|
Author: Scott D. White Article source: http://www.kabish.com/. Used with author's permission.
Today, in many organizations around the world, branding is treated as a cosmetic exercise only, and regarded merely as a new name, logo, stationary and possibly a new advertising campaign. But, to associate your "brand" with such superficial cosmetics is like saying that people are really only the sum of their name, face and sometimes their clothing
But branding is a thoughtful discipline that strongly belongs to the long-term strategy of an organization; brand strategy is, or should be, business strategy, and vice versa.
Smart Branding is about having a clear point of view on what an organization is about and how it can deliver a thoughtful and unique experience to its customers. Then, the execution is about organizing all products, services, and corporate operations around the customer, to close the gap between the promised and the delivered brand experience.
For example, Staples, an office-supply retailer in the US, aims at making the purchasing experience easy, as communicated in its trademarked slogan "that was easy." In practice, it may mean training the front-line personnel in customer service processes (e.g., how to minimize issues during check-out), designing the website for instant product reviews and actual delivery time, and scheduling fast delivery of orders and pick-up of returns. All those organizational aspects thus reinforce each other and converge to the same strategic objective.
Approach branding as a business strategy, is to view how all products, services and interactions with the consumer under the brand name become building blocks of bedrock of trust derived from their customers' experience; For instance the iExperience that the iFamily of Apples' iProducts deliver to its iFanatics.
To be successful, Smart Branding has to be seen as an important part of the corporate strategy, something that will deeply influence the entire organization. That's why Smart Branding initiatives need to be aimed not only to the external costumer but also has to be directed to the inside of the organization, transforming the figure of the CEO into the brand champion who drives the brand and everyone in the organization; Think Howard Schultz, Steve Jobs or Richard Branson
To truly become and act as The Brand champions, CEO's need to take all their decisions based on three premises:
1. The brand is the most important organization asset
2. The most important source of income is the customer, and
3. Branding is about business planning.
These three premises will help CEO's follow the most important rule of the marketing game: If you don't sell, you aren't in business.
This CEO level approach to branding, allows brands to have an aided recognition that can result in premium pricing and extension opportunities, which ultimately will increase customers' loyalty. It also provides management tangible metrics to assess initiatives, which eventually can be transformed into tangible brand equities.
To measure how strong your brand is copy and paste:
(http://brandidentityguru.com/bightml/brandmasterpiece.html). Then click "Take the brand strength test". This is a short survey that measures the strength of any company's brand. It's a great tool to see where you are today. Scott White is President of Brand Identity Guru (http://www.brandidentityguru.com), a leading brand consulting and market research firm located in Easton, Massachusetts, USA, near Boston.
Brand Identity Guru specializes in creating corporate and product brands that increase sales, market share, customer loyalty, and brand valuation. Over the course of his 15-year branding career, Scott White has worked in a wide variety of industries: high-tech, manufacturing, computer hardware and software, telecommunications, banking, restaurants, fashion, healthcare, Internet, retail, and service businesses, as well as numerous non-profit organizations.
Brand Identity Guru clients include: Sun Life Financial, Coca Cola, HP, Sun, Nordstrom, American Federal Mortgage, Simon (America's largest shopping mall manager) and many others, including numerous emerging growth companies.
Scott White is a very enthusiastic speaker and has the gift of being able to explain the principles of branding in a compelling and entertaining manner so that people at all levels can understand.
Article PR Headlines – the Reader is Secondary
A great headline can be the difference between having your free reprint article published once (on your own website…) and having it published hundreds, if not t...
Feed me - Satisfy the Search Engines and Your Sites Visitors With Keyword-Rich Content
Search engines love content. Graphics may make your site look great, but a nice picture does not attract a search engine. Or a searcher for that matter. Good, r...
Increase Your Training Intensity - Forced Repetitions
Adding up to three forced repetitions to each exercise in your lifting routine is a useful means of intensifying the exercise process.
ECommerce Website Design - 12 Quick Tips for Beginning Webmasters
Effective ecommerce web site design is almost an art unto
itself, but it can be managed by even the most rank beginner if
a few underlying concepts and princi...
Being a Leader and Being Confident With Women
Being a Leader and Being Confident with women will have a great impact on your dating success.
Job Search Campaign Tip: An Activity Diary
The value of keeping a daily diary while you are job hunting is explored. It provides a place to centralize contacts, evaluate the emotional consequences of dif...
How to Work with Newspaper Photographers
The next time a newspaper photographer takes your photo, remember the 8 things they hate:
Bounced Checks in Your Business Location Outlets
Are bounced checks driving you nuts? Ever wonder why?
How Do You Use Your Whole Brain?
Imagine for a moment, top executives with a major
fortune 500 company huddled around a board room table
brainstorming new ideas for products and services. Now...
What Every Small Business Needs to Know About Workers Comp
Small business owners often overlook workers compensation insurance. The fact is that, unless you're in Texas, you must compensation for your employees in the c...
Protein or Carbohydrates?
Should you use protein or carbohydrates to reach your fitness goals by following a strength training program?
Common Pitfalls Of Plastic Surgery
Common pitfalls of plastic surgery are those involving before and after pictures with photographic tricks or attractive models instead of the surgeon's patients...
The Benefits of Coenzyme Q10
Coenzyme Q10 has exploded onto the health scene. This powerful
mineral has many health saving properties. It is responsible for
essential chemical reactions in ...
Article Marketing: Why 2 URLs Equals Watered Down Orange Juice!
When you include TWO URLS in the resource box of your article, you're turning it into watered down orange juice.
4 Steps to Take in Your Race to Riches
Anyone who has ever run in a race knows that every lap counts. A mistake early can force you to work hard to catch up, an error late can wipe away precious tim...
Tanning Bed Options and Hints
Having tanned and nice looking skin is becoming more and more important in our society. We often have to use tanning beds in order to get our skin to the desi...
Self-Employment: Do you know the Difference between Rates and Wages
The difference between rates and wages is not always clear to newly self-employed people and their wage-earning clients. Most newly self-employed workers are f...
A Day in the Life of a Self Employed Professional
When you decided to become self employed, no one every told you there'd be days like these. A poignant look at a typical day in the life of a self employed prof...
Shabby Chic Bedding Can Add An Elegant Vintage Touch to Your Room!
If you are looking for that time-worn yet elegant look for your bedroom, then you should look into Shabby Chic bedding. It will add a soft, feminine touch to yo...
Is Christianity Losing America?
Why is the truth in Christ so hard for people to understand? The Christian culture is dwindling according to scripture and there are those that continue to deni...
Creating An Effective Toolbox For Success
Most people have a toolbox of coping mechanisms that effectively get us through life's tougher situations. But if that toolbox isn't very full with empowering ...
Generic Medicines
Why buy Generic Medicines? Well maybe because you can save up to
70% on your prescription drugs...
Better Web Site ROI: Efficient Online Business with SEO, PPC, Split Testing, and Forums
Web design itself doesn't bring in or increase profits... at least not the graphic kind most people think of. There are loads of web designers out there who wan...
Do You Need Milk?
Most of us have been raised with the education that we must have dairy milk on a daily basis - "to build strong bones and teeth". We do need calcium, but milk ...
|
Print this page