Branding is an area we explore regularly with clients – conducting brand audits, developing brand positioning, etc. Some of the most common errors we see are:
- Not understanding that the brand is bigger than the “logo” or “look” of the company. The brand encompasses every touchpoint that a customer, or potential customer, has with the organization including the product itself, the price of the product, the accessibility of the product, the purchase experience, and of course promotion. All of these elements must be carefully coordinated to manage the desired brand.
- Not understanding that the business doesn’t determine what the brand is – consumers do. The business can only determine what they would LIKE the brand to be and then take steps to ensure that this desired image is supported through all of their business activities.
- Not effectively managing all elements of the marketing mix (product, price, place, promotion) to achieve the desired brand image – you can’t seek to hold a “high end” place in consumers’ minds if you practice do-it-yourself marketing, have your nephew create your website, etc. (unless, of course, you and/or your nephew are exceptional web developers).
- Not matching the brand to reality. Marketers and branding experts talk about “living the brand promise.” Your brand is a reflection of reality – you can’t “fake it.”
- Not engaging their employees in brand management. Employees can be powerful brand ambassadors if they’re armed with the right messages and understand how powerful what they say about the company is. Don’t overlook this key group!
These are probably the top things that we see. We write and speak regularly on brand and branding-related issues. You’ll find a number of related blog posts here.
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About Us
Strategic Communications, LLC, works with B2B clients to help them achieve their goals through effective content marketing and management with both internal and external audiences. We are adept at evaluating and analyzing communication efforts and working with clients to plan, create and publish high-quality, unique content, through both on- and offline media to achieve desired results. Our background in business journalism, marketing, PR/media relations and online communications makes us well-positioned to serve the needs of 21st-century marketers.
We serve clients who are looking for help creating content for a wide array of channels—from social media posts to full-length manuscripts, and everything in between. We focus primarily on service-related B2B topics and work with a number of independent consultants interested in building their thought leadership through online channels. For ongoing content management, our first step is to fully understand your goals, objectives and competitive landscape.
Then we’ll conduct a thorough analysis and assessment of your digital presence, compared to competitors, and recommend a communication strategy to achieve your goals. But, we also regularly take on individual projects – white papers, blog posts, contributed articles, etc. If you’re interested in learning more, let us know!
(Strategic Communications is certified as a Woman-Owned Business Enterprise through the Wisconsin Department of Administration.)
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Tags: brand ambassadors, Brand Management, branding, employee brand ambassadors, managing your brand