Have you ever wondered how big corporations such as Sony and CBS are able to establish their corporate images? How important are these images in promoting their respective products or services? The answer is simple: by creating a unique and impressive identity. And how are they able to do this? By hiring brand identity designers. Now, what is this brand identity design and who are these brand identity designers?
It has been said that a good and strong brand identity is the most potent weapon in the marketer’s arsenal. Creating a brand that is timeless, distinctive and powerful can help your business or product stand out among your competitors. Brand identity design is associated with the visual aspects of a company or business identity or brand. Brand identity represents how a company wants to be seen and how the company illustrates its image. And how and where it is seen, what it looks and feels like depends entirely on the product of the company.
A company’s brand identity can be represented through a unique logo or signage that is often incorporated on all the company’s materials such as stationery, business cards, packing and so on. The brand identity design is what often helps the customer to remember the company and the right brand identity design can be one of the company’s best marketing tools as it transforms the company’s vision and values into an image that customers become familiar with. A good visual identity or imagery is also important for almost all businesses as it often what attracts people who aren’t drawn in by words and numbers alone.
To be able to create good and effective brand identity design, many company’s hire brand identity designers. Brand identity designers create logos, promotional materials, and advertising programs that promote and establish a corporate identity. Their job is to provide new and innovative ways to combine images and words to express the key message of the company. A good brand identity designer should possess innovativeness and problem solving skills. Typography and illustration are key areas in which a brand identity designer should excel. Additionally, a brand identity designer uses design and strategic thinking to help companies find the right brand identity that will help them stand out in competitive marketplaces.
Simply put brand identity design is an artistic and practical approach that focuses on the needs of the companies in areas such as marketing, packaging, product branding, communications and website design. Thus, if you are a business owner wanting to create a good and lasting identity in the market, perhaps the professional help of brand identity designers can benefit you a lot.
Brand Identity Design: Standing Out in the Crowded Marketplace
Beyond Marketing -- Brand Management
In the past, the management of an organization's brand has usually been the sole domain of the organization's marketing team. However, with the evolution of the Internet and people's need for instant information, there is a greater call for public relations professionals to become more directly involved with an organization's brand management.
The Dictionary of Business and Management defines brand as: a name, sign or symbol used to identify items or services of the seller(s) and to differentiate them from goods of competitors.
But according to Colin Bates, a brand management specialist from www.buildingbrands.com, brand means much more than that. "More accurately," he says, "brand is a collection of perceptions in the mind of the consumer."
Essentially, brand is more than simply a corporate logo; it is anything people can associate an organization with, whether it is a paid advertisement or an article found in a newspaper. This is where brand management becomes important and PR professionals must be vigilant.
It is not enough for public relations professionals to simply communicate news to the media; they must somehow communicate the persona of their organization.
For example, Google, the company that runs the best-known and most-used search engine on the Web, has a very distinctive brand. Most Internet users could visually identify its logo. However, Google's branding efforts do not stop there.
The company has worked hard to combat Internet users' doubts about the quality of Web search results. Most of the main stream search engines sell advertising in order to make money and many people have accused these companies of skewing search results for money - giving certain web sites a higher ranking in exchange for purchasing paid advertising.
However, Google is well-known for the clear division it places between its search results and its advertising business. The visual separation on Google's Web site is an example: search results are prevalent on the left and occupy at the very least 90 per cent of the page, while advertising occupies very little space and is not intrusive to the user. Most importantly, the search results are generated from the intelligence of Google's product and are not influenced by purchasing advertising.
Google makes this very clear each and every time it speaks to the media. When a spokesperson does an interview or the company issues a press release regarding its search engine, it is quick to point out the division. In fact, it says it is part of its corporate philosophy - hence, it has become part of its brand. Google is known for its technical innovation and the quality of its search results, and not as a company that is just interested in money.
Furthermore, to ensure the organization's branding is being effectively communicated to the media, it also must be properly managed.
If the brand or persona of the organization is not being properly communicated, problems can be identified through analysis of the media coverage and the necessary adjustments can be made by the PR team to get the proper message out.
By tracking key messages, taglines, or buzzwords in the media coverage, the public relations team can measure how well its organization is communicating. It could be there are stop words the PR team wants to avoid using to prevent confusion and miscommunication. These too can be measured.
Media coverage can also be measured against other performance indicators such as sales and stock prices. This could be a good indicator to measure how well a brand is being perceived in the media and with an organization's key publics.
To most companies, brand is just as important as the products they create and services they provide, and it must be properly managed. Public relations professionals have a key role to play in shaping and maintaining an organization's brand - this responsibility cannot be left solely to the organization's marketing team. Not only is the PR team responsible for communicating the brand, but it also must be vigilant through media analysis.
Brand Consistency At Trade Shows
Corporations often need to exhibit at simultaneous trade shows in different locales and for different reasons. They often have two trade show exhibits in the same city at the same time. Going one step further, a company may even have two separate trade show exhibits at the same trade show.
Oracle is an example of a company exhibiting at two trade shows at the same time in the same city. Why does this happen?
Quite simply, each trade show appearance had a different objective. One trade show exhibit concentrated on new lead generation, while the other trade show display’s focus was on new product launches. Even though these trade shows differed, Oracle’s message needed to be consistent in presenting their corporate brand. Trade show visitors may have a different agenda for attending each trade show, but the corporate message must remain consistent and easily identified with the corporate DNA.
Every aspect of trade show exhibit presence also must match up with company promotional materials, advertising, public relations, online marketing, website and direct mail. Companies lose identity when they dilute their image with mixed messages. Marketing pros say the golden rule is to stay true to your corporate message, reinforce the brand, and let everything else follow suit.
Event Marketer Magazine advises corporate marketers to be wary of delegating trade show activities to their product development staff. Product teams understandably tend to focus on products rather than the corporate message. This can seriously undermine the corporate image agenda.
So, in order to avoid mixed messages, pre show briefings with all the trade show staff team are essential. Then be sure to keep communication channels open and ongoing. Be on guard for any off the wall, wacky surprises that could distort your presentation. Also, have company monitors drop in at the trade show booths on the trade show exhibit hall to assure that the discipline of your corporate exhibiting goals is maintained.
As an example, Event Marketer Magazine sites the experience of DaimlerChrysler. With some 60 national auto shows, DaimlerChrysler works with its eight business units to develop trade show programs for these multi-market trade shows. They then send staffers from zone offices to check on the execution at the trade show. “Although we all have the objective of moving the metal, we also have to maintain the brand consistency,” says director of global event marketing Don Schmid. “That doesn’t always fit into what the dealers want to do.”
The DaimlerChrysler zone staffers leave a show after a few days, and dealers are often tempted to add additional makes and models to the exhibit space. “They might try and move in 15 percent more vehicles, which makes the space look like a parking lot,” says Schmid. “We have to be ready at all times to play sheriff.”
When exhibiting at a trade show, here are a few things to remember about corporate image reinforcement and brand consistency:
Understand the basic objectives of the design your corporate look.
Adhere to the parameters of the corporate image guidebook. All visuals must meet specific guidelines. Be aware not only of the physical specifications of visuals but also how to incorporate them for trade shows with multiple audiences and products. Stay true to your corporate colors and fonts and be conscious of how the name of the company is used.
Be consistent in your brand “mindset” –whether it be upscale, sophisticated, young or old. Not only with the way your trade show exhibit looks, but also with the dress style and comportment of your trade show booth staff.
Be sure everyone who represents your company is knowledgeable about all communication aspects of the company. Be able to articulate the brand in trade show booth graphics, sales pitches, promotional hand outs, email and web messages, even on business cards.
Many brands such as Yahoo! in Sunnyvale, Apple Computer Inc. in Cupertino, eBay in San Jose, Google in Mountain View, Hewlett-Packard in Palo Alto, Oracle in Redwood City, and Sun Microsystems of Santa Clara have distinctive logos and have a certain “personality” and feel about them.
Although they are all in the high tech industry, each of the brands is noted for their individual character. All have colorful and consistent images. Their brands are distinctive and successful, and their representatives have learned to speak with one voice.
Your company’s brand image will have a much great return on investment if you enforce these
basic disciplines.
Brand Management - Beyond Marketing
In the past, the management of an organization's brand has usually been the sole domain of the organization's marketing team. However, with the evolution of the Internet and people's need for instant information, there is a greater call for public relations professionals to become more directly involved with an organization's brand management.
The Dictionary of Business and Management defines brand as: a name, sign or symbol used to identify items or services of the seller(s) and to differentiate them from goods of competitors.
But according to Colin Bates, a brand management specialist from www.buildingbrands.com, brand means much more than that. "More accurately," he says, "brand is a collection of perceptions in the mind of the consumer."
Essentially, brand is more than simply a corporate logo; it is anything people can associate an organization with, whether it is a paid advertisement or an article found in a newspaper. This is where brand management becomes important and PR professionals must be vigilant.
It is not enough for public relations professionals to simply communicate news to the media; they must somehow communicate the persona of their organization.
For example, Google, the company that runs the best-known and most-used search engine on the Web, has a very distinctive brand. Most Internet users could visually identify its logo. However, Google's branding efforts do not stop there.
The company has worked hard to combat Internet users' doubts about the quality of Web search results. Most of the main stream search engines sell advertising in order to make money and many people have accused these companies of skewing search results for money - giving certain web sites a higher ranking in exchange for purchasing paid advertising.
However, Google is well-known for the clear division it places between its search results and its advertising business. The visual separation on Google's Web site is an example: search results are prevalent on the left and occupy at the very least 90 per cent of the page, while advertising occupies very little space and is not intrusive to the user. Most importantly, the search results are generated from the intelligence of Google's product and are not influenced by purchasing advertising.
Google makes this very clear each and every time it speaks to the media. When a spokesperson does an interview or the company issues a press release regarding its search engine, it is quick to point out the division. In fact, it says it is part of its corporate philosophy - hence, it has become part of its brand. Google is known for its technical innovation and the quality of its search results, and not as a company that is just interested in money.
Furthermore, to ensure the organization's branding is being effectively communicated to the media, it also must be properly managed.
If the brand or persona of the organization is not being properly communicated, problems can be identified through analysis of the media coverage and the necessary adjustments can be made by the PR team to get the proper message out.
By tracking key messages, taglines, or buzzwords in the media coverage, the public relations team can measure how well its organization is communicating. It could be there are stop words the PR team wants to avoid using to prevent confusion and miscommunication. These too can be measured.
Media coverage can also be measured against other performance indicators such as sales and stock prices. This could be a good indicator to measure how well a brand is being perceived in the media and with an organization's key publics.
To most companies, brand is just as important as the products they create and services they provide, and it must be properly managed. Public relations professionals have a key role to play in shaping and maintaining an organization's brand - this responsibility cannot be left solely to the organization's marketing team. Not only is the PR team responsible for communicating the brand, but it also must be vigilant through media analysis.
Brand Development, You Should Improve Your Branding
It might be almost blasphemous to talk about letting go of old brand equity and laying an old brand to rest, but there are times when change is needed. Reformulating and re-designing, or even overhauling an old brand can be a wise decision. If sales are flat and show no sign of growth, you’d better stop kidding yourself and hire a branding consultant.
Brands are an extremely vital element in your product and corporate value proposition. With communications so pervasive today, corporate branding and product branding are becoming fused as one. Corporate brands are increasingly powering product brands and product sales and that pose some substantial risk, as those sub brands can’t be as easily re-positioned when they falter.
Brand Culture
As time passes, culture changes, new technologies and new competing brands appear and they change the perception of value that is available in a marketplace. Old sales propositions won’t fly in the face of 20 or more other competitors offering the same benefits and features. With cultural, economic, technology changes, and corporate changes, your aging brand image and brand equity may end up doing more harm than good. Your former branding successes could leave your brand and company stuck in the past.
A good example of age related branding problem is in the realm of computer products. I recently bought a new laptop computer because my old one just couldn’t keep up with my multitasking and other work needs. At the retail store, there were computers with Intel or AMD microprocessors to choose from. The key matter wasn’t really microprocessor speed or capability. In the past, the Intel logo would have compelled me to buy only computers with their processors regardless of what other features were available in the computer. The Intel brand was clearly in a class by itself. Not this time. This AMD powered computer was low priced and had the memory I required along with other features such as a 100 Gb hard drive, high-resolution screen, numerous ports and adapters and a long lasting battery. It only weighs a couple of pounds and the AMD logo seemed to look better too. It says: AMD Turion 64 Mobile Technology. 64 bits and mobile compatibility. Why doesn’t Intel mention that on the computer they have their products in?
Laptops are hot and prices are falling. My 15-year-old nephew just bought his first laptop on eBay, since they are cheaper and more accessible. So the whole “culture” of shopping and purchasing computers has changed.
Everyone is buying high-resolution screens and I was eager to ease my eyestrain from long hours of viewing everyday. The huge hard drive was great and the laptop looks good too. The old Intel brand just didn’t have the effect it once did, and their competitor, AMD, just sold one of their processors. The laptop is working great and now Intel processors don’t dictate which computer I’ll buy.
To me, the Intel logo and brand brings back memories of old Pentium computers. This is worsened by the fact that today’s processors have changed and they are running at lower speeds. This confuses the speed benefit that Intel had its brand positioned around. The technology change in viewing screens, memory, and processor use in the computer has moved the market away from where Intel was positioned. The Intel corporate brand powers sales of their new processors, but they can call those new products anything they want and it won’t effective my decision.
What Intel needs to do now, is to associate its processors with the features and benefits that consumers and B2B buyers make decisions upon. Computer branding is not all about the processors anymore and the old Intel brand image is deeply tied to old technology. Even the brand name Pentium is associated with the computer culture of the 90’s.
Here’s the issue: the old Intel brand was so successful in 90’s that it’s trapped Intel in a time warp. Intel needs new branding that ties it to the future, not the past. To get there, they are probably going to have to jettison the past.
Google is a good example of modern branding and a brand that is not tied solely to web search engines. The brand is now diversified strategically to associate it with everything people are doing on the web. Google is omnipresent, and its brand image is solely in its relevance to the current Internet culture. Google won’t let its common search engine role diminish its branding power.
Hanging onto to Old Branding Concepts
There’s a lot of reason why brand managers, CEO's, and marketing managers resist rethinking their branding and redeveloping their brands. Most often, they don’t want to leave their comfort zone and risk a short-term blip in profit. Some don’t want to make an investment in hiring a branding consultant to look at the options. Branding experts examine a brand to discover its current problems, the culture of the marketplace, and to determine if a new brand identity or brand positioning would be fruitful. Some old brands are doomed, but most are just stale and not in tune with the target market. A branding consultant can provide crucial insight into market perception, brand value building, brand loyalty development, and to discover the brand value proposition that could breathe new life into your brands.
Brand Your Business
You may have heard something about ‘branding’ in regards to marketing, but perhaps you’ve wondered what that means exactly.
Sometimes it is better to explain something in relation to something else. That’s what I am going to do – so first I will start with ‘positioning’. You also may have heard that term, but also did not really know what it meant. ‘Positioning’ is a marketing term that means to take a product or service and “position” it in the mind of your prospects/clients by comparing it with or against something already familiar in their minds. Al Reis and Howard Geltzer first published a book about it in the 1970’s.
To give you an idea of positioning, take Avis. Hertz car rental already had first place in the market. By being first place, they preempted that position. Everyone knew that they were #1. So, Avis, to get any recognition at all, had to position themselves with Hertz, but actually couldn’t take their spot. Do you recall what they did? You got it – “Avis. We try harder.” By positioning themselves as the best second runner up, they were able to capitalize on a larger portion of that market.
Some people think branding is like positioning, but it is different. The main difference is that positioning is a fluid concept. In other words, you can position yourself at different times in different markets as different things. Branding is more set in stone- it’s a hard-core recognition factor.
To give you a better idea, the other day one of my subordinates saw a cup of mine with red circles on it. He said it looked like a ‘Target’ cup. That is branding. That red target logo is branded in that person’s mind. He saw it and immediately thought of the chain store.
However, Target is positioned differently – it’s discount chain with good style. Some people even refer to it as ‘Targé’ – that is positioning. It positions the store with some hoity-toity posh boutique but everyone knows it’s right there with Walmart price wise. Good position.
Branding is more about the following of rules because if you don’t follow those rules, things don’t look the same and people won’t remember you. What if you changed your body periodically – I mean really changed your body. “Oh, today, I think I’ll be Asian – straight black hair, slanted eyes” – but yesterday you were Caucasian; how do you expect anyone to remember who you are when they see you on the street? It is kind of the same. When you put out your marketing pieces, you want to create a similar look and feel so that people remember you. And you want that similar look and feel on every thing you put out.
The good thing is that you get to make the rules…colors the same, style of lettering the same, logo etc. And there is some flexibility as long as you follow the rules. You can’t go too far out of bounds, but you can change some things within the frame of what others can still recognize.
There was an actual study done by GE (General Electric). They found out that it only takes 22% of their logo for people to recognize. Only 20% of their logo needs to be seen before people recognize it.
So, it sort of is like the Western concept of branding your cattle – making sure people recognize what is yours.
Remember I said ‘the same look and feel’? Well, the other side of branding is what it makes you feel about it. Chevrolet used to say it was America’s vehicle – baseball, hotdogs, apple pie and Chevrolet. Now it is “like a rock”. That makes you feel a certain way about it. It still is in line with the old idea about Chevrolet. Americanism = loyalty = dependable = Chevrolet. That song that comes on is their brand. Being America’s vehicle is their position. Both give you a certain feel.
Branding in your marketing has to make you feel something. A technology company can’t have an old style font – you might not think they were very far advanced.
Take PostcardMania. Our colors, bold style font and humorous quips give you the feeling that we are happy and lively. We make sure that our prospects and customers get that same feeling every time they see our mail, emails, packages, logo, etc.. Therefore it is important to look the same every time.
Take a dry cleaner for example. His postcards, packaging, hangers, etc. need to have his logo, colors and font all the time all the same - on everything. That way when people receive his postcards in the mail, they look for what specials that he has because they already like him and have him identified in their mind as something they are familiar with. If he is constantly changing what he looks like, when they get his postcard they don’t know whether they are looking at his specials or what some dry cleaner in general is offering. If they are already familiar with him, they are most likely going to pause and look at what he has to say.
Branding is just like the old coat of arms that families used to have connected with their name. It would instill respect, fear, and wealth - whatever. Likewise, a country’s flag gets people to feel a certain way about their country. Heck, Stalin even used branding! He used the same picture to portray who he was to his people - I am this, I am this, I am this – he wanted them to think a certain thing. It’s really not a new idea – I’m trying to get you to see it has been around for quite some time.
At PostcardMania, we want people to recognize that we know how to get their attention – bright colors, loud type – shows that we know what we’re talking about in terms of marketing. But ‘Postcard Marketing Experts’ is our positioning. Does that make sense? You can see how the two tie in together. One is our position and one is our brand. We’re hoping to create a feeling of being expert, the best in the business, etc., but also friendly and easy to confront.
Think about what message you want to portray. What do you want recipients of your promotion to think about you? What image of your company do you want to put out there? That is your brand. When people see you continually as one thing, they begin to expect the same from you and they get used to you.
Remember when Pepsi came out with clear Pepsi? People freaked out. They didn’t want to drink it. It was a flop. It wasn’t what they were used to – so it didn’t even taste the same to them.
Branding in marketing is recognition – color, font and logo – keep it the same.
If you can get them to remember what it is you are selling, the more likely they will come in and get it…if not, you are depending on drive by traffic and are wasting your money in marketing. And don’t forget this very important marketing truth – if you’re only planning to promote merely one time then branding is not going to help you. Branding is only for marketers that already understand the concept of repetition.
(For more information on repetition and how this works in marketing, read “What the Heck is a Campaign and Why do I Need One” by Joy Gendusa at www.postcardmania.com.)
As Seen on TV Name Brand Products You Can't Live Without
As Seen on TV name brand products have been around for years, and are almost as much a part of America's heritage as the automobile! As these products grew in popularity, and people became more comfortable shopping from home, new innovative and useful products were released almost every single week until there were hundreds of items to choose from.
When the Web came about, As Seen on TV name brand products became available at many online shopping malls and specialty Web stores, and at very cheap prices. Listed below are the top five As Seen on TV product ideas - these are products you can't live without!
1. Name Brand Health and Beauty Products
You can enjoy many great As Seen on TV products for good health and beauty. For gorgeous hair styles, there are the Wonder Weave and Turbie Twist hair products. For organizing that over-stuffed purse, there's the Purse Brite organizer. Other great name brand products for health and beauty include the Walkfit Orthotic shoe inserts, Miracle Rub Pain Relief Cream, Dream Lips, the True Ceramic Pro Infrared Ionic Styler, and many others.
2. Sports and Fitness
If you're an active person, you'll love the many As Seen on TV name brand products for good fitness and sports. There are great workout videos and DVDs such as "Rehab Your Body" and "Fat Burning Workout Video." Great fitness products such as the Bun and Thigh Roller and the Smart Abs System are available as well.
3. Electronics
There is a wide variety of As Seen on TV name brand electronics, from unique cell phone accessories to pet trainer devices. Some popular electronics include the Protech Pro 600 Ultra Handheld Electronic Game Set, the collar Pet Trainer, the LCD Touch Panel Telephone, Cellular Pen, and the Bell & Howell Sunlight Lamp.
4. Tools and Hardware
One category that's filled with great items is "Tools and Hardware." As Seen on TV commercials are known for showing and demonstrating unique tools and hardware for the outdoorsman or handy man! Some of these include the Weed Claw, Gutter Flusher, Folding Wheel Barrow, Weed Thrasher, Drain Buster, and the Euro Blaster. All these help make work around the house much easier!
5. Housewares
Women have been filling their kitchens with unique As Seen on TV products for years. That's because products such as the Smart Spin always help simplify kitchen organization.
Other great name brand product categories offered through As Seen on TV retailers online include pet items, automotive products, collectibles, toys, and more. If you visit an online mall to shop for these products, you can also grab other great products such as games, jewelry, painted glass, and outdoor items at very cheap prices. With the Web, you can now get all the great products you once missed on TV!
Brand Components
Your brand is the culmination of everything about you and your business. It is how people come to know you. It is your business name, logo design or other symbol that identifies your goods and services. It's what makes you different from everyone else in business. What are some of the components that come to make up your brand?
1. Who I am. Your brand is a representation of who you are, including your talents, gifts, needs, values, and integrity. Your talents and gifts are what allow you to develop the products and services you offer. Needs are what you need fulfilled to be your very best. As a business owner you may have a need to accomplish. Values are behaviors or activities to which you are naturally drawn - perhaps creating or contributing to the welfare of others. Integrity is all about your thoughts and actions being highly aligned. What you think, what you speak, and what you do are consistent. Who are you? What are your most important values and needs? What talents are you sharing with others through your business?
2. How I act. How you act is also a fundamental component of your branding. It includes everything that the public experiences when they deal with you. Your personality, your strengths, and your weaknesses are all parts of how you show up, whether face-to-face, on the telephone, or even through email. How you act is one of the most fundamental and direct ways that others get a sense about what is behind your brand. What do your daily actions communicate to others?
3. What I do. The type of business in which you engage speaks volumes about your brand identity. Do you provide a product or a service? What industries do you serve? Do you serve people directly or do you serve other companies? How do you run your business? Are you a control freak, do you delegate or are you a solopreneur or an employer? How do you handle projects? Do you avoid them or do you readily engage them. Like your actions, all of these components provide others with a sense about who you are. What you do tells people what is important to you. What does your type of business say about you?
4. Who I know. Your network of business contacts, the types of customers (demographic/psychographic profile) and the business organizations and associations to which you belong give others a sense of your business “come from place”. Who you know immediately communicates to others who you enjoy being around and to whom you market and sell your goods and services. Who is important to you? Who do you spend time with and why? How is this influencing your company brand?
5. Where I am. Your physical environment also communicates a lot about your business to others. Do you work from a home office? Are you situated in a business park or an office building? What about the inside of your business? Is it neat and clean inside and out? What are your interior colors and furniture style? All of these things create an impression of your business, who you are, and your attitude. When folks hear your name, all of these things will come to mind. What does your environment communicate about you and your business?
6. Where I've been. To a certain extent you are a product of your environment. Where you have been is a reflection of who you are. Where have you traveled to? Where do you live? Your travels have exposed you to different thoughts, beliefs, ideas, and ideals. The things that resonate with you become a part of who you are and are expressed in everything you do. Where you have been tells much about where you are today and where you will go in the future. How is your past expressed in your business?
7. What I believe. Your religious or spiritual beliefs often form your operating framework. What you believe in and how you perceive your place in the world play a significant role in the type of business you select, how you show up in the world, how you treat yourself, and how you treat others. Your belief system will either be one that places the power of choice in your hands or it will be one in which you are a follower. In any case, what you believe will show through in everything that you do. What role do your beliefs play in your business?
8. What I learn. Where do you choose to put your life energies when it comes to your personal or professional development? What do you focus on to enrich your life? What do you enjoy learning? Are you concentrated on your hobbies, sports, reading, volunteer work, or other interests? We have a powerful choice to make every day as to what we will do with that day. What we choose to learn, where we place our attention is strongly expressed in who we are and becomes a part of our branding as well. How has what you learned influenced your business?
9. Where I'm going. Where you are going is just as important as where you have been. Where we are going is rooted in our hopes, dreams and plans for the future. It is the vision we have not only for our business, but for the person we hope to be. Everything we do today is a stepping-stone for where we want to be tomorrow. Inherent in your business and in your brand are the seeds of what you wish your future to be. How people think of you today is setting the stage as to how you want them to think of you in the years to come. What are your plans for the future and how are these expressed in your brand today?
10. What I think. What you think is the underlying core of all of the components that comprise your brand. Thinking is the point from which everything about you emanates. It influences who you are, what you do, your personal and professional network, your physical environment, what you believe, what you choose to learn, where you go and your hopes for the future. It is critically important to watch what you choose to allow in your mind as these things have an uncanny way of manifesting themselves. In a larger sense, what you think is who you are. And, who you are is your brand. What thoughts are you thinking and how are they influencing the perception of your brand?
© Copyright 2004 by Alicia Smith
Brand Reinforcement in PowerPoint
The fundamental nature of PowerPoint makes it an ideal selling tool. You have a group of people, stuck in a room, listening to a speaker for an extended period of time -- anywhere from fifteen minutes to an hour or more. This enclosed environment exists only for the presenters to sell something, whether it is a product, a service, or an idea.
However, many presenters, especially those with a corporate interest in mind, fail to capitalize on that environment. Think about it. You have a hundred people in a room. They are all listening to you, but they are also watching the giant screen behind you, staring at the messaging, absorbing the graphics. Make the best of their fixed attention by creating brand reinforcement in every slide.
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Using Your Brand
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"Brand" is admittedly an ambiguous term. It encompasses and summarizes everything about a company that makes them unique, better and memorable. Elements of the brand can be broken down into various building blocks, one of them being visual identity. A company's visual identity includes things such as their logo, letterhead, tradeshow booth, brochures, website and yes, PowerPoint.
Logo and Slogan
Every single slide should include the company logo, at a minimum. The logo should be unobstructed at all times, and should be large enough to read easily -- never assume everyone in the audience has heard of you or understands your brand. Also, if the company has a slogan, consider building it into the design. This doesn't have to be blatant, but sometimes a repeated phrase, no matter how small or subtle, can have enormous effect.
Colors
If possible, the slides should consistently employ the company's corporate colors. If you're McDonald's, use red and yellow; if you're BP, use green. The colors can be part of header and footer graphics, titles or even arrows and bullets. The effect can be subtle, but it makes for a more consistent and professional-looking piece; often, it's small embellishments and attention to details that build brand awareness.
Fonts
Along those same lines, consider font usage. If you're not distributing your PowerPoint presentation, you have immense freedom of choice in type since you can use any font stored on your local machine. In this case, simply contact your graphic designer to obtain your corporate fonts. These may very well be esoteric typefaces purchased from Adobe or another foundry, so be sure that you have a proper license to use them. (Most fonts come with a license for five users.)
If the file is going to be publicly distributed, you are restricted to fonts that come with Microsoft's default installation. Study your company's collateral and try to match the face as closely as possible. Ask the company's graphic designer for a suggested font.
Photography and Illustration
Often, a company settles into a particular theme with their photography and illustration. For instance, IBM's photography is very straightforward with little or no effects. Microsoft's photography is always full color and usually has smiling people. While it would be near impossible to perfectly mimic a company's entire art direction, it is best to complement the established style as much as possible. This is another case where the small details slowly but surely build ever-important brand reinforcement. Under no circumstances should you use the cringingly bad clip art included with Microsoft's Office suite; at best the stuff is tacky, at worst it cheapens your slide show and corporate brand.
Miscellaneous Information
This encompasses the extras that might benefit your audience. For instance, a booth number might be a wise inclusion if you are at a trade show. A URL is almost commonplace these days. For sales-heavy presentations, an e-mail address for the presenter is often a good addition, or the company's toll-free ordering line if you want to be more brazen. Including everything is not necessary -- it's just as important to keep the slide design uncluttered.
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Benefits
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If done correctly, a PowerPoint presentation can be a whole branding experience. Without ever directly discussing your logo or font choices, you have successfully educated the entire audience about your visual identity, and that positive reinforcement breeds market awareness.
Maybe they mentally noted your URL to check out later. Maybe they scribbled down your e-mail address to ask a question later. On a more tangible note, an audience member will identify the corporate branding of your tradeshow booth when they walk by; they will recognize your corporate colors, logo and typography. Maybe they don't remember why it looks familiar, but it hardly matters when they stop to talk to a company representative.
Brand Extensions: Is it Time to Broaden Your Horizon?
When I interviewed graphic designers for my agency, I'd always get a little nervous when they claimed they could double as a great copywriter. That's because good design and good copywriting require two different skill sets rarely found in one person. I'd experience the same nervous reaction when clients discussed "brand extension," or launching a new product related to their existing brand. It's not as easy as it seems.
By definition, a brand extension (product or service) should offer a different benefit and/or attract another market or market segment than its parent brand. Brand extensions seek to capitalize on the positive perceptions and associations of one brand, translating them to the new brand. For example, if customers associate safety with a certain company, they may infer that any product from that company is safe. Loyal customers of a parent brand may be more willing to try brand extensions. This, in turn, may decrease the cost of marketing the new product. The extension may strengthen the parent brand as well.
Notice I keep using that pesky word "may." Here's why: many brand extensions end up disasters, draining the marketing budget and diluting their parent brand in the process. In their rush to grow, even large corporations overlook the simple fact that brands should only be extended when the new product or service addresses genuine consumer needs and is based on accurate knowledge of the parent brand's core strengths in the minds of its customers. Having more products doesn't always mean achieving more profit - especially in the long term.
Let me give you a true example of a poorly thought-through brand extension. Not long ago, a leading manufacturer of motorcycles introduced cake-decorating kits. One nationwide survey "awarded" the product "worst brand extension." After all, the baking world and the biker world don't seemingly intersect. The product doesn't seem to fit with the brand's core values.
What a Brand Extension Should Do:
A brand extension should:
- strengthen the existing brand
- address additional opportunities or find new uses
- bring new users to the brand only if existing costumers are not put off by the extension
A brand should move into a new industry only if it can do so without losing relevancy (i.e., cake-decorating example above). The new market should be a natural fit with the original market, because most brands become linked to a specific industry in the consumer's mind. As a result, few brands can wander outside their flagship market. Virgin (as in Virgin Mobile, Virgin-Atlantic, etc.) is one example of a brand whose values transcend industry segment.
Another way a brand extension can be successful is by creating a new category versus moving into an existing one, where it may get lost among more established competitors. Before Starbuck's, who would dream of paying so much for a cup of Joe? Starbuck's revolutionized an industry with its introduction of a new category: the European-style coffeehouse.
Keeping your focus narrow doesn't mean you have to carry a limited product line. For example, Starbuck's has stuck (for the most part) with its original market, but offers lots of choices to that market, including extensions like coffee liqueur. Companies who stay focused on a particular market are perceived as specialists, and specialists are usually thought to know more or be better.
Ask Yourself 5 Key Questions:
If you are considering a brand extension, ask yourself:
1. What is the long-term vs. short-term impact of the extension to my company and parent brand?
2. Is my parent brand strongly associated with a certain product category or can it step into new markets?
3. What value does the extension add to my parent brand?
4. What unmet customer need does the extension serve?
5. How does the extension leverage my brand's strengths while avoiding its limitations?
As you calculate revenues from sales of your brand extension, be sure to tally up its true costs in terms of brand erosion as well. Maintaining long-term brand health is usually more important than short-term dollars.
Brand Your Exhibition Stand For Maximum Impact
Rita Davenport had been given a free hand to design and manage an exhibition stand for her company. The Marketing Director had briefed her extensively on the overall idea and left her with an open brief to produce something that would attract customers, dealers and the trade press. Rita walked out of the meeting feeling inspired but not quite sure what to do next.
Once you understand clearly what the sponsor needs the stand to achieve, you can go about the business of designing and branding your presence. If your budget will stretch to the cost of a professional exhibition designer, you should commission a good one. Not only does it remove some of the more stressful elements of exhibition organization; gaining agreement to the design, arranging manufacture, checking quality, organizing transportation, assembly and disassembly; it allows you to be objective about making changes. In addition, exhibition designers will provide advice about the best position for your stand in the exhibition hall, traffic flow through the stand, lighting and audio-visual presentations.
If you don't have an extensive enough budget to engage an exhibition designer, get together with a good graphic designer who can produce well designed exhibition panels that will impress and attract attention. You may need to provide a stand system (normally a metal framework that is assembled to hold the exhibition boards) but these are fairly lightweight, easy to assemble and come ready-fitted with a lighting system.
Other considerations for your stand should include furniture to rest your foot-sore customers, pamphlet racks for your product information and storage for the paraphernalia that you don't want to clutter the stand.
Before you finalize the design of the stand, run it by all of the important decision-makers and influencers in the organization to make sure it has their blessing before you commit to expensive printing and photographic work.
Selecting and training your exhibition staff
When potential customers home in on your stand, they don't really want to deal with people who only have a vague understanding of your products and services. They generally want very specific answers to very specific questions and it is in your interests to people the stand with carefully selected competent individuals who can work effectively as a team.
If you choose to use technical staff who have limited sales experience or sales staff with limited technical knowledge, it is vitally important to provide them with an opportunity to pick up new skills and information prior to the exhibition. Allow your own staff to train each other and to share tips and techniques in sales as well as improving technical knowledge on the products or services being exhibited.
Rita was fortunate, her exhibition budget allowed her to commission a talented exhibition designer who project managed the installation for her. The exhibition team was selected from sales, marketing, engineering and administration co-workers. They all benefited from a fun workshop where they compiled a stand data book to educate each other about the company, product and sales information.
Brand New. 10 Secret And Effective Marketing Strategies
Marketing is one of the most important business factors. From my experience, I have just listed 10 effective marketing strategies that have helped my marketing development, and hope will help your business,too. Here are 10 secret and effective marketing strategies.
1. Create a directory of web sites on a specific topic. Give people the option of adding the directory to their web site by linking to it. Put your business advertisement at the top of the director's home page. This technique will get lots of people to linkto your web site and give you free advertising.
2. Do you have a product or service that doesn't sell good? Offer it as a free bonus for someone else's product or service. Get free advertising by placing your web site or business ad on the product or in the product package.
3. Trade autoresponder ads with other businesses. If both of you send out information with auto-responders just exchange a small classified ad to put at the bottom or top of each other's autoresponder message.
4. Start a free tip line. Offer a free daily, weekly, or monthly tip recorded on your voice mail. The tips should be related to your business. Include your ad for your web site or business at the beginning or end of your message.
5. Exchange content with other web sites and ezines. You could trade articles, top ten lists, etc. Both parties could include a resource box at the end of the content.
6. Offer to insert ads into your product package for other businesses. Just ask, in return that they do the same for your business. You should only trade insert ads with businesses that have the same target audience.
7. Offer a free daily class in your web site's chat room. The class should be related to the subject of your business or web site. This will get people to visit your web site everyday.
8. Do you have a product that doesn't sell good? Offer it as a free bonus for another businesses product or service. You'll get free advertising by placing your web site or business ad on the free bonus.
9. Place different emotional response ads for the same product or service all over your web site. One ad may hit their hot button to buy more than another ad.
10. Publish your e-zine in e-book format. You could offer a larger number of articles per issue. It also allows you to include graphics with your ezine.Your advertising revenue would increase because you could charge businesses for large color ads.
How would you like those 10 secret marketing tips? I could have listed more than 10 marketing strategies but those 10 tips are my interesting strategies. I hope above 10 marketing strategies will increase your sales and marketing growth.
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. You won't have to spend as much time planning marketing strategies to attract the public.