Archive for the ‘Branding’ Category

Ten Branding Musts

Sunday, March 7th, 2010

Branding is not just your logo or tagline or the “look” and “feel” of your marketing communications. Branding is the sum total of your customer’s experiences and perceptions of your products, services, and employees. In actuality, your brand is what everyone else thinks your company and product are – it’s what people say about your company behind your back. A branding strategy is the beginning of all customer contact behavior. When the budget allows, the branding strategy can become the basis for better advertising communications such as multi-media advertising, direct mail, trade shows, and expanded public relations.

The undertaking of branding may seem scary; however there is strong proof that branding is worth the effort. Listed here are some benefits of a strong brand.
*Branding is what gives your company value and separates you from your competitors.
*Enhanced perceived value allows for top pricing and shelters you from price competition.
*Branding will provide protection in times of negative press.
*A strong brand enables you to launch new products and services more quickly and cost effectively. Your brand will come to pass with or without your effort. Branding and managing a brand is tough work. Here are some no-nonsense guidelines on how to get started.
*To succeed, you’ll need to get everyone involved from top management on down.
*Research the successful competitors. Study their communications and how they position themselves. *Study what values are most significant to customers. Develop a questionnaire and interview key customers and prospects.
*Develop a strategy from the information you gathered. It must be achievable and differentiating. *Leverage brand strategy by integrating marketing communications. Check for consistency of all communications from every department. Sending a cohesive message will build brand equity.
*Evaluate and measure performance. Make changes as needed but be patient.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you Stay updated with Don Macleod!

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Branding | No Comments »

Have You Been Branded?

Thursday, February 4th, 2010

The personal brand you project affects others’ decisions as to your intelligence, character and ability, and determines whether or not they want to do business with you. The way you dress (and act) has a remarkable impact on the people you meet professionally and socially. This greatly affects how they treat you.

Humans think with their eyes. A UCLA study proves that 85% of all decisions are made with our eyes. That’s right: the visual you have has the most impact.

If your personal brand is not professional and congruent, attractive and attracting you will be passed over – guaranteed. To be competitive, to have a greater influence on others, to attract more business and be more successful it’s essential that you develop a well-thought-out personal brand.

Before you sell anything — your product, company or service — you sell yourself first. Shift the balance of power in your favor. When you brand yourself correctly, you are seen as more desirable and in demand. Now take large, successful companies for instance. They understand the power of “branding” a product. They spend a lot of time, money and energy to create a “brand” that is eye catching and appealing enough to sell their product through to market. They want to make sure that the buyer has a strong connection with that brand.

Now think of yourself as a company with one employee — you. How much time, money and energy have you spent in developing a “personal brand” that is unique enough to sell through to your market? An individual who has a well-defined personal brand has more status and a tremendous advantage over the competition in the market place. With a great personal brand, you are already half sold and thus far above the competition.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you Stay updated with Don Macleod!

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Branding | No Comments »

Initial Steps of Branding Yourself

Wednesday, January 27th, 2010

Branding is much more than just a thoughtful logo or slogan and it’s more than just a unique color scheme. Below are the initial steps that need to be taken in order to start your successful brand image.

Step 1: Examine the Competition

One of the keys to creating a successful brand image is to separate yourself from your competition. You will need to know how consumers see your competition. You need to recognize how your competitors differentiate themselves from others. Also, you should know your competitor’s strengths and weaknesses. Your business can benefit from knowing this information by learning from their weaknesses, and learning how to differentiate your company from the competition.

Step 2: Identify Your Strengths

Now that you know your competition’s weaknesses you can begin to focus on your company’s strengths. Perform a target market analysis, learn from it, and use it to your advantage. This is a useful tool to confirm your company’s strengths are in fact important to your target market. Once you’ve realized your strengths, and what strengths are important to customers, you can think about ways to successfully market these to the public and involve them in your branding campaign.

Step 3: Know Your Customer

Learn more about the customer. Know their purchasing behavior. How often do they buy? Do they buy only during sales or promotions? Do they buy an array of products or services or just a select few? These are questions you should ask to better market to your customers. Also, know your customer’s lifestyles, needs, mindsets, and attitudes. Knowing and working with these personality traits are also key to marketing success.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you Stay updated with Don Macleod!

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Branding | No Comments »

Your Ultimate Ambassadors

Wednesday, January 20th, 2010

Brand Identity is a promise. Whether that promise involves product quality, service, price or some other variable, this helps grow a strong brand identity. This strong brand identity can place a business above its competition all by itself. But having a brand that’s strong takes time, money and effort to grow. It’s not as easy as just creating a logo or writing a tagline. Brand identity is the reason you give your customer to pick you instead of your competition. Successful re-branding involves “evolution,” not “revolution.” You must make an impact on upon your existing customers that your new brand is just a new and improved version of the same you. It’s vital to not get too extreme with a re-branding effort because you could end up destroying delicate emotional ties and customer loyalty. Having a brand identity that resonates with your market is imperative, but not at the expense of the people within your company. They need to not only get it, but also be your brand’s most ardent ambassadors. Do your employees believe in your company? Do they feel like they have a vested stake in its success? Companies with solid brand identities can say yes to these questions. Can yours? If not, here’s some things you can do: 1. Get every aspect of your company on the same page. Get all your departments talking to each other and understanding each other. 2. Give everyone a common understanding of the company, its mission and their part in it. They should feel like they have ownership-even if they don’t. 3. Reinforce brand values and behaviors. Constantly promote these fundamentals until they’re second nature. Your employees will ultimately determine your success or failure. You, as leadership, must earn it. But once you do, you’ll have a company that is full of happy, motivated successful brand ambassadors.
##################################################################
This is part of a 12 Chapter complimentary ebook on branding that will be made available in mid February.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you Stay updated with Don Macleod!

Tags: , ,
Posted in Branding | No Comments »

Why Brand?

Sunday, January 17th, 2010

Why Brand?

Branding is a marketing technique that has the potential to elevate your business to the top. It involves helping your customers to form a recognizable association with you. Link your business with a design, logo, slogan, and/or color and observe the positive results.

Brands create a feeling of familiarity. If customers have seen your logo, insignia, or company name, they are more likely to continue to select your product or service. Also, they are more apt to suggest them to others. Referrals through word of mouth can be an extremely powerful form of advertising.

A brand helps possible customers remember your business. People may know little about your philosophy or reputation. However, if they can recognize your brand, the chances are greater that they will do business with you. Branding creates memory in the mind of the public.

When the public remembers your brand and familiarizes themselves and others with it, they will come back. Customers are more likely to remain devoted to your business and are apt to buy further products or services from you based on the brand of the initial product with which they had success.

People are willing to pay more for products or services that they highly regard. This means that customers are likely to pass up cheaper prices with competitors if your brand has made a positive impression on them. If clients believe in your product, they will pay for it.

When you have distinguished your business through branding, the marketing has the capability of becoming so profound, that little else is necessary. Developing your brand takes time and effort, but after it has been solidified, and after customers have had the chance to identify with it, your sales can increase naturally.

##################################################################
This is part of a 12 Chapter complimentary ebook on branding that will be made available in mid February.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you Stay updated with Don Macleod!

Tags: , ,
Posted in Advertising, Branding | 2 Comments »