Shopping mania is a psychic disease which declares itself in obsessive urge for shopping without a real need to buy those products. The amount of shopping mania cases is nothing more than 1%. Less than 1% of people are ready to buy everything they see. The others are driven by motivation. They think, feel, need and choose. But what they choose is not products, but emotions, mood, help and support, nice evening or happiness for their family.
We do not buy a piece of soap, we pay for skin care or antibacterial protection. We buy not a car, but reliability, power or prestige. We buy not a product, but idea which is called ‘brand concept’ in branding.
Brand concept – the strong personality of brand
Brand concept is an idea. Good idea is a good brand concept, brilliant idea is a brilliant brand concept, bad idea – sorry, please, try again later… In the contemporary consumer society it is not brand that builds an idea, but the idea builds a brand. The more successful brand concept is the more successful the brand is. Today’s market is the battle of creator’s crotchets where brand concept is the main weapon.
Brand concept is the basis for brand personality development. Whatever this personality would be like – funny or serious, elite or folksy, kind or strict – it must be strong. Strong personality is remembered and respected. It overcomes all difficulties confidently. Strong personality of brand can be created by strong brand concept.
Brand concept development: searching for creative limits
Like any other idea, brand concept is produced during creative research. This research is unlimited at the first stage, and there are no borders for blue-sky creativity. However, the moment comes when the wings have to be clipped.
You should remember that brand concept is the basis for all details and communications of a brand from package to advertising campaigns. Brand concept will underlie brand name, its slogan, logo, label and package design, its ‘language’ of communication with consumers, advertising ideas and various advertising and presentational materials.
All these things provide great responsibility of brand concept. And responsibility load cramps a height of fly. Therefore, while mega-creative brand concept developers strive to astonish, amaze, shock and drive crazy, professional and talented creators know when enough is enough. Main brand concept’s task is informing consumer against brand idea. Thus, the basic requirement to brand concept is clearness for target audience. Ask your mom, if she would buy a washing powder named “Mortal Combat”?
As long as brand concept is the basis for all future life of a trademark, it must be broad enough to cover all the elements of brand image. If so, you will get an integral personality without internal contradictions. Otherwise, your long-term work over brand concept implementation will fall through at one of its stages.
Practice of brand concept
How can creativity and limits rub along? How can one produce creative ideas with such strict rules? It is a difficult, but pleasant task; after all only talented and professional people are able to create non-standard things within standard limits.
How do we cope with this? When brand concept is being created, we are able to find absolutely new and unusual line for imagination flight within the strictly limited sky. Too much water drowned the miller. Thus, brand’s personality strength lies not only in its snazzy concept, but also in its lucidity for those who are the center of all our efforts.
