Most people, when they hear the word branding, think logos - but in fact, branding is really much more than that. A brand involves blending the image, purpose, and focus of your business, with your core marketing message, and coming up with something which will stick in the minds of people who encounter it. As a business or an independent professional, it is who you are and what you do, packaged neatly, clearly, and memorably. A logo is only a tangible representation that works to reinforce a brand.

So - what kind of personality does your business have? Is it conservative and solid? Outgoing and fun? Or robust and strong? And, what is your business focused on doing? Whom do you want to work with? How does your business differ from the competition? And what makes it so special, after all? Do not try to name every special quality or unique selling point - you can actually build a brand on just one unique quality! Once you can answer these questions, you can begin to create your brand. The question is what you want YOUR brand to leave behind in people’s heads.

Practically any business or professional can benefit from a strong brand. But branding is even more important for micro businesses and independent professionals because they face tighter competition. A well executed brand and identity can help them compete on a larger playing field, appear more professional, and stand out from the hordes of competitors.

Once you determine how you want to be remembered, your image and your message will need to communicate that. The image can simply be a consistent look used in all your correspondence, a logo that marks everything that comes from your business, and the identity you use on your web site and brochure. The message can be a tag line, your 30 second "elevator speech," and woven through the content on your web site.

A logo is only one manifestation of brand identity, used to create a memorable impression, but it is useless if you have not clearly defined your audience and the focus of your business. There are plenty of clearly branded businesses using only consistent fonts or colors in their marketing collateral. But whatever you decide chose one image to stick with through all your business communication, and make sure that image is professional. In other words, if you do not have the resources or finances right now to have a professional image developed for you, work with less, rather than using badly formatted clipart or a layout that makes you look amateurish or cheap. That approach can only hurt your business and your brand, so find the level that Works for you without a negative effect.

Once you determine what brand you want to create, and have developed an identity to accompany it, the work has just begun. You will need to vigilantly reinforce your brand every moment you are in business. Your brand needs to affect everything your business does, everything you and your employees say, and every bit of information that comes out of your office. Letterhead, invoices, proposals… these should all consistently promote your brand. In your voice mail, in your email sig, and every time someone says, "What do you do?" your brand should come out to shine. Domain names and web site content should, again, reinforce your brand. Everywhere you use your brand with consistency, you are communicating with the voice of your company.

Be aware, though, that this does not happen overnight - your brand will need to build over time. Develop a strong brand, and use it consistently, and more and more often, your brand will pop into people’s minds when they have a need that you can provide.

Eileen ‘Turtle’ Parzek (c) 2003 All Rights Reserved

About The Author

Eileen ‘Turtle’ Parzek is a veteran web designer and an online marketing & communications consultant who has been working from home and virtually since 1995. You can subscribe to her free monthly newsletter called Increase Your Reach: Infuse Your Marketing with Technology at http://www.soho-it-goes.com

NOTE: You’re welcome to “reprint” this article online as long as it remains complete and unaltered (including the “about the author” info at the end), and you send a copy of your reprint to ezine@soho-it-goes.com

Branding has been defined, explained and examined extensively. There are books, articles, publications, seminars, and groups all dedicated to exploring the meaning and use of brand today.

Interestingly, with all this wealth of information, some of it developed by the greatest minds in the industry, I still hear "but what is branding?" Considering the multitude of sentences that begin "branding is…" it’s an understandable question. What I believe people are looking for is not another definition, but rather understanding, and an idea of how and why this tool fits into their business.

The Brand Equation

Visual + Verbal + Experiential = Brand Perception

What you show, what you say and what you do adds up to what people know about you and what they think of your service, product or company.

Imagine a person you know. When asked to do that, the first thing that pops into your head is an image of that person. If that person walked up to you, you would recognize her, and if known well, recall her name. If you were describing that person to another you would list her features, offer her name and describe what she is like with both factual and subjective information. "You remember my friend Tracy from college, the one with the dark hair and the big smile? Now she’s married and lives in Maine. She’s an amazing photographer and so much fun, I really miss having her around. You’d love her."

The image you recognize, the words you recall and the references that make up your experience all add up to an impression. That person you thought of — in addition to her face, name and your mutual experiences — you also recalled how you felt about her, your impression. That’s brand.

A visual image, a verbal message and experience with something leads you to form an opinion. So, in reality, brand exists whether we address it or not. Every interaction brings about an impression. In a business, however, crafting and controlling that impression mean the difference between reaching your goals and missing the mark.

It is sometimes thought that a great logo like the Nike "Swoosh," a catchy tagline like "Got Milk" or a well-known product like Coke is the brand. However, each of these major brands has carefully planned all three areas of their impression to guide their audience toward their ultimate goal — loyalty. You recognize them, you can recall what they do and what they say and you know how you feel about them. If they have done their job well you will refer them "You have to try Coke, it’s the best," affiliating your preference to their company "I only wear Nike’s." This is the power of "Brand."

Brand Value

What’s the value of "impression?" Huge international brands are used as examples because of their recognition, however brand is valuable to companies large and small, product and service, for profit and charitable. What’s in it for you:

• Identifying your specialty makes you an expert in your niche.

If you are clear, consistent and creative you will attract the right business. Why waste time handling interest from unqualified buyers and receiving none from ideal contacts?

Who’s Using Brand?

It’s not just industry giants with multi-million dollar ad budgets. The power of brand is being harnessed everywhere. Our local school district launched a brand initiative a few years ago. Their mantra "Above and Beyond" is woven into assemblies, included in all written communication and demonstrated in curriculum changes. The latest email announced a 22% improvement in the standardized test scores of disadvantaged students.

Whether your aim is greater sales or better reading skills, brand provides a focus, streamlining your effort to achieve your goals.

Getting There

You can’t prepare an effective image, message or experience until you decide what unique quality you’re selling and to whom. Getting the right people to recognize, recall and refer your company is a process.

About The Author

Beth Brodovsky is the president and principal of Iris Creative Group, LLC. Brodovsky earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communication Design from Pratt Institute, New York. Before launching her own firm in 1996, she spent eight years as a corporate Art Director and Graphic Designer, providing a sound foundation in management and organizational standards and structure. Iris Creative specializes in providing marketing and strategic communication services to clients in service industries and small businesses. For more information contact Beth at bsb@iriscreative.com or 610-567-2799.

Many CEOs and marketing directors find their time wasted evaluating marketing opportunities instead of acting on them. When every possibility is followed, a meandering trail of hit and miss effectiveness is the result. Despite significant expenditure of time and money, marketing tactics may not produce the desired gains.

What is their problem? They are missing a crucial step in the marketing arsenal — branding. The power of branding is that it is not just for your customers. When done correctly, it also creates a roadmap for you to follow internally, streamlining your planning and decision-making processes for years to come.

Outward Brand

This is what many people relate to when thinking of a "brand:" a logo, tagline, style of advertising, product packaging, etc. These are not the brand, but rather the brand elements. To be truly branded however, all of these elements are developed based on the core value of the company. The core value will stay the same, through product changes, service changes, and staff changes.

The value of this is in attraction. If you have spent the time identifying your ideal prospect [read: most profitable] and created an emotional reason to buy [read: comes back and brings their friends with them], then all your time and money is now focused on creating interesting tactics to engage a prospect you know will be profitable, rather than baiting the hook with whatever you have and hoping you’re fishing in the right pond.

The investment in developing a set message to a clear audience is rewarded by recognition, recall and referral of your brand. You can change ad campaigns, update packaging, and replace staff and if all reflect your underlying message, the brand impact will be carried over to your audience no matter how or who delivers it.

Inward Brand

Developing brand clearly improves external communication. Impressively, it can increase your internal efficiency as well.

What often bogs down the marketing process is planning, and deciding on a case by case basis what actions should be taken. We have seen marketing efforts derailed and budgets drained by everything from an aggressive ad sales person to a company executive driving past a billboard and insisting the marketing department book it.

It is so easy to latch onto what sounds like a great idea or a sure thing or to give up on a plan when no immediate results are seen. However brand marketing is not direct response, it is viral, increasing in scope and intensity the more it is replicated.

With a brand built on focus features, key benefits and a core value, it is easy to plan strategy and tactics to capitalize on your goals. And the next time someone asks you to place and ad, sponsor an event, or recommends a billboard rental, you will know if that is on your brand path or an expensive joy ride to who knows where, what we call an "off-road vehicle."

The Reward

The effort of building and maintaining a brand must be constant. Your brand provides a roadmap but the destination is ultimately having customers so loyal they always choose your company and so zealous they bring their friends along. The value is in the opinion and the action customers are willing to take because of how they feel, and in the speed and accuracy of the decisions you can make to achieve your goals.

About The Author

Beth Brodovsky is the president and principal of Iris Creative Group, LLC. Brodovsky earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communication Design from Pratt Institute, New York. Before launching her own firm in 1996, she spent eight years as a corporate Art Director and Graphic Designer, providing a sound foundation in management and organizational standards and structure. Iris Creative specializes in providing marketing and strategic communication services to clients in service industries and small businesses. For more information contact Beth at bsb@iriscreative.com or 610-567-2799.

7 Qualities Of A Strong Brand:

1. Commands premium pricing while retaining loyalty

2. Shortens the sales cycle

3. Deflects competition

4. Resists commoditization

5. Establishes top of mind awareness (mindshare)

6. Generates referral “word of mouth” momentum

7. Meets and exceeds shareholder expectations

If you are lacking some of these qualities read on to learn how you can strengthen your brand!

Putting Your Message In Motion…

" Persuasion is the centerpiece of business activity," writes Robert McKee, Screenwriting Coach, in a June 2003 Harvard Business Review article on storytelling. "…If you can harness imagination and the principles of a well-told story, then you get people rising to their feet amid thunderous applause instead of yawning and ignoring you."

You tend to listen to a guy who has taught people how to spin yarns like The Color Purple, Forrest Gump and Sleepless in Seattle. Though in this article McKee was referring to executives’ effective storytelling to inspire their various stakeholders, the same principles resonate through a company’s brand communications. First you’ve got to capture your prospects’ imaginations and make them believe your story. Only then are you within reach of branding a customer and opening a new revenue stream. Multimedia makes this goal a lot easier to reach.

The term "multimedia" encompasses any medium that relies on more than one of the human senses to communicate. For example, print ads use only sight (except for "scratch ‘n sniff). Radio uses only sound. By contrast, web movies, television and cinema use sight and sound together for a more effective presentation. So though technically multimedia has been around for a long time, today the reference is chiefly reserved for digital presentations with motion, visuals and sound.

Study after study proves that the more senses involved in telling your story (sight, sound, touch, etc.), the more effective it becomes. The greatest advantage of multimedia for B2B marketers isn’t really the media itself, but the channels now available to distribute it to niche audiences with surgical precision. DVD and the web, search engines and email provide the perfect mix of vehicles to drive a highly targeted stream of people to hear and see their stories. So in this age of digital information, it’s no wonder that marketers are rushing to use this highly targeted storytelling medium.

MicroSoft PowerPoint

This is a simple multimedia-capable tool. The next step up from a photo slide show, PowerPoint has become the most popular multimedia program in distribution today. PowerPoint’s elementary animation of typography and images richens the cracker-dry corporate slide presentation of the past and brings the entire presentation process in-house, relegating it to administrative assistants instead of outsourced creative specialists.

The problem we’ve seen with PowerPoint is that it is so easy to use that companies allow people untrained in even basic storytelling, graphics or their specific corporate brand standards to create these presentations. This does more to undermine the integrity of a consistent brand image than anything else we’ve seen. Everyone wants to add their "creative touches" to the PowerPoint presentation, and before you know it, a conservative-minded company can look like Disneyland at the board of directors meeting.

And since PowerPoint contains libraries of backgrounds, effects and color palettes for all to use, it is easy to develop presentations with a "canned" flavor, defeating the objective of brand differentiation. The use of these common library images and elements also increases the chances of your presentation taking on the same look and feel of one of your competitors.

The solution? A unique, yet standardized template based on corporate brand identity standards should be issued to a select group of managers whose departments regularly create presentations. Each completed presentation should be reviewed for adherence to standards prior to use in the field, or even internally. Creating a brand review committee will help immensely, even if it is an ad hoc, part-time or outsourced function.

Flash by Macromedia

This is an animation software tool well suited for telling conceptual stories where motion is important to express the concept, but actual cinematic media (motion film) is not the answer (for either expressive or budgetary reasons). This might work well in the case of demonstrating the principal of a machine’s operation, of which many parts are not visible.

Flash is a vector (as opposed to a raster) digital format. Vector programs like Flash and Adobe Illustrator hold quality as they rescale in size or dimension, take up far smaller amounts of disk space and download faster on the web.

Flash is built for flexibility in resolution and aspect ratios. The same presentation can be used on a laptop computer for a sales presentation as well as a 60" letterbox plasma screen at a trade show with the same high quality results requiring only minor adjustments in display settings.

Though actual photos and even motion film or video clips can be embedded in Flash, its true capabilities shine in the animation mode. With a capable and creative designer, Flash can be a very entertaining and effective tool. It can instantly be embed in the mind of the viewer, a core concept that would otherwise take far more time and explanation.

The key is to tell an engaging story with your Flash animation. Start by identifying with your audience and encountering the problem in the way they would. Instead of simply showing a demonstration, try creating a unique character with a personality that is consistent with your brand promise or typifies your customer. Or personify inanimate objects. Build the storyline with a problem/solution orientation. Like any other marketing project, do your homework so your presentation is credible.

Here are a few tips for Flash use:

A 90-second Flash introduction to a sales presentation can standardize the way your story is told (solution story versus product features) and allow your sales reps to get to the negotiation stage faster. It is a good idea to build control buttons into the sales and web versions of the presentation to allow reps and visitors to pause at key points, fast forward through less relevant segments and rewind for those "let’s see that again" requests.

On the web, don’t use Flash for an introduction to your web site. People can grow impatient when forced to view your show before your home page. Instead, put voluntary links to your Flash movies on your home page and promote them throughout the site.

Use Flash movies for

– Positioning

– Demonstration

– Comparison

– Concept Illustration

Raster Web (“Director”) Movies

B2B marketers have long been envious of consumer marketers’ effective use of television. TV commercials are one of the most powerful mass positioning tools of all time. But for most B2B marketers, the television medium doesn’t efficiently target niche B2B segments. And though cable television has provided more specialized programming where more B2B corporate positioning commercials are finding success, for the vast majority of the middle market, it’s still a bit rich for the budget. But movies on the web…now there’s a combo with some B2B traction.

In contrast to Flash vector movies, raster web movies are simply actual videos or motion film productions that are available on the web. These movies are created no differently than cinema or television commercials. They’re simply digitized, edited and optimized for use on a DVD, CD or the web. They are quite a bit larger in file size than vector movies, so many times streaming technology is used for playback rather than downloading the entire movie before playing.

With the web growing fast as the number-one resource for business marketers, it is beginning to make sense to make special "infomercials" and short positioning movies for the web. In essence, this is simply a more engaging reincarnation of the obligatory, dust-collecting "corporate video" but with some new twists and exciting, new distribution options. Rather than make one corporate video that comes packaged with caffeine supplements, produce exciting, new, shorter, more to-the-point flicks that aim for high marks in immediacy and relevancy with web-savvy buyers.

BMW has become a leader in this area. You may have seen promotions for their web movies over the past couple of years. I received a great email last week from BMW promoting their new 3-Series cars. In the well-designed html email was a still photo of the car with a link to a movie that allowed me to set it in motion. I watched the car cornering and performing other BMW-esque maneuvers on a winding coastal highway. Very nice for positioning. Very effective story telling.

T-Mobile is now unveiling a custom-produced version of the smash TV series "24" on short web movies delivered to select web-capable wireless phones. Though this may be a superfluous demonstration of technology and off-task with the utility of wireless phones, the fact that it can be done is in itself impressive.

Other uses for this phone technology and storytelling style are sure to catch fire over the next few years (movie trailers, mobile video mail, etc).

Paid search engines are a great way to efficiently target and recruit viewer-ship for your web movies and Flash presentations. Services such as Google’s AdWords, Yahoo’s Overture, Espotting.com and FindWhat.com are services that guide search inquiries from popular search engines to your website and only charge per click-through to your web site. This is a very efficient promotional tool to hook up with exceptionally qualified, active prospects.

ROI

The great thing about doing anything on the web –like multimedia presentations – is that you can get some fantastic metrics on who is watching, when and why. From this and other information, relationships can be made between ROI and spending that could never have been as precise before web technology.

Most Internet Service Providers (a.k.a. "ISPs" or Hosting Services) now include web metrics packages that enable you to see how much traffic you’re getting, through what pages visitors enter your website, how long they visit, which pages they visit, when, and a host of other metrics.

How do you use this information for determining the ROI of web media? When you run promotions (with strong offers via email or other direct marketing), use a special web address as a response device, so you can measure the effectiveness of lead generation. Once the visitors are on the site, you can carefully structure their paths with strategic links that lead to your web movies, Flash presentations and other web media. This should help to position your brand and motivate the visitor. A call for action to download information or order products at the end of the movies can be used to measure the effectiveness of the movies.

With each marketing or branding objective, new and creative ways of measuring your ROI can be devised, and motion media developed to motivate action.

Scott White is President of Brand Identity Guru a leading Corporate Branding and Branding Research firm in Boston, MA.

Brand Identity Guru specializes in creating corporate and product brands that increase sales, market share, customer loyalty, and brand valuation.

This Article may be freely copied as long as it is not modified and this resource box accompanies the article, together with working hyperlinks.

Over the course of his 15-year branding career, Scott White has worked in a wide variety of industries: high-tech, manufacturing, computer hardware and software, telecommunications, banking, restaurants, fashion, healthcare, Internet, retail, and service businesses, as well as numerous non-profit organizations.

Brand Identity Guru clients include: Sun Life Financial, Coca Cola, HP, Sun, Nordstrom, American Federal Mortgage, Franklin Sports and many others, including numerous emerging growth companies.

Love him or hate him, one thing is certain: Donald Trump is a successful guy. We don’t have to sum up his accomplishments for you, because his name speaks for itself. Everything he does has his name behind it and, when you hear Trump, you know it’s going to be over the top in quality and style.

How many real estate developers you know by name? Of those that you know, how many of their projects do you remember? Even a layman knows that Trump owns golf courses, hotels and office buildings around the world.

The fact that you know Trump (and you know his business) means that he understands the value of brand. Building his brand is as important to him as anything else in his business. It’s what gives him power to make deals, negotiate contracts and get things done.

Don’t take my word for it, Mr. Trump talks about the value of his brand in his new book How To Get Rich:

"…using my name on a building carries with it a promise of the highest quality available and at least a $5 million price tag. That’s just for the name, because it will be worth it to the developers, and they know it. That building will be up to my standards."…"what’s in a name…can be (worth) far more than I ever could have imagined."

It didn’t happen overnight. Donald Trump has been building his brand since 1974. He knows that brand building takes dedication, tenacity and focus. He also understands that it is a responsibility. Because he promises the very best, he makes damn sure that he delivers it.

Watching how Mr. Trump works is insightful to all brand builders, but I think one thing shines as gold. You need to deliver what you promise EVERY SINGLE TIME. That’s the only way to get people to trust your brand and to believe in your product.

Scott White is President of Brand Identity Guru a leading Corporate Branding and Branding Research firm in Boston, MA.

Brand Identity Guru specializes in creating corporate and product brands that increase sales, market share, customer loyalty, and brand valuation.

This Article may be freely copied as long as it is not modified and this resource box accompanies the article, together with working hyperlinks.

Over the course of his 15-year branding career, Scott White has worked in a wide variety of industries: high-tech, manufacturing, computer hardware and software, telecommunications, banking, restaurants, fashion, healthcare, Internet, retail, and service businesses, as well as numerous non-profit organizations.

Brand Identity Guru clients include: Sun Life Financial, Coca Cola, HP, Sun, Nordstrom, American Federal Mortgage, Franklin Sports and many others, including numerous emerging growth companies.

1. It “sells itself.” I don’t need to market.

Okay, you might have a solid product or service. You might even routinely satisfy your customers. They might even send their friends and family to you. But wait. Is that your product or service selling itself? No (that is, unless your widgets have learned to speak). That’s one of your customers playing out-of-the-goodness-of-my-heart salesperson for you. Yeah, word-of-mouth is nice, and if it’s happening for you, congratulations! It’s a sign of a great product or service. But relying on it exclusively can hurt you. Yes, six degrees of separation and all that, but counting on those connecting conversations to consistently mention you, especially down the line, is a bad gamble. Word of mouth needs help. A kick in the butt: a reminder to your customers of their good experience with you and an enticing offer to potential new customers to give you a try. Providing this kick is what a well-conceived branding and marketing strategy should do. At Brand Identity Guru (www.brandidentityguru.com), we’ve got some BIG boots.

2. “One of these things…looks just like the other”

You might sell red cars, and Johnny Big Wheel down the street might sell a similar blue car. But what’s under the hood? Even better question: what’s under the hood that makes your better than the blue car? This is the essence of differentiation in the marketplace, and if you’re not playing up the things about you that make you different—and better—than your competition, your marketing is driving nowhere. At Brand Identity Guru (www.brandidentityguru.com), we know how to steer a marketing campaign that leverages differentiation to build your brand and increase your bottom line.

3. Liar, liar, your business is on fire and up and smoke

If you think word-of-mouth is powerfully working for you, it’s just a fraction of the punch a bad buzz can pack. The best way to a bad buzz? Over promising and under delivering. It will kill you. That’s why it’s important to be truthful in your marketing. Say what you can do. Not what you wish you could do, or might be able to do. If you must err, do so on the side of under promising and over delivering.

4. One-trick marketing is like a no-trick magician

It won’t do anything, and people won’t pay to see your show. To get your message to resonate in a 21st century market, you need to make your appeal in every corner the market looks. Print advertising, direct mail, online, telemarketing, public relations, and in person. In every place, a consistent brand image and message.

5. Microsoft Word clipart is for junior high book reports, not corporate identities

A logo is the face of your company, so it must be unique and memorable. Not available for millions to place into whatever bake sale flyer they’re working on at the moment. But a corporate identity is more than a logo. It’s your company’s unique value proposition and its products and services…all instantly recognizable on sight of your logo, name and tagline.

6. Don’t be visually absent

Talk can be cheap if it’s not paired with a strong visual presence. Well-conceived visuals connected with your market makes your message stick, no matter the medium. Brand Identity Guru is an agency that can drench any marketing effort with huge vats of sticky visual honey, even if you’re currently bone dry.

7. The typewriter and telegraph are cool machines, but not to use today

A business owner by nature has to have a little bit of Evil Knievel in him, but when it comes to technology, he or she is often more of a cowardly lion. That’s understandable. You got into your business because you know it, like it and can put food on the table with it. Not because you like to tinker with every new business technological innovation that comes down the pike. However, cutting edge technology can be a powerful profit-generating tool for your business, especially when it comes to marketing, and Brand Identity Guru (www.brandidentityguru.com), can help you find your technological sweet spot to get your message out.

8. If an employee’s 14-year-old son designs your website, it will be painfully obvious

A website must have a nice look, but that’s a small part of a good web presence. You have to give your prospect information they need and close the sale fast. Otherwise, they’ll surf on by to a competitor’s website. In today’s digital marketplace, your website must be an integral part of your overall sales strategy. Not just a token presence. More than ever, prospective customers are researching their buying decisions on the web. If your site doesn’t substantiate who you are and your offerings, educate, inspire and finally motivate your visitors to buy, your online presence isn’t strong enough. Brand Identity Guru (www.brandidentityguru.com), knows how to strengthen it.

9. You have a website, but don’t tell anybody

Having a website is pointless if no one sees it. That’s why it’s just as important to drive traffic to your website as it is to have one. How do you do that? A great way is through traditional advertising like billboards, print ads, signage and printing the web address on all your marketing collateral. Online, there’s search engine optimization, banner ads, online advertorials, keyword purchases, links and cross-promotion strategies. A good mix of online and offline traffic strategies along with solid branding will drive traffic to your website.

10. “I don’t need to be in the paper”

On the contrary, editorial coverage carries more credibility than any kind of paid advertising you can do. Getting it, however, is difficult. Only a well-conceived public relations strategy that targets media outlets your prospective customers frequent will get the job done. But it’s not just about writing press releases. It’s about providing relevant information to the media outlets you’re trying to get into and cultivating relationships with key editors and journalists. If you’re successful, you’ll see your name in print and a bigger number on the bottom line.

11. Branding done yourself is branding done badly

Given the choice of doing branding yourself and not doing it at all, you may be better off not doing it all. There are few things worse for a business than an “amateurish” image, and that’s usually the result with DIY branding. Even if you know how to do some graphic design work or are a decent writer, good branding takes strategic know-how and the finesse and time to get it just right—things only a good branding agency like Brand Identity Guru can offer.

12. If you think your employees aren’t part of your brand… You’re wrong.

Your brand is the face of your company in every interaction with the outside world, and your employees interact with it quite a bit. On the phone, on sales calls, at schmoozing and networking events, or in informal settings, you must train your employees to represent your company in a way consistent with its brand image. Doing so can ensure you have an army well-groomed brand ambassadors out there.

13. Failing to track your branding campaign’s success can lead to future failure

If you don’t make your market’s reaction to your branding effort your business, your business will suffer mainly because you won’t know where to go next. Successful branding is a constantly evolving process, and if you don’t learn from your mistakes, you’ll continually repeat them—and make more! On the other hand, once you know what your most successful strategies are, you can build off of them. Any branding agency worth its salt will be able to effectively track the success of your campaign.

14. Don’t forget the clients who got you here, keep good relations

As businesses grow, they sometimes forget the little people who contributed to their success. Don’t. Those who got you here can be an invaluable resource to you even if their business isn’t as important as it was. Since they’ve known you for a long time, they can offer valuable counsel as to the future direction your company, such as offering their opinion on new products or services. They can also continue singing your praises as another satisfied customer. Plus, you never know when a little fish might eat a big lunch and become a big fish to you again.

Scott White is President of Brand Identity Guru a leading Corporate Branding and Branding Research firm in Boston, MA.

Brand Identity Guru specializes in creating corporate and product brands that increase sales, market share, customer loyalty, and brand valuation.

This Article may be freely copied as long as it is not modified and this resource box accompanies the article, together with working hyperlinks.

Over the course of his 15-year branding career, Scott White has worked in a wide variety of industries: high-tech, manufacturing, computer hardware and software, telecommunications, banking, restaurants, fashion, healthcare, Internet, retail, and service businesses, as well as numerous non-profit organizations.

Brand Identity Guru clients include: Sun Life Financial, Coca Cola, HP, Sun, Nordstrom, American Federal Mortgage, Franklin Sports and many others, including numerous emerging growth companies.

I was chatting with a couple of friends, all of us are either copy writers or graphic designers…or both….in the advertising industry, so, naturally, our conversations leaned towards the topic. This one particular friend who works in an American advertising firm is now an Art Director, so, needless to say, he considers himself a notch higher than us mere freelancers and employees. After all, he is the one person who decides on the direction of a whole advertising campaign. He is also in-charge of a couple of large International brands of products. And during this conversation, he told me about this story that inspired me. He says that branding is so important to a product that it can either make or break a product…or even the company.

For instance, he was trying to come up with something unique for a particular brand of body wash (he thought the smell was awful because it smelt like mud…wet and totally disgusting). Guess what he did? He went the NATURAL WAY……

Obviously, it worked wonders for the product! He came up with headlines like

“So natural, you’d roll around in it”

“Just like a second skin”

“Aroma-therapeutic”

“Go back to nature”

…and the likes.

I was impressed. So happens that he brings back a lot of samples of products each time he comes back to Malaysia and this time he had the said product handy to show us – to although I didn’t think it was disgusting (he has a way with words, shall I say?”), it wasn’t your conventional bath wash. It sure didn’t smell like anything else I can get here in supermarkets.

Joe, my friend from America, said that he steered the product in the realm of conservation of the environment, going natural, using natural products, natural cleansing properties….etc and it worked wonderfully. When combined with a superb design and ad, the product sold like nothing else he had known! This was the product he thought smelt like mud, remember? And with good direction, copy and design, the product is as good as sold.

The theory is that, people’s mind accepts what they want to accept. Let me give you some examples of beautiful copy work for International brands.

“milk bath” – Johnson and Johnson. Sounds simple enough? But accordingly, many people bought the products, not because it was superb or any better than all the other Johnson and Johnson products or bath gels, it was because the ‘milk bath’ copy suggested that whenever you use the product, you’d be bathing in milk, pampering yourself, making your skin whiter and smoother. Asians will buy anything that you say can turn their skin white.

“Not perfumed, Not coloured. Just kind” – Simple.

This is a very unique stance taken by a skincare company because Simple is the first brand that suggested that you don’t need anything extra have superb skin. Simple is….well, simple, but it gives you good skin because it doesn’t make your skin look worse.

“Against animal testing” – The Body Shop.

The products being sold by The Body Shop, without a doubt, is produced without being tested on animals. This, they claim, is because the properties used to produce their products is very natural. I think placing the words “AGAINST ANIMAL TESTING” in bolded letters in all of their labels is a good idea. Anyone who loves natural products and are animal lovers will definitely stay true to The Body Shop.

“The beer only a true man knows how to appreciate”

This is a tagline being used by a well-known beer company. I am not certain of the exact words being used, therefore, I decline to name the brand and beer type. Anyway, this tagline suggests that if you’re a man at all, you’ll like this beer…..and if you don’t, you’re not a TRUE man. I am a woman and I like the beer because of its richness in taste but I absolutely object to their tagline. I suppose they have their reasons. Their target market were mostly men and if they were women who drink, they will let the tagline slide because they like the beer so much.

So, you see, the kind of branding, the kind of tagline and headlines that you use determines the direction of your product. If you use a tagline like ‘lustrous long hair”….don’t expect a lot of male customers who takes you up on your offer. So, decide on a tagline once and for all for each and every one of your products, take them very seriously and if you can’t think of anything, hire someone to do the thinking for you. Branding and copy writing is SO IMPORTANT that you’d rather pay for it than be stuck with one that gives out mixed messages.

Marsha Maung is a freelance graphic designer and writer who has been working from her home in Selangor, Malaysia the past 6 years. She is also the author of "Raising Little Magicians", "No products to sell" and the popular "The Lance in Freelancing" and other books. For more information, please visit http://www.marshamaung.com and for more info on her books, please visit http://www.lulu.com/marshamaung

If you could have the secret recipe and all the manufacturing facilities of Coca Cola but not the Coca Cola brand—or have its famous brand but no facilities—which would you choose? It’s not a trick question. But it demonstrates the power of the brand. Walk into any bank and say “hi I’m Coca Cola, how about a loan”!

Let me ask another way. If you could have all the products or services your company produces, but not its name and brand, are you confident they would sell? The truth is, people don’t only buy products and services. They buy promises and reputations—what brands represent.

I’m the Brand Identity Guru. I’ve spent most of my professional life helping companies tap into the strength of their brands. Developing a strong brand identity is critical to any company’s success. Integrating brand-conscious thinking into communications is so critical, so synergistic, yet it’s seldom done by design groups and advertising agencies.

Why? It’s just not what they do. Graphic Designers don’t understand positioning or branding. And ad agencies are more interested in placing ads in the media. Or creating work that wins awards– for them.

A branding company’s total focus, their entire business practice, is based on the maxim that strong brands (new or repositioned) make companies more successful.

Pick the brain of a professional branding consultant. It’s bound to spur some powerful ideas. Whether you need to brand or re-brand products, services or the corporation itself, introduce new products or services or reposition existing ones—there’s a chance to lay a strategic foundation to re-energize your entire company.

Any qualified branding consultant can strengthen your company’s brand identity for sure.

Scott White is President of Brand Identity Guru a leading Corporate Branding and Branding Research firm in Boston, MA.

Brand Identity Guru specializes in creating corporate and product brands that increase sales, market share, customer loyalty, and brand valuation.

This Article may be freely copied as long as it is not modified and this resource box accompanies the article, together with working hyperlinks.

Over the course of his 15-year branding career, Scott White has worked in a wide variety of industries: high-tech, manufacturing, computer hardware and software, telecommunications, banking, restaurants, fashion, healthcare, Internet, retail, and service businesses, as well as numerous non-profit organizations.

Brand Identity Guru clients include: Sun Life Financial, Coca Cola, HP, Sun, Nordstrom, American Federal Mortgage, Franklin Sports and many others, including numerous emerging growth companies.

Developing brand value is critical to every organization and when professionally executed, delivers a clear and measurable competitive advantage to your firm. It does so by helping you establish a positive connection and value-relationship with your customer, which, over time, will build brand equity and increase brand value.

Once this value-relationship is established, both internally and externally, it can be measured, monitored and enhanced periodically, as needed, to strengthen your brand’s effectiveness and increase your bottom line. Whether you’re building a new brand or energizing an existing one, developing brand value maximizes the value-relationship between corporate profitability and the perception of your brand.

The Assessment

The first step in the fine art of branding

Customers factor brands into every purchase. The stronger the brand, meaning the clearer the position it occupies in their minds, the more value it has and the more likely they are to choose it — again and again. The goal is to get them to choose your brand over your competitions. And that’s where a strong brand value can help.

I recommend an in-depth assessment, a strategic survey used to determine the state of your company’s brand. It helps you discover key elements important to satisfying your customer base utilizing brand research findings. The assessment provides a foundation upon which to develop the best model for customizing your brand communications master plan.

The Assessment allows you to accurately measure the present effectiveness and value of your brand. It establishes brand value as a benchmark for future enhancement. How? By zeroing in on which qualities and attributes of your products, services and company make you different from your competition. And, how well they are perceived in the market. It helps you modify and align products, positioning messages and communications with laser point accuracy on your customers’ specific needs and wants.

The Assessment is really a personality profile of your brand. It describes your good points, but more importantly, highlights where you are weak. It does so by using a system of inter-related measurements to gauge brand perceptions and effectiveness.

Using a grading scale of 1-10, the assessment can test vital aspects of your brand as it relates to:

• Products or services

• Target markets

• Messaging

• Communications.

An assessment conducts interviews with management, marketing, sales and other key employees. It will uncover segments of company operations that can do more to nourish the brand, helping you pinpoint areas ripe for improvement. The external research of an assessment includes surveys with clients, prospects, vendors and key industry personnel. It will conduct a “competitive analysis” which tells you how targeted audiences see you, your products or services and how you stack up against the competition.

After your assessment is complete tabulate the results and ask for a customized Brand Analysis Report. These are usually very informative. Often revealing. Only after analyzing all the essential components of the branding assessment can information be provided. This detailed document shows exactly where you can improve.

The Brand Plan

How your brand can become a work of art

Your brand is your company’s power base, its number one asset. Developing a Brand Plan is designed to ensure that your company delivers on its brand promise. It provides companies with a guidebook for continually building, measuring and enhancing brand value and helps you achieve clarity of branding focus and direction.

First, I recommend an Assessment to find your brand’s present position and value. Then I recommend developing The Brand Plan, an in-depth master Brand Plan that defines the strategies, which can strengthen and improve your brand’s performance and market position by establishing a connection and value-relationship with your customer.

Unlike The Assessment, the picture that is painted is not a snapshot of what you are today. The Brand Plan helps you redefine brand personality in the marketplace. It’s how your company will be tomorrow, how it will be seen and perceived by customers, potential customers, your managers, employees and vendors. When managed properly, The Brand Plan increases financial security, growth and earnings potential. It will establish a clearly defined brand vision for employees and management. Both their motivation and commitment to the delivery of the brand promise will greatly increase.

The Brand Plan is a strategic master Brand Plan that will contain specific internal and external strategies and tactics, all with the goal of turning your brand into a work of art. It’s a brandmaster action Brand Plan that encompasses:

• Brand objectives

• Brand positioning, the promise of the brand

• Brand strategy & tactics

The Brand Plan aligns products, services, and communications for uniform delivery of the brand promise throughout your enterprise. Everything is spelled out, integrated, and ready for execution. This vital tool empowers every person in your company to show the true colors of your brand. It gives form and unity to communications that differentiate your brand in the marketplace. It provides a rallying point for employees and provides a cornerstone document of all corporate resources to support brand core competencies.

As people understand the defined objectives, more ideas blossom, making the brand grow even stronger. After all, the true test of any Brand Plan is for it to appreciate over time. The Brand Plan is not a static document to be hung in some dusty museum. It’s a living, breathing, dynamic statement of change based on proven scientific testing, data analysis and measurable results.

Capture more mindshare with a Brand Value Plan… your palette for branding success.

Scott White is President of Brand Identity Guru a leading Corporate Branding and Branding Research firm in Boston, MA.

Brand Identity Guru specializes in creating corporate and product brands that increase sales, market share, customer loyalty, and brand valuation.

This Article may be freely copied as long as it is not modified and this resource box accompanies the article, together with working hyperlinks.

Over the course of his 15-year branding career, Scott White has worked in a wide variety of industries: high-tech, manufacturing, computer hardware and software, telecommunications, banking, restaurants, fashion, healthcare, Internet, retail, and service businesses, as well as numerous non-profit organizations.

Brand Identity Guru clients include: Sun Life Financial, Coca Cola, HP, Sun, Nordstrom, American Federal Mortgage, Franklin Sports and many others, including numerous emerging growth companies.

Branding Today

Have you ever had a good brand experience? How about a bad brand experience? Is there a difference in your mind? How many people do you tell about a positive brand experience? How about for a poor brand experience?

One poor brand experience will not destroy a firm. One poor brand experience per day, however, can ruin a company in the long run for sure. It’s really easy math. If one person receives a poor experience with a brand, they might tell 10 people. At 365 days a year that’s over 4000 people per year. Yikes! Not good at all.

So, how can your employees protect your brand everyday?

It all depends on delivering your internal brand and training. Not only do you have to train employees on customer service issues but also they must know how to deal with a customer that is upset or has a problem.

Let me give you an example. I purchased some artwork on a Carnival Cruise. Upon purchase from the vendor (not from Carnival Cruise itself) I requested custom frames. The vendor, Park West took my order and informed me that it would be 6-8 weeks for delivery.

10 weeks later I called Park West. They told me it shipped. I received my artwork 3 weeks late. I was so excited and I ripped the packaging away only to find they did not put on the custom frames. I waited 10 weeks for nothing.

I called Park West immediately. Guess what? I was going to have to wait another 6-8 weeks for the correct replacement. I asked for a refund and a pick up of the incorrect artwork. They denied me and said it was a final sale.

I called my credit card company. Guess what? The charge went through my Carnival Cruise account. I called them. Guess what? They would not help me, as it’s a third party vendor. This is a third party vendor that Carnival Cruise has partnered with.

Did I mention that this was my 19th Carnival Cruise?

Long story short I had to pay to ship my artwork back and my credit card company took care of me.

I will never take another Carnival Cruise again.

How could Carnival save itself from losing me as a customer? It’s really quite simple. Ultimately because the charge went through Carnival they needed to take responsibility. They should have said you’re a valued guest and we will credit you immediately. At that point I’m thinking wow, Carnival is even better than I thought. But instead I’m writing this article and never ever going on another cruise with them.

Carnival could have saved the brand. If they had gone the extra mile to put themselves in my shoes, I would have had a positive brand experience. I would have used Carnival again, and I would have probably told everyone I know how great there service was. Developing a proper internal brand strategy and training is the key to delivering a positive brand experience. Don’t make stupid mistakes with your brand.

Scott White is President of Brand Identity Guru a leading Corporate Branding and Branding Research firm in Boston, MA.

Brand Identity Guru specializes in creating corporate and product brands that increase sales, market share, customer loyalty, and brand valuation.

This Article may be freely copied as long as it is not modified and this resource box accompanies the article, together with working hyperlinks.

Over the course of his 15-year branding career, Scott White has worked in a wide variety of industries: high-tech, manufacturing, computer hardware and software, telecommunications, banking, restaurants, fashion, healthcare, Internet, retail, and service businesses, as well as numerous non-profit organizations.

Brand Identity Guru clients include: Sun Life Financial, Coca Cola, HP, Sun, Nordstrom, American Federal Mortgage, Franklin Sports and many others, including numerous emerging growth companies.