Brand Codes: “First, they must know it’s me”

What are brand codes and why must we use them maniacally?  We take a dive into the world of  brand coding and why Mark Ritson says: “If the question is codifying, the answer is yes.”

Brand codes – otherwise known as distinctive assets or brand assets – are the sensory identifiers of a brand.

Brand codes are not tied up with whatever feelings, aspirations or positive brand associations a marketing team hopes to invoke when you think about their brand; it’s the fleeting, System 1, lizard brain reflex that signals this brand over that brand.

These are most often visual (logos, patterns, Pantones…), but they can be auditory or even touch-based (the cool aluminium touch of an Apple device, for example).

Some more examples of brand codification Mark Ritson digs into during the Brand Codes module in the MiniMBA in Brand Management include:

• Logos – McDonald’s M
• Shapes and patterns – Louis Vuitton, Burberry
• Colours – Sephora’s black and white
• Founders and characters – KFC’s Colonel Sanders
• Packaging – The Coca-Cola bottle, Tiffany’s blue box
• Location – Donna Karan in New York City

Why do we use brand codes?

Over time, brand codes build a mental shortcut in the consumer’s mind between your advertising and your product, weighting the odds that your brand is the one to seal the deal at the point of purchase.

‘Mental availability’ is the chief concept heralded by Ehrenberg-Bass Institute. It refers to the likelihood of a brand being easily recognised or thought of in buying situations. High mental availability is achieved through ‘distinctive brand assets’ (brand codes) that are pummelled into the memories of consumers via sustained mass marketing.

Positioning, brand loyalty and much else of what marketers concern themselves with, they say, doesn’t matter. Or doesn’t matter as much. To paraphrase the great Jenni Romaniuk in conversation with BRANDERMAN: You can be the fastest runner in the world but if you don’t qualify to run, you can’t win gold on race day.

Mark Ritson, king of bothism, counters that brands should seek distinctiveness AND differentiation.

He stands by brand positioning – differentiation relative to the competition – though he agrees that “all of that differentiation is worthless if we don’t first stand out and become recognised and noted by the consumer.”

What good is a brilliant ad campaign if the consumer doesn’t recognise, associate or ultimately remember your brand?

If positioning is the soul, codes are the face and body of a brand

Positioning is standing apart as a brand, distinctiveness is standing forward and saying: look, it’s me. Put simply, Mark says, “If positioning is the soul, codes are the face and body of a brand.”

Mark Ritson urges us to think of brand codes as part of the overall strategic play; not the sole directive of brand that distinctiveness indoctrinatees would have you believe. Rather, brand codes are a vital precursor and tether to everything else we do as marketers and brand managers: “First, they must know it’s me.”

How should we apply brand codes?

Relentlessly. Maniacally. “Mercilessly,” says Mark. “If the question is codifying, the answer is yes.”

One of the golden rules of marketing is that consumers don’t care about your brand. You may spend months developing an ad campaign, but it will barely register with the people watching it.

Irrespective of how clever or creative your marketing might be, codification must remain a top priority across every single touchpoint – so that even a few seconds’ airtime or passing glance banks points for your brand, to be cashed in later when consumers enter or re-enter the category.

Like any marketing message, brand codes work best by being succinct. Mark Ritson recommends that brands should typically stake their claim to no more than five brand codes (logo, plus 2–4).

Too many codes and distinctiveness is lost. Too few and your chance of monopoly – getting the consumer to think of your brand and only your brand – is slim to none.

brand codes are like playing cards – you only play your best hand

Mark uses the analogy that brand codes are like playing cards. You only play your best hand, i.e. your best chance of having an impact and creating distinctiveness within your market.

Brand codes themselves can come from anywhere – handed down through history, happy accident or loyalist research. But it’s important as strategic brand managers to test and refine them. A quantitative market study can tell you things like which elements consumers already easily associate with your brand, or the likelihood of you being able to ‘own’ a set of assets in the market.

Once you have nailed down your set of brand codes, commit. From here on out, they are the palette by which you will paint your brand, ad nauseum. Every pixel under your control should be codified. And when you’re starting to feel like you might’ve overdone it, double down, says Mark. You can’t codify enough.

A good acid test of codification is whether you can still recognise the brand if you were to place your hand over the logo.

Luxury house Hermès paints with a large-ish palette of brand codes, but they have done such a beautiful job reenforcing these over the years that the moment you see anything silk scarf or equine, never mind the Hermès orange, you instinctively know what you’re looking at.

See if you can spot all the clever ways they play each of their brand codes in this elegant ad (and note the self-assuredness in how they introduce the Hermès logo):

The magic is in how you apply your codes, not in finding a rare or necessarily beguiling combination. Sephora manages to co-opt the benign black and white stripe. Meanwhile, Guinness drinkers see the brand in anything with the right ratio of white to black.

Rigorously applying and reapplying your codes is what turns brand elements into assets. It can take years to establish distinctive brand codes, and decades of constant reapplication before you should even think about entering the fun and fantastic world of code play.

But dogged consistency will pay dividends. If you’re in the distinctiveness or die camp, then it’s your only route to brand growth. As a Ritsonian bothist, the benefits are manifold. Brand codes join the dots and pour every marketing effort into one big, tasty pot in the eyes of the consumer: product, position, communications (both long and short), distribution and anything else above the waterline.

The quotes from Mark Ritson in this article are taken from Module 6: Brand Codes in the MiniMBA in Brand Management.