Archive for the ‘Brand Management’ Category
Thursday, November 3rd, 2016
We’ve written previously about the importance of employer branding and why consistency and coordination between the marketing arm and the HR arm are crucial to ensure alignment. In this post, we’re going to look at a practical, step-by-step approach to building that brand by applying some fundamental branding tips in the context of employer branding.
Generally, in working with organizations on these types of projects, the steps are: (more…)
Tags: Brand Management, communicating with employees, Employee Communication, employer branding
Posted in Career Advice, Marketing and Branding | No Comments »
Thursday, October 13th, 2016
We spend so much of our time helping companies develop and strengthen their brands that we almost take it for granted that a brand is one of the most important elements of any organization, product or individual. However, we realize that many companies don’t understand or appreciate the importance of a brand, especially when it comes to spending decisions. So, every once in a while, we like to take a step back to remind our audience why a brand is important in the first place. (more…)
Tags: brand audit, brand identity, Brand Management, branding, Customer Communication, managing your brand
Posted in Business Development, Marketing and Branding | No Comments »
Tuesday, October 11th, 2016
At Strategic Communications, we have worked with companies, large and small, in a variety of industries on branding and rebranding initiatives. One of the biggest areas of misunderstanding that we encounter is that a rebranding initiative means updating the company logo and marketing materials. That’s potentially part of the process, certainly, but rebranding involves a lot more than that. Rebranding is a significant undertaking and one that shouldn’t be taken lightly. As we note in a related blog post, “Exercise caution before you attempt to rebrand,” a brand takes a great deal of time to develop, and businesses should think twice before throwing that effort away.
Having gotten that disclaimer out of the way, there are some legitimate reasons companies may need to overhaul their image. So how do you know when it’s time to rebrand? There are a few things that might justifiably point to the need: (more…)
Tags: Brand Management, Customer Communication, rebranding, Strategy, when to rebrand, why you should rebrand
Posted in Business Development, Marketing and Branding | No Comments »
Tuesday, September 27th, 2016
In a previous blog post, we talked about the importance of employer branding and why consistency and coordination between the marketing arm and the human resources arm are crucial. In this post, we’re going to look at a practical, step-by-step approach to building that brand by applying some fundamental branding tips to the employer branding context.
Generally, in working with organizations on these types of projects, there are five steps: (more…)
Tags: brand alignment, Brand Management, Employee Communication, employer brand, employer branding, marketing to employees
Posted in Internal Communication, Marketing and Branding | No Comments »
Saturday, August 13th, 2016
How do you get so big, and so powerful, that you can tell other big and powerful organizations what they can and can’t say—and prohibit them from using very commonly used words and phrases? The Olympic Committee’s ban on non-sponsor brands ostensibly does just that as ESPN recently reported. They’re even banning non-sponsors from using the hashtags #Rio2016 and #TeamUSA. (Sheesh; hope I don’t get in trouble for that—I’m not an official sponsor, after all.) Those aren’t the only usages that are being banned though. According to a Mashable article, other banned words include “Rio” and “Rio de Janeiro.” Huh? (more…)
Tags: #Rio2016, #TeamUSA, brand, Brand Management, bronze medal, gold medal, Olympians, Olympic, Olympic athletes, Olympics, Rio, Rio de Janeiro, silver medal, Social Media, trademark
Posted in Content Marketing, Internet Marketing, Marketing and Branding | No Comments »
Thursday, June 9th, 2016
Most of the time I exhort the audiences I speak to—students, clients, conference attendees–to identify, analyze and work hard to connect with their various audiences. It’s Marketing 101 and, generally, it makes good sense. But, I recently came across an example of when connecting with your audience might be at cross-purposes with an organization’s mission or brand. (more…)
Tags: Brand Management, branding, connect and compel, connecting with your audience, engaging an audience, marketing communications, target audience
Posted in Marketing and Branding | No Comments »
Tuesday, May 24th, 2016
Generally, we advise clients to view their organizations, products and services from the “outside in.” In other words, they need to put themselves in the position of their desired audience and consider what is important to their audience, rather than what is important to them. Too often organizations talk about how they need to “communicate our value proposition.” The truth is, it’s not their value proposition that matters– (more…)
Tags: Brand Management, branding, employee ambassadors, Employee Communication, employees as brand ambassadors, Strategic Planning, Strategy
Posted in HR Management, Internal Communication, Marketing and Branding | No Comments »
Tuesday, May 10th, 2016
Sometimes I think the most simple thing that we can do as businesspeople and marketers is to “put ourselves in the shoes” – literally – of our prospects and customers. Are we making it easy to buy? Or are we setting up unintentional barriers, however “slight,” that may interfere with – or obliterate – the purchasing process? (more…)
Tags: analytics, Brand Management, Customer Communication, customer engagement, Customer Service, Google Analytics, purchase behavior, Sales, sales funnel
Posted in Analytics, Internet Marketing, Web Sites | No Comments »
Tuesday, March 15th, 2016
Your business’ brand is its identity to the outside world. More importantly, it’s your identity to your target audience, including your current market and your potential market. Your brand is how these audiences see you, your products and your services. It is, therefore, a fundamental part of your organizational success.
Brands are generally developed and reinforced over time. Once built, brands represent great value and should be changed only based on good, sound reasons. For some businesses, though, there may come a time when it seems like a good idea to rebrand — to toss aside your current image and pursue something new. (more…)
Tags: brand assessment, brand audits, Brand Management, rebranding, the 4 p's
Posted in Marketing and Branding | 2 Comments »
Thursday, March 10th, 2016
For many people, recognizing that they have a “personal brand” may be a foreign concept. After all, products have brands, right? Yes, that’s true but so do you! And, if you’re a business professional, you should realize that your services, whether as an entrepreneur, or an employee, are not commodities. To set yourself apart from your competition, it’s crucial to develop and promote your own, unique, personal brand. So how do you do it? We’ve covered the topic of personal branding in the past, but it’s one that’s certainly worth revisiting. (more…)
Tags: brand development, Brand Management, branding, branding personal services, career advice, managing your brand, personal brand
Posted in Business Development, Career Advice, Marketing and Branding | No Comments »