Marketing a Brand – James Bond style
25th October 2012
Marketing is at its most successful when a brand is strong. In fact, particularly strong brands can sell almost any product at any price. Take the latest James Bond movie Skyfall as an example:
007 as a Brand
When Bond appears on the scene, everyone wants a piece of the action. Sony, Coca Cola and Heineken are amongst the brands that paid high fees to appear in the movie, because they understood that the association of their brand with the ‘cool’ attitude of James Bond could only be a good thing. In fact, certain companies were willing to stump up a third of the movie’s budget to appear in the film for just a few seconds.
Off-screen you can now buy 007 fragrances, bottles of wine, watches and smart phones. Bond is a brand in his own right, and anything associated with the world’s favourite agent is sure to cause a ‘stir’.
What Makes a Brand?
As you’ll see, brands aren’t products. They’re attitudes, thoughts, feelings, and representations. A brand is everything people think of when they see your logo and, if you’re particularly effective, notice your colour (think Cadbury Purple). Visual cues help with brand recognition, but a brand is so much more.
- Brand Marketing: Develop a good brand, and people will trust you. They’ll be more likely to buy your products, and might see you as the expert to turn to. So, how do you do it?
- Tone of Voice: Vital to brand marketing is a consistent tone of voice. It’s your business personality, and should be the same across your website, social media and print marketing.
- Good Customer Service: A whole brand can be destroyed by one mistake. The easiest way to make that mistake? Offend a customer. Upset one person, and hundreds of others will find out. Address concerns quickly and effectively and you make your business look good. If someone complains on Facebook, write a public response that’s polite and courteous and offers reparation.
- Partnerships and Links: Like Heineken and Sony, you can benefit from linking your brand with others that reflect the attitude you want your own business to have. You don’t have to pay a fortune for it, either. Build partnerships and collaborations, but remember that mingling with the ‘wrong crowd’ can be fatal.
- Shareable Content: For your brand to be effective, you’ve got to get noticed. Nobody will care if they don’t see you around. Create shareable content on your website and on social media sites, and when you’re recognised and associated with your brand then you’ll start to be remembered. It can be a slow process, but the results are worth the wait.
