brand strategy

Best known for her individualistic expertise when it comes to coaxing out the real emotional power in brands to spike the bottom line, Mary van de Wiel [alias: Van] is CEO and Brand Anthropologist of Zing Your Brand & Co., a New York-based creative brand consultancy, laboratory and workspace. Dubbed Master Provocateur by clients and media alike, Van brings a highly-eclectic perspective to branding whether as weekly host of NY Brand Lab Radio, leading the quarterly NY Brand Lab Workshops, speaking, consulting, blogging or producing the Brand Reinvention Summit. For 15 years, Van ran her own global branding shop with offices in New York and Sydney with Fortune 500 clients across four continents. She’s written for Entrepreneur.com, Dan Schawbel’s Personal Branding Blog, and has been featured in Investor’s Business Daily, Reuters, VOGUE and Entrepreneur Magazine. She is the author of soon-to-be-published Dead Brand Walking. Follow Van on Twitter @maryvandewiel or download her free audio, 7 Creative Secrets to a Wickedly Bolder Brand as well as two free ebooks, How to Score your Business Brand and Raise the Pulse of your Brand.

When’s the last time you had a hunch something wasn’t quite right with your brand (or any other brand, for that matter?) Consumers now—and your audience—crave genuine brands so let’s go look at a couple of clues that are getting brands into trouble.

Start with wearing the hat of Brand Detective.

If you need a dose of inspiration, there’s a crafty duo on FOX. They’re eclectic and highly idiosyncratic. (What’s more, the frisson between them is killing me.) I’m talking about Tim Roth (Dr. Cal Lightman) and Kelli Williams (Dr. Gillian Foster) who star in Lie To Me. In any case, they know a lot about deceit. After all, it’s their business to play detective. Always on the look out for clues, they have a formalized system of tapping into behavior, expression, language, gesture—all complex signals and codes—which leads them, of course, to solving the nasty problem on their hands.

Lightman and Foster work with humans. We get to work with brands. Let’s start sniffing:

Clue 1: Lack of Congruence (Look for mixed messages.)

Never underestimate the power of congruence in any kind of communication. If a brand is not congruent, it’s sending out mixed messages. (It’s a sure sign of a brand you don’t want to trust.)

FYI, the word congruent describes the quality of all parts being in alignment, agreement and in harmony—with each part communicating the same consistent message. By the way, when people are not congruent in their own behavior or personality, their brands are usually not congruent either. There’s a lack of clarity in the person behind the brand, and you can bet their brand’s message is going to be off kilter or murky.
Notice the congruence between the name of a brand and the nature of what’s being offered. If there’s a lack of connection or synergy between the two, you’ll have that gut feeling that something doesn’t measure up, and people will walk away scratching their heads. (A confused mind never buys.)

Apple is a good example of the quintessential congruent brand. Its name, product design, messaging, store design, merchandising, people and entire energy—right down to the color palette—are in total alignment. No confused minds here. Good energy. Pure acceptance. Astonishing congruence.

Clue 2: Lack of attention. (Look for bad behavior.)

Brands will act out if no one behind the scenes is paying attention. Brands misbehave, too. (This is another sign of a brand you don’t want to trust.) At least once a week, amazingly enough, I have a business owner confiding that they’re so preoccupied with working on their business, they’ve totally ignored their brand. Some haven’t touched their site in months. I call that an abandoned brand. You can tell when:

• The lights are out, so to speak. No one’s home. (So what I am sticking around for?)
• Listed offers, events or classes are all out of date. (No sign of being up to date. Good example of Dead Brand Walking.)
• Photos or images online are all standard stock photos. The ones you see on other bland brand sites. (No indication of any individuality or desire to set this brand apart from the pack. Wow.)
• No pics of founders, team, people, dogs—nada. (FYI Avatars don’t have a pulse.)
• Style of writing feels like a robot at work. The kind of entity that doesn’t have any blood pumping through its veins. Plus, you’re being kept at arm’s length. (What’s to trust?)

Want visitors to stick around your site, lean closer to hear your message, get the feeling that you are who you say you are, get that you have blood running through your veins, and that you’re congruent and hugely energized? Be your own Brand Detective—and make sure the complex signs and signals are sending the right message. (The message you want to send.)