Archive for the ‘Branding’ Category
Filling The Sales Funnel
Tags: brand position, Branding, CRM, Marketing, sales funnel, volunteer
Posted in Branding, Business Development, Marketing, Strategic Marketing Plan on March 8th, 2009
A prospect that I was meeting with recently was lamenting that his sales funnel is suffering from serious constriction issues. “My team is sending out the direct mail, making calls and responding to RFPs, just like everyone else. We don’t seem to be able to differentiate ourselves,” he said.
Brand differentiation is exactly what gives people permission to buy your services or goods with confidence. Aristotle said we are what we do. It’s no different for business.
Southwest Airlines is selling freedom and Walt Disney imagination.
According to Roy Spencer Jr., author of the recently published book It’s Not What You Sell, It’s What You Stand For, the success of these businesses is rooted in their clearly articulated purpose.
Does your business have a unique purpose or service? Or as Spencer asks, “would your customers mind if you ceased to exist?” What ever that uniqueness is, it better be clearly articulated in your new business presentations.
In the short term what can we do to fill the sales funnel and create a personal point of differentiation? I offer this simple suggestion that helps you, your customers and gives something to those organizations that need you the most. Volunteer.
Volunteering with organizations puts you in touch with a new network of influencers. Volunteering is the original form of social media. It has been around long before LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter or any other social networking activities.
What volunteering does for you and your business is it creates a unique point of differentiation. It positions you in a totally different light. It is marketing 101. People buy from people, people they know. How many employees are in your organization, 2? 200? 2000? Imagine the networking potential if you started a workplace volunteer program. An article in the Minneapolis Business Journal on how to get a volunteer program started in your business is a great first step. Then fold your newfound network of contacts into your CRM program.
Aristotle was right. We are what we do. If we actively work to make our community better, it makes us better. It enriches us, our employees, our brands and quite likely our bottom line.
Relationship Selling in a Down Economy
Tags: brand affinity, facebook, leveraging, linkedin, referral, releationship marketing, twitter
Posted in Branding, Business Development, Customer Service, Relationship Marketing on October 27th, 2008
When the economy slows, where do many companies begin slashing budgets and people? Marketing, the primary vehicle companies use to generate growth. Please explain that logic to me? I know that cutting marketing is partially a result of fear. However, once fear permeates the senior level, it becomes a virus that will spread and negatively impact employee performance and company profits.
Bad economic times are a catalyst for the laws of natural selection to play out. Are you going to eat or be eaten? Most of us prefer to stay higher up on the food chain. It’s easy to point a finger at poor business development planning or, failure to get the marketing plan out of your head and on to paper. If you’re in either category, recognize it and move forward.
It’s time to get strategic.
Let’s assume that you have won and kept the business because it was based on trust, knowledge and respect. Now, how do you leverage that trust, knowledge and respect differentiator to markets that don’t know your brand?
Leveraging Your Existing Customer Relationships
Have you sat down with your customers and asked them to think about industry peers that might be a good fit for you? People enjoy recommending quality partners. Ask them about trends within their industries. What are the hot topics at their industry conferences? Besides picking up leads, you also become a more informed partner.
Leveraging Your Employee’s Relationships
LinkedIn. Facebook. MySpace. Twitter. Need I say more? Personal relationships are the key in business development. Educate, encourage and teach your employees to use the power of their social networks to develop introductions into new markets and companies.
Spreading the Word
You’ve built the business through the cultivation of authentic relationships. The challenge is replicating that strategy into new markets.
Public relations is a key component. Developing thought leadership papers, webinars, and writing for various trade publications are the first steps in establishing prospect trust. And without trust, you have no shot at a relationship. Here’s an example from Mike Schultz, a service-marketing consultant.
A company sales developer sets up a meeting for Dave with Joyce, the vice president of operations at a large commercial shipping company. After introductions, here’s how the meeting went:
Joyce: Nice to have you here. Over the last several years it’s been great getting to know about you and your firm as a result of being included in your communication program. I’ve read your white paper on emerging supply chain management technologies as well as listened to you deliver webinars on strategies for global sourcing in my industry.
For one reason or another, some of the events either didn’t work with my schedule or they didn’t fit into what was on my plate at the time. But I’ve been getting the event invitations and brochures in the mail along with the research briefs you send out. So I’ve followed along.
Dealing with supply chain technology is now in the middle of my plate. So when your marketing department sent me the email to view your on-demand presentation on your capabilities in this area, I put it on my to-do list to call your firm. Of course, your team called me first so I was more than happy to set up this conversation. I’m ready to dive in with you to see how you might help.
That exchange is carried out regularly as a result of executing a disciplined approach to marketing and business development. Because Joyce received the company’s regular multi-channel communication, she:
- Knew about the company.
- Already had assigned the knowledge and respect to the brand (2/3′s of your brand differentiator).
- Could likely articulate how the company helped people like her solve problems.
- Remembered the company during her elusive time of need and planned to call.
- Felt an affinity and preference for the company before ever interacting with an individual from the company personally due to the education she received from the company’s marketing efforts.
Client referrals, employee social networks and consistent end user focused communication are key drivers in building brand awareness in new markets and categories. If customers have already assigned the respect and knowledge attributes to your brand, then all that is left is for you to build trust. And that, as Humphrey Bogart said in the closing scene of Casablanca, “Is the beginning of a beautiful relationship”.
What’s Your Brand Promise?
Tags: american marketing association, Brand Promise, corporate culture, customers, execution, expectation, greatness, Internal Communication, promise, vendor communication
Posted in Branding, Communication, Copy/Content, Creative, Customer Service, Employer Branding, Internal Communication, Marketing, Recruitment on October 20th, 2008
The American Marketing Association describes a brand as a ”name, term, sign, symbol or design, or a combination of them intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competition.”
I like to simplify that by saying that a brand is a promise. And since it is a promise, then it must also be an expectation.
It is critical that your brand promise is clearly defined and articulated to internal and external stakeholders. Stanford professor and author Jim Collins, speaking on how to develop the brand said, “First figure out your partners, then figure out what ideas to pursue. The most important thing isn’t the market you target, the product you develop or the financing, but the founding team.”
In a down economy, buyers of products and services can’t afford to take a risk. They will stick to the brands that have kept their promise. Although noted here previously, it is worthy of repeating. A well-executed branding campaign delivers a myriad of dividends including:
Giving people permission to buy
Reinforcing preconceived notions
Establishing your promise deep in the subconscious of your audience
Helping you recruit and keep the best and brightest talent
Enabling you to charge premium pricing
Thriving during economic downturns
Easily extending into new markets
Branding is too important to leave solely to the marketing department. Branding is the delivery of your promise. It is why you worked those long hours in a garage before bringing your product to the market place. It is your vision. It is your passion. It is what gets you out of bed every morning. Whether you are the founder, partner or captain of the ship, it is critical that the team understand your vision of the brand promise.
Getting your organization to embrace, proselytize and consistently deliver your brand promise, starts at the top.
Define Your Brand Promise – According to Derrick Daye, managing partner at Brand Strategy, “the brand promise must meet three criteria in order to be effective. The promise must be unique, compelling and believable.”
Identity Must Support the Promise – Your logo, colors, tag lines, sell sheets, press releases, all must reinforce your promise.
Do Your Customers Connect - Assuming that you are targeting the correct customers and prospects, how does your promise affect them? Market research and your employees can help determine the relevance of the promise.
Internal Communication – Can your employees fully articulate the brand promise and the value to your customers? Have your new hires been fully educated on the brand promise?
Partner Communication – Do your channels understand your brand promise? And better yet, have you chosen channel partners that are aligned with your promise?
Corporate Culture - Does your corporate culture support the promise? Critical to success is that all members of an organization live the promise in thought, actions and deeds.
Measure Your Efforts - Peter Drucker said, “You can’t manage what you don’t measure.” Internal surveys, customer benchmarking metrics and peer review, will tell you if you are moving the needle in the right direction
Top Down Execution - It’s your promise. Be sure that you align your communication and activities around your brand promise. Champion your promise with unbridled enthusiasm. You’ll find that it is a highly contagious way to ensure adoption and execution by your team
According to Collins, “focusing solely on what you can potentially do better than any other organization is the only path to greatness.” If you stay true to your brand promise, which is uniquely you, then you are not guaranteed success but you will be on the right path to earning success.
Boomers – The Real Segment Of Choice
Tags: boomers, Marketing, millenials, vespa motor scooters, white papers
Posted in Branding, Communication, Generational Marketing, Marketing on September 29th, 2008
There are 77 million Baby Boomers ages 41 to 59 in the United States and they are leading a generational charge of demanding more information, accountability and environmental responsibility.
Whether you are marketing products or services to the Boomer market they, like Millennials, are accessible, have a strong social network and have a passion for social issues. Unlike Millennials, they generally hold senior positions and are in a financial position to support their personal and professional brands of choice.
When Vespa Motor Scooters came puttering back into the U.S., managers at the Italian company figured their biggest customers would be twenty-something’s looking for a cheap way to get around. But execs at parent company Piaggio noticed something odd as they scootered back and forth to their Manhattan offices: The most enthusiastic sidewalk gawkers were often Boomers who remembered the candy-colored bikes from their youth. It turns out that boomers have lost none of their affection for Vespa. Better yet, now they can afford to buy top-of-the-line models with all the trimmings.
LOOK THEM IN THE EYE
Companies have traditionally used twenty-something models with dewy skin to pitch products made for middle-aged women. The rise in Botox treatments and plastic surgery notwithstanding, many consumers experiencing their first liver spots and crow’s feet are actually comfortable in their skins and pleased to see people who look like them in ads. “As you become older, you’re clearer and more comfortable about who you are,” says Lori Bitter, partner at JWT Mature Market Group, part of J. Walter Thompson Worldwide. “It’s a reality of aging. We want the message at eye level. We may not want it sugar-coated.”
I’M NOT SET IN MY WAYS
Many marketers believe that consumers’ brand preferences are locked in by age 40. Today’s Boomer crowd is just as likely, and in some cases more likely, as everyone else to try different brands within a product category. According to Yankelovich Inc., 33% of consumers older than 50 agree that it’s “risky” to buy an unfamiliar brand. That’s less than the 36% of respondents aged 16 to 34 and only a little more than the 30% of people aged 35 to 49 who agree with that notion.
In some categories, older consumers are even more willing to brand-hop than younger ones. According to a survey by Leo J. Shapiro & Associates LLC for DSN Retailing Today, 48% of shopper’s aged 50 to 59 said they would probably switch brands of consumer electronics, compared with 40% of all respondents.
REACH BOOMERS WHERE THEY ARE
Smart businesses understand that the old media -print, radio, and television-won’t be enough to reach this market. To communicate with Boomers, your business will need to evaluate and choose among a wide variety of online and offline marketing methods.
Boomer media consumption parallels their younger brethren in that it is selective, interactive and highly targeted. Boomers account for one-quarter of US Internet users. Their numbers are growing at 7-8% each year, compared with 2-3% for overall Internet user growth, according to eMarketer.
Marketers will do well if they start with little things.
- The point size of the communication. Aging eyes will spend more time with communication if they can read it without squinting.
- Product claims need to be relevant, believable and verifiable. Offer links to your website to support your claim.
- Boomers have an insatiable appetite for information. White papers, news briefs and relevant articles on lifestyle and business build interest and loyalty for your brand.
Take a close look at your collateral materials message, design and the authenticity of your offer. Then position it where Boomers live, work and play. You’ll find the results to be profitable and a customer that is loyal.
Are Brand Ambassadors Part of Your Marketing Mix?
Tags: ambassadors, blogs, boomers, millenial, twitter
Posted in Branding, Business Development, Communication, Generational Marketing on September 22nd, 2008
The Millennial generation, born between 1979 and 2001, are the kids of Baby Boomers. There are 70+ million Millenials and they are the nation’s most racially and ethnically diverse generation. The eldest among this group turned 31 in 2008. They have strong opinions on which brands they will buy and for which employers they will work. They are going to have a huge impact on business, culture and social issues that are important to them.
Companies that want to engage this group will find the results staggering. Some 83% percent of Millennials will trust a company more if it is socially or environmentally responsible. 74% are more likely to pay attention to a company’s message when they see that it has a deep commitment to a cause. Yet the most outstanding finding is that almost 9 out of 10 Millennials will switch from one brand to another-price and quality being equal-if the second brand is associated with a good cause.
Anastasia Toomey, vice-president of Consumer Insight, a division of AMP the youth focused marketing agency noted, “Technology has given the Millennial generation complete access to what is happening around the globe. They are attuned to natural and social world-changing events and they have the knowledge and ability to support the brands and causes they believe in.”
In a New York Times article, Jack McKenzie, a senior vice-president at Frank N. Magid Associates, a market research and consulting firm, said the single largest differentiator in this generation from previous generations is their social network.
“What we’re seeing is a whole different relationship with marketing and advertising which obviously has ripple effects through the entire economy,” McKenzie added. “Reliance and trust in nontraditional sources-meaning everyday people, their friends, their networks, the network they’ve created around them-has a much greater influence on their behaviors than traditional advertising.” Thus the birth of social marketing as a discipline within the marketing mix for many brands.
Building a coalition of ambassadors or evangelists is no easy task. However, as the name ambassador or evangelist suggest, the people involved take ownership and want to see success in the brands they choose, causes they support, or the company they work for.
Brands that rely on Millenials are evolving their message strategies and cultural agenda to capitalize on the power of these evangelist and their network to proselytize the brand message across their sphere of influence. Utilizing an ambassador program provides the marketer with a virtual staff for the dissemination of brand attributes. They are a volunteer army willingly spreading your brand’s message.
One of the challenges is managing the message across the multiple media platforms of text messaging, blogs, personal websites, twitter and word-of-mouth. The communication professional must be aware that having total control of the message is impossible with ambassador programs. This is where you will find some of the risk with message management. However the speed of message delivery and access to an often times insulated target audience are two of the benefits of an ambassador program that outweigh the risk.
Branding Yourself With Color
Tags: color, identity, logo, pantone
Posted in Branding, Communication, Creative, Design/Identity on August 25th, 2008
All identity programs start out in black and white. The logo, the nexus of any identity, is black and white; it’s skeletal. But, in today’s world of marketing and strategy, colors play a vital role. The following is what you should expect from any professional graphic designer. The proof is in the results. Take a moment to link a few successful firms with their colors.
Colors Help Sell Logo Branding
Quick, who is known as Big Blue? What corporate color is Coca-Cola? What can Brown do for you? What kind of market are you in when you call yourself Green? Color identifies. As we mentioned in a previous paper how cliché images communicate structurally, remember color is the “coat” to your trademark.
Linda Holtzschue in, Understanding Color-An Introduction for Designers, writes color is symbolic, related to cultural experience (key to communicating on the Web). For example, in western Europe brides wear white, in India red. Americans mourn in black, in India they wear white. One more example: Catholic priests wear black and Tibetan lamas wear robes of brilliant yellow. Color choice, along with fonts keep your image on track. Consistency must be integral to your program.
Color Ages You
Color communicates style, as well as service. Dark blues, greens and grays are indicative of traditional style, pastels speak of softness and metallics sophistication. Reds and yellows are more aggressive. In the marketplace of the early part of the 2000s, oranges, browns and purples, along with bright greens and light blues, show innovation and awareness of the environment. This listing is basic color theory. The options are as broad as the color spectrum. Color, like fonts, is fashion driven. You must have your research strategy in hand to take advantage of the information available.
Color Improves Brand Awareness
In, Pantone® Guide to Communicating with Color by Leatrice Eiseman, two color facts are stated relating directly to corporate marketing and strategy. One: The best background for color matching is a neutral gray tone. Two: Color and visual elements activate the right brain, while the printed word activates the left-brain. When all are combined, there is greater recall, recognition and attention! Eiseman continues, “Memory retention studies show clients are up to 78% more likely to remember a word or phrase printed in color versus black and white.” Proving color today is not only good, but also essential for business.
Good Design is Good for Business
Tags: bill bernbach, culture, design, durability, identity, logo, strategy, visual communication
Posted in Branding, Communication, Creative, Design/Identity on August 18th, 2008
In the 1950s and 60s, Graphic Designer Paul Rand (creator of the Westinghouse, ABC, Cummins, UPS (the original) and the iconic IBM identities) revolutionized the corporate logo. In so doing set a standard still valuable today. To Rand there was no formula to answer how your company should be presented when you’re not there.
Creativity plays a major role in the truly effective logos. And, when hiring this service certain things should be kept in mind.
Decision Maker
Before we go further and because an identity is the key to your marketing, strategy and tactics you must be the decision maker. Rand said it was an exercise in futility, unproductive and costly. Culture and vision come from the top. Logos are tactical and therefore play a pivotal role in your business’ success.
The Role of the Logo
Simply put, the logo is the marketing image of you communicating your values, vision, even You! – when you are not there. That may seem over the top until you realize how often this piece of art is connected to you and your company.
Who You Are and What You Do
This part should be easy, yet this is a minefield. You are now starting to define what makes your firm different, the culture you want to have or already have. What voice and vision do you have? This step goes hand-in-hand with the previous step. Be as open and clear as possible.
Clichés
In the spoken and written world, clichés show, for the most part, a lack of creativity or depth of understanding. In the visual world it’s the opposite to a point. Clichés are shorthand in visual communication. How well those clichés are crafted makes all the difference between the clever and hackneyed.
Durability
Be ready to answer the question of usage. How well the identity works is simply not a matter of aesthetics alone. The trademark must be versatile. It needs to work strategically in many applications. Marketing your firm may require the image to be reproduced in one-color stitched on a ball cap, printed on multiple surfaces and sizes to full color for HD presentations. No successful corporation exists without the benefit of a dynamic logo. Great logos define their company and become the external, as well as, internal face of the firm. Don’t discount company morale.
On a sobering note, the logo is only as good as the product, service or company it represents. The late, great adman, Bill Bernbach once said, ” Good advertising will do one of two things: Increase sales and profits or put you out of business quickly”.
