The science of branding when you’re branding science
Miracle and mire
Dare to be ruthlessly single-minded. At the end of the day, what you don’t say is as important as what you do.
We live in truly amazing times. Scientific and technological progress is advancing at an unprecedented rate. This progress translates into a vastly improved quality of life for billions of people around the world. That’s the good news.
The bad news is that, as scientific and technological markets mature, they become crowded and commoditized. Lots of competitors are spending lots of money to promote an endless succession of product features and functionality. What emerges is a kind of techno-speak arms race, a din of claims and counter-claims that make it hard to distinguish between the signal and the noise. The result? Audiences are tuning out, becoming frustrated and confused.
Focusing your story
The challenge, then, is to rise above the claims and counter-claims with a focused, compelling brand story that cuts through the clutter. At Vivo, we have a simple, three-step process that helps science and technology marketers develop brand strategies that do precisely that—cut through.
Step 1: The core insight
You start, of course, with your target audience. You have to listen to them obsessively (and to anyone who knows them, ie, your sales force) through interviews, focus groups, surveys, and chance encounters in the hall. You have to learn all you can, then put it all together. Connect the dots. Find the patterns. Feel their pain. All the while asking, why? Why do they feel the way they do? You’ve got to keep peeling the onion until your research, experience, and gut instinct converge on a single core insight into what really drives your customers.
Step 2: The key differentiator
Next, look closely at your product or service. Take careful inventory of all your brand’s attributes. For each attribute, you have to ask, “What does this mean to the target user in terms of rational benefits?” Then you have to ask, “What does this mean to the target user in terms of emotional benefits?”
Yes, this process will produce a laundry list. Extract the most powerful elements from the list. Go back to your core customer insight and ask the most critical question of all: “What’s the single most important reason for the target customer to buy my brand?” If the answer is indistinguishable from what your competitors are already saying, keep working. Your goal is to identify an ownable and sustainable benefit that meets your customer’s deepest need. This will be your key differentiator.
Step 3: The brand idea
Where your core customer insight meets your key differentiator, there lies the essence of your brand. All you need to do now is capture it in a single, crystalline thought that can be expressed in a few simple words. When you do, congratulations! You will have just defined your brand idea, the mantra that will become the wellspring of your value proposition, your competitive positioning, your advertising strategy, and everything else that defines and communicates your brand.
Beware the kitchen sink
This process may sound simple, but don’t be fooled. It’s fiendishly difficult. It requires patience, objectivity, and great discipline. Remember that laundry list of benefits? You will want to try to cram them all into your key differentiator. Don’t! Resist this impulse with all your strength. It will lead to a brand idea that is fuzzy and mealy-mouthed. The brand that attempts to be all things to all people ends up disappearing into the din of the marketplace.
