Mark Busse: Looking beyond the issue of divinity and objectively examining the psychology and behavior of religious groups and comparing this to brand loyalists, we find parallels and lessons we can learn as marketing strategists and communication designers. Both passionate religious leaders and cunning marketers use carefully crafted icons and symbols to create visual references and identifiers for their particular group. Both groups rely heavily on the message, doctrine and ideology to create a feeling of like-mindedness in their followers. They each hand pick and elevate deacons or heroes for others to look up to and emulate. And perhaps most importantly, both groups use fear and play on emotions with their promise of salvation to elicit reaction and devotion from their particular tribe, creating a sense of belonging to a clear community…
There are many definitions, but similar to religion, branding is basically a belief system. A symbolic embodiment of all the information connected with a company, product or service, a brand typically includes a name, logo, and other visual elements such as images, fonts, color schemes, or symbols. But it also encompasses a set of expectations associated with the company, product or service, which typically arise in the minds of people. It’s a very valuable, yet vulnerable, corporate asset so hard to own because it has little to do with what the company says, but what the actual audience says a brand is. A brand is most often communicated using visual language with the intent to appeal to a particular audience, making them want to buy or be associated with a product or service - but it can also be the unintended messaging such as the way a receptionist answers the phone that is part of a brand.
2007.03.12 at 7:32 am / business
