The Brand Is More Than the Name Rob Rebak, General Manager, Marketing Solutions Anyone who has endured Semantics 101 knows that a word is not the thing being communicated and a symbol is not the thing being symbolized. The same is true of branding: the name of a product does not make the brand. Brand = Relationship The first thing that comes to mind for most people when they hear the word “brand” is a brand name or perhaps the product itself. A brand, however, is a rich composite of the product and its benefits, values, experiences, and emotions, which culminates in a shared complex of interactions between provider and consumer. What makes the Dodge Neon different from the Plymouth Neon or the original Mitsubishi? What is the “brand” for AstraZeneca’s proton pump inhibitor, Nexium or the Purple Pill? The enduring element of a brand is not its name nor the underlying product, but the relationship created by the brand’s premise and its loyal user. Two major developments — personalized marketing and interactive media — now give marketers unprecedented ability to initiate and develop that relationship with customers. The “Whom” in the Brand Equation A relationship is based on shared values, goals, and experiences — the more distinctive, vivid, and positive, the better. The more that is known about the partner in the relationship, the more relevant and important you can be to your partner. This requires more than just knowing whether your partner is a physician, an undiagnosed consumer, or a patient new to the product. Personalized marketing goes beyond role-oriented descriptors, to the underlying beliefs and motivations that drive brand choice and category usage. By understanding a physician’s or patient’s personality, a pharmaceutical brand can build the right relationship, with the right targets on the right basis. Personalized marketing uses these insights to identify the right values and messages, and supports an enduring relationship between a brand and its consumers. What a Brand Does A relationship requires more than pleasant promises — it must be earned and proven by experience. The brand proposition is a positive first step; however, a subsequent bad experience at any brand touchpoint will seem all the more disappointing, while positive experiences will build trust and loyalty. Interactive media is revolutionary in allowing marketers to have an ongoing exchange between the brand and its customers. This is not simply the “user experience” of navigating the content at will, but provides relevant, useful tools, features, and content that allow the consumer to interact with the brand, thus providing the valuable, successful experiences that contribute to a strong relationship. The combination of personalized marketing and interactive media enables marketers to target messages and experiences with the right values for the right consumer at the right time, to create relationships that are both enduring and economically valuable. Two major developments — personalized marketing and interactive media — now give marketers unprecedented ability to initiate and develop a relationship with customers. Rosetta, with headquarters in Princeton, N.J., and offices in New York and Denver, offers the full complement of services required to bring personality insight to market at scale — from custom segmentation and CRM strategy development to targeting tools and deployment across each relationship marketing channel. For more information, visit rosettamarketing.com October 2006 VIEW on E-Solutions E-Marketing

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