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Brand is not what YOU say it is. It’s what THEY say it is.

—Marty Neumeier, The Brand Gap

Brand Is

– NOT a logo – NOT a tagline – NOT an identity system

Brand Is

– NOT a logo – NOT a tagline – NOT an identity system

– Brand IS a perception about your firm, its people, culture and services that exists in the minds and hearts of your audiences.

Why vs. What/How

“The goal is to do business with people who believe what you believe, not people who simply need what you sell.” And “to hire people who believe what you believe – not simply those who can do the job.”

Creating an Engaging Brand

People do business with people and people engage with things that move and inspire them.

Creating an Engaging Brand

A brand must be a reflection of your audiences, its values aligned with their beliefs and aspirations, in order to resonate with them.

Brand Experience

Is your Brand Experience worth repeating?

Brand Management Across Touchpoints

Brand must work across all touchpoints: from branded environments to e-signatures and from marketing collateral to social media.

Brand Stakeholders

– Employees – Customers – Prospects – Partners – Vendors – Industry Influencers and Media – Community

Engaging Brand Stakeholders

– Courtship and dating phase – Staying top of mind long-term

Select Tactics

– Content marketing – Thought leadership – Corporate citizenship

Content Marketing

– Speaking engagements – Articles and whitepapers – Case studies and success stories – Podcasts, presentations, webinars and educational

events – Trend reports – Digital marketing and social media posts

Content Marketing

– What’s in line with your firm’s expertise? – What are your customer’s needs & challenges? – Create a process for content development,

publishing and promotion:

–  Create an editorial calendar –  Decide who is responsible –  Develop a strategy for promoting content across

multiple channels –  Always create opportunities for user interaction

Thought Leadership

Great content leads to Thought Leadership, which positions your firm as the go-to source of expertise for customers, prospects, industry and media. You will:

–  Earn trust and build credibility –  Expand your market and engage with market

influencers –  Shorten buying cycles –  Avoid being seen as a commodity –  Foster customer loyalty

Communication Platforms

– Web – E-marketing – Video – Social media – Blogging

Email Marketing

– One to many – Segment targeting – Doesn’t expire – Relatively low cost

Video Marketing

According to Forbes Insight: – 59% of senior executives would rather watch a video

than read text – 65% click through – 50% look for more information – 45% report that they contacted a company

youtube.com/EYPAE

youtube.com/watch?v=pHkjzG50QJw

blog.buildllc.com

Corporate Citizenship

– Corporate-nonprofit partnerships – Pro-bono work – Corporate volunteering – Foundations

Being a good corporate citizen plays a vital role in fulfilling Microsoft’s core mission as a company – to help people and businesses around the world realize their full potential.

Internal Engagement

“What high-performing companies should be striving to create: A great place for great people to do great work.” –Marilyn Carlson, former CEO of Carlson Companies

Causecast http://www.causecast.com/blog Network for Good http://www1.networkforgood.org/for-companies

“If you hire people just because they can do a job, they’ll work for your money. But if you hire people who believe what you believe, they’ll work for you with blood and sweat and tears.” —@SimonSinek