The term technology brand describes brands from the technology environment, usually engineering-driven, and its definition includes industry, B2C, and B2B brands of different sectors.
As a co-founder of the Expert Panel for Technology Brands, brand expert Jürgen Gietl and council members Prof. Dr. Carsten Baumgarth, Prof. Dr. Karsten Kilian, and Prof. Dr. Holger Schmidt define technology brands as follows:
"A technology brand arises in the minds of relevant stakeholders through consistent brand management by companies offering technological products and/or services and generating a major portion of their revenue with their own key technologies, so the company also has a large R&D budget."
Examples of technology brands are Apple, IBM, Tesla, Bosch, Zeiss, BMW, Nikon, or GoPro. The German technology sector includes countless innovative companies that develop, manufacture, and sell outstanding products. However, most of these companies are unable to turn these superior performances into real value, which would allow them to assert profitable prices and achieve increased sales through the brand. This shortcoming is observable across the industry, because technology companies lack the compression of performances and particularities into brands that let their technologies generate strong attraction.
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The term tourism encompasses the whole of all occurrences and relationships connected with leaving one's center of life and staying at another destination. It is usually used synonymously with terms like "touristry" and "travel".
Tourism brands are not fundamentally different from other brands. Most of the performances provided by tourism enterprises are services. Unlike product brands, brands in the tourism sector therefore have the special features of a service brand. In addition, there is complementarity among individual touristic performances: Generally, touristic demand does is not generated by one isolated performance, but a number of different performances.
The basic product of tourism is travel. No matter whether a tourism brand represents a destination, a carrier, an infrastructure, or an online travel portal, the association with the topic "travel" links them all. The individual features and corresponding strategy, however, can be different in each case. For instance, in the case of the carrier brand Ryan Air, the association with "travel" refers to how cheaply you can fly from point A to point B within Europe, whereas the destination brand Las Vegas stands for "gambling".
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Why is the role of the brand in transformation so important and how does it support companies? The brand creates a connection with all employees; it provides orientation and certainty in turbulent times. This is a huge pillar of support, because no company these days is safe from volatile economic circumstances, constant challenge, competitive pressure from globalization, and the advance of digitalization. Leaders and employees are faced with countless change and transformation processes, where the brand can also take on a central position. Nevertheless, its power is still frequently underestimated.
Once the brand strategy is firmly in place in a company and employees and leaders are well informed about the brand values and positioning, there is nothing to stand in the way of brand-conform activity. When boundaries are clearly outlined, the brand gives orientation even during complex transformation processes.
It is important that the brand promise is consistently conveyed at all brand touchpoints and that customers feel understood – but are not aware of the drastic changes leaders and employees are coping with.
This happens for example when customers buy a Mercedes without concern, trusting the brand because of the peak performances it delivers – while at the same time the automobile industry is battling dramatic transitions like electric mobility, climate change, digitalization, smart cars, a possible "iCar" or Google's driverless car.
A trend is the descriptive observation of social processes - not as a static snapshot, but as a dynamic-adaptive image of our world. It gives indications of potential paths, opportunities and risks for brand development.
How important are trends for brand development?
Trends come from the five areas of ecology, economy, politics, technology and society. The more long-term a trend is, the more difficult it can be to identify - but the more profound its impact can be on the success or failure of a brand.
Megatrends such as globalisation, digitalisation and individualisation are such long-term trends that impact all industries, sometimes to a greater or lesser extent. From a brand perspective, it is important to examine the potential impact of these trends and incorporate them into business considerations.
The concrete perspectives should serve as a source of inspiration for the development of a brand. However, it is important not to run after every trend, but to use only those trends that fit one's own brand.
If a trend fits credibly to your own brand and your value system, it is the best base for a successful brand development.
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