Lead, Follow, or Get Out of the Way!

Great brands continue to thrive for years after their introductions. Others don't. The great ones control categories and set examples for others to try and mimic. Brands like McDonald's, Ralph Lauren and Apple are emblematic of great brands.

Why do these enduring brands continue to exist? I believe it is in their brand leadership.

There are certainly other factors like brand management, operational efficiencies and market gyrations that affect long term performance, but the starting point for nearly every great brand is the leadership position taken at inception or assumed at some later point of enlightenment. The instant an advertiser begins the brand development process, they inherit the leadership position in their category or industry - guaranteed.

How you ask?

Review the definition of a brand: A brand is your claim of distinction.

Once successfully differentiated through brand development and branding, they've separated themselves from their competitors and thus, assumed a leadership role. That same differentiation helps to determine the most deliverable role and the underpinnings of long-term success are almost immediately put into place. When Maytag proclaimed quality and reliability as their brand differentiation over 30 years ago (think Maytag Repairman), it was not because all their competitors were claiming the low quality slot; everyone said they were high quality. Maytag assumed the quality leadership position by suggesting that their quality was so high that their washing machines didn't break down! What a leadership spot to claim. Then, they created the loneliest repairman to communicate their leadership and internalized the brand position with delivery mechanisms like better quality control and manufacturing processes to ensure the endurance of their leadership.

Brand leadership tends to land in one of four major categories:

Price. The price leader is that brand that owns the position. Two obvious leaders here are Walmart at the low price end of the spectrum and Rolls-Royce at the high end.

Innovation. Lots of folks like to stake this claim. Apple in technology and GE in home products are perfect examples.

Cultural Connection. Harley-Davidson is king of this category. There could be an argument made for Starbucks here, maybe even Ben and Jerry's.

Quality. Ford. For them, it's Job One.

From these four, we can drill down further and find leadership in sub or smaller leadership positions like safety = we think Volvo. Convenience = Amazon.com. Courageous = (When it absolutely, positively has to be there) FedEx, and Irreverence = Virgin tops the list. We could continue to go deeper and deeper. Today, Kevin Roberts, Worldwide CEO at Saatchi & Saatchi has created a category called "Lovemarks." These brands are adored or loved brands. They include Southwest Airlines, Nike, Levi's and a long list of other brands. But for our tastes, Ben and Jerry's could cross over here too. Volkswagen and certainly Mini Cooper fit here as well.

What's the importance of brand leadership? It's the added value good brand positioning offers. It also allows consumers to adopt the brand as their own. It also allows for better brand management, internal brand adoption and crystal clear communication.

What's the downside of brand leadership? Well, living up to your claim is one. Having the guts to advertise like a leader, not a follower is another. Having the vision of the future is mandatory. But, the benefits far outweigh the downside.

How do we go about claiming a leadership position? Start with a good discovery session. It's magic how well it works. The reason? We're simply looking inside and finding the essence of the advertiser's brand. It's always there. Or, at least the seeds are there. Here's how it works:

The process starts with listing facts by examining the company, its history, origins of business, markets served, the founders, traditions, legacies, innovations, values, ethics, customers, the people, and culture. In this first stage, we uncover literally hundreds of facts.

Through a series if three other stages, we eliminate the non-unique characteristics, extrapolate potential truths, and finally, distill the remaining information until we have a prioritized list of three to five absolutely unique and deliverable selling points about our client's company.

From this, we can establish the foundation for a proprietary brand franchise, unique branding concept and a leadership position they are capable of controlling.

We know we've simplified this process for the sake of space but don't underestimate the power of brand discovery - the deeper you dig and the more thorough the analysis the more obvious the essence of the brand and its leadership capabilities will become. And the easier it will be to assume a long-term brand leadership position.