BrandKnew September 2013 May 2014 | Page 10

Great Branding Is Invisible The thumpf of a BMW’s door closing, the muted click of calculator buttons, a human on the phone. It hooks you in. Michael Raisanen “The devil is in the detail” is a cliché that happens to be true, but let’s turn it around: The magic is in the detail. What constitutes quality in a product, besides the raw materials you choose? The attention paid to detail. short, quality resides in the hidden details that aren’t obvious to most--until you touch the product and look at it up close. It’s craftsmanship that gives luxury fashion brands longevity and which lets them weather trends. Look at a knock-off Gucci handbag and consider its original counterpart: The difference, besides the “leather” chosen, is in the stitching, the inside lining, the zippers, and so on. In Brands are no different from the products and services that they represent. Frantically searching for the one “Unique Positioning Statement (UPS)” or logo design that is going to simultaneously sum up precisely what your company stands for and differentiate it from the rest of the pack is in some ways a meaningless battle. Taglines may be catchy, but they don’t, in the end, make people buy products. What determines whether a woman buys Chanel No. 5 or Issey Miyake’s L’Eau d’Issey Florale? Not taglines but how either smells on her skin. TAGLINES MAY BE CATCHY, BUT THEY DON’T MAKE PEOPLE BUY PRODUCTS.