Wondering what people are saying about you or your brand? One of the most powerful tools to keep up what people think is to do a vanity search from time to time. A vanity search is a search (usually on Google) for your name, company name or brand name (really should be doing all of them). Ideally you should own the first page of results – meaning you’ve written or posted everything there. But when a results from someone else shows up, it’s an opportunity for you to take action.
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Dec
22
2009
Best of 2009: Advantages & Disadvantages of Different Branding Strategies
It’s the end of another year and we’re highlighting the best posts of 2009…(originally posted March 25, 2009)
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.
Nov
25
2009
What We Hope For
As businesses, our goal is to provide something of value to our customers in return for payment (usually in cash). We’re very thankful and appreciative of our customers for purchasing from us – because we get to keep providing products and services. We take our income and in turn spend it on products and services from other businesses and so the economy works (for the most part). While we’re all in business to make money (and hopefully do something you’re passionate about), what we hope for is that we’re providing something that our customers value and are thankful for.
Nov
18
2009
Say What You Mean and Mean What You Say
If you’re going to make some sort of guarantee or have a marketing message, it’s very important that you say what you mean (and vice versa). When consumers go out of their way to pick your brand based on your message, you want to make sure that they get what they think they’re getting. If a customer thinks you mean one thing, and finds out it isn’t so, they won’t just be confused, they’ll be a little peeved – which can undo all the effort you’ve spent marketing the message in the first place.
Oct
07
2009
What’s Your Business’ Personality?
People like to attribute human characteristics to things and companies are no different. When we think of a business or a brand, we think of all the emotions and experiences we’ve had related to it. We usually tie up all these feelings into a sort of personality for that business. Apple is thought of as hip and probably a bit snooty. Facebook is that friend that you liked to party with in college. Nike is way into sports, but likes to look good doing it. You get the picture. What personality does your business have?
Oct
06
2009
Stop and Think Before Sending that Mafia Request. What’s the Effect on Your Brand?
Social networks are growing. Even your Mom knows what Twitter is. The time people spend online is growing and increasingly they also interact there as well. You may have clients and customers which have never interacted with your company in person, only through a website or social network. All this means that your online reputation can have an effect on your brand and company.
Aug
31
2009
Protecting Your Domain Name Ideas
You have this great idea for a site and you start researching possible domain names. When you go to buy one a few days later, you find that it’s already been purchased. You find this strange because you’ve only told a few people about the name. Now you have to either try to buy the domain name back or think of a new one. Very frustrating. If this has happened to you or you’re thinking about purchasing a domain name in the future, you should take steps to protect your ideas.
Aug
03
2009
Who Are You, Exactly?
So many of us are so busy running our businesses that we forget exactly who we are – what our company stands for and what we provide to our customers. This can lead to some huge business problems, such as branding and reputation problems, as well as not understanding where to spend money to reach our actual customers. Taking a few minutes to think about who you are - in terms of what your customer thinks, can really help you target the right audience with the correct message, saving you both time and money in the process.
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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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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