The Ripple Effect of Branding: ΣΑΕ and OU (Knowledge)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing™. Today we are taking a quick look at the ripple effect of branding.

Until a week ago or so, I wasn't giving any thought to Oklahoma University or its Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. But a video that captured some members of the ΣΑΕ fraternity singing a racist song on a bus went viral on the Internet now has me pondering about these students and these two institutions. And their act has generated a major ripple effect across the nation related to these brands.

 Remember a brand is comprised of the impressions formed in people's minds, favorable or unfavorable, about any person, place or thing. What are people now thinking about the members of the ΣΑΕ who sang the song and their fellow ΣΑΕ fraternity brothers at OU, the university itself, the president of the university, other students at the school, and the national ΣΑΕ organization? This is the ripple effect.

This incident and its outcomes will reshape these brands of the individual students, ΣΑΕ and Oklahoma University for a long time to come. In a nutshell, this example is the essence of branding. None of us can own a brand because it resides in the minds of our customer or general public. As brand managers all we can do is try to influence and move the brand in the right direction.

Once a Day Marketing™ positions brands to become #1 in the minds of target customers. Visit our website at www.onceadaymarketing.com. Contact James Glover at (505) 501-1330 or email glover@onceadaymarketing.com. Listen to Ask Those Branding Guys™ every Monday at 11:00am (MDT) streaming live on SantaFe.com KVSF 101.5 FM.

© 2015 Once a Day Marketing™. All rights reserved.