I saw the juxtaposition of the words “brand” and “stand” the other day and my mind took a detour about how corporate action can speak louder than brand identities.<\/p>\n
To me the word “brand” connotes the brand identity created and nurtured by corporate marketers. For example the distinctive logo and curved bottles associated with Coca Cola or the slogan “We try harder” associated with Avis Rent-A-Car. The branding concept is a cornerstone of marketing practice today thanks to the lifetime of work and writing of Al Ries. His long-term research on brands and profitability and short-term analysis of questionable brand marketing decisions are persuasive and valuable.<\/p>\n
The word “stand,” as in “take a stand and defend it” seems to be a powerful evolution of the branding concept. In particular, I\u2019m thinking about the purposeful actions and positive outcomes associated with taking a stand.\u00a0 The positive sides of taking a stand is that you are authentic, principled and an agent of change. On the negative side, you are uncompromising, polarizing and \u201cat risk.\u201d Interestingly, the iconic Malcolm X said this about stands, “If you don’t stand for something you will fall for anything.”<\/p>\n
In terms of business brands, Apple takes a stand on human experience innovation as evidenced by their rabidly loyal fans and large R&D budgets.\u00a0 Federal Express takes a stand on honoring its on-time delivery service level agreement by investing in large delivery fleets and tracking technology. Both these companies tie their brand identities to their stands. In other words, they put their money where their mouth is. These are two simple and successful examples. Clearly there are others, including failures.<\/p>\n