by admin | Apr 14, 2014 | Brand strategy
I have a secret for you, though it’s hardly a revelation: most brands fail at what they are trying to accomplish. And the only thing more frustrating about how terrible so many brands are is how clueless many small businesses executives and entrepreneurs are about what branding is. Most people think of branding as simply “the logo,” but a logo is just the beginning of a brand’s visual aspect (which also includes the website, marketing materials, and ad copy — which in turn includes tag lines, marketing/PR/sales copy, and advertisements). Read more about building a successful brand...
by admin | Apr 14, 2014 | Brand strategy
Marketing without branding is like fishing without a hook. You’ll be distributing your message, sure. You may see results in the forms of sales closed and new customers. But is there even anything behind the words? As expert James Heaton eloquently puts it, your marketing is a method of pushing your message out, while your branding is the pull that attracts customers. While a marketing campaign may convert a prospect into a buyer, your brand is what retains their business for life. In an ideal scenario, it’s so much more than pure messaging. Branding strategy allows you to position your business in your market solidly, build meaningful relationships, and retain customers over time. In an ideal world, a solid brand should precede your marketing. However, that’s not to say it’s ever too late to begin developing a branding plan for the future. No matter when you start, it’s sure to offer immense benefit to your marketing program and outcomes. The following are some of the ways that defining your organization’s core can act as your marketing secret weapon. Read about them all in this...
by admin | Apr 10, 2014 | Brand strategy
Integrated marketing is one of the most important – and effective – ways for marketers to reach their target audience. A successful integrated marketing strategy uses a consistent identity throughout multiple marketing channels to support a brand’s marketing and sales function. Developing an effective integrated marketing strategy is a time-consuming process. The following marketing tips can help marketers develop an effective integrated marketing campaign that has a dramatic impact on how brands reach their target market. Focus on the customer. The customer has to be first. Know who your customer is, what your customer wants, and know a lot about your customer’s spending habits in order to utilize the right marketing mix. Learn the other five tips on integrated marketing...
by admin | Mar 31, 2014 | Brand strategy
Do you remember how in the past, marketing consisted of grabbing your attention with loud colours, catchy (and then later, irritating) jingles, pretty people – and if that didn’t work, huge billboards? These days, businesses are slowly giving those campaigns up in favor of getting in touch with their customers. Pop-ups and other gimmicky ads are moving aside for tailored content – be it in print, image, or video — that a company’s customers may find useful, or otherwise worth sharing. When we think of what businesses use to speak to their audiences, the list most commonly goes like this: email newsletters, social media posts, SEO-optimized blog posts and podcasts. On a general level, the type of content businesses use depends – and should depend — on their target audience’s online behavior, such as what’s more likely to interest them and keep them coming back for more. If you’re looking to use content marketing to drive up your business’s sales through the power of sharing, here are a few content marketing tips you might find...
by admin | Mar 25, 2014 | Brand strategy
The US Postal Service is soliciting proposals from firms for brand valuation and strategy after reporting a $5 billion net loss after expenses including its retiree benefits obligations for the 2013 fiscal year. The scope of work may expand to include counsel on protecting and enhancing the Postal Service brand and key sub-brands, such as Priority Mail and First-Class Mail. The purpose of the contract is to determine critical attributes of the USPS brand and sub-brands, and quantitatively derived estimates of their brand value, according to the RFP released by the USPS on March 10. Read more about the requested assistance for their brand strategy here. ...
by admin | Mar 24, 2014 | Brand strategy
Imagine that you’re relaxing in a movie theatre watching an old classic western movie. On the screen, the hero gallops into the frame. You know he’s the hero immediately – by his branding. He’s riding a beautiful horse, the music is swelling, and he’s wearing a white hat. If he’s typecast, you might see this same actor as a recurring hero consistently, in many pictures of the same genre – perhaps only his character’s name changes. And the villain, of course, wears a black hat. (This is where “white hat” and “black hat” SEO practices get their names.) B-movie stylists and social marketers have some similar needs. What tactics can you use to communicate to an audience, quickly and accurately, the nature of a character/brand? What trustworthy shorthand can you use to set an expectation of your company, so you can get on with the action? Find out more about these 7 tips for brand consistency by reading this...
