posted by Brenton on June 21st, 2010
Last Friday we talked about creating a clear brand identity, and how brands that try to do it all can actually water down the strength of their brand.
I asked you to think about what you could take away from your brand over the weekend in order to clear the haze and make it stronger and more effective.
Now that you’ve had the weekend to think about it, how do you actually decide what to clear away? You’re probably even afraid that if you start chipping away at your brand you might chip off an essential bit and make things even worse!
As you develop brand clarity, start with the visual elements. Are there any icons or images that don’t really add to the story of your brand? Sure, they might look nice, but do they really add to the power of your brand?
Now think about your brand’s messaging. Is it specific enough? Does it capture the true essence behind why people buy your product or choose your small business service?
As you ponder further, I’ll leave you with a statistic that I read in the book Radically Transparent by Andy Beal and Judy Strauss. It shares the fact that studies show 85% of a company’s brand image is driven by sales interactions—not by marketing campaigns.
If you’re a B2B small business, this makes sense. Remember, as you chip away the non-essentials from your brand that you need to think bigger than just simple marketing communications. A strong brand incorporates the messages that customer-facing employees are communicating in their words and actions to customers.
Is your brand doing this?
Tags: andy beal, brand marketing, brand strategy for non-profit, brand strategy for small business, branding tips, creating a strong brand, judy strauss, radically transparent, strategic web marketing
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posted by Anna Fleet on May 26th, 2010
The MOO Blog, one of my favorite online reads, is treating small businesses to an entire week of helpful posts on brand promotion.
And yesterday’s post, Small Businesses – What’s in a (brand) name?, was particularly jammed full of helpful wisdom. Business names were the focus of this particular post, and if your biz name happens to be a one-woman or one-man operation that you named after yourself then you should put that phone down while you’re typing that email and listen up Sparky!
If you’re a lone person running a small business you’re probably used to acting as employee, owner, marketing department, salesperson, receptionist etc. But did you know that bigwig companies like Chanel, Jack Daniels, and JC Penny were also started by one person and named after that one person?
Yes, many small owner-named businesses do succeed swimmingly. But take heed before ordering that corporate jet. When it comes to differentiating between brand and owner there is often a lot of gray area. For instance, if many of us rely on social media as a marketing tool, but where do your personal status updates end and your business ones start—especially if they all come from the same name?
While you ponder, check out the MOO blog’s small biz series. I would if I owned my own small business. Plus, the nice folks at MOO are giving away prizes to users who share their real biz stories.
Tags: brand marketing, brand strategy for small business, marketing 2.0, web 2.0 for small business
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One Calendar with Social Networking Powers
