United We Brand

How to Create a Cohesive Brand thats Seen, Heard, and Remembered

By Mike Moser
Harvard Business School Press, 2003, hardbound, 165 pages Reviewed by Todd Burud, 2/13 In the 1948 movie, Red River, Tom Dunson (John Wayne) created his brand, the Red River D, to mark the entrance to his land and every head of cattle he owned. The D stood for Dunson, and two s-shaped lines represented the river. Later, he added an M, acknowledging Matthew Garth (Montgomery Cliff) as an equal partner. Their epic struggle to drive the herd along the Chisholm Trail to Abilene, Kansas, revealed both the good and the bad sides of human nature. But in total, it represented the ability to overcome adversity with strength, toughness, and perseverance. The Red River D brand identified itself with those attributes and with those men. Mess with my cattle, and you mess with me.

The Red River D in business life

In a similar way, a good company brand closely identifies itself with specific, human virtues and beliefs. I prefer virtues and beliefs to the more contemporary but subjective term, values. Right and moral conduct, nobility, honesty, sincerity, dependabilitythey reach beyond mere image; theyre real and good, just like the Red River D. Mike Moser, author of United We Brand: How to Create a Cohesive Brand that s Seen, Heard, and Remembered, is a celebrated advertising guru. But he wrote in the form of a simple, doit-yourself, heres-how book. This format is similar to other business books written for the popular market: conversational (almost seminar-like), anecdotal, simple vocabulary, ample white space and line spacing, transitional sentences and paragraphs, worksheets, and short chapters. In fact, the book is only 165 pages.

Four basic elements to your Brand Roadmap

You could easily dismiss these books as fluff. But don t. The question isnt whether this book contains any substance; it does. Instead, the question is whether the reader will put its substance to work. Mosers book culminates in a practical guide he calls, a Brand Roadmap. He wrote a succinct summary of its four primary elements: 1. Core values: The values our brand is built on. Core values are the foundation of our company and the pillars of every message we deliver. 2. Brand message: The overall key message were trying to communicate. All other messages should support and add credibility to this message.

3. Brand personality: The overall tone and attitude we use to deliver our message. Brand personality is the key emotional component that determines whether were a likeable brand. 4. Brand icons: The executional tools we use to deliver our brand message and brand personality: for example, colors, typefaces, voice-over, logo, layouts, and music. Brand icons are the elements that make all our marketing materials uniquely us.

Two most important: Core Brand Values and Brand Personality

Good branding requires time. Unfortunately, few small business owners give proper reflection to do it right. Branding begins, not with the graphic designer, but with the philosopher; not with a brain-storming session, but with introspection. Moser says, Before you can project a unique external brand for your company, you must first understand the companys internal character. This internal identityis the source from which all other aspects of your brand, ideally, will flow. In fact, I believe that a brand grows out of our personal beliefs about God, country, capitalism, democracy, and family. Mosers admonition to hold fast to undiluted core virtues also rings true. Conviction is essential; equivocation has no role in a core brand value. Why espouse a virtue (value) then lack conviction when its practice becomes difficult?
Thomas Jefferson didnt say, Whenever its convenient, give me life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Although its necessary to isolate specific organic virtues in a companys branding process, be careful not to choose them be consensus. Dont create a brand to reflect a mere image. It must be real, an accurate reflection of the good in your company and in its leaders. In my view, most corporations fall into the trap of espousing vague social values at the expense of the companys unique products and services. In their pursuit of political-correctness, they appear generic and even anemic. Conversely, Moser might embrace a host of politicallycorrect social issues privately, but his first concern is practicality. Good branding is about what is true, real, unique, and effective. [Be careful not to brag. Read G.K. Chestertons Ugg story in my white paper on Small Business Marketing Philosophy.] Finally, Moser reinforces what we all experience, particularly in a small business: every company has a personality. The company does not create itself; it exists through the ideas and work of individual people, resonating in the brand. Could a brand become an impersonal, corporate image? Yes. But throughout, Moser pulls us back. Dont talk in corporate-speak. [C]reate a personality that connects with people. Remember your roots; remember the Red River D.
Recommended reading Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind , Trout; Building Strong Brands, Aaker