BrandSimple | BrandDigital: The Blog

It’s interesting how quickly you can get mentally thrown back to an embarrassing moment in your life you thought you’d buried forever. This happened to me a couple of days ago when I was talking to someone about the role social networks play in building brands. It was during this conversation that I was jolted back a couple of decades to a party in Los Angeles that was hosted by a friend who had worked in advertising but was now in the film industry. There I was, a young ad guy surrounded by beautiful people who were discussing things film people discuss in that intense short-hand only those in the know know. I desperately wanted to fit in and given that I knew nothing about scripts or production deals nor did I have a part to offer in a film, I started to make up personas for myself. In one conversation I was an astrophysicist working at NASA. In another, I became a marine biologist even before George Costanza claimed to be a marine biologist. Little did I know that film people know their whales from their penguins. Long story short and segue to my point, I was found out in a flash and went back to New York dragging my phony personas behind me.

This tragicomic episode abruptly came to mind when the person I was talking to about brands and social networks likened this online scene to a party. Before you even go to the party, he said, determine who’s going to be there. Once there, listen to what people are talking about and what’s meaningful to them. Once you’ve assessed this, if you’re going to talk, say something relevant. Your goal is not to get noticed simply for being disruptive. More important, we both agreed, was that for branding to succeed in a social network, it’s critical that the brand remain true to its persona. For instance, for a venerable financial brand to come into a 20-something online space and start behaving like a 20-something would immediately make the brand appear less than credible. If you’re a venerable financial brand, behave like one. Just make sure to offer up financial advice meaningful to a 20-something crowd. Your goal is to earn trust, not scorn. There’s no room for opacity or disingenuous behavior at online branding parties. People will sniff you out and likely snuff out your brand on their next blog or IM in an instant. Bottom line, if you’re thinking about taking a branding initiative to a social network, make sure you know who’s going to be there, what they’ve been talking about before your arrival, and how you can engage in the conversation in a way that’s meaningful to them – and to your brand. If you don’t do this, more than likely you’ll appear to be nothing more than an inexperienced ad guy trying to be something he’s not.

I recently returned from a trip to China where I had the privilege of speaking at the Economist Conferences’ Fourth China Branding Roundtable. The visit coincided with the translation of my book, BrandSimple, into Chinese. On my last day in Beijing, I was having breakfast and perusing China Daily, an English-language newspaper, when I came upon a full-page ad that captured succinctly – better than any economist’s speech could – two of the most powerful signs of China’s emerging economic growth. The photo in the ad was one of the many spectacular skyscrapers rising up across Beijing as far as the eye can see. The copy, brilliant in its simplicity, read, “Believe in the power of brands.”

That China is building buildings is a very visible sign of its emergence as a major player in the global marketplace. More noteworthy to a brand guy like me, however, is that China is starting to emerge as a major player in the building of brands. Chinese companies are beginning to understand that only by doing so will they be able to compete on the world’s economic stage. In fact, I believe that Chinese companies have reached and are ready to jump over – way over - a brand tipping point. In just a few short years the growth of branded Chinese products and services has grown exponentially. From Lenovo to Haier appliances, companies across every category are following world-class, best-in-class branding practices in order to become the formidable competitors they want to be. Yes, international brand presence, Starbucks to BMW, is everywhere you look, a powerful economic dynamic in any language. The logos of familiar global brands dotting the city landscape are as ubiquitous as the new construction projects. However, although not quite as high a percentage as the imported names, the number of Chinese companies represented in this branded mix it is a powerful statement especially given how new the idea of brand competition is to this country. “Believe in the power of brands?” The Chinese do. And they’re beginning to build them almost as quickly as they’re building their cities. From what I’ve seen so far, the power of these brands will be monumental.