Thursday, July 23, 2009

Bucharest seen from the top of the Arch of triumph

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Brand Evolution and the Progress Mark

In The evolution of brands there are some stages of development.

The first stage is the Trademark. It’s the first stage of development for an incipient brand, which is at the level of legally protecting its elements of intellectual property. This stage is inferior comparing to the usual brand, accepting that a brand is more than a Trademark.

The second stage is the “usual brand” – a brand that has reached a certain development. These brands are known by their target and are associated with various ideas or characteristics. Most times they are known for something good, for something different or something good and different.

The third stage of development is the Trustmark – a brand that succeeded in earning the trust of its customers. A trustmark developed further than a “usual brand” because it is not just known for something good and different, but it gained the trust of a large part of its target group. A trust mark benefits of the trust of its consumers.

The fourth stage of development is the LoveMark – a brand that is loved by its customers, that benefits of loyalty beyond reason. The lovemarks are the brands that gained not only the trust of their target group, but also have strong emotional links with the individuals in their target group.

I believe that another brand concept exists: The Progress Mark. A progress mark can be also a trust mark or a love mark. It is not another stage of brand development, but is a particular case for brands that are successful.

A progressmark is a brand that pursues the personal and / or professional development of its customers. A progress mark has the trust of the public and has created some emotional links with its target group.

A progressmark is something that people use when they want to be better professionally or personally.

A very good example of a progressmark is a good university. Somebody buys the university’s services for professional development (the actual knowledge received) and personal development (being a part of an elite group).
The customer of an university wants to progress in his or her career and life, and knows that that university will help him or her make that progress.

Another example of a progressmark is that of a publishing house. The customers of a publishing house buy the books or magazines for their intellectual development (professional or cultural).
Universities, training companies, publishing houses are obvious examples for a progress mark, but progress marks are not only about education and culture.

For example a tool manufacturer can develop a new tool that will help its customers work better and faster. For sure this is a progressmark because the customer made a considerable progress in being more efficient in his or her work.

Even a store can be a progress mark if it helps people find faster what they are looking for, or having trained personnel that helps people making the best decision and not spending money on something that they don’t need.

I gave some examples of categories of products or services where progressmarks can develop, but these are not the only categories and not all members in these categories can become ProgressMarks.