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Brands are living systems.
A brand's main task is to build relationships between products or services and customers. Of course no levelheaded person is going to seriously fall in love with shoes or coffee. But if these products are associated with a brand, that can change. Because the brand gives them an origin, character, and meaning. It makes them incomparable and fit for a relationship.
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Brands are living systems.
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The purpose of brands is to facilitate sustainable profit.
People want to trust. A person who trusts a brand will stop thinking about purchasing decisions, transaction complexitstrongy decreases. Customers become more accepting of prices, more loyal, and they buy more often. This is why the utmost goal of every brand management must be to foster the trust between customer and brand and remove all interference.
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The purpose of brands is to facilitate sustainable profit.
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Brands adapt by not adapting.
It is unbelievably difficult to get something new through to people's minds. It is much easier to change something that is already stored there. By consistently reproducing their success patterns, brands impose their will on the public – never the other way around.
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Brands adapt by not adapting.
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Brands do not follow, they lead.
Customer desires do not matter until it is clear what the brand can do better than anyone else. Brand managers must see themselves as seducers. They must learn to take responsibility for their actions – and not to use market research to delegate that responsibility to the public.
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Brands do not follow, they lead.
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Comprehending is better than copying.
Brands become successful through constant repetition of a chosen pattern. Strong brands focus on their strengths – not on their competition. Market changes are constantly monitored and influence the development of this pattern, but strong brands always remain true to themselves and always act the way the public would expect.
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Comprehending is better than copying.
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Only zeros have no edges.
Mediocrity – meaning ordinariness and interchangeability – is the most dangerous thing that can happen to a brand. Streamlined is boring. As living systems, brands must have character: edges and all.
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Only zeros have no edges.
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Managing a brand is not a privilege, it is a duty.
Successful companies are led by outstanding personalities, entrepreneurs as well as managers. They provide the guiding principle, set the course. They see the big picture and do not think in the short term. Because they do not deviate from their core convictions and thus foster the brand's consistent, sustainable development, delegating brand management – no matter to whom – is out of the question.
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Managing a brand is not a privilege, it is a duty.
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Brand management is not only a responsibility of communication – it affects the entire company.
Effective brands create expectations, awaken desires, and make promises. To make a brand system stronger, all of these many requirements along the entire customer journey have to be satisfied – better yet: exceeded. The weakest touchpoint often defines the entire impression. This is why, ideally, all employees must see themselves as ambassadors of their brand.
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Brand management affects the entire company.
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Brands are steered by simple rules – and coincidence.
Every part of the brand world contains the core message of the big picture. Every single one is identifiable as part of the brand. To achieve this requires a few, simple key rules. These rules are incontrovertible and may under no circumstances be disregarded. Given that, they will guarantee consistent brand management in a world where everything changes constantly. It is the same in nature: Success depends on the right mix of key rules and freedom, of statics and dynamics.
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Brands are steered by simple rules – and coincidence.
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Attractiveness beats awareness.
In saturated markets with interchangeable products, awareness of a brand is merely a prerequisite for the next level: attractiveness. You cannot desire what you do not know. A crucial factor for medium to long-term success of a brand is the ability to attract people and keep them attracted. Digitalization helps, because digitally managed brands are closer to their customers than their competitors are.
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Attractiveness beats awareness.
„These convictions were the basis for founding BrandTrust.“
Klaus-Dieter Koch
