THE BRANDING GAME

Stephen King: Why Quantity Matters for Creativity.

Who produces better work--slow creators or prolific ones? One of America's foremost novelists weighs in.

In both the business world and the arts, you can find schools of thought treating quality and quantity as two isolated, inversely related entities on a zero-sum sliding scale: The more you produce, the less time you'll have to obsess about the quality of each production. The less you produce, the more time you'll have for perfectionism.

HOW TO MANAGE YOUR COMPANY'S BRAND

Your brand is your mark of distinction. Here's how to construct a brand management strategy that will inspire trust in your company

Your company brand is your mark of distinction; it's what sets you apart from your competitors. When you establish and adhere to a brand management strategy, your level of commitment reassures consumers, suppliers, and anyone else that your company does business with that they can trust you.  

A BRAND NEW GAME

EARLIER this year BMW advertised on WeChat, a popular messaging app in China with around 550m monthly users. But its ads were shown only to those whose profiles suggested they were potential buyers of expensive cars. Others were shown ads for more affordable stuff, such as smartphones. The campaign bruised a few egos. Some of those not shown the BMW ad complained, referring to themselves as diao, or (putting it politely) losers.

TIPS ON BRAND IDENTITY

Local brands evoke national pride, are seen as less profit-oriented, and are often formed on deep local insights. But quality worries persist, innovation is questioned, the information can be woefully inadequate, they are sometimes seen to be opaque – and their advertising is clearly recognised as not being of a global standard. For local brands, quality, innovation and transparency are critical hills to climb.

Perhaps the most salient factor for the most successful brands is the promise of consistent quality. Whether it's a business or a consumer making a purchasing decision, they want to be sure in this world of endless choice that their decision is the right one.