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The Brand Dream Team: Four Horsemen for a Great Trademark Portfolio
© Cheryl Hodgson 2008 | Posted on April 13, 2008
Jim Cramer, a founder of www.thestreet.com, and well known Wall Street sage, is host of CNBC’s wildly successful MAD MONEY. Last year when things were still “flying high” Jim dubbed the four seemingly unstoppable tech stocks including RIMM and APPLE, but two of the “four horsemen.” The four horsemen had momentum, but also had underlying intrinsic value. They were the trend that couldn’t be bucked, and symbolized what was right in the tech sector. The four horsemen for developing a strong brand for your business have these same qualities. They are capable of leading your marketing to higher and greater places, increasing the value of your company, and adding financial value to the brand you seek to build.
Jim is one smart dude, and a great brand wizard to boot, having more recently dubbed himself President of “Cramerica.” Not bad for a Harvard Law grad, journalist-at-heart, who has found his voice speaking truth to America’s average stock investor.
I admit I have been a Cramer fan for years, even before the dot com era became the dot bomb era. As an early subscriber to The Street, I even received a personal response from Jim to an email I wrote in which I gave him some opinionated dirt on a Hollywood corporate icon then in the doldrums.
As in the case of Cramer, I will on occasion rant about those I admire and respect before getting down to business. Those of whom I think less, I’m doing my best to ignore, but then I don’t make promises I’m not sure I can keep. Just know that if I’m giving Jim a great rant in this post, it’s as a prelude to using one of his ideas that will help you build a bigger better, stronger brand! In my heart, I know Jim will approve. Our messages are different, but our intentions are in alignment, namely to debunk, demystify, and clarify knowledge that will make you money!
The Dream Team you select to represent your product or service in the market is a word or words, a design or symbol, a “composite” of the two, and for many, a great slogan. NIKE, the famous “swoosh the two alone or together, and the slogan, JUST DO IT, offers a perfect example. NIKE the brand can remove its name from advertising, yet we the consumer still recognize the source when we see only the logo, i.e., the swoosh. The same is true of its now famous slogan. However, this brand value didn’t happen without reflection during selection, and a plan for protection. It required vision and forethought, together with excellent execution, namely delivery to the public of the promises their dream team symbolizes.
Building a great brand with strong trademarks starts with selection. When engaged in the process of selection, don’t limit thinking to words alone. Consider creating a dream team of four horsemen that can lead your business into a great future. Look to successful brands like NIKE for inspiration. Choose the word or words, and then create a symbol capable of achieving recognition. Visualize each being used alone, as well as together, with the consumers developing recognition of all three. Add in a great slogan, and your company will be on the SURE path to building a great brand, with four horsemen leading the way.
Technorati Tags: Advertising, brand management, Branding, business valuation, Marketing, Trademarks
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