We learned long ago to talk about marketing in terms of experience, not just in terms of a product and its features and benefits. Experiential marketing opened our eyes to the fuzzy boundaries of categories about the “consumption situation”…what led to the consumption, what else the consumer is doing while consuming, feelings and ideas around the consumption, you name it. (Well, you don’t name it–some other marketers named it.)

In the same way, a brand has fuzzy categories. Some marketers love to ask their client what word they think their brand conjures up in their customer’s mind. We all wish it was that simple. It’s not. We’re talking concept here, not words. Words are language, and language is not the same thing as concepts or feelings. And if we know that branding has anything at all to do with emotions, then you can throw words out the
window.

Once in a

while, one word does the trick. Example: Volvo = Safety. But experience with a brand cannot be defined by just one word. Especially when the experience is

with a service or an “extended service” for a period of time, such as attending college. Take, for instance, the University of Chicago Business School. Crosby Associates worked with UC on their brand. Take a whiff of this list: World-Class, Intelligent, Prestigious, Proud, Individualistic, Smart, Resourceful, Rigorous, Innovative, Analytical, Passionate, Ambitious, Having Tradition.

WHEW! You’d complete your degree before you finished listing all their brand concepts.

Article Tags: brand | Branding | Experiential Marketing
Filed under: Experiential Marketing