about the brands they like and why, they will rarely attribute their attitudes to the brand's name, logo, or packaging.

Context

The fourth major component of a brand is the context, which includes the brand's industry, the audiences it serves, its competition, as well as historical, political, and economic circumstances.

The context is important for two reasons. First, it has tremendous influence on the brand image because consumers bring their knowledge of the context into the equation when they evaluate a brand. An energy company, for example, might have a considerably different brand image in California now following the energy crisis than it did earlier, irrespective of its own behavior before, during, or since the crisis.

The second reason the context is important is that it defines pitfalls and opportunities for positioning the brand. For example, Castus Low Carb Superstores originally launched as a health food store that included low carb food options. After a few years of lackluster sales, Castus jettisoned the bulk of its product line to focus exclusively on the low carb market. Sales increased 45%. That kind of success wouldn't have been possible prior to the low carb craze that started in the mid-nineties. (Likewise, if science were to prove that a low carb lifestyle is hazardous to our health, it would devastate the brand image.)

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Thinking about brands in this more holistic way may not make you an expert, but as with Kevin and his Chevy, you will be better guardians of your brands as you nurture your business in today's competitive landscape.