Part 2: Branding is not advertising

How did you make the transition from ad guy to the "Branding Expert"?
I began life as an ad guy, and my company is still called Frankel and Anderson. In making the transition to a branding consultant, I just had to grit my teeth and turn down everything but branding. Now that I've stopped trying to be everything to everyone, people know me as the branding guy and they know where to come.

And that's what all my corporate clients have to do, as well as my mom and pop clients. You can always add to your branding but the hardest thing to do is to drive that stake in the ground, pick one thing, prioritize with that, and lead with that. Doing that is the only way to success.

What do you look for to see if "branding" is taking off?
I apply Frankel's Ubiquitous Brand test - it's very simple. It's a sentence that you ask yourself: "Are we doing this, the (insert company name) way?"

What company has done everything right in branding?
Federal Express, I think they've done everything right. Harley Davidson is another example.

Can you talk about Amazon as a brand?
Amazon was partly a special case. It was what we call a first mover. Amazon moved into a vacuum and therefore occupied the entire mind share. Because it did, people mistakenly say it's a great brand. That's not to say Amazon isn't a good company - it might be a good company, but it's not a great brand. If it were a great brand, then it would be a lot more successful when it lends its name to other commodities. It's not succeeding there.

Can you talk about advertising versus branding?
Advertising is not branding. Frankel's 9th law states: "Advertising is not branding." Branding is branding. Advertising can raise awareness of the brand and ad agency guys cannot figure this out. Awareness counts, but first build what your brand is.

Why would you advertise something that isn't complete? First build your brand, and then raise its awareness. That's the big problem and we've seen this with the crash. This is why the dot com crash was great for my business.

Before the crash, people just thought, "Ok, we'll just take some technology, we'll throw some money at it and boom you've got a business." Wrong. You have to have a brand that resonates with people, one that builds a bridge from that technology to those users. Otherwise, people have no reason to be loyal or to come back.

Finally, tell us the ultimate goal of any person, product or service in branding?
The ultimate goal is for some CEO in an ivory tower to be banging his fist on a table, surrounded by his little covey of yes men, and saying: "I don't care how expensive he is, or the service is, or the product is, just get me that specific thing. I don't want a Pepsi; get me a Coke. I don't like to drive a Dodge; I want to drive an Oldsmobile." That's successful branding.

Thanks Rob. Now I need a Coke!