# The Brand Gap  ## Metadata - Author: [[Marty Neumeier]] - Full Title: The Brand Gap - Category: #books ## Highlights - A brand is a person’s gut feeling about a product, service, or company. ([Location 92](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B000SEGSY0&location=92)) - When enough individuals arrive at the same gut feeling, a company can be said to have a brand. In other words, a brand is not what YOU say it is. It’s what THEY say it is. ([Location 96](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B000SEGSY0&location=96)) - Whenever there’s a rift between strategy and creativity—between logic and magic—there’s a brand gap. ([Location 154](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B000SEGSY0&location=154)) - A charismatic brand can be defined as any product, service, or company for which people believe there’s no substitute. ([Location 170](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B000SEGSY0&location=170)) - Among the hallmarks of a charismatic brand are a clear competitive stance, a sense of rectitude, and a dedication to aesthetics. Why aesthetics? Because it’s the language of feeling, and, in a society that’s information-rich and time-poor, people value feeling more than information. ([Location 173](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B000SEGSY0&location=173)) - 1) Who are you? 2) What do you do? 3) Why does it matter? ([Location 191](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B000SEGSY0&location=191)) - Keep it pure, keep it different. ([Location 211](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B000SEGSY0&location=211)) - The traditional view of design is that it has four possible goals: to identify, to inform, to entertain, or to persuade. But with branding there’s a fifth: to differentiate. While the first four are tactical, the fifth is strategic, with its roots deep in aesthetics—a powerful combination of logic and magic. ([Location 222](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B000SEGSY0&location=222)) - Depending on your Unique Buying State, you can join any number of tribes on any number of days and feel part of something bigger than yourself. ([Location 246](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B000SEGSY0&location=246)) - Brand extensions make sense when new additions to the family serve to strengthen the meaning of the brand, adding mass and definition to whatever it is that makes it different. ([Location 274](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B000SEGSY0&location=274)) - Prototypes create a playground for collaborative ideas, allowing ample space for the right side of the brain to work its magic. ([Location 381](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B000SEGSY0&location=381)) - Would-be leaders in any industry must come to grips with a self-evident truth—you can’t be a leader by following. ([Location 403](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B000SEGSY0&location=403)) - To achieve originality we need to abandon the comforts of habit, reason, and the approval of our peers, and strike out in new directions. ([Location 406](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B000SEGSY0&location=406)) - In the world of branding, creativity doesn’t require reinventing the wheel, but simply thinking in fresh ways. It requires looking for what industrial designer Raymond Loewy called MAYA—the Most Advanced Yet Acceptable solution. Creative professionals excel at MAYA. ([Location 407](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B000SEGSY0&location=407)) - While market researchers describe how the world is, creative people describe how it could be. ([Location 409](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B000SEGSY0&location=409)) - A friend of mine once observed that the only thing worse than the fear of death is the “fear of stupid.” Some companies are so afraid of appearing less than dignified that they settle for proud, stiff, or inhuman. ([Location 419](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B000SEGSY0&location=419)) - Some of most powerful names are those that combine well with a visual treatment to create a memorable brand icon. ([Location 446](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B000SEGSY0&location=446)) - The best brand names have the “presence” of a proper noun. ([Location 450](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B000SEGSY0&location=450)) - A brand icon is a name and visual symbol that communicate a market position. ([Location 465](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B000SEGSY0&location=465)) - Aristotle was a born brander. He believed that “perception starts with the eye,” and that “the greatest thing by far is to be a master of metaphor.” ([Location 473](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B000SEGSY0&location=473)) - Here’s an example of a typical reading sequence: 1) the shopper notices the package on the shelf—the result of good colors, strong contrast, an arresting photo, bold typography, or other technique; 2) the shopper mentally asks “What is it?,” bringing the product name and category into play; 3) then “Why should I care?,” which is best answered with a very brief why-to-buy message; 4) which in turn elicits a desire for more information to define and support the why-to-buy message; 5) the shopper is finally ready for the “mumbo-jumbo” necessary to make a decision—features, price, compatibilities, guarantees, awards, or whatever the category dictates. ([Location 500](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B000SEGSY0&location=500)) - The truth is, most people LIKE clicking—they just hate waiting. Eternal waiting, along with confusion and clutter, are the real enemies of communication. ([Location 539](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B000SEGSY0&location=539)) - creativity is subjective, but it’s only subjective until it reaches the marketplace—then it’s measurable. ([Location 585](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B000SEGSY0&location=585)) - if you can’t exactly PROVE that a concept will work, you can at least turn a wild guess into an educated one, and give your collaborators enough confidence to proceed. ([Location 589](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B000SEGSY0&location=589)) - Focus groups are particularly susceptible to something called the Hawthorne effect—the tendency for people to act differently when they know they know someone’s watching. ([Location 598](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B000SEGSY0&location=598)) - Note: Proble with focus groups - It’s usually better to get a rough answer to the right question than a detailed answer to the wrong question. ([Location 616](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B000SEGSY0&location=616)) - Note: it is better to iterate through questions quickly with low-resolution answers than to waste time solving the wrong question - Why boil the ocean to make a cup of tea? ([Location 618](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B000SEGSY0&location=618)) - Prototypes that can be tested in a realistic situation offer the best feedback, because the mental leap from concept to reality is easier. ([Location 658](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B000SEGSY0&location=658)) - All brand expressions, from icons to actual products, need to score high in five areas of communication: distinctiveness, relevance, memorability, extendibility, and depth. ([Location 674](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B000SEGSY0&location=674)) - When people’s experiences match their expectations, their loyalty increases. ([Location 716](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B000SEGSY0&location=716)) - With each turn, the company and its brand spiral higher, taking it further from commoditization and closer to the Holy Grail of marketing: a sustainable competitive advantage. ([Location 771](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B000SEGSY0&location=771))