SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY AND BRANDING: WHAT IS AN ILLUSTRATION OF BRAND CULTURE?

SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY AND BRANDING: EXAMPLES OF BRAND CULTURE

            A brand culture is the values that a brand espouses. It is what a brand stands for.  Brands are just like human beings. They have a persona. This is why they are so important in social media marketing. A recent survey stated that 97% of all sold products are done through the recommendations of friends. To have an effective brand, a customer and a brand have to become personal friends with each other. A critical part in a human’s development is their creation of a personal value system.

            This is the function of a brand culture. A brand must stand for SOMETHING if a brand is to stand OUT. Brand culture is a very technical term. Perhaps the best way to explain is through illustration. A great example of brand culture is the movie, “A Few Good Men”.

            This movie is about the reconciliation between a brand identity and a brand culture. To have a world class brand both have to be well-defined. I don’t think you can have without the other. To have a brand you have to define who you are, which the identity stage. After you have defined the identity stage, you have to define why you are like that, which is the brand culture stage. In very simple terms, you have to answer two questions to create a brand. You have to answer a WHAT question and you have to answer a WHY question to create a brand.

            In very simple terms, the brand identity of the U.S. Marines is that they are honorable people who obey their orders.  In the movie, which is about 2 Marines, on trial for murder, the counsel for the two Marines establishes that the defendants acted honorably and obeyed their orders. They are convicted because their actions contradicted the Marine brand culture. In the dialogue of the movie, it is established that the Marine brand culture is that Marines are to uphold the weak. The WHAT question? Marines have honor because they obey orders. This is their brand identity. The WHY question? The reason why Marines have honor is that they protect the weak.  

            The acting and the court room dialogue between Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson is riveting and it makes the movie a classic.  I watched the movie, originally, in a packed theater. When Jack Nicholson’s character confesses to the crime, everyone in the theater seemed to relax. Then the verdict was read. The defendants were found guilty. Many people in the audience gasped in surprise. Why were these marines found guilty?  Until I started studying brand identity and brand image, I have always been perplexed by the verdict.

             Marines and brands have two things in common.  To be effective each must have an identity and a culture. If either of these is not present, both a marine and a brand will fail. As the dialogue progressed, it was established that the Marines were guilty because they did not uphold the Marine brand culture which is that marines are to uphold the weak. They allowed a fellow a marine to die because they didn’t support that Marine and protect him from his weakness. The two marines understood their identity, but failed in their mission to full-fill their brand identity. To be successful, both marines and brands have to do both.  

Dean Hambleton

dnhambleton@gmail.com

SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY AND BRANDING:HOW IS BRAND CULTURE CREATED?

A brand’s culture is what it stands for---what are the brand’s moral values. Social Media branding is done through giving brands a human persona. To be a successful brand, the brand must stand for something, morally  This is what makes the brand stand apart from other brands. To be a well adjusted human being, a person must have a value system that they draw upon to make choices.

There is a clutter of products in today’s modern market place brought on by social media.  Anyone with compelling content can post that content onto a social media platform. How does a marketer make their product stand out? 

A significant way is to create a brand culture that the product can draw from when gray areas develop. The modern market place many times has many gray areas. A brand culture allows a product to navigate those gray areas.

A brand CULTURE is the moral values that this brand conveys. For many years Wall Mart had an image as being a very cold business. A company unconcerned about its employees and its workers. The culture of this company was just the opposite. The company’s culture was one in which supervisors very much cared about their workers and customers. The company could never seem to convey this image. Then Hurricane Katrina hit.

            The company was renown for its supply chain.  Before the storm hit, this retailer stocked its stores with items that would be necessary for hurricane victims to get back to normal. The storm devastated Louisiana and Alabama so severely, the retailer opened its doors and  gave away  necessary items and food. This retailer literally fed entire areas. Since that time, this retailer’s brand culture is seen as a concerned brand.

 

SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY AND BRANDING; HOW DOES A CUSTOMER CREATE A BRAND WITH ITS BRAND AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT;

In social media marketing brands have to become personal. If this is done, strong brands will be created. Reverse branding is when a customer creates a brand with its own brand. This is critical in creating strong brands.

Three things create reverse branding. Customers create IMPACT with their brand. Employees see for themselves how their work benefits others.

Reverse branding creates APPRECIATION. Employees come to feel valued by end users. Even though employees know intellectually that their contributions make a difference, gratitude from end users is a powerful reminder of the value of continued quality improvements and innovation.

Reverse branding creates EMPATHY. Employees develop a deeper understanding of end users” problems and needs and thereby become more committed to helping them.  Researchers have found that when product development teams had contact with customers, they were more likely to create offering that exceeded projections for sales and market share.

SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY AND BRANDING; WHAT IS BRAND CULTURE AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?

A brand CULTURE is an explanation of the “WHY” of a product. The brand culture defines the values of a brand.  Brand IDENTITY is an explanation of the  “WHO”  the product. “Who are we?” This explains a brand’s identity. WHY are we like that. This explain the brand culture.

Nike's identity is that is a good company that does good things for people. When kids started killing each other for shoes, Nike's culture, its values, couldn't allow this to go on. Nike's culture made it change its image and its advertising.

SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY AND BRANDING: WHAT IS BRAND PERSONALITY AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT

• Brand identity is when we define ourselves.
• Brand pesonality is when other prople define us
• An example is Coach Taylor on "Friday Night Lights"
• This is important because unless we define ourselves, our brand will be hijacked with terrible reprocusssions.
• An example is Nike.
• Nike defined themselves as a concerned brand, the market defined them as "cool shoes". Kids strarted killing one another
• Nike took back its brand

SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY AND BRANDING; HOW DOES A PHYSIQUE CREATE A BRAND

A brand's physique is its physical appearance.  This is a major part of brand identity.  Each human being has a different way of looking from all other people.  So with a brand.

A soda brand has an iconic bottle that is seen as happiness and peace.  This brand is so intense that it was used as an interogation prop in world War II. Max Schmelling was given a franchise after world war II, to break down walls between Germany and the the US

SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY AND BRANDING: BRAND IDENTITY IS CREATED BY A PRISM

• A brand identity is how a brand sees itself.A  brand identity is created by
• PHYSIQUE. Why does this brand exist.
• PERSONALITY
• CULTURE----hapiness and trust
• RELATIONSHIP----between brand and customer
• CUSTOMER REFLECTION----I'm cool if I wear Nike
• SELF-IMAGE----I'm successful if I drive a Lambordini