representation that clearly shows who they are and what they stand for
? the rituals – the repeated interaction that people have with your business and how you handle those interactions
? dealing with nonbelievers – by defining the pagans, you define who and what you are not
? the sacred words – the words that you must know to belong within that group e.g. ‘skinny latte’ or ‘death kitty’ or ’emily the strange’
? leadership – successful brands have a person who is the catalyst, the risk taker, the visionary
Never underestimate the power of story, says Hanlon. “Take Pom Wonderful who have less than 100 staff” he says, “its Web site includes an entire history of the company and the pomegranate itself. All brands are a narrative; the story is what draws us in”.
Once customers are in, it’s a company’s value system or creed that keeps them coming back. Take Blue Banana who specialize in alternative clothing, band merchandise, fashion accessories and body jewellery and have just 11 stores plus their webstore. Their creed is: “…. to allow you to join in with others who have a similar view about life to you. Your culture and music remains at the core of everything Blue Banana does, everything is influenced by your music.”
These companies and others like them have spent a lot of effort in creating their brands and realize that it can be destroyed very quickly. They have defined what their organization must do to support their brand values.
This has paid off in increased sales and profitability which has been shown to be the case time and again – brand savvy companies have better growth, profits and shareholder returns.
However, a