Brandit! Copyright Š 2008 by Leke Alder. All rights reserved. Published by Alder Media. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner. Request to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to: Alder Media U.K. Argo House Kilburn Park Road, London NW6 5LF, England T. +44 (020) 7644 0487 F. +44 (020) 7644 0487 Nigeria 1 Ajose Adeogun Street, (by Ligali Ayorinde Street) Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria +234 (01) 270-5408/9 Printed in the U. K. Leke Alder portrait by Seyi Body-Lawson Brandit! ISBN: 978-978-087-300-4 Leke Alder will like to hear from you: leke@lekealder.com www.lekealder.com
alder media
Also by Leke Alder For more information, please visit www.lekealder.com or send an email to leke@lekealder.com
Life as I see it
Minding your Business
A heart-seasoned understanding of life in prose, poetry and photographs.
A very practical guide to building and managing an enterprise.Touches parts many books cannot reach!
lifeasiseeitlekealder
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Conversations of a 21st Century Saint The principles of Power, Money, Business, Success and Politics through the lens of the Bible.
a business development kit for entrepreneurs
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Thoughts on Nigeria and Blackness.
Leke Alder's first novel. A political thriller with a peculiar twist.
a novel
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Leke Alder contd. For more information, please visit www.lekealder.com or send an email to leke@lekealder.com
Pilgrimage The soul's pictorial journey through life's difficulties, complexities and imperfections. A coffee table book.
My Boss is Demanding What every boss would like employees to know.
LifeNotes A notebook series containing the writings of Leke Alder. Titles include: Just how long is 5 minutes?, 256 shades of grey, Famished, Loser!, Some happiness..., Molue 101, Nothing! & The man with the missing years.
Pilgrimage Leke Alder
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MY BOSS IS DEMANDING
years
what every boss would like employees to know
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notebook containing the writing of
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The Great Alchemy
The 4 Masteries
Greeting cards
The big business innovation book on how to convert problems into business.
This is a small book of great wisdom. It is a 4-day book, containing 4 life principles.
Real life emotions, real time expressions.
the great
alchemy HOW TO CONVERT
PROBLEMS
INTO BUSINESS
LEKE
ALDER
ABOUT LEKE ALDER
Leke is a highly regarded speaker. He was a panelist at the 8th Annual Africa Business Conference, Harvard Business School in 2005 and the 9th Annual Africa Business Conference, Wharton University 2006. He is a principal speaker at Alder's annual brand seminar 'mind the_gap’. The seminar held in London for three years before it was hosted in Nigeria in 2006. He sits on the board of Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) Stakeholders' Working Group, and is the Chairman of the Communications Committee. He is also a member of the Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG). Leke Alder is the author of several books including Life as I see
Leke Alder is considered an authority on branding in emerging
it, Grim White Green, Pilgrimage, My Boss is Demanding, The
markets . He has a background in Law and is the principal of
Four Masteries, The Great Alchemy and 080808 (a novel).
Alder Consulting - an ideas, strategy and brand consulting firm with offices in London and Lagos.
One of his most successful products is a business development kit for entrepreneurs called the Bizkit. The
The firm is credited with introducing branding as a discipline
companion book, Minding your Business has been an
of national development to Nigeria, and has pioneered a
inspiration to thousands and is a bestseller.
number of initiatives including the first ever industry-wide brand report in Nigeria, the Alder Brand Report. The firm also
He is currently developing a business game for entrepreneurs
developed the strategic blueprint for Nigeria’s image
as well as the prequel to 080808.
management, the Heart of Africa project. So focused is Leke Alder on branding that he named one of The Alder Brand Report is used in a number of corporations to formulate and focus brand strategies, fine-tune corporate positioning and craft marketing and business plans.
his dogs Brandy!
ONE. BACK IN TIME 1 TWO. LOGOS, PATHOS, ETHOS 2 THREE. CHARACTER IS IDENTITY 4 FOUR. SOUND ADVICE 9 FIVE. BY THE DOZEN... 11 SIX. THE DIFFERENCE IS CLEAR? 13 SEVEN. ECONOMICS 101 15 EIGHT. ANTHRO WHAT? 19 NINE. ESSENTIALS 23 TEN. PEER PRESSURE 26
CONTENTS. ELEVEN. WARM, COLD... 28
TWELVE. GRAND AMBITION 32 THIRTEEN. A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME IS NOT A ROSE... 37 FOURTEEN. PROMISES, PROMISES... 41 FIFTEEN. WANT TO BUY? 43 SIXTEEN. WE THE PEOPLE... 47 SEVENTEEN. OH, WHAT A VALUE... 49 EIGHTEEN. AND WHAT ABOUT YOU? 51 NINETEEN. ID... 54 TWENTY. THE VISUAL IDENTITY MANUAL 66 TWENTY-ONE. VIRTUAL IDENTITY 71 TWENTY-TWO. BRANDIT 74 FACTOR 5 77
TO THE STAFF OF ALDER CONSULTING. TOGETHER WE'VE ACHIEVED A LOT... AND WE'LL ACHIEVE MORE!
YOU DON'T HAVE TO READ THIS... How did you read the title of this book? Brand It! or Brandit?
branding your business? How do you choose a brand name?
Whichever way you read it, you will learn easy and practical
What about your logo? How do you communicate your brand
steps on how to brand your company... and steal market
message? How? How? How?
share! I shall attempt in this book to answer these and many more In the last few years, a lot of interest has developed on
questions. And my approach will be very simple and even
branding, and it's even become a buzz word. Everyone knows
conversational - as in all my books. My motto is, make life
it is necessary for business success, but not many know what
simple! (I like to simplify the arcane for easy consumption). It
it's all about or how to go about it. Now there are as many
will therefore not be textbookish, and this will affect the flow
notions of branding as there are consultants, and everyone
and chapter headings. But it will be intellectually stimulating. I
has an opinion on branding. It's not surprising. Brands are all
will simplify the science, give you understanding and equip
around us - from Coca-Cola to Nokia to Google - we are
you.
surrounded by brands. We live our lives in brands, and some are buried in brands. Even our self esteem is built from brands
You will enjoy this book!
- think of a lady with an expensive Louis Vuitton tote bag. You didn't have to read this but you read it anyway!! What is this thing called "branding"? How do you go about
Enjoy the rest!
BRANDIT! 1
ONE. BACK IN TIME
(The history of branding)
Swahili Kingdom (1200 AD) Oyo Empire (1400 AD) And slaves were branded as a mark of ownership. Modern tattoos are of course an urban derivative of the ancient art of body branding. We can even trace branding to the Biblical account of the emergence of the nation of Israel. The story goes that the sign of the contract between the Patriarch of Israel, Abraham, and God, was the rite of circumcision, a type of branding. Circumcision was practiced by many civilisations. Apostle Paul would later expand on the concept when he talks about the "circumcision of the heart", and so we can link branding to the very roots of Christianity. The Anti-Christ, it is said, will use branding to subdue the world. The popular notion of '666' is a branding proposition!
There is generally no agreement as to when the concept of
Historically therefore, branding would seem to be an
branding emerged as a discipline... not even among
expression of compact, or covenant, or social contract. A
professors. Dr David Shore of Harvard Business School for
contract presupposes an exchange of promises between two
example, believes that branding began with cattle rearers in
parties. The modern day concept of brand promises is not a
the West who wanted to distinguish their cattle from those of
pole vault away from this historical root.
others*. But the history of branding predates America or the The ancient kingdoms of Africa for
The first notable commercial branding was the branding of
example practiced body branding as a rite of religion and as
Sunlight by Lever Brothers in 1884. The soap was not only
West as we know it.
an expression of identity and communal compact. They also
different (soaps were black in those days, Sunlight was
branded their livestock. Of note are the following:
yellow), the packaging was different. The branding of Sunlight is generally hailed as a milestone in commercial branding.
Akum Empire (500 BC) Egyptian Empire (3900 BC) Hausa Empire (1100 AD)
*Source: Selling Point, April 2001, Page 71
and steal market share
ISBN 978978087 - 7
This book is a comprehensive introduction to Branding. It is recommended for businesses, brand managers, schools and professional bodies. 9 789780 873004