Brand Ethos in a Digital World

Though the charm is on the wane, I am a self-confessed QuizUp fan. Not too sure whether there’s a ‘Connect the tagline to brand’ quiz. If it’s there, I know a few others, apart from myself, who would happily take up the challenge and fancy winning.

Brand taglines are an integral part of brand ethos and act as potent catalysts that bring brands to life in a simple, engaging and memorable manner. Digital, used either as a medium or pure play technology, is a potent catalyst that can help brands bring to life in a simple, effective, engaging and memorable manner those few words that they have honed over the years or in that eureka moment.

Brands Doing it Right!

We all know that Nike urges us to Just Do It. Nike+ products took this positioning and gave the power to do exactly what the brand has been conveying over the years.  For example, the Fuel Band enabled people like you and me to actually do it, compare it, share it and then do it all over again. This time better.

McDonalds Singapore too has found an " target="_blank">interesting way for people to fall in love with their breakfast menu and with mornings. Their mobile app, the Surprise Alarm makes it worth your while to avoid hitting the snooze button every morning - it has a surprise waiting for you in the form of a song, vouchers and cash prizes. Their creative incorporation of technology has people unconsciously whistling ‘I’m Lovin’ it’ every morning.

People will do anything for a free beer. That being said, if you harness technology and make it rewarding for consumers to do what they love doing anyway, a beer can take you a long way. A freebie has enough power to make the G8 envious. If you can help metal heads do what they do best - head bang, and dash it with an incentive for free beer, you are not only spreading more than a few rounds of cheers but are also solidifying your position as the King of Good Times. Precisely what " target="_blank">Kingfisher did at Octoberfest 2013.

Coke and its endeavor to ‘open happiness’ has been widely documented and celebrated. Today, almost all brands want to replicate the kind of success and are looking for an idea or a partner to help conjure up some magic and produce it. While there are no sure shot formulas or answers but it might help if we start with the right questions.

• What is that one Idea when equipped with technology that can change one’s life?
• What is that technology integration in the product itself that enables one to move on?
• What is that one solution to a problem that when paired with technology will urge one to say ‘Life’s Good’?

Answer questions like these and you are sure to have a story worth telling. Worth sharing. Worth putting up on your social networks. As a brand, if you are set out to build a tribe, then the single point agenda is to deliver belief. Belief that the brand really does deliver all the fantastic things it says in its TV commercials, hoardings, print, social posts and websites in daily life.

I read a piece once that said ‘Great brands don’t sell products, they sell an ethos.’ Truer words have never been said. Platforms and medium are changing at such a rapid pace that even the nimble footed are struggling to keep up.