Have you given your brand a soul yet?

Last month, we had our team meeting at our Marylebone space at The Office Group where their PR team took a picture of Grain’s two directors, Christoph & Madelyn, to prepare for their newsletter this month. When they tweeted the picture, what caught my eye was the caption “Grain Creative on nurturing brands and giving them a soul.” This short sharp sentence just made me realise how perfectly it captures the business we are doing.

Before joining Grain, what I knew about branding was only limited to Product in the 4 Ps (Product, Place, Price & Promotion). With a background in PR, I always thought that Promotion was the core element in making the success of a brand. Then I learned that branding strategy can lead to success…or failure. Two different start-up businesses, which both offer the same services, can go with two different strategies: one investing very little in design & packaging so it can offer a cheaper price. And the other focusing on branding, with beautiful packaging and retailing at a slightly higher price, which could also be a reflection of a different positioning strategy. The brand without clear strategy and definition is bound to get lost along the way, whilst the more thought-out brand has staying power.

It took me almost 4 years to understand that every product needs a good brand and a good identity to make it a unique selling point and to stand out in the market. Since I started working here, my understanding branding has stepped up to a much higher level. A brand is so much more than just a name, packaging, logo or a product. A brand is a promise: it evokes feelings and images. It makes products valuable, often in an intangible way. Sometimes you have a product as good as what your competitors offer — and if they are better at branding, they win.

Let’s look at two big players in FMCG: Coca-Cola and Pepsi. You may remember the famous blind taste test in 1980s. In this blind taste test, Pepsi had an advantage, but take the blindfold off and Coke always wins.

Why is this? It’s because the Coca-Cola brand has a good soul and that soul has stayed the same for so many years. It brings heart-warming feelings to those who consume its products: a shared experience that reminds you of friendship, love and family. And that identity has been reflected consistently through its logos, packaging, slogan (“open happiness”) and advertising for decades.

On the other hand, Pepsi brands itself as “the choice of a new generation” — a way of turning its second-place status into an advantage. Despite the fact that it’s been trying to refresh its brand strategies for decades, none of its different slogans or logos or celebrity endorsements (remember Pink and Britney Spears in all the adverts in the 2000s?) have ever put it in first place.

To sum up, good branding elevates and differentiates your products and services. A strong brand delivers your brand promise and eventually it will give customers reason to choose you over other competitors. So, have you created a soul for your brand yet?