Like people, brands have goals – whether it’s size of share, turnover or perception measurements, all brand managers have goals set in place which help to determine the future path of a brand in order to achieve and measure its success.

We are committed to helping our clients achieve their goals through the success of their brands and helping to refine their goals to ensure they are clear, focused and realistic.

So…what are the goals of your brand and how can we help you to realise them?

• ‘The goal must be to sell the distinctive quality of the brand – Kerry Light, Brand Strategist 
•  ‘If you want to be happy, set a goal that commands your thoughts, liberates your energy and inspires your hopes’ – Andrew Carnegie
• ‘The most important thing about having goals is having one’ – Geoffrey F. Abert
• ‘A man without a purpose is like a ship without a rudder’ – Thomas Carlyle
• ‘The greatest brand goal is relevance – the goal should always be to keep your customers believing that your brand was created with them in mind’ – Anon

Stolen with pride from all over the place.

The strength of an idea, much like the emotional perception of a brand, is reliant on some fairly intangible measures: how relevant is it to what we’re trying to achieve? How thin is the line between a silly, risky idea and a bold and brilliant new concept? Whose idea was it anyway?

At The Value Engineers we deal with ideas all the time – whether it’s helping our clients to generate and use ideas for effective innovation or using ideas to solve business problems and develop a truly bespoke process to achieve a goal.

Here are some others’ thoughts on ideas:

• ‘Every brand is an idea; it’s an idea for how to communicate something in a different, values-led way’ – Anon
• ‘A really good idea is simple, unexpected and relevant. And it unites extremes: it should risk a lot but nevertheless be easy to implement. Everyone should talk about it, but existing customers should not be irritated by it’ – Nadja Schnetzler
• ‘It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to be always right by having no ideas at all’ – Edward de Bono
• ‘While a brand idea can never be too big, it may well be too big for advertising’ – Richard Huntington
• ‘Take up one idea. Make that idea your life. Think on it, dream on it, live on it’ – Swami Vivekananda

Stolen with pride from all over the place.

We often talk about ‘personal brands’ (see The Apprentice 2010) and ‘brand personalities’ within our own consultancy walls but increasingly these terms are becoming commonplace as consumers start to become savvier as to the importance of brand personality and values. Even Kate Middleton has been described as ‘brand Kate’ in recent press due to the warning to highstreet retailers against them trying to sell ‘Kate-style’ dresses. But what makes Kate Middleton a ’brand’? The consistency in her behaviour demonstrates certain personality traits and values which have enabled people to believe they know what her ‘brand’ stands for. And a clear idea of what someone – or a brand – stands for makes for a strong resonance of that brand with the consumer.

So, what is your brand personality? Do people have a clear idea of what you stand for? And how would you describe your company or products’ brand personalities? – are they consistent enough to retain strength and loyalty in an every-changing market?

We work extensively with clients around the world to help crystallise and develop their brand personalities to ensure that they are both believable characters for today and strong enough personalities to incorporate into the brand vision for tomorrow.

So, here are a few more ways of thinking around brand personality:

• ‘Personality traits are what the brand will live and die for’ – Anon
• ‘Brand personality is the result of all the consumers’ experiences with the brand.  As a result, it is unique and long lasting’ – M. Long
• ‘Personality is the concept to give life to a brand, to manage ‘identity and image,’ to create likeability’ – Tom Dorresteijn
• ‘The brand’s personality must resonate intuitively in all who are involved with the brand or are in contact with the company and the products.  Therefore, it is essential to build on the values and competencies that already exist in your company’ – Poul Mikkelsen
• ‘Personality is fundamentally linked to behaviour. Talking the talk is not enough – brands have to walk the walk as well’ – J. J. Cox

 Stolen with pride from all over the place.

The beginning of the year is often that time in the calendar when we try to quantify our goals for the next 12 months.  From personal missions to company objectives, one way in which we often go about making these goals tangible is by attaching numbers to them.  These figures help to provide focus and a measurement of succes – turning good intentions into tangible goals.

So how is quantification relevant to brands – don’t people argue on a daily basis that brands are the intangible assets to a company’s otherwise quantifiable production lines or products / services? We would argue that brands have more dimensions than that. There is data which supports their value and role within a business. We can help provide you with the quantitative rigour you need - from customer segmentations to tracking and product testing – to ensure that your brand gets the numbers it needs.

• “What can be measured and manipulated statistically is not only seen as real; it comes to be seen as the only or whole reality” – David Boyle
• “We look – however uneasily – for ways to quantify quality” – Jeremy Bullmore
•  ”Data is not information, information is not knowledge, knowledge is not understanding, understanding is not wisdom” – Clifford Stoll
• “Trying to quantify brand value is like trying to quantify love…you can’t, it just is what it is – and that is an invitation to start a relationship” - G. Vale
• “Data is what differentiates the dilettante from the artist” – George V. Higgins 

Stolen with pride from all over the place.

 In the first week of the new year our minds have turned to new beginnings – and the beginning of any new project often starts with a great pitch. So, what makes a great pitch? And how can your brand better pitch for differentiation and success in the future?

• ‘Brands elevate customers, not pitches’ – Brian Phipps
• ‘Great pitches need both sausage and sizzle; one should never exist without the other’ – Paul Walton, Founder Partner of The Value Engineers
• ‘A pitch is usually the end of a long process which combines chemistry and creativity with strategic answers…the best ones find an equal balance of both’ – Anon
• ‘A great pitch is an advert for your project. Sell, sell, sell!’ – T. Gain
• ‘You’re asking someone – whether a client or consumer – to enter into a long-term relationship on the back of one date…first impressions are everything’ – Heather Brierly

Stolen with pride from all the place.