Wednesday, October 22, 2014

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly – A Moral Message

As with any discipline, branding can be used to help people and society or it can be used in a way that hurts them.

How can branding be helpful? It can:
  • Clarify or highlight a product’s or organization’s most distinctive advantage(s).
  • Help attract, motivate and retain highly talented employees.
  • Rally employees around and align them with the organization’s mission or vision.
  • Improve an organization’s profitability, market share and market value.
  • Establish a community of people with shared values.
  • Serve as a self-expressive "badge" for customers.
  • Make promises to or covenants with customers.
  • Overlay an attractive personality on an organization or its products and services.
  • Entertain customers.
  • Make an organization or its products or services more likeable.
  • Simplify customer choice.
  • Help create healthy relationships with and the loyalty of customers.

How can a branding be used in a way that harms people or society? It can:
  • Accentuate people’s fears, phobias or insecurities.
  • Contribute to increased cravings or addictions.
  • Sell people more stuff that they really don’t really need.
  • Be the “lipstick on a pig.” That is, it can be used to dress up an inferior product or service.
  • Create strong desires for products that are actually harmful to people or society.

As I think you know, branding can be a very powerful tool. I hope you will use your branding skills to benefit people and society and not to harm them.

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