I asked myself a question this morning, one that became more difficult to answer than I would have thought.

Question: What is your single, all-time favorite brand?

By that, I mean a brand that has stood the test of time, creating warm feelings of gladness, enduring attachment, readiness to go-out-my-way for the brand experience, and an easy readiness to tell others about it.

Hmmmm…that would be my wife, actually! OK, let’s limit this to non-relationships…

I thought about products and services I’ve used over the years. There’s Netscape Navigator, my first browser through which I experienced the Internet. How I loved seeing that big “N” symbol with the moving stars, as I first began to explore the early web! And how bummed out I was when Microsoft was able to overwhelm Netscape! Alas, Netscape Navigator, while a very positive brand, was not an enduring one.
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The brand experience is as real as the product itself. This past weekend I was on the hunt for a product I’m interested in and I find myself as influenced as any other consumer by a powerful brand.

Case in point: John Deere riding mowers. I’ve had a John Deere Sabre riding mower for the past 7 or 8 years. It’s done a good job and taken quite a beating as I have about 2 acres of grass to cut and it’s not the most level lawn you’ve ever seen. A Sabre was an entry level Deere when I bought it, today they are discontinued. For as long as I have had the Sabre I was always cognizant of the fact that it’s seat is black, whereas a Deere’s seat is typically yellow. The rest of the tractor is John Deere green, but that seat is black. It was a small irritant but an irritant none-the-less. Colour branding is not lost on me.

This is the sort of brand relationship that we all strive for in our businesses. Colour branding is another powerful tool to build an association with the customer, much the same as icons, scent and sound. If you have never considered other brand devices, perhaps they could be leveraged to benefit your company. You know who ‘brown’ is don’t you? The big thing with any of them is consistency of use. Once you decide on your brand strategy – STICK WITH IT. One old rule of thumb is when you are starting to get sick of it, this is when your customer is only beginning to notice it.

Back to my mower shopping…

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