What role does your brand play in making decisions about your business?
Using your brand to help make decisions is critical to keeping your brand relevant and consistent.
Bonnie Hammer, USA Network’s CEO, uses her “brand filter” to help her determine which shows to greenlight. USA Network’s tagline is “characters welcome” so every show must have strong characters that will connect with their audience.
According to a recent Newsweek article, “when considering scripts, Hammer and her team ask a routinized series of questions: Does the show have a fun sensibility? Does it have a “blue sky” tone of hopefulness? Does it revolve around an “aspirational,” if quirky, lead character with a moral and ethical center? Potential shows are scored based on how closely they match these dictates; only high scorers make it on air.”
So how do you create your own “brand filter”?
- Have a strong understanding of your brand promise (that expectation you set whenever someone comes in contact with your brand).
- Create and manage your brand personality. For example, Burger King created a subservient chicken website that reflects their edgy and cool image; in contrast, Chick-Fil-A, known for family values, hosts “dress like a cow” day instead.
- Review all of your marketing touchpoints to ensure they fulfill the brand promise and are delivered in a way that expresses your brand personality.
- Analyze any marketing opportunities (remember, everything is a marketing opportunity) against your brand promise and brand personality. For example, you aren’t going to find USA airing I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here any time soon.
Following these four steps will make it easier to make marketing decisions, enhance your brand and ultimately your business.
If your brand promise and personality are in order, you are ahead of the game. If not, what are you waiting for? Doing so will pay dividends.
