B2B MarCom Agency Puts Branding in ‘Wheel’ Perspective

To understand effective branding is the easy part. The challenge is figuring out what your strongest differentiators are to help you best stand out in a sea of sameness.

To separate your product or company from the pack and portray yours as truly new, different or unique is no small task. It requires a lot of research, market study and interaction with customers to develop common ground with a message that will resonate and gain traction.

It can be a complex process. So it was great to come across a model that puts it all in perspective, as the b-to-b marketing communications agency Arends has done.

Arends’ ingenious explanation uses a bicycle as the unifying model. By choosing a bicycle — “the noblest invention” — Arends’ philosophy revolves around the belief that “branding is propelled by human aspiration” and that brand experiences are “powered and directed by the customer.”

They developed a four-step process called The Arends Brand Criterium^TM (named after the classic format for cycling races) which uses the bicycle as a metaphor to illustrate. Here’s how they break it down:

• Stage 1: Explore new insights into customers and markets;
• Stage 2: Align your brand promise with customer aspirations;
• Stage 3: Engage your markets with communications that connect;
• Stage 4: Accelerate your brand through exceptional customer experiences. 

Arends makes it sound easy — which, after all, is the whole idea to successful branding. But it also takes company-wide collaboration to create a unified focus that elevates the relationship between your customers and your brand.

You never forget how to ride a bike. Likewise, Arends’ model makes a memorable impression and delivers lasting value to help better understand how a winning strategy works. Makes me want to hop in the saddle and start branding.