By M. Isi Eromosele

People like to see themselves reflected in the world around them. We like to feel connected to the world.

This desire for connection is no less powerful when it comes to brands. The brands we choose, especially those we keep coming back to, that we talk about in professional circles, and that we recommend to our friends and family resonate in an important way with who we are and what we like.

The need to make an internal association with the values of your audience is a fundamental tenet of branding.

With the expansion of the Internet, the explosion of mobile apps, and the broad impact social media has had on the relationship between brands and their audiences, the value of developing internal association with your audience has grown.

As opportunities for dynamic dialogue between business and consumer have multiplied exponentially, organizations have a need to find ways to engage and elevate their associative value.

Brands that get it right go beyond appealing to material needs; they transcend the superficial back-and-forth to engage with audiences not just around what people seek in a material sense, but on a deeper and more emotional level.

Consumers are now more empowered in the marketplace. And the organizations that are trying to reach this new breed of customers must realize that they have to respond to a subtle but powerful shift in people’s decision making: from “I want” to “I am.”

The “I am” mentality means that decision making isn’t just about purchase anymore. It’s also about the choices individuals make to incorporate a brand into their online profiles, as a way to bring more personal depth and dimension to their public personas.

It’s about the fact that the brands you follow on Twitter says as much about you as who follows you. It’s about the decision individuals make to include certain brands in small talk to drive home a point or to show off a particular sense of personal style. It’s about the choice individuals make to drive an extra three miles from one store to another, because the first “doesn’t have my brand.”

This “I am” mentality complicates the media landscape that brands navigate today. It requires brands to know a lot more about how their target audience makes associations, where they are making these associations and why.

It requires that brands think not just about individual channels, but about in what way they integrate with each other and the relative value each channel adds to the overarching experience created for the target audience.

Building an emotional connection with the “I am” mentality is necessary to keep brands relevant, valuable and alive in an age of dynamic media. It opens up significant opportunities to align closely with passionate people who will engage, co-create for greater value and spread your brand message with the influence of peer-to-peer authenticity.

But building that connection also demands more than ever that brands know who their market audience is, so they can more credibly flex its personality across multiple touch points. This represents a significant investment and requires a willingness to embrace complexity.

The Right Narrative

To be successful, a brand’s story must connect with a larger conversation that’s happening in the market communities. People connect best with brands that communicate through storytelling. People relate to a story that specifically resonates with the human experience and is relevant to the way people touch the brand.

The trick is tapping into the cultural narrative of the audience you want to reach in order to tell the right story. The complexity of the media landscape can make this difficult for brand managers and communicators. It raises questions like “What behaviors should I look at?” “What conversations should I listen to?” “What metrics should I measure?”

To understand the greater narrative of your target audience, context is the key: grasping not only what people are talking about, but why; knowing not only where people are coming from, but where they’re going; seeing the contrast between what people like, and what they dislike.

In creating and managing brand value, companies should:

Listen

Conversation tells us what topics have momentum, what captures attention, what captures the imagination; what we want to share and what we want our community to react to. To find the true thread of conversation, you have to look at what people are saying across channels, wherever genuine, candid conversation can be had: social networks like Facebook, social microblogs like Twitter and across the blogosphere.

By listening for how people talk about your brand in the context of how your product actually fits within their lives, you can learn what people really care about, and find the right balance of emotional and functional messages to deliver at which key points along the customer journey.

Look

Behavior shows us how key themes of conversations take root to motivate engagement and how the narrative plays out in our everyday actions. This is where the spark of association can be seen, indicating potential for building a long-term-

value relationship.

For brands, this means it is important to reward associative behaviors to show that you are paying attention and willing to engage. Think about the associative behaviors you want to encourage when it comes to your brand - is it a Facebook “Like” that grants your brand badge status on an individual’s page?

Take Action

Opportunities become clear when we see alignment between genuine conversations and behaviors happening among the people we want to reach and the core values and attributes we want to stand for.

When you know what your audience cares about, where they spend their time and how they demonstrate association, you can step back and examine what defines your brand at its core.

You can also figure out how to bridge the gap between what your audience talks about and where you naturally intersect with that conversation.

Look at your brand messages. Do they speak to the interests your audience voices in their online conversation? Listen to your brand voice. Does it use the language that fits with how your audience speaks? Do you sound like one of them? Review your brand touch points. Do you have a presence where your audience spends time? Are you there to help them when it comes to making decisions related to your product category?

So listen, observe, and find the opportunities to build a deeper connection with your audience in the ways that truly reflect the essence of your brand and the value to them.

M. Isi Eromosele is the President | Chief Executive Officer | Executive Creative Director of Oseme Group - Oseme Creative | Oseme Consulting | Oseme Finance

Copyright Control © 2012 Oseme Group

By M. Isi Eromosele

There is no one-size-fits-all model for brand architecture. It is important to build a customized framework based on a flexible model.

Brands that build strong relationships with their customers are rewarded with higher sales, profits and value over time. The value of the strongest brands continues to rise. Brands that demonstrate their transparency, integrity and authenticity will continue to build successful long-term relationships with their customers.

The economic downturn has changed spending behavior and customers are increasingly more opinionated, savvy and connected. As a result, it has become more important to get your brand architecture and portfolio management right.

Brand architecture can typically be described as the branding framework that organizes and explains the nature and strategic relationships of each of your brands, working hand-in-hand with your portfolio management.

Ultimately, both your architecture and portfolio influence how stakeholders relate and interact with your company's products and services. Getting it right or wrong affects the financial value of customer relationships.

Traditional Brand Architecture Models

Traditional thinking about architecture is based on four well-documented models. These outline the way different stakeholders experience and interact with the brand. The immediate questions and the starting point for these models are still relevant today:

'Who is your Audience?' 'How does it differ across the breadth and depth of your portfolio?'

The most straightforward, cost-effective way to manage your brand architecture is the monolithic model. This can be applied when the portfolio of products and services are broadly in line with the overall brand proposition.

What happens when a strong brand creates another strong brand, such as with Apple and iPod? This would be described as a sub-brand. Apple remains as the parent brand, with its innovative and pioneering values, while iPod contributes coolness and mobility to Apple's equities and both brands benefit from the relationship.

Another great example is presented by Unilever endorsing the Dove brand. Dove has a distinct and unique personality on its own that benefits from a reassuring seal from its parent brand. By stating its relationship with Unilever, a worldwide trusted brand, Dove builds on its quality and source expectations, strengthening its position in the market.

Managing a wide number of brands is no simple task and needs a sophisticated marketing function to make it successful. Brand architecture goes beyond the visual/graphic naming relationship of brands and sub-brands. It is about the overall experience created for your customer segments.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Some brands, such as HSBC and P&G, can apply the one brand architecture model, but increasingly, complex brand portfolios and diverse audiences mean this is becoming more difficult.

Many brands need to adopt hybrid models to remain globally relevant. Presence in different categories, channels (e.g. the internet) or countries require a different approach to brand architecture.

Nestlé uses a range of approaches, from a Nestlé named product through to Nespresso     and the endorsed KitKat brand. Today’s customers are more informed than ever. This means that any approach has to be carefully considered. If you don't signal a connection overtly between brands in your portfolio, customers can make that link by themselves.

Brand Architecture Designed From The Outside In

Today, many companies have a huge amount of information on their customer segments, needs and motivations. The ability to gather information is becoming easier through the use of specialized and customized applications.

Therefore, a company's brand architecture can start to reflect this information by becoming even more refined to the relevant needs and groups. The Audi proposition is very carefully signposted for customers, using disciplined and effective brand architecture throughout the range.

Implementing Effective Global Brand Architecture

Ultimately, brand architecture is about organizing the relationships between your brands and customers to reach your business objectives. Here are some effective approaches to help manage the direction of your brand portfolio:

Brands build value by creating strong bonds with their customers. In today's changing market, those brands that demonstrate transparency, integrity and authenticity are most likely to succeed in building these relationships.

Brand architecture is increasingly important because it is the external representation of how your brands interrelate. Customers are able to make connections to other areas of your portfolio without you necessarily telling them, so it is important to consider how you want this to be perceived.

M. Isi Eromosele is the President | Chief Executive Officer | Executive Creative Director of Oseme Group - Oseme Creative | Oseme Consulting | Oseme Finance

Copyright Control © 2012 Oseme Group

By M. Isi Eromosele

Knowing the actual monetary value of a brand can play a major role in helping to guide the decision-making of a company as its leaders think about their plans for the future of the business.

Why can’t the same be true for personal brands, such as celebrities and athletes? They drive value in the same manner as any other brand and understanding how to leverage them is more important today than ever before.

Personal Brand Valuation (PBV) has utility for both the owner of the personal brand and the corporation seeking to align with an endorser.

It can be used to determine the current and future value a personal brand generates for itself or to determine the value a personal brand will generate for a corporate/product brand.

PBV - Personal Earnings Estimate

Used to forecast the earnings of a personal brand, the Personal Earnings Estimate has a variety of uses, including enticing top talent in the sports or business worlds. It can also be used by talent management to understand the brand impact of their clients’ career decisions, allowing optimization of potential future earnings.

Step One: Determine the Sources of Income

Understand the potential sources of income, both now and in the future (i.e. salary, endorsements, product sales, etc.)

Step Two: Understand the Drivers

Determine the effect of different variables on those income streams (e.g. choosing certain film roles, playing for a particular franchise, selecting an employer).

Step Three: Determine Brand Strength

By understanding the current strengths and weaknesses of the brand in question, you can determine the probability of earnings estimates. For example, a celebrity prone to scandal will be less likely to land starring roles, earn awards and secure endorsements. All of which will result in lower potential earnings.

Step Four: Simulate

Simulate all possible outcomes to determine the maximum, minimum and average earnings potential given all possible scenarios (i.e. number of championships or Academy Awards won over a career).

PBV - Organizational Earnings Estimate

This is used to forecast the impact of aligning a corporate or product brand with a personal brand. By understanding the value of different personal brands, decisions can be made on which personal brands to align with and what level of investment to make

in those partnerships.

Step One: Understand the Opportunity

Estimate market potential for the product/corporate brand in question and develop a baseline earnings estimate by examining existing research and financial forecasts.

Step Two: Determine Role of Brand

Understand the role of the personal brand in driving incremental demand for the product/ corporate brand among each target segment either through custom or existing research.

Step Three: Determine Brand Strength

By understanding the current strengths and weaknesses of the brand in question, you can determine the probability of earnings estimates actually coming to fruition.

The final outcome of either approach is a dollar value that the brand generates. From this model, you can determine what the key drivers of personal brand value are and answer questions that might arise when your organization or the celebrity is weighing different scenarios to determine what is best for both brand and bottom line.

M. Isi Eromosele is the President | Chief Executive Officer | Executive Creative Director of Oseme Group - Oseme Creative | Oseme Consulting | Oseme Finance

Copyright Control © 2012 Oseme Group

By M. Isi Eromosele

The launch of any new brand should herald the beginning of a new way of operating within your company, made apparent through different and better activities, products, services and customer experiences that can be touched and felt.

Cultural transformation will be an imperative. It takes time to build understanding of what the brand can deliver, generate pride and inspire advocacy for it. However, most companies fall into the trap of a communications-driven launch, only to see short-lived effects.

Invariably, glitzy events, balloons, branded mugs, mouse mats, posters, desk calendars, stationary or screensavers will never achieve the necessary level of organizational change to truly deliver on the promises at the heart of the brand. Beyond the fireworks of the launch, it’s what happens before and after the moment the brand goes live that makes the difference between success and failure.

Before you go to market with the new brand proposition, it is essential to first build your internal capability to deliver on your promises. Brands that appear consistent from the outside may promise the earth, but if delivery does not match expectations, they will ultimately fall short and erode trust.

Embedding your brand inside your business is not a six-month campaign or an initiative with a known lifespan. It requires a sustained commitment to brand delivery that in turn drives market differentiation, business performance and growth.

Motivational Change

Your staff are your brand. If the brand is changing, very often, so must they. In small or big ways, the engagement process needs to achieve shifts in mindset, beliefs and behavior. People are complex beings. Their behavior cannot be programmed or controlled, but it can be influenced. This requires a multidimensional approach rooted in an understanding of what motivates them to do what they do. This motivation should be addressed from four perspectives:

Enable

Changing a business is hard, which is why many change programs fail. Going deep is the only way to understand the scale of the challenge and what it will take to make the transition. An upfront diagnostic process should look for any barriers and enablers to the change process and identify ways to make it easier for people to change.

For instance, if employees’ incentives had been built only on sales targets, this forces a short-term perspective on doing business and opens the door to customer experiences that fall short of the brand promise. Change the incentives to encourage them to build long-term relationships with customers and suddenly the sales mindset changes and trust is built with clients. In the longer term, this can only be good for sales growth and profitability.

Engage

Inspire and equip your staff to practice brand thinking. Creating an unrivalled brand experience will give you the edge on your competition. It also requires that everyone in the company be encouraged to look for ways to do things differently and better.

The engagement process should equip teams to start using the brand as a filter for daily operations and decision-making. For evidence of this idea in action, look no further than brand-led product innovation at Apple, brand-led service delivery with First Direct and brand-led employee experience at Google’s offices.

Encourage

Empower your staff to make a difference. Brand building is an exercise in the psychology of motivation. At any time, a wide range of factors could influence someone’s desire and ability to engage on personal, organizational and cultural levels.

People are more likely to commit to something if they are given the freedom, within a framework, to find their own solutions. Ask customer-facing staff what causes frustration or delight. Ask your sales force where they think the market is going and how the brand might achieve greater penetration. Run pilots to experiment with new ways of doing things.

Invite ideas from everywhere. Involve people in redesigning the service experience. Beyond this, there should be incentives for participation. Engagement cannot be conscripted, so think about what you might give people in return.

Beyond financial incentives, in small and large businesses alike, the opportunity to influence and shape the company’s direction might be sufficiently compelling. Trust and empower your staff to come up with the answers and they might surprise you. Take that power away from them and disengaged workforces are likely to dig their heels in further, doing the opposite as an act of defiance, either consciously or sub-consciously.

Exemplify

An example must be set. Leading by example may sound commonplace, but it is absolutely vital. Those at the top can’t just talk about the brand, they have to be the brand and inspire their staff to do the same. Crucially, leadership claims must be substantiated with action; with progress and results communicated.

Truly brand-centric businesses like BMW or Apple are guided by an instinctive sense of what is on or off brand. This is so deeply ingrained in their cultures it’s become second nature. But this is never taken for granted. Building the brand internally is not a one-off event; it requires continuous care and attention.

M. Isi Eromosele is the President | Chief Executive Officer | Executive Creative Director of Oseme Group - Oseme Creative | Oseme Consulting | Oseme Finance

Copyright Control © 2012 Oseme Group

By M. Isi Eromosele

Brands are fundamental to competitive business advantage in the marketplace.

Businesses who leverage brands most effectively are better positioned to drive choice, create loyalty, and command a premium. It is imperative that companies use digital strategy as part of brand strategy, thus maximizing the value to the business and ROI from digital engagement.

The second decade of the 21st century promises to be even faster, more interconnected and more transparent than the first. Today, digital strategy is part of many company’s arsenal, pretty much ubiquitous. However, just because a company has a digital strategy does not mean they’re getting good ROI.

The best way to close that gap and reap the full rewards is to think beyond digital. When it comes to brand strength, we are no longer in a digital era because digital is now integrated into our daily lives.

Today, customers are living in a seamless hybrid world where online and offline experiences are entwined and a continuum of devices interacts both with each other and with users’ “offline” daily world. Because this is the experience your audiences are having with your brand, this is the starting point for how to think about digital.

Defining The Challenge

To underline the vast room for improvement, 56 percent of digitally active companies do not have a social media policy. This is significant.

39 percent of companies involved with social media are operating without a social media policy. It’s akin to discovering that a statistically significant proportion of the driving population has never learned to drive and is going on instinct.

Brand Strength

In this post digital age, there are 10 components of Internal and External brand strength that fosters full ROI returns.

Internal

Clarity

Clarity internally about what the brand stands for in terms of its values, positioning and proposition. Clarity about target audiences, customer insights and drivers.

Commitment

Internal commitment to the brand and a belief in the importance of the brand. The extent to which the brand receives support in terms of time, influence and investment.

Protection

How secure the brand is across a number of dimensions: legal protection, proprietary ingredients or design, scale or geographical spread.

Responsiveness

The ability to respond to market changes, challenges and opportunities. The brand should have a sense of leadership internally and a desire and ability to constantly evolve and

renew itself.

External

Authenticity

The brand is soundly based on an internal truth and capability. It has a defined heritage and a well grounded value set. It can deliver against the high expectations that customers have of it.

Relevance

The fit with customer needs, desires, and decision criteria across all relevant demographics and geographies and shared across the organization.

Differentiation

The degree to which customers perceive the brand to have a differentiated positioning distinctive from the competition.

Consistency

The degree to which a brand is experienced without fail across all touch-points or formats.

Presence

The degree to which a brand feels omnipresent and is talked about positively by consumers, customers and opinion formers in both traditional and social media.

Understanding

The brand is not only recognized by customers, but there is also an in-depth knowledge and understanding of its distinctive qualities and characteristics.

Focusing On Fundamentals

The most critical measurement of a brand is its value, and that can be gauged by measuring its Brand Strength.

Strong brands start with four internal success factors, and that strength is reflected in the six external brand strength factors. Taken together, they help tell us if an organization is primed for success.

The following are the four critical success factors.

Commitment

Many companies are falling short in how well they are committed to applying social and digital media to their global strategy. Despite a high rate of social media activity, essentially half of companies do not have a dedicated social media group.

As for internal brand engagement, a full 36 percent of companies are not adequately investing in employee education on their digital strategy, perhaps the most troubling lack of commitment of all in that it speaks to a failure to imbue their personnel with what they need to be effective brand representatives of their organization.

Differentiation

Differentiation is one of the most powerful attributes a brand can possess in the fight for consumer attention and loyalty. According to a recent survey, only 13 percent of companies audit their competitors continuously.

It is difficult to imagine how a brand would be able to assess its distinctiveness when so little time is invested in studying its competition.

Relevance

On relevance, too, opportunities are being missed. More than a quarter of those surveyed are not soliciting customer feedback to inform their thinking on appropriate digital experiences. And even more, 46 percent are not mining publicly available data for these purposes.

Consistency

It would help if there seemed to be more consistency and forethought in framing digital endeavors as part of a coherent business strategy. But a patchwork approach still rules the day for many.

A large percentage of digitally active companies have their digital strategy decisions made in a fragmented or decentralized environment, with each touch-point or product’s digital strategy being managed separately.

This silo effect hampers efficiency and curtails alignment with overarching business strategies. Clearly more harmonization is needed.

M. Isi Eromosele is the President | Chief Executive Officer | Executive Creative Director of Oseme Group - Oseme Creative | Oseme Consulting | Oseme Finance

Copyright Control © 2012 Oseme Group