You are currently browsing the tag archive for the ‘branding’ tag.
By: Samantha Scott, APR
Grand Poobah / Owner
If you live in Southwest Florida (aka Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Estero, etc.) then you’ve probably seen the Florida Department of Transportation signs saying “Alert today. Alive tomorrow.” While their signs refer to paying attention to the road, I thought this could also apply to businesses and their marketing efforts.
Being alert today, in a business sense, means many things…
Competitive Advantage and Unique Value Proposition (UVP)
To start, it means being aware of what you offer (services products, etc.) and what your competitors offer. How do your services stack up? What can you add or research? Better yet, are you providing what your customers want/need? Addressing your competitive advantage is key. Take a little time this month to really think about what it is that sets your company apart then follow up with a plan to communicate that, as your UVP, to your consumers.
Trends, Fads and New Tech
It seems that with each new day new widgets, devices and tools are developed. Music stars are made, and crumble, over night. Trends come and go, but in the midst of all this chaos, we must pick out the changes that really shift (or should) our business model and/or our customers’ lives. Two great examples are social media and cell phones.
Many people, both the general public and business leaders. brushed off sites like Facebook and Twitter saying they were just fads and would pass. While the application or specific site might fall to the wayside (ever heard of a little site called MySpace?), the concept is here to stay.
Check out Nextiva’s infographic on Visual.ly
People have evolved their communication styles and want instant, quick ways to communicate news and share information.
The cell phone – a similar situation. What used to be just a tool for vocal communication can now send text messages, operate apps, access the Internet and more. Smart phones have virtually taken over the cell phone market making it easier for consumers to find information about products or services on the go.
So the question is, are you paying attention, being alert today, to trends in your industry that will impact your business tomorrow?
Reputation Management
One HUGE and often overlooked opportunity is reputation management. I’m not referring to high school days when you were protecting your
“cool factor.” I’m talking about what your consumers are saying about your business, its product and/or services. Even before there were websites specifically designed for reviews there was word of mouth. People love to share their experiences with others, especially if they have a bad one. With the creation of sites like Yahoo! Local, Google Places, and Yelp it’s more important than ever to monitor your company or brand’s online reputation.
Other sites, predominately thought of as social media or social networking sites such as Foursquare, Facebook, and LinkedIn are also viable reputation management platforms. Specifically, LinkedIn has launched business pages where business owners can “own” their page and post updates while also receiving comments from visitors. There are also sites for specific industries too, such as medical field such as RateMDs.com.
Are you listening? If you are, are you responding and showing that you care about your customers opinions – good and bad? Consider setting up a weekly routine to monitor these sites. We provide this service for a number of clients who’ve seen drastic, positive changes in their online reputation just from monitoring and responding to reviews.
Alive Tomorrow
Let’s focus on being more alert today for a better tomorrow. If you need help focusing on the many marketing and communications tasks at hand or maybe want a little help managing your reputation, contact us. It’s what we do and we’d be glad to help.
Have questions? Post a comment here or feel free to share on our Facebook page. You might also enjoy our chili pepper flake challenge video!
By: Samantha Scott, APR
Grand Poobah / Owner
I’ll admit it. I’m a bit of a “consistency stickler.” It doesn’t matter if it’s in the tone of writing used on a website or in PMS colors, I can’t help but notice when something isn’t consistent. In our field, marketing communications, it’s important. All too often business owners, marketing folks and other people communicating on behalf of companies don’t maintain consistency in their branding or marketing. This week we’re going to address this – and why it’s important.
What is Branding?
According to the mighty Wikipedia, “A brand is a “Name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller’s good or service as distinct from those of other sellers.”Branding began as a way to tell one person’s cattle from another by means of a hot iron stamp.” Simply, branding started as a means of differentiation. That’s what it’s meant to today, as well.
Importance of Brand Consistency – Face Time
Let’s start with the basics. A company’s brand is their image. It’s their face, so to speak. Just like we differentiate people by their appearance, voice, and other attributes, we (consumers, people in general) differentiate companies and products by their logo and/or packaging, colors, etc. As Michael Tasner points out, “It’s the image, words, feeling, etc associated with your company.”
Not only should the aesthetic of the company, the logo, company colors, etc. be pleasing to look at and easy to read, it should also accurately depict the company and its offerings. If your logo is in Cowboy font, but you’re a tech company, something’s not translating. Keep in mind, people could see your brand/logo without knowing anything about your company. They have to be able to look at it and understand what you’re all about. Are you traditional or edgy, a modern and tech-savvy Internet firm or a mom and pop lawn service? Make it clear from the start.
Decrease Confusion
Another key component in marketing as it relates to brand consistency is avoiding the risk of brand confusion. Did you do a double take when you saw that image? That’s what consumers do when they look for a certain package or product and can’t find it or see something similar. The more consistent your branding can be the safer your market share is.
Put yourself in the shoes of the consumer. You are one after all! If you go to the store and look for a specific product, say laundry detergent, and can’t find the brand you usually buy, what do you do (after seeking help from an associate, etc.)? You might try another brand or wait to buy it elsewhere. Now, what if the product was there, but the packaging had changed and you just overlooked it? That company, the one you were loyal to previously, just lost a sale and perhaps a lifetime customer or future purchases.
Of Note: The average attention span in 2012 is just 8 seconds. That’s down from 12 seconds in 2000 and even shorter than that of a goldfish. This makes it all the more important for your brand to be visibly differentiable quickly. Source: Static Brain.
Different Departments or Products – Same Brand
So you say, branding and consistency are important, but what if I have a multifaceted company? How can our brand be consistent if we have different departments and/or products? Colors and a primary logo will be key.
Use Coca-Cola for example. They have a number of different product lines, but their brand is consistent throughout. They use the same primary logo, colors and packaging.
Have a Guide – Enter the Brand Book
We’ve discussed why it’s important to maintain brand consistency. You get it, so now how to do you ensure the rest of your team or co-workers will support this as well? Enter the brand book. A brand book is a critical 
resource for any business. Simply put, a brand book is a guide for anyone involved with the company. It outlines the brand logo, colors (PMS, so they’ll be EXACTLY the same), typefaces or fonts, acceptable layouts, email signatures and more.
BrandMaker News offers an excellent review of what a brand book is, what needs to be included and how to use it.
Go. Brand. Succeed.
Don’t be overwhelmed, be informed. You can do this – and you should do this! Use these resources (and maybe review one or more of these books) and of course, feel free to contact us if we can help!
By: Alex Fernandez
Internet Marketing Specialist
One of the most fundamental marketing lessons I took away from my days at Florida Gulf Coast University with Dr. Ludmilla Wells, was this principle: “You CANNOT market in a vacuum,” meaning that there will always be external factors, such as competition, environmental factors, industry trends, etc., that you will have to adapt to. Simply ignoring these factors can render a great idea absolutely useless.
The topic I want to address today is building a brand with online competition and SEO in mind, or “Branding for SEO”. One of our specialties at Pushing the Envelope is establishing online presences for our clients, whether it’s building them a website, landing page, social media account, or online directory listing. However, often times we will find that the client hasn’t considered online competition when they built their brand, as if search engine ranking pages (SERPs) and Internet marketing in general was an afterthought.
Internet marketing and search engine marketing is not the “wave of the future” as it is often tritely described. Internet marketing and search marketing is NOW. I would even go further to say that mobile marketing is also NOW. These mediums should be the first consideration for anyone that is creating a new brand. A few questions you should ask:
What are your domain options?
- A costly domain isn’t usually a great move for a start-up.
What are the top three results for each keyword or key phrase you are targeting?
- These are your search engine competitors, which could vary greatly from your offline competitors.
How active are your search engine competitors online and on social media channels?
- It might behoove you to find ways to be different and avoid an uphill battle from the start.
These questions might seem uber-simple, but they can save you thousands of dollars in time and web development costs, which will make you more profitable long-term. Here are a few principles to follow when branding for SEO:
Check the search results first!
Whenever I have idea for a new website, the first thing I do is see if anyone has come up with a similar or better idea before me. As brilliant as we like to think we are, the law of large numbers will always prompt me to perform a quick benchmark search inquiry. Why? Because if I thought of it, there is a high probability that a large number of people before me thought of it, too.
To illustrate let’s say you type in the prospective brand name and you see several other companies doing business under that name. Perhaps all but one company are doing business in a different industry. You are going to look at the one search competitor within your industry, and click through to their website, blog and social media. Is everything well designed, up to date, creative, content-laden, etc.? Will you be in direct competition with them? If so, you might want to rethink starting off with an uphill battle.
Own your brand on the major search engines.
Another concept of branding for SEO is owning as much of the web under your brand name as possible. Search for popular business directories such as DMOZ, BOTW, etc. – there are thousands of others. Then add your company information, keywords, links, any information they will allow you to include. Each new directory you setup for your business will generate an additional backlink to your business.
Another step to take is local SEO, if your business is a brick and mortar company with specific locations. You can place additional listing for your business on popular local search and user review websites, such as yelp, MerchantCircle, Trip Advisor, YP, superpages, and more.
The end result is your business “owning” the SERPs for your brand keywords. If you type your brand into Google, you want more than just #1 – you want 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, and so on.
Grow your brand without destroying it.
To illustrate this – think about the “New Coke” crisis that the Coca-Cola Company had in the 1980s. By creating a new beverage and discontinuing the old beverage, they essentially alienated their customers and abandoned the brand equity of Coca-Cola Classic.
This is a great way to think about branding for SEO. It’s important as your company grows, to keep in mind that you should never abandon the brand equity that you have built. It can take multiple years for some companies to reach number one for their targeted keywords – only for them to decide that they want to change their brand name. Make sure your brand strategy is clearly defined before changing your online presence.
You might want to add a brand extension, or create a separate website for your parent brand, rather than changing your current name in order to avoid unnecessary losses. For example, SC Johnson is the parent brand for Windex, which has a dedicated landing page for it’s Windex Outdoor Shine product. Each of these company names work together to create brand equity, without detracting from one another.
If you have questions about how you should go about launching your next big idea, or if you want to grow your brand without losing your brand’s equity, please contact us! We’re here to help you succeed.
This is part 3 of our 3 part series covering lessons learned and tips gathered at the recent FPRA Annual Conference.
Failure to plan is planning to fail.
Peter Hollister, APR, Fellow PRSA, CPRC of Hollister, Trubow & Associates, offered a lecture on strategic communications during the conference. Before you start yawning (no offense Mr. Hollister), as we all know strategy talk can sometimes be dry, this was a powerful presentation.
First of all, there has to be an understanding that communications plans (or really any marketing plans) must have a long range view that relates to the company or organization’s brand and branding efforts. Additionally, we have to “get” that this not something that will be developed then put on a shelf or adhered to the same way now as it will be 5 years or even 2 years. With the ever changing media and communication landscape, we have to move forward and design our strategic plans in such a way that they are flexible and a living document.
- Strategic Planning vs Long Range Planning
- A strategic plan does not have an ending. It’s a dynamic, living thing. Components within have an ending, but not the plan.
- A strategic plan has evaluation built into it. Benchmarks, etc. so you can tell as you go along if you are making the expected progress.
- Strategic planning is participative. You must be involved in it, not invite an organization in and hire them to do it.
“Strategic management provides guidance, direction & boundaries for operational management.” – George A. Steiner Strategic Planning
A strategic plan encompasses all aspects of an effort or initiative and is people and customer centered. This is of the utmost importance! Now, with social media and consumer driven/derived media we (communicators) are considering this more. Before there was a push mentality.
We would push information out. Send our messages where we thought our target audiences were. Now, we can ask them. Listen and find out what they want and communicate WITH them, not AT them. It’s really relationship management. We have to be constantly thinking about ENHANCING RELATIONSHIPS.
Every strategic plan must take this into account. And, as Mr. Hollister pointed out, this change in thinking and way of designing a strategic plan explains what PR and communications is and does for those not in our industry.
This is the third and final posting of notes from the SoFresh Conference in Tampa last month. This information is from Cassandra Jeyaram, PhD. with IHG and Maggie Fox of the Social Media Group. While they did not present together, their commentary fit well together, so we decided to simplify and put them together.
Both women shared the same ideal – Social Media is a science. You don’t just throw it all out and see what happens. You have to have a strategy with measurable and achievable objectives.
Cassandra Jeyaram, PhD for InterContinental Hotels Group
The top things Cassandra encouraged attendees to consider before posting anything to any social media outlet was:
- People: Who is in your audience? Are you writing for them? If not, you should be.
- Objectives: What do you want to achieve? Consider your posts a means to an end and write them accordingly.
- Strategy: How can you reach the target audience? Not everyone is on Twitter, are you posting to the right place?
- Technology: Which social media deliver on these criteria? Again, go back to your strategy.
In considering these things, take the time to research and develop a strategy. Rushing into using social media will only end in half-baked attempts to gain followers/fans. It won’t develop long-term results, which is the key. Social media isn’t about one offs. Those don’t work in this medium. It’s about building the relationship before the selling.
Maggie seconded this by saying, “Test and refine, don’ just throw content at them and hope that it sticks,” going back to the strategy quotient. What do you want to accomplish? Once you figure that you can set measurable metrics/goals.
We have to acknowledge our “social media ecosystem,” where everything about you/the company is NOT necessarily created BY you. This naturally relates to Maggie’s later point that “Brands have to think of themselves as media. You have channels, communication tools.” Are you leveraging all your channels (podcasts, Twitter, Facebook, Yelp, blog, etc.)?
A prime example of doing this well is “IHG Confidential,” a series of private online communities. This select database of ultra-loyal IHG customers offers a true representation or demographic of who their customers are. IHG leverages these relationships to ask them about upcoming promotions, get general input, etc.
Engage and save money. These should be two goals for every social media marketer. IHG’s example was the use of members’ pictures. Not only did it give the member a sense of pride and membership, but it also made visitors feel like they too could take that picture or visit that location. The added bonus was an increase in revenue. By using pictures from IHG Confidential members they experienced a 24% incremental lift in revenue.
Maggie also reminded the audience that the content we put on various social media platforms becomes editorial. It’s not advertising anymore. It has an expiration date. It will have high read-throughs and clicks for a while, then it will drop off. We MUST have a plan to post fresh material regularly.
In the end, it’s all about relationships. We have to find the people that matter the most to us/the company and give them an incredible experience with the brand, coaches Maggie.
Here’s the second set of notes from our recent trip to Tampa for Social Fresh (@sofresh). These are lessons from GM’s Chris Barger (@cbarger) as he discussed how the automotive giant used social media to listen and engage consumers as a part of crisis management communications.
They created temporary extended social media team and engaged in multiple social networks and platforms. Their team of 3-5 went to 12 and were tasked with going to Facebook, Twitter, blogs, etc. and listening and telling audiences they were there and ready to answer questions, then following through.
At the same time, Chris and his team ensured traditional media knew of their efforts. Some local TV stations even put the GM twitter feed on their screen during broadcasts. Anytime an exec was giving a live interview, someone was tweeting it and sending out all the questions and answers.
Lesson #1 – You can’t over Communicate
- For general engagement & “normal” business, it’s better to strategize & choose right channels for your goal
- In a crisis, answering as many questions as possible and letting people know you’re listening is vital – both because those affected expect it, and because it introduces your perspective into the conversation – so a broad, all-platforms approach is most effective
Reaching out to influencers: Chris sent out the complete social media/communications plan to the likes of Chris Brogan (@chrisbrogan), etc. telling them it was coming out the next day and asking them to watch. ALL of them wrote about it because it was a great case study, happening live.
Lesson #2 – Let others tell your story
- Others will be interested in how you handle your crisis from a social media perspective. So tell them, and let them tell others.
- We didn’t contact anyone in hopes that they would turn into an advocate. We just wanted them to tell the story – and knew that the story would drive people to us.
- Perceived loss of control is terrifying, but especially during a crisis. Do it anyway. (You never really had control anyway.)
Lesson #3 – Measure, and report
- Keep track of all the positive comments, conversations, etc.
- Share them with your boss/client
To further engage their online audiences, Gm remembered that face-to-face interaction is still king and hosted a Product & Technology Showcase. They invited 100 consumers, influencers & bloggers to experience GM “hands on”. Guests were show everything they have now and product line 3 years out! It was a 2 day event: 1st, real people who connected on Twitter and 2nd, bloggers & media. Powerful, positive response resulted from both groups.
Lesson #4 – Follow Up Matters
- Community will expect continued engagement
- Reputational repair begins with demonstrating change, and the sense that you value the relationships forged during the crisis
- Absent significant follow up, community could see your reputational efforts as PR/marketing.
Lesson #5 – Reputate
- Ray Jordan, Johnson & Johnson – “reputate” as verb rather than “reputation” as noun.
- “Get caught doing the right thing.”
- Google search your company name with “wish” in front. See what consumers wish you had or did.
- Apply principles of community. Actually listen & respond.
There is someone in every digital community who has the “Oprah effect” for their group. Find them, talk to them, listen to them. If they get on your side, then everyone else in the influential circle will be too.
When you’re recovering from a crisis and trying to rebuild a reputation you’re trying to win people over one at a time. It’s one at a time that matters.
Lessons Learned: Final Thoughts
- Open, candid engagement can win admiration, mitigate negativity
- Need to be engaged prior to crisis to have earned credibility
- Engagement during crisis only goes so far: you have to back it up after the crisis with sincerity and action
- Social engagement CAN sell your product, even when your product is something as big as a car
- Success is only half in executing your program; the other half is TELLING people about what you’re doing. (social, traditional, bloggers, etc.) If you have a good campaign or are doing something good, but no one knows, what good is it?
- There is no “over.”
- It’s not a campaign. It’s a commitment. You are promising to be there.
Last week I ventured up to Tampa, FL for a social media conference called Social Fresh (see Twitter @sofresh) for info on this and other events they are coordinating around the country.). Stoked to get a $120 off coupon (thanks to the event coordinator monitoring their Twitter feed as a friend of mine and I chatted about the cost being a bit prohibitive) I gleefully – this could be an exaggeration - left my house at 5:00 a.m. to get there in time for coffee, bagels and meet and greet prior to kick off.
I was not to be disappointed! With speakers from GM, InterContinental Hotel Group, Brains on Fire and more, Social Fresh gathered some of the major engines running successful social media (from a marketing perspective) and put them together for one big brain dump.
I dutifully tweeted the entire time (see #sofresh for commentary from me and other guests) and took notes. I’ve broken them down below by speaker and will be posting them weekly – Here’s your first dose. Hopefully you can take something away vicariously and perhaps plan to attend a Social Fresh in the future.
Spike Jones
Brains on Fire
WOM Marketing & Social Media
Spike Jones from Brains on Fire at Social Fresh in Tampa
Common Strategy – this DOESN’T work. Or, if it does, it’s only a little.
- Listen
- Blogger Outreach
- Facebook fan page
Average ROI advertising is less than 4%… Think about it! If you talked to people in real life like you do in advertising, you’d get punched in the face.
90% of WOM is offline – something to consider as social media isn’t the cure all for ALL clients. Are their/your customers even on Twitter? If yes, you/they should you be there.
Factoids for safe keeping:
- 80% of Twitter accounts are non-active!
- SM will never replace face-to-face interactions.
- Advertising is for awareness. WOM is for credibility.
- “Advertising is the tax that you pay for being an unremarkable brand.”
- “Above all, find a way to be RELEVANT to your consumer.”
Language – change it in house and OUT, with customers, clients, etc.
- Campaign – war vocabulary. No wonder people don’t trust us
- Movement – Fans, inspirations, kindred spirits, grassroots, passion, love
Movements are other people talking about you. They are volume dials. No 0 on the dial, or off switch.
Campaigns = us vs. them. We’re going to get them to do something.
Movement – All the rules of friendship should apply. You don’t MAKE your friends do anything. They will tell you the truth.
10 Lessons Learned by igniting brand ambassador movements
- Movements are about the PASSION conversation, not the PRODUCT conversation.
- Re-frame the conversation. Instead of talking about not smoking, they created a place for a conversation
- Movements begin with the first conversation.
- We participate in people’s lives. 90% of WOM happens offline, get engaged to learn what they are into, what they think.
- ScoutLab, Radian6 – good listening tools/companies
2. We’d rather find someone deeply passionate about something than really influential.
- With SM now, we can MAKE someone influential. Just give them the tools.
- Works better than giving away free product and asking them to talk about it.
- Influential will talk about you now, then move on. Passionate will continue talking about it.
3. Passion can’t be created.
4. Movements Require a Barrier to Entry
- People who want to be a Fiskateer have to ask via online form. Then, they get a response within 24 hours & have to reply why they want to be a part of it or no entry.
- It’s not about the numbers. It’s about the engagement and passion.
5. Movements Empower people with knowledge
- About themselves
- The product
- Social media, marketing, etc.
6. Movements have powerful identities
- Fundamentally, everyone wants to be a part of something bigger than themselves. Everyone wants to be bigger than they are.
- I am a ______. Our job as marketers is filling in that blank. We have to bond our clients & their customers together.
7. Movements encourage shared ownership
8. Movements make advocates feel like rock stars.
- Sometimes it’s just sitting down, talking to them and letting them know you’re listening to them.
- Special handles, engraved. Welcome kit, etc.
9. Users know the brand better than we do. Leverage this.
10. Movements live online & offline
Movements:
- Save money on focus groups
- Save money on R&D because we get free ideas from the group
- Save money on customer services because people are talking about what’s wrong and how they fixed it, etc.
- Measure success in the ways we save money too.
- Movements fight an injustice
Visitors’ Thoughts