What's Your Brand?

Today's blog post talks about the importance of "branding". It's crucial that we as strategic communication specialists understand the importance of branding and especially in the field of public relations, the idea of branding is crucial. We'll take a look at what exactly branding is, ways to utilize branding, and some successful examples to show you the whole picture of branding. You never know what you might find out to help you build your brand!

First off, let's take a look at what "branding" actually is. Have you ever seen a catchy slogan? An eye-catching ad? Clever commercial? Chances are you have and that is essentially the foundation for building a successful type of brand. Branding is all about what you want your product to say, what you want people to think about your product, and essentially not only get people to notice but be interested as well as explain what it is your product/client/ etc. Branding is everywhere! Take a moment and think about some commercials, social media ads, print ads, and so on that made an impression on you. Maybe it was a fast-food ad such as McDonalds, in recent years McDonald's has always been popular among children, of course known for happy meals which include toys mostly in the form of a current film promotion. But, McDonald's has tried to show ads that feature a mixture of children and adults and some feature only adults. The branding is trying to show that while McDonald's is for kids, it is just as much for adults or a family friendly spot but also suitable for those without kids who just want to enjoy a Big Mac. Speaking of family friendly, let's take a look at one of the leading tourist destinations in the world, Orlando, Florida.

Orlando, Florida is hands down one of the best places to look for successful branding. Not only is it home to the Walt Disney World Resort but also world known theme parks such as Universal Orlando and Sea World along with more local and smaller attractions. With so many options, it's important that these theme parks utilize their brands to help vacation goers choose where they spend their days and most important to the theme parks, where they spend their hard-earned money. Let's look at Disney World, it is easily one of the most promoted and heavily visited vacation locations in not only the country but world-wide. Disney is known for being family approved, the branding is that Walt Disney World is fun for the entire family. Campaigns are based on the idea that at Disney everyone is a kid, Disney utilizes eye-catching graphics, beloved characters, and in Disney lingo "pixie dust".

Disney prides itself on being for families as well as children at heart. But, what about rival theme parks? As stated earlier, Orlando is the central point so how do other companies make their product stand out? What is the brand that they want to convey to the public so they ensure tourists that they are making the correct choice in picking their vacation get-away. Let's look at Disney World's biggest competitor, Universal Orlando. Located about 20 minutes away from the famous mouse, Universal Orlando makes no qualms to say they are not Disney. Universal has branded their product as edgier, more adult oriented (but also family friendly), and a more hip theme park. Universal Orlando has even used slogans and commercials that featured phrases such as "tired of pixie dust?" which is clearly a jab at Disney. Universal unveiled their most popular area of their park with "The Wizzarding World of Harry Potter" a few short years ago and the new expansion of this area opens this summer. The branding of the theme park now largely depends on Harry Potter as well as the movies the rides are named after. Universal has done a good job with revamping rides and updating the theme park as a whole, gone are rides based on classic but older films such as "Jaws" and "Back to the Future" and in their place are rides based on the popular franchise films "Transformers" and pop culture favorite "The Simpsons" as well as newer children's classics such as "Shrek" and "Despicable Me". Look at a few ads below and see how the branding has changed, Universal is now a true contender with the Walt Disney World Resort and not just an attraction you pass on the way to see Mickey. The "Ride the Movies" and family adventure remain relatively the same but there are obvious upgrades which signifies that this brand is here to stay.

While we are on the subject of Disney and Universal, we know they are competitors and while at times their product and brand are similar we can see that there are some differences. Disney on one hand, prides itself on being family entertainment and fun for the whole family, while Universal does want families to enjoy they also have popular events for adults only. Case in point, Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Orlando. The event started in the early 90's and has since become an almost two month weekend nightly event that is one of the most popular in the country. There are "dead" bodies, gore, alcoholic beverages, and adult humor among other things and Universal lets parents know this event is not for children, it is strictly for adults. However, Disney seemed to have noticed and countered with their child-friendly version "Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party" which is definitely for children but adults as well. The branding is imperative and is really critical for events and products like this. It can tell you exactly what it is just by looking at the poster/ads. Take a look at the campaigns below, can you tell the difference for the audiences?

                                  

 

Similar sounding events at similar theme parks but completely different events! Thanks to branding you can shape and cater to the audience you want as well as explain the event is just a few details.

Branding is useful for everyone and it's amazing once you learn what branding is, how you can begin to look at things and notice successful brand techniques and can be very crucial in times of crisis. For instance, what happens when an honored event has tragedy that caused world-wide news? The 2013 Boston Marathon found out first-hand when the tragedy shook the running community as well as the country. As an avid runner and frequent distance runner, I was shocked and saddened by the event that took place that day and wondered what the response would be like. Honestly, I was a little scared to attend and participate in races after seeing the events unfold. Could that happen to a race I was at? Would there be similar individuals trying to copycat? Just when I had almost shut the idea down of attending big races, I began to see the words "Boston Strong" everywhere. It was like telling the city we knew the pain they were going through and we were standing right there with them for support. "Boston Strong" was an excellent phrase to sum up emotions in just a few words. And a few short weeks later when I completed my second marathon, I noticed many runners and non-runners with the words on their shirts, socks, hats, etc. Branding can be beneficial but in some cases it helps out more than you might know and sometimes you just need to know that others are going through the same feelings as you.

On a lighter note and with the subject of running and branding, let's look at one final excellent example. We can actually bring up Disney again as we take a look at one of the most popular distance running organizations, runDisney. Disney has already proven that they are excellent when it comes to branding, they consistently have some of the most creative campaigns and runDisney is no exception. The branding of the product let's you know a few important details such as its great for beginners, you get to run in the theme parks, everyone is welcome to join (they even title the 5k distance as the "family 5k or royal family 5k" for the little ones who can't participate in the longer distances, lots of distance options (5k to marathon) and most of all fun! I noticed an ad about three years ago and quickly registered for the "Princess Half-Marathon"(the branding has done so well that these events now sell out in record time on the day they are open for registration!). The main branding slogan is "every mile is magic", it's truly a perfect saying for a Disney running organization. As stated earlier, the brand has grown so much and there are now more events than ever and I have a feeling thanks to their branding, there will be even more events on the horizon. Take a look at a few ads, wouldn't that make you want to run 13.1 miles?

 Branding is not only extremely useful and beneficial but also fun to learn about! Hope you enjoyed today's blog post! 

What is your favorite thing to learn about branding? Any branding ideas that caught your eye? Any you didn't care for?

Thanks for reading!

LT