Hi Antony, I am very fortunate to be married to a great person, and she earned some serious brownie points recently when she surprised me with a special gift—a luxury cruise for both of us on the Freedom of the Seas, Royal Caribbean’s largest ship. 

Now, what on earth does this have to do with business growth or branding? You might think this story should be in the Personally Speaking section, but trust me—it belongs right here. Over the years I have traveled extensively and have had the privilege of staying at some amazing resorts. (And of course, I spent five years working for the Hilton Corporation.) I may not be the foremost expert on travel and leisure, but as someone who has logged over three million miles with American Airlines, speaking to various groups around the world, and who has stayed in every type of accommodation from motel to luxury hotel, I think my opinion carries some weight.

Most of us in the world of speaking know that the Ritz-Carlton is unique in the world of hotel lodging, and I have applauded its efforts and brand-building expertise in this column in the past. But believe me, the “hotel” experience that we had on the Freedom of the Seas was as good as the Ritz-Carlton—but it had so much more! Frankly, I’d been very skeptical about going on a cruise; I always thought it would be a bit like a cheesy summer resort, like the one in the movie Dirty Dancing. 

I couldn’t have been more wrong. Other than the “herding cattle” aspect when boarding the ship (which is to be expected), the whole trip was wonderful—and I can say this, even as someone who is a little claustrophobic. Because of our great experience, the Royal Caribbean brand has been positively cemented in my mind. It was impressive from the outset—our cabin steward already knew my name when he introduced himself to us. And he proceeded to take impeccable care of our accommodations—and of us—every day. Every single detail was a first-class experience. The three-story dining room was amazing (and I’m still trying to get rid of the extra weight I put on). All of the cruise personnel were amazingly attentive and trained to perfection—they are the real brand. And Royal Caribbean clearly knows branding and knows that building a great brand is the way to fill every cabin of its 21 ships, which by the way equates to 62,216 beds to be filled every single week, every time they sail. Boy that's a lot of bed changing, laundry and forget about the food! 

I checked my six-step Brand Measurement System on building a great brand to see how Royal Caribbean stacked up in a competitive marketplace. As a reminder it is:

“Your brand is a unique promise of value that results in a collection of positive perceptions, which causes an expectation in the customer’s mind.

1.       Although my cruise experience is limited, I cannot imagine any other cruise line having better service or quality. So this is “uniqueness” in my mind.

2.       Royal Caribbean makes lots of promises on its Web site with regard to service. Not only did it keep its promises, but it exceeded them in many cases.

3.       It was not the cheapest vacation, but it was well worth the money (value). I certainly would recommend Royal Caribbean. (I hope someone at Royal Caribbean reads this and sends me a voucher for a free trip!)

4.       The positive collection of perceptions came true at nearly every “touch point.” The personnel, the cleanliness, and the products all passed with flying colors.

5.       The expectation in my mind was that the trip would be a little bit like “happy campers,” but I was pleasantly surprised. Royal Caribbean is a class act, with opportunities for every demographic to enjoy the trip.

6.       Do I have in my mind an expectation of Royal Caribbean? You bet I do—I’m writing about how good its brand impression is, aren’t I?

So here’s the message for you: Please go through my six-step Brand Measurement System and make sure that your brand measures up—it will give you the best chance for success.

Brand Protection

If you are going to put the time and effort into building a successful brand at any level, it’s imperative that you protect it—the big boys do and so should you!

I frequent the Lexus Diner as often as possible when I am in New York. It serves great food, has a great brand, and the diner is packed nearly 24 hours a day—what a business! Lexus Diner has spent years promoting its brand by delivering on all six levels of my Brand Measurement System. But recently, the owners were shocked when they received a letter from the legal folks who represent Lexus automobiles, telling them that they could not use the name Lexus, as the auto company had it legally protected. Ouch! Can you imagine that happening to your business? Just think of the ramifications, the brand awareness that would be gone, the brand equity that would disappear, and the brand loyalty that could be eroded. What a disaster!

Fortunately, the story has a happy ending: Lexus Diner changed its name to Lexis Diner, which sounds the same but doesn’t infringe on the car company’s brand, although locally, everyone still calls it “the Lexus Diner,” because that’s how strong the brand is, despite the Lexus car company’s best efforts. Of course, you have to applaud the Lexus car company for knowing how important it is to protect its brand, even to the level of going after a small diner in upstate New York.

A similar situation was brought to my attention by an audience member when I was speaking in Florida. This person asked for my advice on a branding problem—she had founded a corporation that was doing fairly well regionally. The business was called Pegasus, and she used the image of Pegasus in flight as part of the company logo. Well, you can probably guess what’s coming. Yes, the Mobil Oil Company came down on her and demanded that she cease and desist using the Pegasus image, which of course is what I advised her to do.

The message is, guys, that as you go through your brand-development process (or even if you currently have a brand that is growing), make sure that you own the rights to do and say what you are doing and saying. It can be a very expensive proposition to re-create all of your brand impressions, let alone the good will that you have attained in your marketplace. Just imagine the impact to your business and the cost to replace all of the communications and customers, just because you did not check to see if you owned your brand name. By the way, I do walk the walk: I copyright everything that I write, and I have trademarked “Brand to the Bone,” which is an expression that I use in my book and speaking sessions.