Looking Back at 2014's Best Posts & Preparing For 2015

Before I start a new year of blogging, I wanted to take some time to reflect on the 40 some-odd commentaries that I posted in 2014. Which stand out?

Two stories of brand strategy success stood out as the most popular and most commented.

The first describes six reasons why Uniqlo has achieved dramatic energy and growth during the past two decades. Uniqlo’s success is based on a clear brand vision, amazing innovation, integrated operations that include a direct link from store to factory, a charismatic owner-founder and the ambitious goal of being the top private-label clothing retailer in the world.

The second was the story of Under Armour’s remarkable performance in the face of brands like Nike and others. My take is that the Under Armour’s success is due to the a higher purpose of being an achieving underdog, the signature innovation story around the founder, the brilliant brand-building strategy around overcoming challenges, the relentless pursuit of innovation, the truly unique brand portfolio, the thoughtful product expansion strategy, and the ability to deal with press issues such as their association with the U.S. Speed Skating team’s bad performance in the Sochi Olympic Games.

I covered other brand success stories as well, such as at Burberry, Whole Foods Market, Tesla, Chobani, and my alma mater the Haas Business School.

Three posts discussed brand vision, which is always the cornerstone of brand strategy and brand building. One describes my take on the definition of a brand vision as multidimensional with the elements prioritized, as aspirational, and including whatever will drive differentiation and resonate with customers. Another discusses the importance of having a higher purpose that will inspire employees, provide a route to customer relationships, stimulate growth options, promote cross-silo collaboration, and act as an umbrella under which social programs can live. The third post talks about how to build your brand vision from the inside out by guiding and motivating employees in culture building and program development.

Storytelling and content marketing broke through once again in 2014 and will continue as important concepts to focus on in 2015, to be sure. I defined a good brand story as one that contains a narrative, has some tension or uncertainty, has empathetic but not necessarily positive characters, is authentic and has a brand related goal. Another described how Skype diverted much of its marketing budget to telling stories about how users harness the power of Skype to do amazing things. The stories not only communicated the Skype message but also found life in social media and even in major TV shows. The third explained how John Deere “discovered” content marketing over a century ago with its Furrow magazine, designed to improve farming through articles about issues important to farming and farmers. Nearly 120 years, later The Furrow is still the magazine that farmers turn to learn about the issues, techniques, best practices and the rural lifestyle.

David Aaker is a best-selling author and Vice Chairman at Prophet, a strategic brand and marketing consultancy. He blogs weekly at www.aakeronbrands.com and can be found on Twitter @DavidAaker.

Aaker on Branding: 20 Principles That Drive Success is available at Amazon,Barnes & Noble or wherever books are sold.