BEHOLD THE BRAND.

• Author: McKINLAY, DOUGLAS R.

DEVELOPING A TOTAL EXPERIENTIAL RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR CUSTOMERS

Your GE clock radio goes off to BOB EDWARDS on NPR. You get up, put on your CHAMPION ankle socks, ASICS running shoes, NIKE shorts and ADDIDAS T-shirt. Three miles later, you eat a CHIQUITA banana over a bowl of KELLOGG'S Raisin Bran with MEADOW GOLD milk and a side of TROPICANA OJ. Into the shower for an OLAY wash-down and a HEAD AND SHOLDERS scalp treatment.

Why those particular brands? Because you (OK, and maybe your spouse) made the conscious choice to buy them. Why not Kmart shoes and no-name shorts? Hey, that's not you.

Before you reset that GE clock radio tonight, some 3,000 marketers will brandish their goods or services in an attempt to get, and hold, your attention. Which attempts will you let in? Which will you act on? By in large, it will depend on the brand images that already exist in your mind.

The process of branding has been defined as "that combination of name, words, symbols or design that identifies the product and its source, and distinguishes it from competing products." It is the fundamental marketing device that separates you from the pack. A brand represents the total experiential relationship a customer has with a product or service. For many of us, the experiences are vicarious ones. Freud would have a field day with branding.

In his book, "The End Of Marketing As We Know It," Sergio Zyman, former CMO of the Coca-Cola Company says, "The whole purpose of branding is to differentiate your product in the marketplace and to get consumers to identify it as different, better and special." Fail to differentiate and you leave the customer with no real reason to choose your product or service.

The plan is to give your customers valid, cognitive reasons to choose you, and to keep choosing you -- and not your competition.

Even Small Companies Can Benefit From Brand Building

Profitable, effective brand building is not limited to large consumer giants. Smaller companies, whose customers may even be other businesses, can also generate increased awareness and sales by building a brand image that differentiates them from their competitors.

From the look of your logo to the sound of your receptionist's voice (real or electronic) to your packaging and distribution system, your current customers have formed an image of your company. Do you know what that image is? Is it consistent with where you are going as a company? Does it differentiate you from your competitors...