The building blocks of great brands

Source: © 123rf 123rf Mongezi Mtati, brand strategist, Rogerwilco examines how top marketing executives define and strengthen their brands

Every single one of you will have a different definition of what a brand is really; about the idea of it, its identity, and what makes it recognisable and distinguishable from others.

But when we are surrounded by so many brands every day, it takes a great brand - irrespective of your definition - to stand out. So, how do you create such a brand?

Brand as narrative

Khensani Nobanda, group marketing and corporate affairs executive at Nedbank, likens a brand to an iceberg.

“The part above the water is what everyone sees: the advertising and so forth. But the bulk of the iceberg, below the water, is the product, service, and experience you get; that is the real brand.

"Nobody banks with an organisation because they have great advertising; you bank with them because the entire brand speaks together with one narrative.”

For this reason, says Nobanda, every touchpoint a customer experiences with Nedbank – the entire ecosystem – has to build a narrative for the brand to ensure it grows in the future.

“I always say there are 26,000 brand ambassadors for Nedbank. Our job as leaders and as marketing is to help them understand what the narrative is, why the narrative is that way, and how that narrative can help us deliver better.”

Agencies form a crucial part of that ecosystem and Nobanda sees the relationship as a partnership model, with agencies needing to take an active role in ensuring the strength and success of the brands with which they work.

“I’ve challenged our agencies. In the past, when our financial results came out, none of the agencies would call to say, we’ve read your results, it looks like this is what’s happening, how can we support you? That’s strange because the only way you as an agency can get more money is if the brand you work on makes more money. So you should be in tune with how that organisation is performing.”

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The freedom of a tight brief

Marketers and business leaders also need to come to the party to help their agencies realise their mutual goals, says Abey Mokgwatsane, chief marketing officer of Investec, who recalls a conversation I had with Sechaba Motsieloa where he spoke about the freedom of a tight brief.

He said great ideas are the ones that are on brief, and that brief has to be so tight that it solves a specific business problem.

“The best thing that marketers and leaders and businesses can do for agencies is be very clear about what problem they’re solving,” says Mokgwatsane.

“I think the role of marketing as an industry generally is to make the complex simple and the simple exciting. Business leaders take the complexity and make it simple, then the agency takes that simplicity and makes it exciting.

“For me, I always go back to getting the basics right. Do we understand our brand? Do we understand what we are solving for? Then you let the agencies do what agencies do, without getting in their way – that’s what delivers the best work.”

If you’re lucky enough to have distilled what you do that adds value to your customers and your clients at a particular point in time, says Mokgwatsane, and you’re able to apply yourself consistently, then things play themselves out in a way that adds value to both the client and yourself.

“I always say that as a brand and a business, you shouldn’t try to be consistently fresh; you don’t always have to be current. What you should be is freshly consistent: find new ways of maintaining your core business ethics.”

Chemistry and communication

Being freshly consistent is what Nando’s is all about. It’s a brand well known for being brave, but Jessica Wheeler, marketing director for Nando’s South Africa, emphasises that it’s not just about its marketing.

“Bravery is one of our core values as a business. When it comes to our culture and behaviour, being brave and curious is central to how we do things, so it becomes an inevitable part of how we build and communicate our brand.”

According to Wheeler, part of that bravery and curiosity is accepting that some things will fail and some won’t work entirely as you anticipate they will.

It also means that more than half the brand work done in any given week won’t see the light of day, which is why strong agency relationships are so crucial.

“From an agency point of view, it can get a little disheartening, but because we’ve got these long-term relationships and partnerships with our agencies, they know this and accept it.

"I assure you they are fairly remunerated for it. Even if something doesn’t go to market, you still pay for it because often, in that process, you may find a couple of interesting tangents that you might set aside for next month or another angle. So nothing goes to waste.”

Wheeler says the foundation of this brand-agency relationship is good chemistry, but echoes Nobanda’s sentiments in saying communication is also hugely important.

“When you’re working in an agency, you’re only looking at the comms output side of things; you can forget the 80 or 90% of other things your client is working on at any given moment. So we want to keep our agencies up to speed with what’s happening in the business.”

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Collaboration and innovation

Building a great brand requires a clear narrative, a deep understanding of your business and its unique value, and strong relationships with both internal teams and external agencies.

By focusing on consistency, clear communication, and strategic partnerships, brands can create lasting impressions and drive meaningful engagement with their audiences.

As Nobanda, Mokgwatsane, and Wheeler illustrate, the journey to building a great brand is a collaborative effort that hinges on understanding the core essence of your brand and staying true to it while being brave enough to innovate and adapt.

The above is based on Mongezi Mtati’s podcast, The Lead Creative.