Denise Lee Yohn, a brand-building expert and author of “What Great Brands Do: The Seven Brand-Building Principles that Separate The Best from the Rest,” keynoted the conference, and opened with a clarification.

“I’m going to set the record straight,” she said. “I’m not going to talk about branding. To me, that means branding a cow. I’m going to talk about brand building. By that, I mean creating a valuable asset for you and your customers. A brand is what you do and how you do it.”

And for the next hour or so, Yohn imparted many years of brand-building knowledge and inspiration to an engaged audience seeking ways to stand out in the crowd.

“Every one of you can have a rock star brand,” she said. “Whoever your customer is, they could be a raving fan of your brand. And you could be a rock star. But how? By hoping something sticks? Hope is not a strategy.”

Yohn acknowledged that the textile/apparel industry is operating on razor-thin resources in a time of uncertainty. And much of that uncertainty comes from the changing consumer, a.k.a. Gen C – a term used to describe people who care deeply about creation, curation, connection and community, and it’s defined not by age but by attitude and mindset, she said. And their expectations of brands is constantly changing, she added.

“They’re spending their money not on product so much as experiences,” Yohn said. “They buy from companies that create an experience around that product. That’s where customer loyalty will be won or lost.”

With consumer attitudes and shopping habits changing, and the retail model rapidly declining as a result, she noted that everyone must have a great brand to succeed now, which is the best appeal to customers. Companies must put their brand at the center of the organization and build around seven brand-building actions, she pointed out, before deep diving into those principles. They include:

1. Great brands start inside. Culture is what determines what people work on every day and know how to support and advance their brand, she said. “But culture is not typically the first step they turn to when they want to refresh their brand.” They start with communications, i.e. with logos, website redesign, etc. “Be sure everyone is engaged in your brand,” she said. “Without that internal brand alignment and engagement, everything you do externally will be like putting lipstick on a pig.”
    

2. Avoid selling products. “It’s far more effective to seduce someone through emotion than to push product,” Yohn said. “The idea of connecting through emotions works in all categories, from diamonds to deodorant. Companies don’t push their brand without linking their status with aspiration, emotion, etc. What business are you really in? You might be selling something but you’re really in the business of helping your customers be more confident. Help them express their unique selves."
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3. Great brands ignore trends. “And often that means ignoring what their competitors are doing,” she said. “An example is IKEA. Part of their brand mission is to let people know they can afford their products. IKEA designers start with a price point. And then they do the hard work of developing a product that meets that price point. UBER – they were not trying to follow trends when they started that company. Everybody now wants to be the UBER of their category. Are you leading or are you following? Being different is more valuable than being derivative. They challenge the status quo.”
    

4. Great brands don’t chase customers. “They know better than to squander their elusive brand equity,” Yohn said. “And not chasing customers is why, in the energy drink market, Red Bull is a far more profitable brand than Monster. You can’t be all things to all people. Shine your brand identity like a lighthouse and let the world revolve around you."
    

5. Great brands sweat the small stuff in the customer experience. “They design their customer experiences. For example, REI has designed their entire store so it re-creates the customer experience of the outdoors. And with MailChimp, after you send the email, it says “Rock on!” They want that moment to be celebrated. It’s a small moment that can have a big impact."
    

6. Great brands never have to “give back.” “Giving back is important,” Yohn said. “But great brands seem to be asking themselves why merely do good when we can be great? An example is Coke with its 5by20 program. Coke is not just making some sort of philanthropic effort. They’re asking what would make a difference here? Not just CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility). They’re doing CSV – Creating Shared Value.”
    

7. Great brands commit and stay committed to the core of their brand. “CVS, for example, wanted to position itself as a healthcare company,” she said. “Then they asked, ‘are we truly committed to this mission?’ They knew that selling tobacco products was not true to their mission, so they stopped that, knowing they would lose a lot of money. That was right for their brand and it’s turned out to be wonderful to their business.”

“I’ve also added an eighth action,” Yohn said. “And that is: Great brands do brands as a business. Brand as business is a management philosophy. Brand building is no longer a marketing function. It’s a leadership responsibility.”

She urged attendees to manage their brands in a way that recognizes that “you all need each other.”

“You need to work together to win over customers, to thrive and grow, to build your brands,” Yohn said. “One of you can’t be a rock start. All of you need to be rock stars. And that’s part of the reason you’re here today: To share ideas and to challenge each other and dream together about begin to be rock star brands.”

And that can happen if the “brand as business management approach” is implemented, she added.

“When you do that, you’re going to experience tremendous results – individually as a company and together as an eco-system,” Yohn said. “You’re going to enjoy higher profit margins because research has shown that people pay more for products and services from great brands.

“You’re going to have customers who are truly loyal to you,” she continued. “You’re going to have customers who choose to do business with you time and again. You’re going to have lower operating costs because not only do you have to do less marketing because your customers are doing your marketing for you – they become your brand ambassadors – but you’re also going to have lower employee costs because you can recruit, train, develop and manager your employees better with a strong brand. And you’re going to be in a better negotiating position with your partners, your suppliers, your distributors, etc. because everyone wants to be associated with a great brand.”

Additionally, you will have more confidence that you are on the right track and will stay there because you are “guided by your core brand values and not be tossed by the prevailing wisdom and short-term pressures,” she added. “Yes, it’s all possible if you do what great brands do.”

- Devin Steele

Expert Yohn explains seven principles of brand building