One Word Branding
June 12, 2008
One word branding is not a new concept, I just gave it a name. In short, one word branding is the process of picking one word (or phrase) that your brand owns in the minds of consumers. Here are some examples:
- Volvo = safety
- Harley Davidson = freedom
- Disney = family
The purpose of one word branding is to narrow the focus of your marketing and branding efforts to find out how you want your brand to be positioned in the marketplace and in the minds of consumers. By picking one word or phrase to signify that position, your marketing investments will be be more targeted and more effective.
One word branding is another way of identifying and meeting customer expectations. Once you know what customers expect from your brand, you are better able to meet and exceed those expectations. One word branding is an easy way to remember the most important expectation. If you can’t live up to the one word that your brand owns in the minds of consumers, then your brand is doomed to failure.
What other brands can you think of that own a word or phrase in the minds of consumers? Leave a comment and get the conversation going!
Photo: Flickr
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This post was written by Susan Gunelius.
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4 Responses to “One Word Branding”
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A couple that I liked
Airtel (mobile operator) – Express Yourself
Hutch (mobile operator) – Hi!
Nike – Just Do it
Companies need to be careful when picking words or phrases to associate with their brand to or they’ll end up looking stupid like Microsoft after it’s “Where do you want to go today?” campaign
http://www.denounce.com/mswhere.html
[...] to understand two things about your brand (among others): how consumers perceive your brand and what word your brand owns in the minds of consumers. Brand Tags plays off of those two [...]
I’ve seldom seen a brand that can be clearly distilled down to one word. It’s ideal, but I’m always happy to get it boiled down to three words, with accompanying visuals to help clarify things.
And don’t confuse that one-word brand with a tagline or slogan like Just Do It. Honing down that core brand concept is a completely different exercise than writing a line like just do it.
xerox = copies
google = search