BRANDING &BRAND CHARACTERBMI 3C

BRAND CHARACTER What is brand character?

Why is it important to understand this?

When would you evaluate your brand’s character?

How will it inform your marketing choices?

BRAND CHARACTER If your brand was a person, who would they be? What would they look like? Are they male or female? Are they human, animal, alien, mythical? What do they do on Saturday night? Where do they take vacations? What car do they drive? Where do they live? What relationships do they have? Do they work? How do they connect with your target market?

BRAND CHARACTER Name some brands with well defined brand

character?

What works about it? How does it improve the product?

Are there any risks associated with it?

Let’s look at some examples of brands that have literally ‘personified’ their brands…

BRAND CHARACTER Video #1

Tell me about brand character in this video?

What does it say about the product? The competitor’s product?

How effective is it?

BRAND CHARACTER What about these examples?

BRANDING – CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENTS What is a celebrity endorsement?

How does celebrity endorsements differ from Brand Character?

When would you consider using endorsements?

What are the benefits of endorsements? Name some that have been very successful

What are the drawbacks and risks? Name some that have been less successful

BRANDING – CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENTS “Tiger Woods ads disappear from prime-time TV” Toronto

Star, December 9, 2009

“Cracks beginning to appear in Tiger Inc.” Toronto Star, December 9, 2009

“Tiger Woods has been prominent for all the wrong reasons lately but the dozens of corporations who pay dearly to have him endorse their products have stood behind the embattled golf superstar. The tide may be turning.On Tuesday, a consumer research company said Woods's reputation has fallen dramatically: his ranking on the so-called Davie Brown Index, which is used by marketers to determine a celebrity's brand value, fell from 6th down to 24th.Also Tuesday, new data revealed that marketers had pulled Woods's numerous advertisements from prime-time slots on the big broadcasting networks and on 19 cable channels, New York-based Nielsen Co. said. His last prime-time ad was a 30-second Gillette Co. spot on November 29, two days after he rammed his Cadillac Escalade into a fire hydrant and tree. "When Gillette says `the best a man can get' they don't want people to answer that question with anything related to Tiger Woods," said Kirk Wakefield, a sports marketing professor at Baylor University.

BRANDING ACTIVITY In groups of 3 or 4 select a brand that you know

well.

As a group, take 10 minutes to define the brand character. Make it as ‘real’ as possible. Who is the character? Real or Fictional? Would you create a character to use in your advertising? Would you use a celebrity endorsement? Use the list on the board to help brainstorm Draw the character or use an image from the Internet

Share your brand character with the class and explain your rationale.