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Like a Rock, the long running business and brand building campaign thataired for 12-years, 1992 2004, featuring the music of Bob Seeger,communicated that Chevy trucks were durable and dependable. Itcelebrated both the truck and its target-customer.

Ten years later Chevy is launching the 2014 Silverado 1500, an all-newversion from hood to hitch of Chevrolet's best-selling vehicle in the U.S.According to Chevrolet it is designed to be the best-engineered and morerefined full-size pickup. Its trio of new EcoTec3 engines offers the best fueleconomy of any V-8 pickup with class-leading payload and towingcapabilities. Thats a lot of truck!

But the Chevy Silverado 1500 is not being launched with traditional productdriven truck talk of features, features, features and, perhaps, a few productbenefits thrown in but, instead, with emotional imagery of a stronglyattractive brand character that badges Silverado owners who are ashardworking, honest and dependable as their truck.

It features an origi nal song Strong created by Grammy -nominatedrecording artist Will Hoge. Its an anthem that reflects pickup truck driversand their values American values. Most of the people who appear in thelaunch video are real Chevrolet owners, not professional actors.

Chevrolet claims that the Silverado and the people who drive them inspiredthe lyrics to Strong:

Music Plays: Man sings: He's a twenty year straight get to work on time

He's a love one woman for all his lifeEverybody knows he aint just toughHe's strong StrongHe'll pick you up and won't let you downRock solid inside outSomebody you can trustSteady as the sun

Ain't nothing gonna knock him off the road he's rollin on Anncr. V.O.: The all-new 2014 Chevy Silverado, Strong for all the roadsahead Man sings: Hes strong.

Click here

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. The campaign plays on traditional American values of self-reliance, family,community, hard work and dependability. The campaign, introduced,fittingly, on July 4, aims to let Chevy to take "back the soulfulness of thecategory." Similar to the Like a Rock c ampaign, it reflects the values ofChevy Silverado and those of its target-customers.

We can differentiate our brands with any one of the brand positioningstrategy elements: target-customer; perceptual competitive framework;benefit (product, customer and/or emotional); reason-why support; and/orbrand character. Iconic brands differentiate on more than one element.Chevy Silverado is playing to win with two elements with its strong badge.It is differentiating the new Silverado 1500 with both brand character and anaspirational target-customer. The two go hand-in-hand to deliver a morepotent punch.

The Silverado approach is not all that different than Harley Davidson. Harley

is a brand that boasts a gas tank designed in 1936 among other featuresmany motorcyclists would feel are outdated. Imagine, the last time yourproduct had an innovation dating back to 1936. Wed be screaming for R&Dto get to work in support of the brand. Yet, fuel tanks designed in 1936 playto the rebellious, independent spiri t of outlaws who believe in the manupstairs but want to stick to the man down here badge that serves toattract and unite Harley enthusiasts. Harley is a brand idea born of brandcharacter that badges an aspirational target-customer. Yes, aspirational,since people from all walks of life, including professionals such as doctors,lawyers (okay were being generous here), and CEOs count themselves asmembers of the Harley tribe. They relish being part of an outlaw communityriding astride a hog.

As the target-customer is aspirational the brand character itself is universalfor both Silverado and Harley-Davidson. The brand character applies towomen truck buyers as well as to men. Everyone with a mother knows fromexperience that women are strong, very strong. In fact, Silverado has a spotin their pool featuring a women Silverado owner.

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Click the pix.

It is important to note, that brand character is established through more,much more than traditional advertising. Harley-Davidson has its retailestablishments and rallies that attract hundreds of thousands of Harley

riders, clubs, merchandise, etc., to establish its brand character. Chevyplans to run with digital, print and out of home advertising for Silverado. Itwill also emphasize experiential marketing, bringing the Silverado to eventssuch as Nascar and baseball games. The goal is to get target-customers totouch, feel and experience this new Silverado. Its about linking brandcharacter with the target-customer.

BOATS & HELICOPTERS :

1. Differentiate with Brand Character Brand character is a strategicelement of brand positioning. It serves to differentiate brands whoseproducts share common features and benefits. In our age of samenesswhere products work in the same way and do the same things brandcharacter can be the strategic difference in driving customer preference. Itencourages customer affiliation with the brand. Dont confuse it with tone.Tone is merely a facet of, and therefore subordinate to, brand character.Tone, or tonality, is executional in nature and dependent upon the brand,marketing or campaign idea. But brand character reflects the soul of thebrand.

2. Be Choiceful in Your Approach to Brand Character There are basicallytwo approaches to brand character. The first is badging. As previously

mentioned, it the approach taken by Chevy Silverado and Harley Davidson.It can be an extremely powerful and compelling approach. The secondapproach is to reflect the relationship of the brand bundle to the target -customer. Tylenol is a terrific example of this approach. Its compound,acetaminophen, coupled with endorsements from medical practitioners anduse in hospitals, along with its handling of the 1982 crisis, had made it oneof the most trusted brands in the U.S. (at least, to our knowledge, up untilthe most recent recall due to quality problems in the past few years).

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3. Think of Your Brand as a Person Brand character is about who yourbrand is, as in a person. If your brand were to walk into your home, who is itthat you would expect? One of the ways to help define the brand character isto think in concrete versus abstract terms. For example, think of a celebrityor archetype that you believe best reflects your brand character. Then

describe the inherent character that the brand shares with the celebrity. 4. Get Beyond Adjectives to Define Brand Character Not all brands

include a brand character statement as part of their brand positioningstrategy statement. Thats most unfortunate because as we noted it providesanother opportunity to differentiate the brand from products, andcompetitive brands. Nearly all that do include brand character employoverused, trite and non- differentiating adjectives such as caring,

authority, trustworthy, and modern, or synonyms of these. These ar eworthless. Instead create a narrative. For example, Tylenol is the trustedexpert (such as your family physician) who knows you and helps youovercome problems without causing complications. Note that this narrativeis clear and fits the brand to perfection (as in reflecting the relationship ofthe brand bundle back to the target-customer). Better yet, go 3-D toarticulate your brands character. Create a video that brings the brandcharacter to life.

Click here to view an example of Harley- Davidsons brand character.

5. Reflect the Brand Character in Everything You Do We learned a longtime ago that it is more important to watch what people do then listen towhat they say in order to get a measure of them. Likewise brand charactercomes through from more than a nice jingle or video but what you do tomake your target-customers feel and experience it. Brainstorm with yourteam regarding ways to make the brand character come to life for your

target-customers.

Get competitive with brand character and be strong for all your roads ahead.

Richard Czerniawski and Mike Maloney