Which Type of Brand Are You?

     I was looking through an old edition of Home Furnishings Retailer, an industry trade magazine, and I came across an interesting article.  The two main points of the article were:

1.  Recognize that you have established a brand image in the minds of your customers, either intentionally through specific brand-building efforts, or unintentionally through your interaction with your customers.

2.  According to Cronin/Wallwork Curry, a marketing communications company, there are typically six types of brands.  Before you begin a brand-building program, you need to decide which type of brand you want to be.  The six categories are:

Ritual Brand – you are a business that customers visit regularly as part of their daily routine, like a donut shop.

Intensity Brand - You provide customers with a rush and a visceral reaction, like a video game.

Snap Brand – You satisfy the customers’ sense of urgency; you do something for them right away, like an overnight express delivery service.

Stretch Brand – You provide products or services that are leading-edge, ahead of the curve, like the iPhone.

Experiential Brand – You provide a highly interactive experience for your customer, like an amusement park or a concert.

Lifestyle Brand – You provide products or services that are demanded by a specific market segment.

     Once you determine the type of brand you want to be, you must develop your brand by determining where you want to be in the future, the single most important benefit you offer to your customer, and how you will relate to and connect with your customers.

Here is the contact info for the companies that provided the source material for this post:

Home Furnishings Retailer is published by the National Home Furnishings Association (“NHFA”).   NHFA’s website is www.nhfa.org.

It appears that Cronin/Wallwork Curry has undergone ownership changes and is now two firms.  Cronin and Company’s website is www.cronin-co.com and Wallwork Curry McKenna’s website is www.wcm-partners.com.