brand strategy

Sarah Worsham / Jul 17, 2009

Be Careful What You Say – It May Affect Your Permanent Record

While I was teaching a Blogging for Business class out at Insights Group in Brighton yesterday, I mentioned that you need to be careful what you say online because it lasts for eternity (or you should consider that it does). People were pretty shocked to know that just because you delete something, it may still be available on the Internet somewhere.

Sarah Worsham / Apr 16, 2009

Personal vs. Business Branding

There’s been much to do lately about the effect of personal branding on businesses and the importance of personal branding for small and medium businesses. I think both personal and business branding are important – and they certainly have an effect on each other. How much will depend on the influence and reputation of the brands.

Now, I’m not against personal branding, as I said it may offer some people that ability to create the best job going, but a business is an asset, something that gets more valuable over time and, here’s the biggie, can be sold. It is very difficult to sell a personal brand. Some of biggest personal brands you could name on twitter right now would be worth very little without the person behind the avatar. – John Jantsch – Business Isn’t Personal – Duct Tape Marketing

Businesses certainly can benefit from having a bit of personality. Customers want to have experiences, not just purchase products, and they want to interact with brands and businesses. As Scotty Monty, who works for Ford, said:

It’s a lot more difficult to screw a brand when there’s a real person that you know that’s associated with the brand.

Some of the most popular business brands today have strong personal brands behind them. Apple, for instance, is undeniably tied to the personal brand of Steve Jobs. But a personal brand is not the same as a business brand. While Steve Jobs may work for Apple, there is more to his personal brand than just a CEO. Apple is more than just Steve Jobs (at least, so the investers hope).

In an era when transparency is much easier, it is important to be aware of the effects of personal brands on business brands, and vice versa. What you say and do as a person is linked to your business, even if you’re building separate brands. What a company does while you own it can also be tied to your personal brand. Instead of a black and white division – there are many shades of grey.

(photo by Mister Wilson @ Flickr CC)

Technorati tags: brand, branding, branding strategy, business, marketing strategy, marketing

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Sarah Worsham / Mar 25, 2009

Advantages & Disadvantages of Different Branding Strategies

On Monday, we talked a bit about various branding strategies and why you should consider picking one to help your business and marketing strategies. With each branding strategy comes both advantages and disadvantages that you should be aware of.

Corporate Brand – For companies that only offer one benefit to a customer, they usually use a corporate brand (unless they have an overall holding company).
- Advantages: Everything the company does is attributed to its brand.
- Disadvantages: Everything the company does is attributed to its brand.
Distinct Brand – Some companies choose to release each product or service as its own brand (ex. Proctor & Gamble).
- Advantages: Each product stands alone so failures do not affect the entire company or other products. Distinct benefits for each product can be directly attributed to a specific brand.
- Disadvantages: Each product will require its own marketing strategy and budget, with no synergy possible between products. Successes will not be directly attributed to the company’s brand.
Hybrid Brand – When a product extends the benefit of an overall brand or company, some companies use a hybrid branding strategy.
- Advantages: Marketing and branding can take advantage of the overall brand for budgets and reputation.
- Disadvantages: Any problems or negative press for either the product or the overall brand will affect both brands.
Umbrella Brand – If a company offers different products with different benefits, but they all extend the same value to the customer, sometimes they are all offered under an overall brand (ex. Nike – athletic gear).
- Advantages: Each product contributes to the shared value offered to the customer. Marketing and branding strategies can be at the shared value level, touting all the specific benefits.
- Disadvantages: Any product can negatively affect the overall brand and specific benefits may be muddled in the overall shared value.

Whichever branding strategy you choose, once you are aware of the advantages and disadvantages of each, you can take those into account when preparing your marketing strategies.

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(photo by Sarah Jane @ Flickr CC)

Technorati tags: brand, branding, branding strategy, business, marketing strategy, marketing

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