By Robert Croston
It's quiz time. Match each of the following consumer brands on the left with the word that best describes it on the right:
Apple Reliable
Volvo Different
FedEx Safety
If you matched Apple with “different”; Volvo with “safety”; and FedEx with “reliable”, then you are correct! Pretty easy? It should be. After all, they have spent hundreds of millions of dollars associating their companies with these words. These words represent the end of a comprehensive process that establishes what every good consumer product company relies on; its brand.
Brand is paramount in the product arena; it creates awareness, drives perception, and improves desirability. Brands with top-of-mind awareness have higher perceived value, which allows charging higher price points.
Many service companies, however, have not embraced brand, because they believe it to be largely the domain of product companies. But many of the same basic marketing principles apply: brand drives perception, preference, top-of-mind awareness, higher fees, and so on. So why can't service firms reap the same benefits?
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