CREATING ICONIC BRANDS
CREATING ICONIC BRANDS
Monday, 11 June 2007 10:20
Lee Njoroge takes a bold leap into the realm of the iconic brand in this article, with a definition you may be able to relate to.
By Lee Njoroge I read an article by a guy called Martin Roll where he states the fact that we all know to be true, that companies aspire to build brands that eventually get etched in the culture of the society and become cultural icons. Building a brand up to become an icon requires a deliberate and concerted effort, according to Roll, giving examples like Coca-Cola, Harley Davidson, Giorgio Armani, Apple and so on. According to Roll, all these brands fulfilled three important requirements of being an iconic brand: Create an identity myth: Brands that create an identity for themselves, that ring true with the larger population begin to get etched into a society’s culture. Involve multiple storytellers: If you associate the brand and its identity with major events in society by using different voices to articulate the message: companies, culture industries, intermediaries and customers.
These different authors as Roll calls them, facilitate the blending of the brand into society. Weave powerful brand stories: Roll says that great brands always have resonating stories that touch the lives of consumers. These stories could be of the brand's unique history (Shanghai), myth (Jim Thompson), culture (Harley Davidson) or fashion icon (Giorgio Armani). In addition, the brand stories offer consumers a good reason to elevate the brand beyond their mere utilitarian role in the market. What then happens when you successfully create a brand that is an icon is you also develop a community around that brand, these are active loyal users of the brand who are set-apart from the rest of the people who are not part of that community.
By being an important resource for consumers, brand communities provide wider social benefits to consumers through interaction and provide social structure to the relationship between marketer and consumer.
