“Brand Candy” is a nice turn of phrase for the stylish, aesthetic visuals of a brand that people find so appealing.
“Brand Theater” is the similar phrase to describe the active measures that fit the same territory. The inviting atmosphere in a Starbucks, for example, with their comfy chairs and (now) free wi-fi.
If you deliver an experience that appealing and different from the competition, you’ve got a winner.
Bad staffing can kill it. Your employees have to buy into the brand experience you are trying to create. It’s worth thinking about who are you trying to be for your customers? Then make sure you deliver that or the promise of it at every touch point (any place your prospects or customers contact the company or brand).
There’s another important angle on this. It’s got to be DIFFERENT enough. You can’t differentiate with minor differences. You get what the author of “Mind Your X’s and Y’s” calls “the mushy middle.”
Can anyone really tell the difference between HP and Dell? No? How about HP/Dell and Apple?
And people flock to not just the stylishness of the Apple products but the distinctive differences in action (which Apple so smartly featured when they rolled out their iPhones, to a point where it overnight became a catch phrase “there’s an app for that”.
You’ll never accomplish this by sticking to what is safe.