I.M’ers Don’t Get Branding…
Andy Fletcher of Digiresults recently said regarding branding…
“Pick a brand word and stick it on your products. For 3 years I was the Digi guy. Everything I put out was Digi Something Something. Doing that makes you seem a bigger deal than you really are, which ironically starts to make it true!”
While Andy is an incredibly smart and successful player in the I.M space having driven over $1 million in sales, what he says represents one of the many misconceptions about branding…
It is not using the same name that makes you seem bigger, it is having a brand name (that sounds like a brand name – more on that in a minute) attached with your name and product line.
e.g…
SqueezeMobi
Munchweb
Digiresults
That builds authority because bigger players in business are recognized by their name AND brand, and so you are matching that stereotype.
e.g.
Bill Gates – Microsoft
Steve Jobs – Apple
Tim Ferriss – 4 Hour Series
Andy Fletcher – Digiresults
Chris Munch – Munchweb
What You Signify if You Don’t Have a Brand Name
Most authors, Self employed builders, small time IM’ers and bizopp scammers are just known by their name (their name is their brand) and have no strong central parent brand to be recognized by. This holds less authority in business.
For example, there’s a bigger difference in authority in business when you compare an author with his name as a brand ‘Stephen King’ or ‘Steven Covey’ compared to one who is recognized for a brand ‘Seth Godin – Squidoo’. ‘Guy Kawasaki – Alltop’.
In order of biz authority…
1. Seth and Guy are considered business owners.
2. Steven Covey is considered and author and consultant.
3. Stephen King is considered a writer.
In other words your brand name signifies you run a COMPANY (more authority) whereas using your name signifies you run a service, consultancy or are an author.
Should YOUR products have a brand name?
If you create actual physical products or software products then those products definitely need a brand name.
If however you are an author focusing on specific topics then your name or pen-name will usually be suitable for the brand name.
Similarly for someone providing a service where they are the primary client facing person, rather than a team, then their name will be suitable for the brand name.
A brand name is something that people remember and build associations with, and where the person is 100% central to the product such as in a personal service, or as an author, then the person’s name serves best as the main brand.
Where the product or service is not so closely connected to the person behind it, such as with a physical product, or a software product, than using your name makes less sense because of the greater distance between you and the product. Such products should have their own brand name.
Brand Recognition & Product Names – Common Mistakes
Recognition is built through being sure your brand is put out there so people know its a Digi, Munchweb, or SqueezeMobi product for example.
However, this leads to a common mistake…
You need to decide what your brand represents (or already represents and choose to accept or change it) and bear in mind it means different things to JVs and buyers.
Bear in mind the following…
Brand Specialty (and weakening it)
Your brand name represents something, and one thing is a specialty.
If you use your brand name on products that are not similar, you confuse what your specialty is and weaken your brand.
There are countless examples where big name brands tried to use their parent brands (with the intention to carry authority) and lost market share as a result because their brand specialty was weakened.
There are exceptions to the rule (like Virgin) but the FACTS are that this hurts more product lines, and those successes are likely successful for other reasons despite the incorrect branding choice.
There are 3 levels of brand linkage…
1. Keep brand completely (Virgin Airlines)
2. Show parent brand but focus on product name. (think of Cadbury and Nestle Chocolate products)
3. Hide parent brand (Procter and Gamble for shampoos, soaps, deodorants etc.)
When to use them…
1 – Should only be used where parent brand has HUGE REAL recognition, and product line is very very similar and consistent in what the main brand and product should be recognized for. Otherwise what the brand is recognized for will be weakened. For example, Virgin is recognized for professionalism, quality and being cool – its a very rare case where such qualities can be pushed consistently across multiple highly different product lines, and it will have difficulty competing with specialist brands that show they are the best in their sector. The specialist brand for that product line is typically the market leader.
Examples…
Coca-Cola – recognized specifically for Cola and is market leader.
Google- recognized specifically for Search and is market leader.
If a brand tries to take its recognition of authority into another sector, even if related, it can hurt what the main brand stands for, and weaken its position as a market leader. This has happened time and time again, and is a big reason why big corporations decline by diluting their brand into different product lines. An example is Chrysler.
2 – Best used when products are in a similar space where the brand is recognized for those type of products, but the products also need to stand out as being different. An example being Cadbury’s Dairy Milk vs. Cadbury’s Buttons. The product name is the main focus, but carries the weight of the parent brand without confusing what the brand stands for (in this case good chocolate)
3. Best used when products are very different, and the parent brand has recognition which would be hurt or confused in its meaning by attaching to dis-similar products.
Assumed Similarity & Product Brand Confusion
A problem in our niche is also assumed similarity when you over-use a brand name or product line that are not obviously different. This is a bigger problem in our niche as people don’t study what they buy properly.
“What is the difference between Digi Auto Links and Digi Traffic Multiplier”
“I already have Hook Pigeon, is Signal Pigeon different?”
This means the brands of your individual products is not very strong and does not stand on its own representing something in its own right.
If you want to have a product brand recognized as the best product in its category, its unlikely to be considered so when it strongly carries the brand name of other products in a product line.
The product name lacks its specialty if the parent brand is given focus.
I have been guilty of doing this in the past, and have rebranded products as a result.
Who is the Parent Brand For?
Few people know who the CEO of Google is, but that CEO has a brand name within the business circle, but not outside.
Certain JV managers (and even launchers) have a brand name which means something to other JVs, but not to buyers.
Procter & Gamble has a brand name which means little to consumers, but means everything to retailers.
This is something to bear in mind.
For example, your parent brand name… SqueezeMobi, Munchweb/Chris Munch, Digiresults/Andy Fletcher etc. can mean more to JVs than buyers. In such a case your brand name for your customer product line, and your brand name for your launch to JVs would be different.
What does a REAL Brand Sound Like?
Descriptive brands are less memorable, and its not how people’s brains work.
Do people say ‘type it into the Search Engine’ or ‘type it in to Google’?
Do people say ‘I am using the Hoover’ or ‘I am using the Vacuum Machine’.
We remember each other by names – we don’t greet our friends with ‘Hi tall friend with blue eyes and long brown hair’. We say ‘Hi Dave’.
Yet in I.M. there is a trend to use descriptive brands as if it is the thing to do. The truth is that most people in I.M don’t grasp branding, and have taught this market sector incorrectly to use descriptive product names.
Brand names should be less descriptive and a logical explanation of how the brand links to the product is not needed.
Sony, Apple, Microsoft, Virgin, Pampers, and Pepsi have little logical meaning to the product, but make great brand names.
‘WP Geo-Redirector’ – is not a good brand name.
‘GeoCandle’ – is a good brand name.
Brand Feeling
The words used in a brand name is more about the feeling that the word can represent.
For example, ‘Titanium’ does not give the right feel for a baby diaper product line, but ‘Pampers’ does.
This can actually be less to do with the actual meaning of the word (which can be replaced) but with how that words sounds and feels. For example, when you think of Virgin Airways what springs to mind? – a representation of a level of quality, or young girls on a plane?
But Don’t Descriptive Brand Names Educate the Prospect?
Many in I.M think the product name has to spell out what the product does or people will get confused what the hell it does.
If that was true Aweber would be called ‘Email Marketing Genie’ or some other poor brand name like that.
A descriptive brand names signifies unconsciously that your product is NOT strong enough to be recognized by an actual name, nor deserves to be recognized or have a name. It’s like the homeless guy in a small town who’s known as a ‘tramp’ rather than his name as he’s considered on some level to be less than a person and every normal person.
The description of your product is what the sales copy is for. I broke the record for the best selling WSO selling over 11,000 copies with the brand name ‘Hook Pigeon‘. If anything, people were more inclined to read the sales copy to discover what the product was.
Hope my experience and research into branding has helped!
Thanks
Chris Munch
Please share this article if it has helped you with your branding.