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| Brands: Mining for Black Gold |
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Brands are the untapped oil well of marketing. That's according to branding expert Michael Peters, speaking on "Exporting Brands," a recent seminar sponsored by the Israel Export & International Cooperation Institute seminar.
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 Israeli companies are renowned for their innovation and creativity — yet not one Israeli company is positioned as a leading brand internationally. But the future is bright, according to Michael Peters, founder and chairman of Identica, provided Israeli companies start thinking differently.
| | ROI — Return on Innovation
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"The attitude that 'our product is going to be king' without investing in marketing and branding is just wrong," he says. "We have to be differentiated in everything we do if we are to make a real gain," noting that most major investment companies will only look at companies if they have the ambition to become a global brand. Peters contends that customers are prepared to spend from 25% to 40% more for real innovation — and therefore the role that branding plays is critical. "Branding is key to building exports internationally," he says, "and it's where you can see real ROI — return on innovation."
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| It's Time for a Branding Makeover
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 Peters contends that Israeli companies are still steeped in local ideas, and that we need to change if we want to become icons in our own right: "There is too little distinction between one Israeli brand and another — everything looks the same." He believes that Israelis are scared to put their personality to the forefront and to brand businesses as individual personalities. "The time has come for Israelis to leverage their strong design capabilities in support of brands. No matter who you are and what you do, you have think about things differently in the international market," he says.
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| Communicating Brand Values
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Peters emphasizes the importance of building a strong brand in its every manifestation — from how it looks, to how it performs. "Brands are much more than just a product," he says. "Strong brands deliver their promises. If we slip up, the brand is worthless." In other words, it's not just how we present ourselves, it's the way we behave. Which is why much of the spend on branding today goes on internal communication. Branding starts from within — communicating the brand values to all the stakeholders.
But how can a local Israeli company compete with large companies and equally large budgets? Peters believes it's not budgets that are lacking, but will. "You can't afford not to brand," contends Peters. "We need to see branding as a key asset and consider how we look and behave as a brand internationally. The more you tell, the more you sell."
How you tell the story is equally important. It can be through words, images, colors or symbols. Think about the power of orange. "If companies are smart and clever with brands, they don't have to spend fortunes," says Peters. "Branding can be basic." A recent low-cost pavement art campaign in Europe attracted lots of consumer attention. The trend on that continent is towards experiential marketing: finding new ways for consumers to interact with brands. Been to Nike Town lately?
But much of future marketing will be selling the abstract, products you can't show or see. It presents new challenges to marketers, who are coming up with alternative solutions. Take "sonic" branding. Who would have thought that an Intel chip would have a distinctive sound all of its own? Even a few audio megabytes can be memorable.
Remember that many global giants started small, with big ideas. "Be brave," urges Peters.
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