A four-step plan of attack to building brand equity. The result? More customers who will buy more, pay more, and promote you

Remember this: your brand is not what you say it is. It’s what they—customers and other stakeholders—think and feel about your organization, your products, and your services. It’s what they think and feel about themselves when they engage you.

When a 50-something business exec buys a Harley-Davidson, it’s not because he wants the best performance for the price, it’s because riding a Harley releases his inner bad-boy. No, he’s not just another high-paid suit; he’s an individual. A rebel. And when he gets on that bike and hears that distinctive Harley sound, he feels cool. That’s brand.

Your brand transcends the rational and takes root in the emotional. It goes beyond what your products and services do and deliver, such as features and benefits. It’s what your customers experience and how they identify with that experience. So why does brand matter? Because strong brands result in more customers who buy more, pay more, and promote you more. When what you do elicits strong positive thoughts and feelings, you’re leveraging the power of brand.

What does a successful brand look like?
Successful brands have three attributes. First, they’re focused and memorable. Resist the temptation to be all things to all people. Focus by exploiting your organization’s passion, greatness, and the niche in which it can thrive. Decide what you won’t do because it isn’t the essence of who you are. Be memorable. Resist the temptation to be “me too.” Apple’s iPhone is memorable because of its innovative combination of functionality and design, and it falls within its focus because it was conceived as a phone built around Mac technology.

Successful brands are desirably different. If you’re focused and memorable, you’re only a curiosity unless you’re better than your competitors in a way that matters to your customers. When Burger King trumpets its 730-calorie Enormous Omelette Sandwich, its creators have a target audience in mind, and they want to make it crystal clear that their sandwich is not to be confused with Jared’s Subway meal.

Finally, successful brands are ruthlessly consistent. Customers know what to expect and they can count on it. Faced with an ever-evolving landscape of options, trusted brands provide emotional relief by reducing their cognitive load. They no longer have to think and decide; they can simply react with confidence and know they’ll feel good with what they’re getting, every time.

What is brand equity?
Successful brands have real value; this is known as brand equity. Brand equity is reflected in the following four As:

Awareness: Are customers aware of your brand? Would they recognize your name on a list? More powerfully, could they recall it if asked?

Associations: Do they relate your brand to an industry and product category? Do they associate it with particular features and benefits? Does it trigger specific thoughts and feelings?

Attraction: When given the choice, do customers consider your brand? Do they prefer it? Is it compelling enough for them to request it? Would they go so far as to insist on it?

Advocacy: Will they promote your brand when prompted for a recommendation? Or proactively promote it simply because they want others to know about it?

As you grow your customers from mere awareness to intense advocacy, the equity of your brand increases. The customer connection evolves from one that is cognitive to one that is emotional and, ultimately, behavioural.

How to manage a brand
The goal of managing a brand is to maximize brand equity. So how can you do it? Through strategic brand management. Here is a four-step plan of attack:

Define “winning.” This is your overarching strategic goal, or what you want your organization to achieve or become. This should be a key output of your annual strategic process.

Identify your actual brand. Research how your customers, employees, and other stakeholders currently think and feel about your organization, products, and services. Also ask how they think and feel about themselves when they engage you. Determine how their experience has produced those thoughts and feelings.

Outline your desired brand. In order for you to win, how do you want your customers to think and feel (brand awareness and associations)? How do you want them to act (brand attraction and advocacy)?

Design their experience. Bridging the gap between your actual and desired brands is the hard work. Your customer’s experience is a consequence of everything you say and do that touches them: your marketing communications, website, name, logo, and tagline all impact their expectations, and convey and reinforce your desired brand. But these are secondary; more important is how your products and services impact their experience. The marketing communications are irrelevant, even counterproductive, if you don’t get the core products and services right. So start with what you do, then tell the story. When what you say equals what you do equals what customers experience, your brand is coherent and authentic.

The total brand package
Harley-Davidson has brand coherence. What the company says is what it does is what its customers experience: the bikes, the looks, the sounds, the gear—everything. Consider a recent ad campaign that’s pure Harley. Entitled “We Don’t Do Fear,” the confidence-inspiring text ends with the tagline, “So screw it. Let’s ride.”

If you want more customers who will buy more, pay more, and promote you more, then strategically manage your brand to build brand equity.

Got it? Let’s brand.

Michael Canic is president of Bridgeway Leadership, a Denver–based executive consulting firm that “makes strategy happen.” He can be reached at winning@bridgewayleadership.com or 303-947-4999.