How To Create Branding

This is a topic that can always be spoken about. Mainly because most pr clients, advertisers, and publicity agencies do not fully understand how to create a branding campaign, or build a brand product.

It starts with a plan. A Marketing Plan would be best. Inside the plan should be the different marketing strategies that outline in detail what your company goals are to be achieved and what will it take to attain those goals. So how does this relate to BRANDING? Glad you asked. It is just one small part of your pr marketing strategy.branding campaign

When you or your advertising agency creates a campaign for your product, or company image, consider what it is you are trying to achieve. If it is to be memorable, or have humor, or be a serious campaign, then this is how the branding will start. Branding also starts from within a company. From the CEO, to the president, to the office receptionist. But that’s another area of branding that we can discuss later.

Let’s get back to your ad campaign, or publicity campaign. If the idea that is presented looks good, feels good, but you as the pr client just says “that could be our competitors ad if you take out our logo”. Well, consider this, are they using that campaign, or that slogan, or those images. If not, then maybe you are in the old school. Just as I read in Brandweek, an article called “The Doing of the Thing”, by Mike Wolfsohn, points out that this type of thinking can make you be left behind the competition, instead of being the competition. He uses several examples; one in particular is the MasterCard “Priceless” campaign. While the competition, Visa, is trying to position them as the card that is used everywhere, MasterCard takes the personal approach making it more emotional. Anyone of the other card companies could have used that as their idea, but MasterCard did it.

So don’t throw out an idea because you feel the campaign is too generic, make it your brand, make it become your slogan, or image. That is one way to start building a brand. To learn how to create a brand in more detail, give George Carson a call. He can get you noticed so that YOU become the competition. Call him at 949-477-9400.

What is PR Marketing Stratgey?

It is the effectiveness to develop a plan that will grow, or increase a company’s revenue. Simple, right?

Not sure what this means? That’s ok, because every marketing expert and every marketing consultant will define marketing strategies in their own words. It still remains the same. Marketing Strategies are the campaign elements you create then implement that will build a business.Marketing Strategy

If you want to get more detailed, go to the advanced marketing consultants site. There it explains, in a lot of words, that by using just three marketing strategies you can build up to 101 strategies. Isn’t that great! OK, maybe it is a bit too much. Having all that information is ok, but who is going to develop this great plan, and then who is going to maintain and implement that plan? If you don’t have anyone in your company that knows how marketing strategies work, then call in an expert. Just don’t go through the yellow pages to find one. because it is like finding a doctor, or mechanic…there are hundreds to choose from. Contact someone in your industry and ask who they may have used. If that doesn’t work, give us a call. We are unbiased, yet have the expertise to get you in the right direction.

It is a win, win situation. We are marketing strategy experts who know how to combine all your publicity and advertising campaigns into a strong image branding campaign. We can show you how to save money, reduce wasted time and efforts with campaign elements that are not necessary, and show you how to increase awareness while increasing sales. Is it that simple, you ask? No, it isn’t. We just make it seem that way, because we use our 30+ years working with top accounts and apply the core elements you need to get back on track which will make your company profitable.

Start a PR Marketing Strategy Program today. It can be the beginning of a positive year unless you wait until your competition jumps ahead of you. It’s your decision.

Getting a Solid Brand Identity

Where do you start?

building a brandIn order to build a successful branding program for a company name, or a product requires several steps. To begin, you need to make sure you have a plan in place.

Branding is more than plastering your name on ads, flyers, or on your web site. It is more than running a bunch of radio or TV spots. Yes, this will get your company noticed, but only for the period of the media schedule.

It starts within the company. It is the culture that is developed. Some people mix their branding with a company’s "mission statement", or their company philosophy. These are separate and need to remain separate. Building a brand takes time. Some company’s are impatient and cannot wait the few months it takes to gain recognition, so they spend a lot of money on various media to get the word out.

This will help jump start any branding campaign, but it is short lived. You need to have a consistent plan that is more than a one shot campaign. I could go on to explain this further, but it will only become a long blog. <a href="http://www.technorati.com/claim/uwjgsy8u4d" rel="me">Technorati Profile</a>My point in writing this is to help pr clients realize that branding should be a very important part of your business plan and should be implemented in order to compete in today’s market.

If your company needs some guidance in developing a branding campaign, please give us a call. Our free consultation can show you how to incorporate a successful branding campaign into your company.

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Brand Building

How to keep your brand going strong

Auto brandingWhat makes a brand? It takes more than one sentence to answer this question. As well as it takes more than doing just one press release, or an article to create or build a brand. It takes an entire campaign that can last more than a few years to build a solid brand image.

First you need to understand what it takes to build a brand, as well as how to maintain that brands image. A good thought would be why you are buying a particular car. Why do you prefer a GM brand over an import like Toyota, Nissan, Lexus, etc, or vice versa? Ask yourself, why is a brand important?

Brands are a big part of our daily life. It is how we make decisions on our buying habits. So knowing this much, you should then realize no matter your industry, branding is critical.

Oh, you think that your company is a B2B company, and therefore you don’t sell directly to consumers. Bad thought. All people, even business people are brand conscious. They too are consumers. Take another test. Why do your business customers buy from competitors? It’s the branding. Ok, sometimes cost is a factor. But if your brand was highly respected, one that delivers excellent service with follow up, then your brand will outlast the discount companies.

If you need to read some other thoughts on building a brand, then read a column from Rhonda’s Report. She will address the 5 points that brands are based on. It is time to build your brand before your competitors knock you out of the industry.

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Using Videos For Publicity

How to get the word out!

Branding is still a hot issue with companies. And if you haven’t yet implemented a branding program, you should do it now. The Internet has helped launch many companies by building images of national and international brands. Publicity firms and pr clients should rethink the tools they use when spreading the word. As the Internet continues to reach new levels of marketing, publicity professionals and pr clients can take advantage of these new and exciting tools for branding.

Using videos for publicityNow you can do it with videos. Broadband videos are hot. These clips now can be produced by production companies to showcase a pr clients products or service, just like they would in a TV spot. Unlike TV commercials, these can be longer in time, or cut apart into smaller shorts to create more interest.

Alan Schulman wrote an article describing "How To Build Your Brand With Video". He gives several good tips, 5 in all.
For example, if you are looking to attract sports people, make sure your clips are geared to that audience. Another tip that publicity professionals and marketers should include is: Make the Videos Interactive. Get your audience to click onto a video that reveals a promotion or tells a message about your pr clients product or service.

These are just a few suggestions and reasons why Broadband Videos can jumpstart a publicity campaign for your company or pr client. If you need help in understanding this new marketing tool, contact us or find a company that has the street smarts to get your company noticed.

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Branding Through Search Engines

Build your image with SEO’s


Traditional branding is something a company, a pr client or advertising agency will do that may include a corporate identity program, collateral materials, and possibly purchasing media.
The media can be print (newspapers, magazines) or broadcast such as radio or TV.

Branding is the building of a name, a product or the overall company’s image. It is the consistent use of the brand in all the different areas of communication. As clients and customers become familiar with the brand, it makes them become loyal to that brand. Therefore, it takes time to build this loyalty among customers and clients.

With Search Branding, we see a new era of marketing and how we use the branding tools. Clients and potential customers now use search engines to seek the information about a product. When you optimize your site correctly, and have a solid web marketing campaign, that should include a good blog site, you will begin to establish a branded image. The buy-cycle is different on search engines than traditional branding, because people now can collect the information they want to make a buying decision sooner. That means you need to get your company listed in several areas so the potential customer feels good about your brand when making the decision to buy.

When people see your brand two, three and four times when searching, they become familiar with the brand making them more loyal to it. So as you can see, by using search engines as Google, Ask.com, Yahoo and many of the other specialty engines, it can make your brand a winner.

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Branding

Are you Multiplatform with your brand?

Branding a product or licensing a product can be a big step for any company. When developing a branding program for a pr client, or your own company, you might want to look at how your product branding, or company branding is marketed.

Today, we are seeing multiplatform branding by major companies. This can be applied to any size company when implemented correctly.

First let’s back up a step. When branding your company, or product is not an overnight campaign. It usually takes several months and in some cases years to build a solid brand image.

Ok, back to multiplatform branding. Why is this new catch phrase important to publicity and public relation campaigns. Because if you are not watching how the consumer, or your customers are reacting to today’s activities, then you are missing out on how to reach them.

Multiplatform brands make use of the different forms of what consumers, like kids, are doing. They are multitasking!

We are all multitasking. It has become a way we do business, how we have business relationships, how we interact with families, and how we buy goods.

It is necessary for you to identify the market you are in, research your audience and then identify what multi-markets, or multi-activities those potential customers are involved in.

This is one way to keep your brand awareness high with potential, and existing customers. Customers will now see your brand in all the places they visit and are multitasking.

Your publicity program can then gain extended exposure with reporters, editors, and various media. How? Because you are reaching out into those customers other markets they are multitasking in. So get your media together and have the pr people start a multiplatform branding program for your company.

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Branding And Publicity

The new age in Branding is Sonic Branding


It is another new term that is getting the buzz these days. Sonic Branding is the next level of branding for a company’s image.

I have written about building your brand image several times. Now it is time to look at Sonic Branding and how to make it work with publicity and pr clients.

First, what is Sonic Branding? It is the use of sound that works with your branded image, logo, or tag line.

If you have listen to any commercial from Intel, or a manufacturer that uses Intel products, then you heard the chimes of the Intel brand. That’s Sonic Branding.

About two months ago there was an article in Brandweek that spoke about this new branding campaign. Get the full story by reading about it.

Not all companies can benefit from this type of branding. Obliviously you need to be doing some broadcast advertising, or have a podcast site, or maybe you can use it on your voicemail (I highly NOT recommend that idea).

If you can do Sonic Branding, then make sure your publicity campaign or publicity agency uses this new technology  (branding) in the overall program.

A press release alone isn’t going to get much attention. But consider putting the sonic branded message in your email to the press. Or do an announcement using a greeting card idea that has jingles in it. You can purchase these custom cards offshore and it could be the start of making your public relations program get a jump-start.

No matter what you do, keep in mind that building a brand cannot be accomplished overnight. It requires constant implementation and use of the branded image in all your communications.

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Building A Brand

Branding is still the leader for name recognition

Creating a branding campaign is more than doing one ad, or placing a tagline onto your web site.
It is a constant image builder of your company’s name/tagline.

The ultimate goal is to have your brand recognized by your potential and existing customers. But it is important to make sure that the branding is a positive image.

What makes a Brand?
First, you need to identify what makes your company, service or products unique. With Avis, many years ago they positioned themselves as being the #2 car rental company. While everyone was fighting for the top spot, Avis figured out that no one is proud of being second, so they took that position and it worked. The "We Try Harder" campaign is still memorable.

Also a few years ago, 7-up bottling company played on the fact that their product was clean (clear) free of any added chemicals like caffeine, The healthier campaign help to position the "brand" as an alternative to the different and unhealthier colas. The UNCOLA brand made a strong hit.

Build the brand from within the company
Before you get the image to the consumer, or to your B2B clients, you need to start the brand awareness campaign inside the company. This includes the top management from the CEO and President of the company to the receptionist.

Branding includes a variety of things from slogans, to pictures on the walls, how you answer the phone, and the email signatures used in daily correspondence.

Finding that special brand for your company
Building a brand doesn’t happen by chance. And you should not borrow another company’s slogan, or idea to make that your branded image.

Find what separates your company from the industry. What is your USP (Unique Selling Proposition)? Find that one or two points to help create your branding. Don’t go overboard and use this branding campaign throughout the entire office…there is a point of over saturation. Be practical and be proactive when using the branding campaign. It can be your chance in becoming the next 7-up.

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Getting The Word Out

Branding is important so is blogging

All companies are fighting for the same thing. An Identity.

Without this, you can’t be visible, you will have a difficult time selling a product or service, and it will be very difficult to stay in business.

Today’s competitive market (in all industries) is looking for better and more efficient methods to creating this identity.

The word "Branding" has become a popular term in our business language. This is what an identity is for a company. Although branding does encompass more than the traditional identity program. All businesses need to have a serious look as to how they are perceived by customers, competitors and the media.

When developing a branding program, you need to look at all aspects of the company. When you have placed a true branding program in place, you then need to get that image, brand into the marketplace.

Doing this can be done in several ways. I strongly recommend that companies include with their Publicity Campaign a business "blog site".

Blogging is more than a term; it is now part of our daily lives. Even more so in business.

A good blog site will consist of RSS feeds to attract news about your industry, and market. It will also be created in a fashion to reflect your image–BRAND. In addition it needs to be monitored and produced by a professional blog company that knows the "back end" of the marketing. Doing a blog is only one small part of blogging.

Writing and using links, images, keywords, phrases and many other unique techniques can be a very productive site to make a company gain visibility and brand recognition within 90 days.

So be careful before you just plunge into a blog site. Make sure you work with people who know the techniques of the business side. These are the people who can make things happen for you and your company.

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