Attree is fascinated by the bright shiny thing called the internet and is constantly trying to find creative ways of using digital tools to create dynamic brand touchpoints.
She is currently the creative director at Cerebra and over the past seven years has developed social media strategy and campaigns for brands like 5FM, ABSA, Adidas, Big Blue, MasterCard, Nando's, Nedbank, Ogilvy, retroviral, SAA, South African Breweries, Toyota, Vodacom and Woolworths.
"I specialise in bridging the gap between consumers and brands. I'm constantly trying to find creative ways of using online tools to create dynamic brand touchpoints," she says.
According to Attree, there are five pillars of religious beliefs that should be applied to brand building:
Possibly the most obvious foundation - everyone wants to belong to something. It's that knowing smile that's shared between fellow Apple users in a coffee shop or the approving nod to the fellow GTi driver in the traffic jam or the Asics wearer on the next treadmill. There is an internal and external sense of pride; for some, a major sports event can be compared to religious pilgrimage.
Understand that your brand has the ability to take advantage of this, encourage it and harness the collective potential this 'team devotion' offers to drive your brand message further.
Martin Lindstrom mentioned that you should be able to remove your brand or company name from your vision statement and still have it stand as a unique vision. So no generic, boring "X aims to be the best supplier of X for the X market." Rather, make sure your vision is an attribute that has benefit and offers a higher purpose.
Think big, for example, Bang & Olufsen's mission statement is "Courage to constantly question the ordinary in search of surprising, long-lasting experiences." Or IBM "Solutions for a Small Planet." Your company should be striving to be the best in your field so perhaps attach yourself to a higher goal or social issue.
It goes without saying that religious conflicts have existed since time began. But yes, competition is good and having an identifiable enemy gives us the chance not only to articulate and showcase our faith but also to unite ourselves with fellow believers... us vs them mentality. PC vs Apple, Coca-Cola vs Pepsi, BMW vs Mercedes Benz.
These conflicts attract fans, incite controversy, create loyalty and get people thinking and ultimately buying. An enemy may not always be a competitor product but could also be a potentially threatening social issue or competitor character or gimmick.
Identify your brand's enemies. Think outside the box - are there potential social or environmental threats, for example? By aligning yourself to (or giving the illusion thereof) with a competitor brand, or with a higher social issue, it can grow the category, thereby making the brand stronger.
On a personal level, smell is probably the most powerful sense. Think about how a single smell can instantly take one back to a specific memory and a feeling. Most religious buildings or meeting places have a definite smell, sound, light... based on this, without using your sense of sight; you can usually tell if you're in a mosque, church or temple.
So, too, brands evoke specific feelings and associations based on how they look, smell, sound or feel. The design of a MacBook, the shape of the Toblerone chocolate, the sound of a Ferrari, the smell of Johnson & Johnson's baby powder.
Critique your brand from a sensory point of view and build on the strongest elements. In some cases you may need to add a sensory element. Lindstrom suggests that, at the moment, specific bespoke sounds are incredibly successful in underpinning brand recognition. Attree means that this may be the reason BMW added the subtle but distinct three sounds at the end of each commercial as its slogan appears.
Everyone loves a good story, and stories seem to assist with learning and remembering. All religions have specific stories that are linked to rituals and icons to underpin beliefs and association.
Create stories for your brand, base them on history and, in some cases, link them to characters/icons to represent and add visual appeal to these stories.
PR-Net is taking place in Johannesburg at The Fairway Hotel & Golf Resort, Randburg, on Tuesday, 14 May at 5.30pm. For more, go to www.pr-net.co.za.
