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.

The Social Media Is B2B

Ignoring this media can hurt your company with negative publicity

A good article by another blog writer discusses the area of "social blogs". I have mentioned this as well, trying to wake up the Business Community that this new media is not going away. Instead, it is building.

Social mediaIf handled properly, you can monitor these social blogs to get an insight to the thinking and buying habits of potential customers. Pr clients and publicity agencies should also monitor these activities. It will give you a better understanding of your market. PR and Marketing need to interact more often. Rather than doing their own "thing’ to show corporate their greatness, it’s time to blend these resources and become more effective for doing business with B2B.

The article I saw was posted Nov. 1, and it is titled

"Social Media, Blogs, Message Boards…It’s Not Just a B2C Thing". The writer gives some indepth perspective to the fact that each are, PR and Marketing each feel it is the others responsibility to monitor. This type of thinking can cause your company to fall behind and not clearly recognize when tends move on or how your product might be viewed.

One of the comments in the article is direct and makes a solid point. It says "In the B2B world, internet users are using online communities to make their voices heard — sharing their experiences and opinions. Sure, consumers are more engaged in social media, but business users are increasingly using it, and I am confident it will become the norm over the next few years."

If you want to check some of the social web sites, here are a few to view:
YouTube.com
Break.com
Consumerist.com
MyBad.com

There are several others, but this will give you an idea and a few places to start your monitoring.

See Also