Branding Perceptions

Just like brands on the backsides of cattle, people love to tote their favorite brands. Think about it—Gucci, Coach, Levi’s, Coca-Cola, The Gap, Starbucks, are all major brands that have loyal customer followings. Successful well-known brands are everywhere.

As a kid one of the first brands that I fell in love with was Coca-Cola. It was all about “Have a Coke and a smile!” I loved the look of the can, the clever commercials, the logo and of course the refreshing taste. Once I was inaugurated into the “Coke Family,” Coke was irreplaceable. No matter where I saw it, whether in the grocery store, in a vending machine or at home in the refrigerator, it was always the same wonderful experience, and frankly, I couldn’t get enough.

Later in life (I still love Coke), I came to ponder the Coke brand experience. What was it about Coke, besides the taste, that made it and kept it at the top of my mind? The next question beyond the “what” was the “how” and “when”. What I came to realize was obvious to any student of branding: behind Coke was a masterful team of marketers that developed and executed their strategic marketing plan to the “T.”

It was this “A-Team” that planned the experiences that they wanted me to have. These experiences, although my own, were preconceived by this “A-Team.” Based on their plan, they developed the design of the logo, the can, the colors, the messaging, the commercials, and came up with the jingles. They then utilized these assets to reach out to me and offer an experience that was contrived and waiting for me to take part in. In a strange way I came to think that my “Coke” experiences weren’t natural reactions on my part, but rather orchestrated responses to what the A-Team had planned. Basically they had me right where they wanted me; with a Coke and a smile.

This is what brand marketing is all about: developing and planning what others should perceive when they experience your brand. It makes so much sense. Why leave it to the consumer to decide what your brand is about and how they should feel about it? Why not plan and control the users’ perception of your brand in a full court press effort to plan their reactions, manipulate their feelings and create their perceptions? After all, when this is accomplished, just like cattle, a company will have successfully branded the customer.