in less wordsHERO BRAND

HERO BRAND The concept of hero brand was originally designed to help marketers and creative people understand each other when they use the word “branding”. 

DO something special that

MEANS something special to people.

The idea is this.

The process of becoming a brand is simular to the process of becoming a hero. To become a hero, first you need to DO something special. Something that MEANS something to one or more people.

Like, you SAVE a baby from a burning house and that MEANS a lot to the family.Or, you WIN a gold medal at the Olympics and that MEANS a lot to you country.Or, you walk in the park with elderly people in the weekend and that means a lot to the local community.

GAMENAMEFAME CLAIM

Now, if people know you personally, it is easy to be remembered as a hero. But if you’re unknown, it takes a little bit more.

Apart from doing something MEANINGFUL, you need to have a NAME, you need to be easily RECOGNIZABLE, and you need the RIGHT WORDS, so people can tell your story to impress their friends.

These are four elements, essential to making it to collective memory:

Game, Name, Fame, Claim

GAMENAMEFAME CLAIM

What you DO, and what it MEANS to people.

For example

Robin Hood: “Free the English people from the bad prince John”

GAMENAMEFAME CLAIM

Make sure your name is not in conflict with your game.

“Robin Hood” sounds nice. Hood means protection, cover, like in neighborhood.

GAMENAMEFAME CLAIM

Make sure you can be recognized from far away. Look, smell, sound or feel different.

Robin Hood can be drawn by a child. Hood with feather.

GAMENAMEFAME CLAIM

Find the right words for your act of heroism.

Remember Robin Hood’s?

“Steel from the rich, give to the poor.”

Brilliant.

Here’s a more contemporary example:

GAME Free American people from the old establishment’s rules

NAME OBAMA

FAME Different skin color.(and it sure helps to be the most attractive male

human being ever in the Whitehouse)

CLAIM Change Simple program. Fits on a beer coaster. Famous for ever.

DOES IT WORK FOR

BRANDS?Try it out.

GAME Give people an advantage in life through technological progress

NAME AUDI

FAME

CLAIM Vorsprung durch Technik

GAME Let people give the unforgettable

NAME BONGO

FAME

CLAIM You are what you give

GAME Give people a sense of being on top of the world

NAME Carlsberg

FAME iconic green bottle

CLAIM Probably the best beer in the world

GAME Feeling pure in a polluted world

NAME SPA

FAME

CLAIM The purifying water

GAME Uncharge natural male drift from guilt

NAME Ché

FAME

CLAIM Keep on dreaming of a better world

GAME Liberate machinery from bounderies

NAME Komatsu

FAME huge yellow machines

CLAIM Call the experts

GAME Glorify the use of public transport

NAME De Lijn

FAME white & yellow buses

CLAIM There’s a lot of pros to group transport

GAME Give people the control back over their travel time

NAME Touring Mobilis

FAME radio traffic announcement

CLAIM Smart on the road

GAME Express people’s sweet- & tenderness

NAME Lotus

FAME

CLAIM With love inside

HERO BRANDSchecker

You can try it out yourself on many brands you know. And you’ll see, the harder it is to put clear short answers, the easier it is to forget the brand, and the brand’s story. You can easily identify where the weak spots are, when you handle a brand.

Are you really doing something special? And does it really mean something to the lot?

Is your name in line with the special thing you do?

Are you easy to recognize, and do you look, smell, feel, sound different from your competitors?

Did you find the right words for your story?

About this story thing, one last word: true heroes never say of themselves that they are the best.

In advertising this translates as: It is not about the story you tell to people, it is about the story you give them to tell each other.

Hero Brand looks like just another way to describe brands, and it is. But it does one wonderful new thing. It makes marketers think and talk about their brand in words that inspire and motivate talented creative people. The book is 176 pages, illustrated with helpful examples and tips how to make it work through all communication efforts, from graphic identity to messaging to all audience on and off line. And my wife says it is fun to read.

Have a look at

and ask Guillaume about Hero Brand.

www.heldenmerk.be