The Brand Gap
By Marty Neumeier
*A Book Review*
by Michael C. Gray
© 2024 by Michael C. Gray
What is a brand?
Is it a logo or an icon, like a Nike "swoosh"?
Is it a slogan, like "Just do it"?
According to author Marty Neumeir, a brand doesn't reside in a company. It's a person's gut feeling about a product, service, or company. It's not what YOU say it is, it's what THEY say it is.
It's a shorthand way that people make decisions, replacing a logical evaluation of features and benefits. Our emotional response to a brand is to trust or distrust the company and its products or services. When we trust the company, we are receptive to consuming its products or services.
Branding taps into the human characteristic of paying attention to things that are different or stand out.
Ideally, customers will identify with a brand as being a member of a tribe. Think Harley Davidson owners and fans of Apple products who must have the latest model iPhone.
Brand management involves creativity to evoke a positive emotional response and logic to evaluate how people in the marketplace respond. Finding out how people respond requires making prototypes and testing when making branding decisions.
To begin building your brand, ask yourself three questions: 1) Who are you? 2) What do you do? 3) Why does it matter?
According to Marty Neumeir, there are five disciplines of branding:
- Differentiate
- Collaborate
- Innovate
- Validate
- Cultivate
The Brand Gap is a 30,000-foot view of brands, what they are, what they aren't, why they work, and why they don't. The book is designed as a whiteboard presentation that can be read during a short airplane ride.
To better understand how your company can better relate to its customers, get and study a copy of The Brand Gap.
Buy it on Amazon: The Brand Gap: How to Bridge the Distance Between Business Strategy and Design.
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