There are three Bs in branding: Be authentic. Be consistent. Be like Beyoncé.
“Like Beyoncé, a great brand stands for something. It’s an ethos that mobilizes its audience to join, engage and sing or belt in this case, it’s mantra from the rooftops. But transforming your company’s brand from a product into a philosophy is a challenging proposition.” - Jodi Senese
After a stellar, jaw-dropping Coachella performance delivered by Parkwood Entertainment Founder and CEO, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter otherwise known as “Queen Bey,” every marketer should take a moment to ask ourselves “How can we synthesize and replicate Beyoncé's efforts for our brand?”
As the face of a growing 290M entity, Beyoncé serves up a daily challenge to household brand names and their smaller competition. The challenge is to identify unique, creative ways that harness a similar branding power to be the standout choice for consumers. Branding is too often pushed off as side work, especially with smaller companies.
That's a huge mistake.
Companies fail to recognize the importance of establishing your brand identity, positioning and thereby its power. Brands, as defined by Brand Aid's Brad VanAuken, is "the source of a promise to the consumer." When you deliver on the promises, you begin to build trust, loyalty and brand equity. This is handy when a consumer faces a choice. To put it simply, when you are more expensive or less agile than your competition - on what then do you compete? You compete on your brand equity, the value of your brand to your consumer.
And, there’s a lot of money on the table with effective branding. Consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, compels you to focus on understanding your brand DNA. How you can be the brand of choice your target market makes over and over?
This is where Beyoncé comes in.
Powered by authenticity and consistency: focus, community building, and innovation are what tunes Beyoncé into branding success. My takeaways from watching Beyoncé grow into the cultural phenomenon, household brand name are:
Beyoncé knows her core audience and doesn't stray from them. Her core brand promise is female empowerment, and she delivers. She appears to do what she wants, and when she wants.
Beyoncé innovates. Remember when she shattered music lovers, and dropped her album in the middle of airing her special "Lemonade." She challenged everyone's traditional notions on how to release an album.
Beyoncé humanizes. For her fans, Lemonade is a testimony of a recent chapter of her life. However, for those social media fans or lurkers - browse through her Instagram. Bey shares snapshots of her life, and invites us to participate with her family life, music wins and her joy moments. And that works.
Here’s a collection of pieces that shed further insight on Beyoncé's unmistakable branding power, and will aid you in your brand building:
Flawless Branding: Lessons for Marketers from Beyoncé by Carolyn Englar
Slay Like Bey: 4 Branding Tips We Learned From Beyoncé’s Career by Brandi Williams
What We Can Learn About Branding From Beyoncé by Tess Robinson
Beyoncé —Game Changer, Brand Builder, Innovative Marketer by Ellen Gomes
Happy branding!