There is no way to mistake the ubiquitous trademarked Coca-Cola bottle, or the stylish ads for Absolut Vodka with any of their competitors. How have these companies created this irresistible appeal for their brands? How have they sustained a competitive edge through aesthetics?Bernd Schmitt and Alex Simonson, two leading experts in the emerging field of identity management, offer clear guidelines for harnessing a company's total aesthetic output -- its "look and feel" -- to provide a vital competitive advantage. Going beyond standard traditional approaches on branding, this fascinating book is the first to combine branding, identity, and image and to show how aesthetics can be managed through logos, brochures, packages, and advertisements, as well as sounds, scents, and lighting, to sell "the memorable experience." The authors explore what makes a corporate or brand identity irresistible, what styles and themes are crucial for different contexts, and what meanings certain visual symbols convey. Any person in any organization in any industry can benefit from employing the tools of "marketing aesthetics."Schmitt and Simonson describe how a firm can use these tools strategically to create a variety of sensory experiences that will (1) ensure customer satisfaction and loyalty; (2) sustain lasting customer impressions about a brand's or organization's special personality; (3) permit premium pricing; (4) provide legal "trade dress" protection from competitive attacks; (5) lower costs and raise productivity; and (6) most importantly, create irresistible appeal. The authors show how to manage identity globally and how to develop aesthetically pleasing retail spaces and environments. They also address the newly emergent topic of how to manage corporate and brand identity on the Internet. Supporting their thesis with numerous real-world success stories such as Absolut Vodka, Nike, the Gap, Cathay Pacific Airlines, Starbucks, the New Beetle Website, and Lego, the authors explain how actual companies have developed, refined, and maintained distinct corporate identities that set them apart from competitors.

Bernd Schmitt and Alex Simonson teach marketing courses at Columbia Business School and Georgetown University, respectively. Professor Schmitt lives in New York and Shanghai, and Professor Simonson lives in Washington, D.C. and New York.

CONTENTS

Foreword by Tom Peters

Preface

Acknowledgments

PART I: AESTHETICS AS A STRATEGIC TOOL

1.Aesthetics: The New Marketing Paradigm

Absolut Vodka: Aesthetics with a Twist

GAP, Inc.: Revamping Casual Retailing Through Aesthetics

Cathay Pacific Airways: The Heart of Asia

Aesthetics as a Differentiator

Cutting-Edge Organizations Focus on Aesthetics

From Benefits and Branding to Experiences

Marketing Aesthetics

Aesthetics Provides Tangible Value for the Organization

Aesthetics Must Be Everyone's Concern

Aesthetics Strategy

2. Creating Identity and Image Through Aesthetics

Lucent Technologies: A New Identity for the AT&T Spin-Off

Creating a New Identity

Drivers of Identity Management

Identity Management Is Not Brand Management

Continental Airlines: A Comprehensive Identity Overhaul

Identity Planning: Past, Present, and Future

How This Book Will Help Managers

The Corporate Expressions/Customer Impressions Framework

PART II: IDENTITY MANAGEMENT THROUGH AESTHETICS

3.Corporate and Brand Expressions

IBM's Corporate and Brand Expressions

Managing Expressions

The Public Face of the Organization and Its Brands

Managing Different Types of Identities

Managing Identity Changes

Expressing the Private Self of the Organization or Its Brands

Relating the Public Face and the Private Self

Application: Digital Corporation

Planning Devices for Managing Expressions

Summary

4. Styles

Starbucks and the Coffee Craze Phenomenon

What Is "Style"?

Sight: All Perceptions Start with the Eye

Shape

Color

Using Color for Identity

What Does Color Mean to Customers?

The Structure of Color Categories

Typeface

Sound

Touch

Application: S.D. Warren's Material Aesthetics

Scent: Taste and Smell

Creating a Style: Synesthesia

Application: Gillette

Strategic Issues in Style Creation

Modifying a Style

Dimensions of Style

Summary

5. Themes

Pepperidge Farm Cookies: Themes of a Distinctive Collection

Expressive Themes

Creating Themes Through Aesthetics: Three Stages

Analyzing the Organization, Its Customers, and Its Competitors

Finding Rich Thematic Content

Representing Themes Through Aesthetics

Strategic Issues in Theme Selection

Summary

6. Overall Customer Impressions

The Four Seasons: Understated Elegance

The Importance of Overall Impressions

Minimizing Gaps Between Expressions and Impressions
arOverall Impressions: Process and Content

Process: How Customers Arrive at Overall Impressions

Content: Dimensions of Overall Impressions

Application: Diesel

Summary

PART III: MEASURING AND PROTECTING AESTHETICS

7. Assessment and Research Tools for Aesthetics Management

Researching and Measuring Corporate and Brand Logos

The Role of Research in Aesthetics Management

The Perils of Anecdotal Evidence in Aesthetics Management

Suspicious Views of Research in the Design Process

Research for Identity Planning

Basic Tools for Useful Research

Assessing the Status Quo

Determining Where to Go

Developing a Design

Monitoring and Tracking

Summary

8. Protecting Aesthetics and Identity

Taco Cabana v. Two Pesos: Two Restaurants Fight Over an Identity

Legal Issues in Identity

Identities as Legally Sanctioned Barriers to Competition

Protecting Brands From Confusion

Protecting Identity From Confusion

Special Requirements for Protecting Aesthetic Identity

Protecting Image

Managing the Protection Process

How to Handle Infringement Against Your Identity

Summary

PART IV: COMPREHENSIVE IDENTITY MANAGEMENT

9. Global Identity Management

LEGO: The Universal Concept of Play from Denmark

Tamagotchi: The Japanese Virtual Pet

Key Management Issues in Creating Global Identities

Deciding Whether to Standardize or Localize an Identity

Organization/Competitive Factors

Cultural Factors

Industry and Product Category Factors

Attitudes Toward Foreign Images

Styles and Themes in Global Identity Management

Application: Bosch in East Asia

Application: Motorola in China

Summary

10. Retail Spaces and Environments

Godiva: A Memorable In-Store Chocolate Experience

Nike: Prom Sports Shoes to Aesthetic Totalitarianism?

Aesthetics in Retail and Environmental Spaces

Strategic Issues for Retailers and Manufacturers

Modern Retail Identities

Application: Ann Taylor

Environmental Spaces

Managing Retail and Environmental Aesthetics

Cyberspaces

11. Corporate and Brand Identity on the Internet

Volkswagen's New Beetle Web Site

Netscape and Yahoo!

The World Wide Web as a Marketing Tool

The World Wide Web as an Identity Element

The Unique Properties of the Web

Creating Identity on the Web

The Future Is Now: Transient Images and Virtual Identities

Notes

Index

About the Authors