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: (more…)
Posts Tagged ‘Brand Management’
5 Branding Missteps You Should Avoid
Thursday, March 15th, 2018
13 Branding Skills Recommended by the Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC)
Thursday, January 4th, 2018
A recent slideshow by Entrepreneur.com discussed what they consider to be 13 skills that will help improve branding efforts. Of course, this is a subject area we are particularly focused on, so we wanted to take a look. The list was compiled by the Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), with each skill provided by a different member of the YEC. The 13 skills they recommend are: (more…)
Building Your Brand Story, One Piece at a Time
Thursday, December 28th, 2017
Brands are made up of multiple components – your product or service; your logos, advertising campaigns, public relations and sponsorships; the behaviors of your employees and your customers’ interactions with them; the personalities of the top executives and/or owners, etc. As we’ve said many times before, it’s ultimately the market that truly defines your brand, and they do so by absorbing all of the elements we just mentioned into an overall image in their mind of who your company is and what it stands for. (more…)
Brand Building for a New Business
Monday, November 27th, 2017It can take years to develop a firmly established brand. And for good reason. A brand is more than a logo or an advertisement or even an entire ad campaign. A brand is how the market sees your business based on the totality of the information available to them: your marketing efforts, media coverage of your organization – including social media, stories from friends and family – and their own personal experiences.
For new startups, the brand is essentially non-existent. The market may be familiar with the entrepreneurs behind the company, which can add some element of a brand, but for the startup itself, the brand is a blank slate. That’s both a curse and a blessing. The curse is that nobody knows anything about your company: your story, your values, your mission, etc. The flip side to this – the blessing – is that you have the opportunity to attempt to build a brand as you see fit. (more…)
Evaluating Your Brand? One Key Question to Ask Your Target Market
Thursday, October 19th, 2017
While businesses can never have complete control of their brand, they absolutely have the opportunity—and obligation—to work to manage and influence how their brand is perceived. Part of that journey starts with some basic market research. You need to understand how you’re currently perceived before you can start planning to get to where you want to be. (more…)
Why You Should Build Your Brand Based on Reality—Not Advertising Campaigns
Thursday, August 17th, 2017Marketers 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…)
Toward a Broader Understanding of Brand
Thursday, July 6th, 2017
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: Not Just For Sales; Another Area of Big Value
Thursday, June 29th, 2017
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…)
The Softer Side of Brand Analysis
Friday, June 16th, 2017We’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…)
Your Website and Your Employer Brand
Tuesday, June 6th, 2017
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…)
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