Brand Bending

Branding is more than just a marketing buzzword. Your brand should define you as a designer and a professional, and your company as a business.

There are, of course, some simple rules to branding yourself effectively. But what if you want to bend those rules a bit?
Many big companies have gained tremendous success by bending or even breaking the rules when it comes to branding. But before you think about whether bending your brand is right for your firm, you need to truly understand what a brand is, what it does and what role it plays in how your customers perceive you.

According to the Website of the American Marketing Association (www.marketingpower.com), a Brand is defined as “A name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that identifies one seller’s goods or services as distinct from those of other sellers. A brand may identify one item, a family of items or all items of that seller.” When identifying Brand Image, the Website notes, “The brand image is the perception of a brand in the minds of persons. It is what people believe about a brand – their thoughts, feelings, expectations.”

The traditional concept of developing a brand is a process that begins with defining the company and those who run it, as well as the target market, and then developing an image that allows the business to make an emotional connection with that target through marketing channels and reputation.

Creating a personality for a brand includes designing a logo, determining colors, creating a unique message, coining a positioning line that distinguishes the brand from its competition, and consistently using each in all marketing and advertising to create the “look and feel” of the business. It is that look and feel that makes the company and brand recognizable to the target market and generates the emotional response that helps make the sale.

Tim Aden, CMKBD, a principal at Sawhill Custom Kitchens & Design, Inc. in Minneapolis, MN, adheres to this tenet. “Our name and logo are one in the same, so we are easily able to maintain consistency,” he comments. “We will vary photography and text to correlate with a given audience, but the logo and name always remain constant.”

Karen Dry of Garrett Interiors, Inc. in Westlake Village, CA, adds, “We are always consistent with our logo. It is key for us to consistently place our logo in strategic areas, whether it is on signage at a model home complex, on our designers’ cars [via magnetic signs] or on every office form we use.”

The Pepsi Challenge

But what if someone changed the rules of branding? What if a brand leader – an internationally, instantly recognizable brand – decided to toss a monkey wrench into the world of branding? Well, that’s what Pepsi decided to do, and the results can provide a valuable lesson to kitchen and bath professionals.

In February, Pepsi began a branding campaign designed to create an affinity with sub-markets of its target market. In the words of PepsiCo’s own press release: “The first, most visible piece of this effort will be new package graphics for Pepsi-Cola that change every few weeks to reflect themes close to the hearts of teens and young adults, such as sports, music, fashion and cars. The new graphics will be on more than eight billion Pepsi-Cola cans, bottles and cups throughout the world.
“The iconic Pepsi globe logo and name lettering will remain the same – as will Pepsi’s great taste – but the background graphics will change every few weeks, marking the first time Pepsi has altered its look so frequently. In its 109-year existence, Pepsi-Cola’s look has changed just 10 times, but this year alone it will change more than 35 times. This steady rotation of designs reflects the fast, ever-changing interests of the elusive ‘millennial’ generation.

“Not only will the packages look different, but they’ll be different. Pepsi bottles, cans and cups will give consumers access to exclusive online content, games, contests and sweepstakes through unique Web addresses on each of the designs.