Key Trends in Building a Brand for 2008

This year (2008), some of the key trends in building a brand include societal, economic, cultural, political, and emerging metrics according to MarketingNPV. The seven core values of a brand and the eight principles of a brand are discussed in further detail on Augment's Blog, but what does the key trends in building a brand for 2008 mean for you?

In brief the 7 core values are:

• Simplicity
• Patience
• Relevance
• Accessibility
  
• Humanity
• Omnipresence
• Innovation

The 8 principles are:

1. All Aboard the Brandwagon
2. Cracking Your Brand's Genetic Code
3. Building Brandwidth
4. Show Some Emotion
5. Brand Environmentalism
6. Brand Leadership
7. Branding and the Corporate Goliath
8. Brand Future

Marketing NPV takes it a step further to define not only relevance of a brand in great detail, but they go on to elaborate on metrics that are categorized as "performance" indicators. Pricing structure, innovation, carbon footprint, and much more.

Deciphering all this data can be difficult for a conceptual or small business, because brands evolve so much from infancy to maturity. I remember working with a company that evolved their entire vision by the time I was through consulting them. Just remember the 7 core values and 8 principles of branding (Bedbury, 2002) and you will be well ahead of most small businesses. It's a great place to start.

[Trisha Ahlman is the CEO of Augment Marketing Group and has over 15 years experience in marketing for corporations and small businesses. She sits on several creative and strategic development boards nationwide. "Inspired by growth" from its inception, Augment's mission is to inspire growth in all businesses large or small when developing strong brands. We believe in inspiring, learning and growing. She can be reached at trisha@augmentgroup.com or www.augmentgroup.com.