Unit 20
Immutable laws of
branding
職場攻略/辦公日常
Workplace English/Communication in Workplace
BRAIN STORM
Share your ideas with your teacher and try to make sentences.
What do you think is branding?
VOCABULARY
Repeat these sentences after your teacher.
1. immutable (adj.) 不可改變的
These rules are immutable.
這些規則是不可變的。
2. contraction (n.) 縮減
Now, let’s talk about the law of contraction.
現在，讓我們談談收縮定律。
3. exclusively (adv.) 專門地；專有地；獨佔地；排外地
This room is exclusively for women.
這房間只對女士開放
4. recognition (n.) 認可
This means that a product can achieve recognition.
這意味著產品可以實現認可。
5. prominent (adj.) 著名的
A prominent brand will be remembered.
一個傑出的品牌將被銘記。
6. category (n.) 類別
There are a lot of product categories today.
今天有很多產品類別。
7. dominate (v.) 支配
Apple dominates the phone industry.
蘋果在手機行業佔據主導地位。
8. longevity (n.) 壽命
The longevity of the company was at risk.
公司的壽命受到威脅。
Dialogue
Read the dialogue aloud with your teacher.
In today’s lecture we are going to focus on some of the 22 immutable laws of branding. Let’s begin with the first law, the law of expansion. This means that when you give the name of your brand to everything it becomes weaker.
Take, for instance, the Chevrolet brand; they’ve put their name on all the different cars they make. Whether it’s a truck, sedan, coupe or van, they’re all Chevrolets. When you think of Chevrolet there isn’t one single car you think of.
Now, let’s talk about the law of contraction. This means that the brand becomes stronger the more exclusively it’s used; you need to narrow your focus to one product.
今天的課，我們要談談品牌22條定律。 先從第一條開始說起，就是品牌的擴張定律。 它的意思是品牌的力量和它所代表的產品數量成反比。
打個比方說雪弗蘭這個牌子，它把自己的名字放在所有製造的不同類型汽車上，不管是卡車、四門小轎車、四門廂式轎車還是商務車，都是雪弗蘭的。 當你想到雪弗蘭的時候，你想到的並不是一款車。
現在我們來談談收縮定律。 它的意思是，收縮焦點，你的品牌才會更強大。 你需要將自己的品牌中心聚集在一點上。
Let’s take the example of Subway. Subway only sells submarine sandwiches. The creator of Subway narrowed his focus to one product. Since they focused on making only submarine sandwiches they got pretty good at it, which brought in more sales for the company.
Next, we have the law of publicity. This means that a product can achieve recognition through publicity, not advertisement. Advertisement won’t help get the new brand off the ground.
So how do you generate publicity? The single best way is being the first, which also touches on another closely related law of branding, the law of the category.
我們拿賽百味做個比方，賽百味只做潛艇三明治，賽百味的創始人將他的焦點放在這一個產品上。 由於他們只賣潛艇三明治，他們對這個很在行，因此給公司帶來了更多銷售額。
接下來我們要談談公關定律，意思是品牌的誕生依靠的是公關，而非廣告。 廣告並不會説明新品牌起步。
那你要怎麼實現公關呢？ 最好的唯一方法是成為第一，這也提到了另一個與之緊密相關的品牌定律，品類定律。
This means that a prominent brand will define the category, not the brand. Let’s look at Band-Aid for instance. It was the first adhesive bandage. The brand created a whole new product category that didn’t exist before.
Very often, the brand that created the category also becomes the symbol of the entire category. For example, Kleenex for tissues, Xerox for a photocopy. And that’s what the law of the word is; in the mind of the consumer the brand owns the word. When you need a tissue you’ll say, “I need a Kleenex,” rather than “I need a tissue.” Once a brand owns a word it can dominate the field and make it very hard for other brands to compete.
Before we wrap up today’s class, I want to talk about 2 more crucial laws of branding. The law of quality and the law of generics.
這個定律的意思是一個領先品牌應該推動該品類的發展，而不是品牌。 我們看看邦迪的例子，它是首個創可貼品牌，它的品牌推動了一整個之前從未存在過的新的產品分類。
通常來說，創造一整個產品分類的品牌同樣會成為整個產品分類中的標誌。 比如舒潔紙巾和施樂複印機。 這也是詞彙定律的定義，也就是品牌應當力爭在消費者心中佔據一個詞彙。 當你需要紙巾的時候你說：”我要舒潔。 “而不是”我要紙巾。 “當一個品牌可以用自己的品牌來代表整個行業的時候，對其他品牌來說競爭壓力就很大了。
在我們結束今天的課程之前，我想再說兩點品牌定律。 品質定律及通用定律。
The first is very straightforward. Quality matters, but it’s not a brand’s defining factor. Remember that even if your quality is weaker than your competitor’s, having a solid brand will sell your product.
The law of generics means don’t give your brand a generic name; it’ll make it hard for people to differentiate it from the competition. That means you could lose sales and affect the company’s longevity.
That’s about all the time we have today. Make sure you do some further reading in the book; it’s one of the most influential on branding.
第一個淺顯直白，就是說品質很重要，但品牌的創建不僅僅依靠品質。 記住如果你的產品質量比競爭對手的差，有個響噹噹的品牌會有助於你銷售產品。
通用定律的意思是不要給一個品牌起一個通用的名稱，因為人們很難和競爭對手區分開來，也意味著你會損失銷售額，也會導致公司快速滅亡。
我們今天就差不多到此結束了。 請確保你進一步讀這本書，這是品牌策略中最必要的一點。
Grammar
Usage of Whether(不管)
Whether is a conjunction. It is used when you have two options or if you’re trying to convey the meaning, “regardless of whether.” Here’s the example from the dialogue: Whether it’s a truck, sedan, coupe or van, they’re all Chevrolets.
1. Whether you go today or go tomorrow, make sure you call me before you leave.
2. Whether we buy a 16 gig or a 32 gig, we need to make sure the phone will work with our service provider.
3. Whether you come in today or tomorrow. Make sure you have the reports emailed to me by lunchtime.
DISCUSSION
Make a conversation with your teacher.
1.What is the reason why a good product branding is important for a company / business.
