Creating Great Branding Practices

www.aglowmarketing.com

Creating Good Branding Practices

Creating a Likeable & Recognizable Brand

Strategy> Brand Image> Sales Tools> Client Care>

PRESENTATION OVERVIEW• Background• What is Branding?• Why does Branding Matter?

Brand Identity Budget Management Brand Promise Brand Personality

• Branding Basics• More Than A Logo• Creating a Likable Brand


BACKGROUND• Over a decade of Sales & Marketing Experience:

– Account Executive, Centerfield Marketing– Marketing Director, 500 Festival– Creative Services Manager, ONEX– Marketing Director, UN Communications– Business Development Manager, BitWise Solutions– President, Aglow Marketing

• INITIA Super Sales Person Award (Sales in Excess of One Million Dollars)

• Indy’s Best & Brightest in the Technology Sector, 2009• Indy AMA President, 2010/2011• Aglow Marketing – Your Virtual Marketing Department for:

Strategy> Brand Image> Sales Tools> Client Carewww.aglowmarketing.com

DID YOU KNOW?The word brand began simply as a way to tell one person's cattle from another by means of a hot iron stamp.


WHAT IS BRANDING?Your brand includes all the characteristics that make your offering unique: • Reputation• Customer Service• A Promise• Pricing• Feeling / Attitude• An Experience • Logo• Color Scheme• Tone • Product Line


A SIMPLE TRUTH


WHY DOES BRANDING MATTER?


BRANDING HELPS YOU…1. Project a cohesive image for your

organization2. Better spend marketing dollars3. Reach your target audience in a more

meaningful way4. Present a likeable brand that people

want to be associated with



organization (BRAND IDENTITY)2. Better spend marketing dollars3. Reach your target audience in a more




BRAND IDENTITY• Supports brand recognition and

awareness via one cohesive image.• Helps the customer recall and

recognize the brand under different conditions.

• Think of the Memory Game – do your marketing materials & ads all support a single marketing image? Do they match? www.aglowmarketing.com


MAINTAIN YOUR IMAGE FROM BEGINNING TO END

Business Card

Newspaper Ad

Brochure New Client Packet

NAME THAT BRAND!


MARKETING HELPS YOU…1. Project a cohesive image for your

organization2. Better spend marketing dollars

(BUDGET MANAGEMENT)3. Reach your target audience in a more


want to be associated withwww.aglowmarketing.com

MARKETING BUDGET MANAGEMENT


MARKETING BUDGET MANAGEMENT• Advertising Research Foundation

reports that businesses waste between $30 and $50 billion each year on ineffective marketing.

WHY? We market without a solid brand strategy that is embraced internally and presented consistently.



ORGANIZE YOUR EFFORTS WITH A SHARED CALENDAR

Consider free options like Google Calendar with shared capabilities for easy editing and upkeep.

MARKETING HELPS YOU…1. Project a cohesive image for your


meaningful way (BRAND PROMISE)4. Present a likeable brand that people



BRAND PROMISEPeople generally buy products and services for two reasons: 1. To solve a problem. (PRACTICAL)2. Because it makes them feel good.

(EMOTIONAL)

A solid brand promise can help respond to both of these needs.


EXAMPLE: HEIFER INTERNATIONALPromise is clearly stated:Heifer International is a non-profit organization whosegoal is to help end worldhunger and poverty through self-reliance & sustainability.


BRAND PROMISEWhat is your vision for what you can do

for your customers?

1. What practical problem do you help your customers solve?

2. What do you offer that makes them feel good about being associated with you?


ATTITUDE BRANDINGAttitude branding is representing a larger feeling, which is not necessarily connected with the product or service at all. Examples:• Nike• Starbucks• Apple www.aglowmarketing.com

BRAND ASSOCIATIONBRAND ASSOCIATIONVolvo SafetyBMW LuxuryHonda Dependability


Brand association makes buying decisions easier and more relevant to the consumer.

BRAND ASSOCIATIONBRAND ASSOCIATIONIndy FringeKiwanis InternationalKeep Indianapolis Beautiful


What words and phrases do you associate with these local non profits?

What do you want to be associated with?



meaningful way 4. Present a likeable brand that people

want to be associated with and likely share with others(BRAND LOVE)


BRAND LOVE / LIKABLE BRAND'Brand love‘ is an emerging term encompassing the social likability of a given brand.

Brand love levels are measured through:• Social media/blog posts about a brand• Tweets about a brand on Twitter• Facebook fans of a brand• User reviews www.aglowmarketing.com

SOCIAL MEDIA AND BRANDINGA recent survey by Deloitte revealed:• 82% of individuals said purchase

decisions have been "directly influenced" by the user reviews, even if they are anonymously posted.

• 69% of those who read reviews sharethem with friends, family or colleagues, thus amplifying their impact.


SOCIAL MEDIA AND BRANDINGSocialnomics.com reports:• There are over 200,000,000 Blogs• 25% of search results for the World’s Top 20

largest brands are linked to user-generated content

• 34% of bloggers post opinions about products & brands

• 78% of consumers trust peer recommendations while only 14% trust advertisements


FACEBOOKFacebook has:• More than 400 million active users• 50% of active users log on to Facebook in any given

day• 60 million status updates happen daily• Average user has 130 friends• People spend over 500 billion minutes/month

on Facebook• The fastest growing segment is 56-65 year old

femaleswww.aglowmarketing.com

FACEBOOK FAN PAGES• Onset of Facebook Fan Pages makes

making your brand socially likeable • Start by creating a branded page, and

communicate with your most loyal customers to become a fan and then share with their network

• Communicate promotions, discounts, and other perks to your fan base


BRANDING BASICS

Exercises to develop your brand strategyBranding Element ChecklistsStyle GuideExamples


DEVELOPING A BRAND STRATEGY• Foundation for all marketing strategies• Blueprint or Guide Map• Refer back to it often to ensure your actions are

supporting your brand• Group brainstorming session to create:

BRAND POSITION BRAND PROMISE BRAND PERSONALITY


EXERCISE 1 – BRAND POSITION BRAND POSITION:

– Who does our company serve?– What do we offer each audience?– Who is our competition?– What is it that we do different/better/more unique than

the competition?

Complete these statements:Our organization serves X by providing them XOur organization is unique because we offer X


EXERCISE 2 – BRAND PROMISE BRAND PROMISE

– What is the problem we are solving?– What is the emotional pull that we have to make people

feel good about buying from us?– What do we promise to provide our customers – every

time and in every experience with us?

Complete these statements:Our organization promises our customers they will receive

X

IMPORTANT: Can your organization keep your promise?www.aglowmarketing.com

EXERCISE 3 – BRAND PERSONALITY BRAND PERSONALITY

– What keywords and personality traits do want people to use to describe our company?

• Customers• Partners• Employees

– What comes to mind when people hear our organization’s name?

Complete these statements:Our organization is known for being X


EXERCISE 4 – BRAND STRATEGYCombine all of the answers to draft your brand strategy & share with everyone in your organization:

Our organization…– Serves (target audience) by providing them

(product/service/experience)– Is unique because we offer (marketing differentiator)– Promises our customers they will receive (brand

promise) every time they interact with us– Is known for being (brand personality traits)


BRANDING ELEMENTS CHECKLIST Branding Strategy Logo Tagline Mission Statement Key Marketing Messages - Determine what messages your

audiences want or need to hear. (Focus Group) Color Scheme, including primary and complimentary colors Fonts, including online and offline fonts Tone & Voice for all written materials Imagery Style


STYLE GUIDEhttp://post.americanheart.org/branding/elements.htmlhttp://post.americanheart.org/branding- Examples of Style Guides and other guiding documents


http://post.americanheart.org/branding/elements.html

http://post.americanheart.org/branding

EXAMPLES


EXAMPLES


Additional Branding Fun:•Blue & Green M&M Bags at Health Care Shows

•New building remodel features painted walls in color scheme

•Family photo canvas

•Above & Beyond Board for employee recognition

MORE THAN A LOGO

How to infuse your brand into all you doInternal brand buy inExamples


BRAND INFUSIONYour brand promise must be a part of:• Experiences at your venue• Customer service• Your web site experience, and • Your product/service delivered.


INTEGRATION – MESSAGING• Visual elements are important, but also pay

attention to your messaging.• Create a content strategy that provides universal

messaging regardless of the medium:• Advertising• Web Site • Blog• Newsletter• Etc.


INTEGRATION – WRITING STYLE• Benefits Driven – what do people get?• “You” Not “We”

http://futurenowinc.com/wewe.htm • Encourage Action – what do you want them

to do?• Chose a tone that fits your brand – playful,

serious, etc.• Convey Emotion – how do you help people?


http://futurenowinc.com/wewe.htm

INTEGRATION – WRITING STYLE• Personal Testimony- tap into your audience

for real life stories• Online Writing:

•Bullets•Chunking•Scan-ability


INTEGRATION- TWITTER


INTERNAL BRAND BUY INWays to get everyone on the same team:• Communicate your brand strategy often• Explain how each role relates to marketing, not

just the marketing team!• Contests / Employee Recognition Programs

Tracking:• Secret Shoppers• Customer Surveys


INDY AMA – REBRANDING EFFORTS• Issues:

• Chapter materials were inconsistent • Materials did not evoke an emotional connection to

Indianapolis or the individual member

• Goals:• Rebrand the chapter with a cohesive look and feel• Reinforce Indianapolis as the location of the chapter• Produce an appearance of a vibrant, active organization

focused on providing marketing resources and tools• Place a focus on the member and make a personal

connection www.aglowmarketing.com

INDY AMA – REBRANDING EFFORTSRebranding Efforts:• New Logo with Indianapolis embedded

into the national AMA Logo

• Theme of “I am AMA”


INDY AMA – REBRANDING EFFORTS• Selection of fonts, color scheme, graphical “circle” element

and imagery with Indy skyline & working professionals

MULTIPLE CHANNEL INTEGRATION• Web Site• Membership Video - http://www.indyama.com/• T-Shirts• E-Newsletter• Post Cards• Social Media Efforts including Twitter, Facebook & LinkedIn• Member produced Blog with marketing insights• Monthly Member Spotlight on web site & e-newsletter• Personal, conversational tone to all copy in newsletter & web site – “Like

talking to a friend”• Programming• Event Experience – plans to enhance this year• Post Event Surveys


http://www.indyama.com/

INDY AMA POST CARD


E-NEWSLETTER•Fun, conversational tone•Easy to scan•Links for more information•Tie in of brand theme

INDY AMA POST CARD


CREATING A LIKABLE BRAND

Meeting the needs of your audienceDelivering on your brand promiseMethods for sharing brand loveExamples


MEETING YOUR AUDIENCE’S NEEDS• Start by asking what your audience is looking for:

Focus Group is ideal• Key marketing messages should support these direct

needs• Test messages before investing $• Focus your writing on audience needs versus your

products/services/organization• Remember to solve a problem or provide a way for

your customers to feel goodExample: “Don’t Let Summer Slip Away” vs.

“Michigan Hotel Rentals”www.aglowmarketing.com

DELIVERING ON BRAND PROMISE• Before promoting your brand promise, ensure

your organization is on board to deliver.

• Individual Customer Care• Make sure people answering the phones are

customer focused and friendly, greeting the person by name.

• The Best in Professional Development• Make sure your speakers are delivering high

quality contentwww.aglowmarketing.com

METHODS FOR BRAND LOVE• Facebook Fan Pages – make sure to

keep current• Twitter Followers & Retweets• Contests to show – Why I love…• Member or Customer Profiles• Videos • E-Mail Surveys – Tell your story in your

own words..www.aglowmarketing.com

LIKABLE BRANDS• People buy things from people they like.• Used car salesman vs. Helpful dressing

room attendant• People buy products or services or visit

places or join associations because they like them or like how they make them feel.

• What brands do you like? Why?www.aglowmarketing.com

BRANDS GONE BAD• Negative publicity and issues with

products/services from customers can shift your brand image rapidly

• User generated content makes this more important than ever• United Breaks Guitars

• 25% of search results for the World’s Top 20 largest brands are linked to user-generated content

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOqozo

BRAND LOYALTY TO THE RESCUE


Strong Brand loyalty (or brand love) can withstand issues

Toyota suffered its worst start of the year since it began selling…yet registration data suggests the brand is holding its own against its key competitors.

Why?• Brand Loyalty• Large base of customers who have received Toyota’s brand promise of reliability and trouble-free performance• Incentives as a response to issues


Source: Blog.polk.com

QUESTIONS ON…• Background• What is Branding?• Why does Branding Matter?

Brand Identity Budget Management Brand Promise Brand Personality

• Branding Basics• More Than A Logo• Creating a Likable Brand


Interested in a copy of the presentation or a

Branding Checklist?

Contact me at: [email protected]


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Creating Great Branding Practices

Business

Transcript of Creating Great Branding Practices