What Great Brands Do-04

7. A great brand has design consistency.
~3Z2]U6Ef0 Look at what some of the fashion brands have built -- Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein, for example. They have a consistent look and feel and a high level of design integrity. And it's not only what they do in the design arena; it's what they don't do. They refuse to follow any fashion trend that doesn't fit their vision. And they're able to pull it off from one season to the next.

That's just as true for strong brands like Levi's or Gap or Disney. Most of these companies have a very focused internal design process. In the case of Nike, between its ad agency Wieden & Kennedy and Nike Design shop, probably 98% of every creative thing that could possibly be done is handled internally, from hang tags to packaging to annual reports. Today Nike has about 350 designers working for it -- more than any company in the country -- to make sure it keeps close watch over the visual expression of the brand.世界经理人管家mJp+UK,BY

]jM0[%?*o8{:]'i0They're what I like to call "impassioned environmentalists" with their brands. They don't let very many people touch them in the way of design or positioning or communication -- verbal or non-verbal. It's all done internally.

.d)I+B)A7{|g+o1m ?(?&U08. A great brand is relevant. 世界经理人管家%C%gr etx(C8m'PSZ
A lot of brands are trying to position themselves as "cool." More often than not, brands that try to be cool fail. They're trying to find a way to throw off the right cues -- they know the current vernacular, they know the current music. But very quickly they find themselves in trouble. It's dangerous if your only goal is to be cool. There's not enough there to sustain a brand.世界经理人管家ULr0A5p+t9N

The larger idea is for a brand to be relevant. It meets what people want, it performs the way people want it to. In the last couple of decades there's been a lot of hype about brands. A lot of propositions and promises were made and broken about how brands were positioned, how they performed, what the company's real values were. Consumers are looking for something that has lasting value. There's a quest for quality, not quantity.世界经理人管家ZgE#J8|#HkoT

t_8Y:B1At&mw n0Alan M. Webber (awebber@fastcompany.com), a founding editor of Fast Company, favors gold coast blend and maple-oatmeal scones. Scott Bedbury is a Sumatra man (hot or cold).
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