Why the Odd Working Title?

Brand naming is one of the most difficult tasks in branding. 

A well-chosen name - or in this case, blog title - can communicate positioning with little explanation, while a poorly chosen one can confuse the target audience. 

Even though it's not at all creative, at least the current title for this site does communicate a message:

• This is a branding blog 
• A title has yet to be determined
• A title will be chosen at some point 

The mission of this blog is to take you through the process of branding. Therefore, I intend to take you through the process of naming as well. 


I will divide the process of naming into three initial steps: 

1. Exploring the naming and mnemonic devices that make brand names expressive and memorable
2. Highlighting cultural and other pitfalls in brand naming
3. Beginning the process of naming this blog by working backwards from the premise

The third step is obviously the most important. Before considering a visual and verbal identity, a company must first be clear of its promise to customers and what makes it unique. As such, the first steps before naming my blog have been to: 

• Outline my personal background and ethos
• Articulate my vision and mission
• Write a few posts to get a feel for my own style of writing, and
• Understand more clearly what I think will make these pages unique in the blogoshpere

We're ready to begin. 

Singapore's "National Night" a Viral Success, but was it Effective?

When striking up a romance, you have to "break the ice." 

Of course, these strategies are also useful in influencing others in our work and personal lives  - not just in courtship. 

On August 9th, Singapore celebrated its 47th birthday with the usual fanfare. But this year, the Singapore government and Mentos released a hilarious video urging Singaporeans - with some exceptions - to "get busy" and procreate in order to combat the nation's record low birth rate:

Not surprisingly, it went viral - so viral that before I could email it to anyone in Singapore, a friend in Canada had already sent it to me. According to Chris Jaques of M&C Saatchi Asia, four kinds of video content are most commonly shared online: 

The most successful viral videos in history share the same traits - they are either funny, emotionally powerful, exciting or sexy. 

Produced by BBH Asia Pacific, the video is part of a new campaign for Mentos - whose objective is to raise awareness and sell more product. Conversely, Singapore's objective is to raise the national birth rate. I don't need to point out which outcome requires a bigger commitment from their target audience.

Persuading Singaporeans to have more children sooner is not simply a matter of making them laugh. While a viral video can break the ice, there are social and economic issues to address. 

Governments are like corporations in that they, too use branding (not just policy) to influence behaviour. But a common mistake for many companies is over-reliance on advertising to communicate a desired message. Advertising should be the last step in getting what you want from your audience. 

Although humorous, making a call to action without solving underlying problems or barriers will do little to influence behaviour.  

Since low fertility rates can impact economic growth, this is a legitimate area of concern for Singapore. In a future post, I'll explore what Singapore is doing, what else it should be doing and how it can better communicate its message.

Stay tuned. 

Branding Athletic Apparel: A Series

Sports branding has always fascinated me. Long before I was aware of branding as a phenomenon, I was consumed by it. I cringe when I think back now, but first learning to play golf, I always wore a black Nike hat with a red shirt like Tiger Woods. Even today, a favourite website in my news feed is Uni-Watch, a site devoted to the "Obsessive Study of Athletics Aesthetics."

A brand is much more than the product we wear. While "quality" and "fit" might be how we rationalise our purchases, there are stronger influences at work long before we step-up to the cash register. 

As I've mentioned previously, the purpose of this blog is not simply the study of branding as a series of one-off articles. The aim is to make concrete recommendations. 

Apart from my own experiences, athletic brands make an especially compelling study because there is so much to analyse. Among their many characteristics: 

• The top athletic brands have both transformational and traditional types of leaders 
• They are active in endorsements and cross-promotion
• They are breaking new ground in terms of technology
• Some set style trends - not only on the field or in the arena, but on the street
• They are experts in guerrilla marketing as well as traditional advertising
• They have had failures, as well as success, entering new categories

According to Forbes, the most popular sports apparel brands are Nike, Adidas, Reebok and Under Armour. But only two (Nike and Adidas) cracked Interbrand's list of the Top 100 Global Brands in 2011.

Aside from research to understand the category and its competitors, specific conclusions I intend to explore are: 

• UNDER ARMOUR - Among the top ranked brands, Under Armour is the youngest. Compared to Nike (1972), Adidas (1949) and Reebok (1958), it was founded only in 1996.  The recent five-year agreement to become "technical partner" of EPL club Tottenham Hotspur is its largest team sponsorship to date, and certainly it's most notable outside the United States.  Where is it heading, and what should it be doing? 

• PUMA - Puma is noticeably absent among the top ranked brands. Having transformed itself over the past decade from a cash-strapped alternative brand - even claiming responsibility for the new segment: Sportlifestyle - what can it do continue to stay relevant and, perhaps, one day appear among the world's Top 100 brands?

• LI-NING - Named after one of China's most famous Olympians, the regional brand made an aggressive push in to the United States in 2011 that coincided with steadily declining sales, eventually culminating in the ouster of it's CEO. How can it turn itself around and does it really need to become a global brand to succeed?

Vision & Mission for These Electronic Pages

Though I will, from time to time, comment on news, experiences and personal bias, the purpose of this blog is not simply the study of branding as a series of one-off articles. 

The greatest value will come from the practical application of branding theory with the aim of proposing what specific companies should do to improve their brand strategy. 

Assuming roles of researcher, analyst and consultant, I will decipher the key aspects of brands: 

• What is the source of a company's sustainable competitive advantage?
• Is this the driver of a clear, emotional and compelling vision?
• Are decisions at the top of the organisation made based on “How will this impact the perception of our brand by consumers?” or “How will this impact our value to shareholders?"
• Do people and processes within the organisation bring the promise to life?
• Do products within the brand architecture (from their name to their features) communicate the proposition?
• Is the identity communicated effectively to the intended audience? 
• Is there a gap between perception and reality that influences status among competitors?

Although a compelling proposal is the ultimate destination, important lessons will come from the journey itself. In sharing each step, these pages will paint a picture rather than take one. And I imagine the end-result to be more rewarding.


Among others, some initial themes that will become a common thread include:

• The contest for dominance in athletic apparel 
• The unstable battleground in mobile technology and social media
• The dynamics of branding financial planning in Asia

As theories weave together each post, expect the strategic picture to become more clear as pieces of the puzzle come together.

A Brand Strategist Without Brand Loyalty?

I was asked recently: "What brands are you loyal to?" Truthfully, I'm not really loyal to any particular brands. 

Is this a wrong answer? Does this strike you as odd? 

Consider an analogy: In my training as a financial salesperson, I attended countless seminars on the psychology of selling insurance and investments. When an opportunity arises today to consider a financial product, not only do I know what's coming, I know precisely which features to question and which are truly important. This same works for branding. 

It seems I am no longer easily persuaded by gimmicks, association, imagery or statistics. Having a more critical eye toward branding and marketing, I might not be as vulnerable to the psychological influences of a PR or advertising campaign. But, I must make an important distinction:

Just because I am not loyal to a particular brand, does not mean I am not susceptible to branding. 

I use brands to make decisions daily. The most recent example being my search for a new toothbrush and razor. When presented with mind-numbing variations of toothbrushes and razors - some that vibrate, some with six blades or different types of bristles - deciding that I prefer a simple product hardly narrows my choices. This is where branding has its influence. 

The central purpose of branding is to guide the consumer to choose your product a midst a dizzying array of alternatives. 

In this case, I settled on mid-range products from Oral B and Gillette. But in future, I may very well purchase products from Colgate or Schick. Though I may not be intensely loyal, I do recognise and utilise the influence of brands. 

When broken down in this way, I don't think it was the wrong answer at all.

Olympic Branding Part 1: Failed First Impressions

“If, in the business of communication, image is king, the essence of this image, the logo, is the jewel in its crown.”  - Paul Rand

I am fascinated by the Olympics. There are hardly any sports that don't excite me, but for some reason, I was not optimistic about the London installment. The source of my pessimism started with the logo designed by Wolff Olins.

Branding is about differentiation, and a logo is meant to capture elements that make the subject unique.  

Designers succeeded in differentiating London's logo from others in Olympic history. Immediately recognizable and memorable, it was the first logo to incorporate flourescent pink and purple - a trend carried on to the uniforms of volunteers, venues and flower-beds across the country. 

But it was almost universally hated and I agreed wholeheartedly. 

London's problem was not with it's colors. The failure was in it's design:  

• It had no intuitive meaning. No story. No appropriate one at, least. And certainly none that represented what we know and love about the city of London
• It was simply the numbers "2012" reinterpreted and rearranged. Easily rearranged into another inappropriate logo
• It's shape was fractured, disconnected, incongruent and broken 
• It brought to mind the grafitti of a downtown alley you wouldn't dare walk alone at night
• It invoked the British punk movement, hooliganism, a clash against society - hardly Olympic values 
• It looked like a comic book explosion when rockets on rooftops already had enough spectators worried
• The "zero" was shaped like a stop-sign, and the outline like London's un-grid-like streets. Fitting given how crowds controversialy stayed away from downtown businesses to avoid congestion
• Adding insult to injury, was Wenlock, the official mascot. Two years before Games, there were over 17,000 webpages comparing Wenlock to a giant penis. I can only imagine what that number is today.

Rationalizations from designers were lost in the noise of criticism, and in branding, public perception is all that matters.

Consider it in contrast with the Rio 2016 Logo created by Tatil Design:

• It is harmonious, warm, flowing, and organic. 
• It doesn't require much interpretation to conjure a message of unity. No similar words come to mind when looking at the London logo - just questions. 
• The interlocking figures capture the contagious energy, exuberance and festive atmosphere of the city's Carnival

Most importantly, the Rio logo is human. The Olympics are remembered for it's athletes the triumph of human spirit. 

Not until Barcelona 1992 was a human figure represented in an Olympic logo, and it became recurring theme in Nagano 1998, Sydney 2000, Beijing 2008, and Vancouver 2010. 

According to the Olympic Charter: "The goal of Olympism is to place sport at the service of the harmonious development of humankind, with a view to promoting a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity." The logo successfully marries the spirit of the city with that of the Games. 

Organizers have taken an encouraging first step, but there is far more to the brand than it's aesthetics. 

A logo alone does not make the Games. To further Rand's analogy: The conduct of a King does more for his image than the the jewel that adorns his crown. 

Stay tuned.  

About the Author

I grew up as a "third culture kid" in the Philippines, Bangladesh and Germany. A Canadian, I now live happily in Singapore for a second time. Given my background in investment management, I was recently asked: "You have a Masters in Finance. Why would you throw it away for brand strategy?" The answer: 

My background casts the concrete foundation for branding. 

My passion lies in discovery. 

In academics, I found greater success and ambition in strategic consulting, organisational behaviour and innovation than the finite analysis of financial statements. Throughout my career, I uncovered the synergies between branding and investment management. 

When clients invest, they buy part of a business. Managing a portfolio requires in-depth knowledge of varied industries and economies. Advisors must know:

• Each leading company's brand architecture, consumers and competitors 
• How each brand, its products and services are perceived
• The message being portrayed by marketing, PR and operations
• The big-picture fundamentals of the industry and its future

A brand is the most important asset of any organisation. It impacts how a customer buys a product for their home, a service for their business and an investment for their retirement. 

For years, I've studied brands from the sideline. 

For years to come, I aim to be a part of their success.

A few months ago, a friend suggested I select one of the world's Top 10 most valuable brands. "Tell me what would you do with it," he asked. My proposal lead to an interview with the Director of an acclaimed consultancy who politely conceded, "Without the work you did, I wouldn't be seeing you." 

Such was the impetus for this Blog.

Let these electronic pages be an outlet for the research I already do and enjoy daily - a body of work to refer to when asked: "You have a Masters in Finance, why would you throw it away for brand strategy?"
                                                    
- Marc Bauche