Developing An Anchor Brand
January 13th, 2010

Yesterday on the Synergy Marketing Consultants Blog, we discussed the concept of proper branding. Taking notes from AllAboutBranding.com's Peter Fisk, we revealed that the essence of branding is the true meeting of the needs of a customer base, as opposed to the name and logo that one associates with a company.

Today, we wish to take it one step further and analyze that ways in which brands can help people “to do more”. As Fisk describes, one of the ways in which a powerful brand helps people to do more is to become an “anchor”. This takes place when a brand creates such a strong attachment with people that they consider it to be emotionally or practically essential to their lives. They consider this brand to be trusted, permanent and more desired than other things.

He offers various scenarios as examples, but we have one of our own. One of our favourite team members here at Synergy is practically a Coca-Cola addict. Not a day goes by when he doesn't visit the office vending machine for that classic red and white can. On the rare occasion when the machine is out of Coke, his day just doesn't go the same. He literally depends on this brand to get himself through the day.

This is not a bad thing, believes Fisk. He writes that “anchor brands give people something positive to hang on to”. For some, the more alternatives there are, the more confusion there is. The best brands are the ones that people stick with in order to allow them to “do”.

Says Fisk: “Graphic designers hang on to Apple, serious runners hang on to Nike, business leaders continue to rely upon McKinsey. However brands that seek to serve mass markets, to mean something to everyone, and therefore struggle to have strong bonds with discrete audiences, are unlikely to become the chosen anchors.”

Anchor brands, explains Fisk, generally help for people to feel unique or different. Some brands are able to attain mass popularity by being universally applicable to the needs of most people. Of course, big names are usually successful brands. But ubiquitousness can also be a brand's downfall.

Citing Levi's jeans as an example, Fisk writes that originally everyone seemed to want to wear Levi's because “it was cool to be the same”. However, these days, being different and unique is the in thing.

“Today, people are more different,” says Fisk, “and therefore brands must reflect these greater differences, and recognize that to be king of a niche is better than foolishly trying to conquer the world.”