Marketers are understandably concerned about building and protecting strong brands. An Economist article from a few years ago discusses the power of brands. “Brands account for more than 30% of the stock market value of companies in the S&P 500 index, reckons Millward Brown, a market-research company. Everyone knows that a Ralph Lauren Polo shirt costs more than a polo shirt; Coke without the logo is just cola.”
But, brand-building efforts are sometimes misguided– (more…)
Most businesspeople and students of marketing would probably agree with the statement that your brand is important. Yet, despite this importance, the concept of a brand isn’t always easy to grasp. Part of that problem is because a brand is made of so many components that it needs to be considered very broadly.
In an article for Forbes titled “Your Brand Isn’t What You Think It Is,” author Ty Kiisel points out that most people don’t truly understand what a brand is. Kiisel writes: “I think most people would agree (although there are still some holdouts), your brand is not your logo or your colors. Of course the colors you choose and the way you present your name to the world is considered part of your brand, but it’s not the most important part. Your brand isn’t what you say you are either.” This is true … but what is your brand? (more…)
Social media is a powerful marketing tool for any business. Business and marketing professionals are particularly drawn to the extensive reach of social media and its potential for driving droves of new customers through their virtual doors. However—and this may surprise you—social media marketers shouldn’t be focused exclusively on bringing in new business.
A recent article on the American Marketing Association (AMA) website by Lawrence Crosby looked at the effectiveness of social media marketing on another important measure of marketing success— (more…)
We’ve written multiple posts on how to evaluate your brand, the fact that your brand is largely out of your control because it’s defined by your audience, and how to effectively manage your brand. Brands are subjective and live in the minds of your consumer, or business, audience. It can be tough to quantify the strength or weakness of a brand, which can be endlessly frustrating for numbers-driven marketers and business owners. (more…)
Since the dawn of the Internet Age, businesses have been quick to see the benefit of a company website to attract customers; however, a company website, like any communication channel, should be thought of in the context of all of an organization’s stakeholders. This includes business partners and potential business partners, as well as employees and – the focus of this blog post – potential employees. (more…)
It’s not always easy to tie marketing spend to an increase in revenue — even defining a standard way to measure return on marketing investment (ROMI or MROI) can be difficult — which can often mean that marketing managers struggle to increase their budgets. While we wholeheartedly stand by the fact that a well-crafted and well-implemented marketing strategy will bring in far more revenue than it costs to put in place, there’s always room for low-cost or no-cost strategies. And, as we’ve stressed before, employees can be great brand ambassadors. (more…)
It’s hard to overstate the importance of brand loyalty. Marketers know how difficult it can be to win new customers. Once you have brought a new consumer into the fold, it’s important to take steps to ensure that they will not only keep coming back, but that they will also refer others to you. (more…)
A fundamental principle in the world of marketing is that an organization does not control its brand. This may seem counterintuitive at first, but the truth is that the market, your current and potential customers, and consumers define your brand. You can try to influence your brand through your marketing communication efforts but, ultimately, no business can fully control the perceptions of the masses.
This is a lesson that athletic shoe company New Balance recently learned — and is still learning — the hard way. (more…)
When we talk about branding, we focus a lot on an organization’s corporate image, the impression the market has about its service, the quality of its leaders and key or, if a service organization, the personal touch its employees provide. These are certainly important areas of focus for branding; however, in a service-driven marketplace, employers are becoming more and more aware of the importance of human capital. From senior leaders to front line employees, organizations need to attract the best and brightest to remain competitive for the long run. There are plenty of strategies and tips for effective employer branding, but here we focus on two: (more…)
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…)
Subcribe to This Blog
Brand Evaluation
We’ll help you assess the gaps between how you’d like to be perceived and how you are perceived. More
CONTENT CREATION
Whether you need web copy, blog posts, whitepapers, ghostwriting--or RFP or report creation, we can help. More
PR/MEDIA RELATIONS
We can provide you with media training and coaching, help you identify relevant media and help you generate media coverage locally, nationally and online. More
SOCIAL MEDIA
Social media isn’t for everyone, but if it’s right for you we’ll help you identify, implement and assess the impact of your online communications. More
STRATEGIC PLANNING
Our name says it all! We’re passionate about strategic planning and work with clients to develop marketing and communication plans, as well as broader business plans designed to provide actionable--and measurable--direction. More
We invite you to republish our posts. Click here for details.
