What's your Brand DNA?

Nick Chubb, Senior Industrial Designer at IDC, gives his thoughts on developing products which not only reinforce your brand, but act as evangelists for your business.

News Feed Culture

Marketing and advertising, as they’ve long been known, are DEAD.

We no longer find news. It finds us. Consumers are smarter than ever, with more power than ever before.

You have a bad experience at a restaurant in town, and it’ll be filling my News Feed within the hour. Having a nightmare with flat-pack furniture? Newly purchased products faulty or under-performing? No doubt – it’s getting a Post. And a Share. And some Comments.

Now we have a small community, on the rise, who are discussing their disappointment, anger and frustration with the experience they had when they encountered your product or business - the business you thought was adding value.

In this case, it was an extremely bad experience that was shared. The only alternative to get shared and gather mass interest is a total ‘wow-factor’, remarkable experience. Good, very good and great get no mention. As Seth Godin said in Purple Cow “The opposite of remarkable is very good”.

Two-Step Marketing

Right now, marketing is about two things:

1) Creating something remarkable that adds value.

2) Giving people the platform to remark about it.

Since Mark Zuckerberg, Jack Dorsey and the rest of Silicone Valley have taken care of the latter, the only real action to take is to create something remarkable. As in, worth ‘remarking’ about. Why do I use your product and want to tell others about it? Why do I encounter your HR team and rave about the process? Why do I meet your average Sales Rep and tell my partner about it on the drive home?

This is where Product Design and Brand DNA step in:

Branding is NOT a logo. Branding is NOT the colour of your walls. Branding is NOT your tagline.

Marketing and branding. These aren’t departments. They flow through every area of your business. Right down to what you offer and how you offer it, how you sell, how you talk, how you manage, how you hire and how you answer the phone. Everything.

A huge part of your brand is controlled by how others perceive you, and this comes down to what you put out into the Universe. It’s about living and breathing a certain set of values, with a particular mindset. The openness of this culture and personality is not only what drives the uniqueness and character behind the products and services you provide, but also acts as an open hand for which customers and future talent can grab on to if they consociate and connect with it. This is the space where customers turn into raving fans.

Next Level

The next level you can access with your Brand DNA, which is what we achieve for our clients at IDC, is to intertwine this character and personality with your products in a physical space. The look and feel designed into your products, and aligning this with your brand to convey a cohesive message.

The function your products perform and the value they provide allows them to act as evangelists for the business itself. The products become the leading example of what your brand is trying to achieve, who you are, what you do and how you benefit others. Incorporating a look and feel that reflects the character of the business only helps to reinforce the brand, and communicate to your customers in the way that you wish – without you being there.

So, are your products an evangelist for you?

Do they REALLY capture who you are and add value in the way you wish, with the quality you intend and performance we demand?

At IDC, we strive to get all of this in sync for our clients, through the design of remarkable products that encompass your Brand DNA. If you’re a fledgling business and need help in defining your Brand DNA or refining your company culture – we can add support here too. Just visit our website for more about how we can help, www.idc.uk.com.

We truly believe that launching REMARKABLE products and services is the number one way to grow.

Here’s to wishing someone remarks positively about YOUR products in my News Feed soon!

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Written by: Nick Chubb | Originally published HERE.