Brands Distilled Gallery
This scroll-down gallery distils the essence of the featured branded companies. These are all strong brands who connect and have layers of meaning for their target audiences and beyond. Each featured brand section ends with a summarised backstory to provide context.
Helps people like this…
Feel more like this…
Harley Davidson has a completely dominant 40% market share in its home market (US)
Unparalleled customer loyalty
Despite underperforming in all established measures of motorcycle performance (speed, handling, comfort), their products command a significant price premium
Technology upgrades typically happen years after other brands
Styling hasn’t changed much in its 118 year history
The Harley-Davidson brand promise overrides any reasonable or logical analysis…a timeless style, sound and association with freedom, lawlessness, rebelliousness…
Harley Davidson enjoys powerful brand connection with a Brand Promise that resonates strongly at LEVEL 3 (see the Brand Compass Guide)
This brand promises everyone…
…a little bit of this…
F&B paints can be x3 the price of quality alternatives
They are disliked by professional painters and decorators because F&B paint requires time and effort to apply successfully
Notoriously NOT durable - will scuff and and mark
But F&B promises class
The connection with social class is not flummery. An old paint company which previously supplied industrial paints to Ford cars and Raleigh cycles was, in the 1990s, acquired by a city banker and an expert interior design advisor to the National Trust in the 1990s-
Re-launched and re-positioned upmarket, it became the watchword for tasteful colours and interior design
In 2014 F&B was floated and sold for £275m. In 2021 F&B was sold again for £500m
Delivers a great night’s sleep
…and peace of mind
Every room in a Premier Inn features a luxury, kingsize Hypnos bed
The promise of a ‘good night’s sleep’ is backed up with this single-minded, concrete brand promise
Guests can not only look forward to a good night’s sleep, they can book with confidence (‘Rest easy’). You can even buy a Hypnos bed direct from the Premier Inn website!
In a competitive and crowded market of city centre budget hotels for short-stays, this brand really stands out
Between 2011 and 2021, Premier Inn has increased its share of hotel rooms from 6% to 11%, which roughly equates to the longevity of this brand promise. Source: Statista
Premier has the highest awareness ratings of any hotel in the UK and the highest ‘popularity’ rating (positive impressions and opinion) by far (70% vs. nearest rival Travelodge - 52%). Source: YouGov
This brand
Changed this world…
…into this world…
In the 90s, the UK Govt. issued 4 licenses to tech companies to build four new digital mobile networks. To be viable and profitable they had to create demand for mobile phones for the general mass-market consumer. At that time, the only people using ‘brick’ mobiles were city traders and blokes in wine bars
After extensive market research and brand-led thinking, one of the players, Microtel, took the decision to disassociate its branding and marketing completely from the product and the category. It renamed to ‘Orange’ which was completely radical at the time. In its huge launch campaign, it made the decision to paint a bold vision instead of referencing products, prices, functional benefits and so on
This vision went straight to the deepest level of the ‘Deep Structure’ brand promise model (p.8). It spoke of an optimistic future where future generations lived unencumbered and harmoniously with ‘wire free’ technology. A technology-laden future was something not to be wary of, but to be embraced and summed up in the end-line: The future’s bright, the future’s orange
This philosophy went deeper than the advertising. It was engineered into the unique phone design and usability of the Nokia Orange handset. It was designed into consumer-friendly pricing structures and a brave decision to launch with 'per second billing’. The warm orange colour of the logo and modern, clean look of Helvetica fonts were meticulously created to reinforce the brand story
Orange not only rocketed to the top of this new marketplace but changed the game in the world of marketing. It proved that intelligent, insightful branding can connect strongly to an audience and drive extraordinary success
Taught this brand…
…that innovation wins
The brand is simultaneously a man, hugely distinctive products, a global commercial success, an inspiring story of determination and of course, a household appliance brand
The genius of Dyson is the way the logical and the emotional proposition lead in equal measure as the underpinnings for this strong brand
The bagless vacuum/no loss of suction message (logic-driver, functional superiority) is foregrounded not just in messaging but overtly in the product (the clear bin, present on all cleaner models, showing the dust collected)
This ‘better by design’ theme is all-pervasive in the visual brand both in corporate identity terms (graphics, logo etc.) and in all aspects of product design. The oft-quoted herculean efforts of trial and rejection by the dogged entrepreneurial founder also provides a compelling backstory
This all adds up to changing the the entire household status of the vacuum cleaner. Suddenly, with Dyson, the humble vacuum cleaner became a desirable and aspirational object perhaps to be kept on show rather than stuffed in the under-stairs cupboard (emotional-driver)
Powerful societal and psychological mores relating to dirt and cleanliness may also have a part to play. Putting up with an impotent old Hoover may reflect poorly on the values and status of the proud homeowner (L3 Brand Promise)
In a very short time, Dyson cleaned-up in the vacuum market, taking dominant market share within 10 years of launch (now 50% in the UK)