Branding by Department: Research and Development

Not every organization has a formal R&D department, but it exists in some fashion for everyone that offers a good or service. Every time you consider a new service to offer, a new product to sell, or an enhancement to existing offering, there is some form of research and development occurring and - yes, you guessed it - your brand must play a critical role in this decision process.

We know that there is a direct relationship between brands and market position and there is also a direct relationship between market position and product/service offering. That being said, your brand can help guide your research and development process so you can be sure that whatever you are putting out to market is consistent with your position, thus strengthening your brand. Consider some of these tips to help keep your R&D process on-brand:

• Make sure the product/service you are considering has a place in your current line. If it has features that cause it to stand apart from the rest, then should it be housed under the same brand?
• Keep your price points consistent. If something new requires you to make a drastic change in the prices your customers are used to paying, it may not be a sensible addition.
• Profit centers can eat away at your brand. Making money is not the only criteria, so make sure you have other reasons to add something other than to increase your revenue stream.
• A new offering should ALWAYS strengthen your brand and position and never dilute it. If it isn't adding to your expertise in your niche, reconsider it.

As always, use these suggestions to get started, but don't be limited by them. There are many ways to view R&D with your branding glasses on, so don't be afraid to look at a new product/service from every angle.

Packaged Goods Reign Supreme

Earlier this year, Harris Interactive held their latest brand equity study. This study, which has been held every year for 28 years, measures brand equity ratings across 39 categories on 6 different factors utilizing around 1,000 products for the survey. The report on this year's study revealed that by and large, consumer packaged good brands reign supreme over all others; 9 out of the top 10 brands can be found on supermarket shelves and of those, the newest brand is Duracell, introduced in 1964.

Should we be surprised by this? Probably not. Although there may be stronger or more well-established brands out there, these are the ones that pour billions of dollars every year into mass-media advertising, sponsorships, and promotions. Couple that with the fact that these 9 brands have all been around for 45 years or longer to build up their equity, it stands to reason that when it comes to consumer rating, these packaged good monoliths stand above all others.

Brand equity is an interesting measurement. I think this study proves that, if nothing else, it is a good indicator of how longevity and steady consumer exposure trumps marketing stunts and flash-in-the-pan bursts of advertising. Recall, however, that brand equity is a measure of the value of a brand, and not necessarily its effectiveness. For most product and organizational brands, the ability to offer a consistent and strong customer experience and attract new business is always going to be more important than that brand's intrinsic value.

CUSTOM ONLINE LOGO DESIGN - $99!! CLICK HERE!!11!

Discount, online logo development. The words alone make people like me and my colleagues shudder with disgust. But, is it really that bad? Aren't there some circumstances when quick and dirty logo design might get the job done for someone with literally no budget?

A great experiment recently concluded where the folks at Speak Up provided the same creative brief to a series of online logo developers, using an overall budget of $1,000 (total, spent on 4 different sites), and compared the results. The outcome was interesting, if not expected.

I was speaking with a colleague about this article and the whole online design phenomenon. He said the whole concept just didn't make sense. We thought it through, and here's what we came up with: If someone had one of these studios with 1 or 2 designers on hand, they could do well. If a designer sat down and did nothing but crank out logos for 8 hours a day, never throwing anything away, they could easily satisfy at least 10 or more clients each day--multiply that by 2 or more if they have a larger staff. That translates to a lot of money. This model, however, hinges on delivering quantity, without regard for quality, and hoping that most customers will be happy with the first set of designs that come to them.

And that's what you usually get: fairly low quality work for a very low price. For some people, this is just fine. For others, they are looking for something a bit better.

Previously, we discussed not overthinking a logo, but I think there is a happy medium between these 2 extremes. Unless you really have no budget or just need something out there - anything - then hire a real agency or designer. Otherwise, you'll just have to be happy with what you get.