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Author: Scott D. White Article source: http://www.thewebtrafficco.com/. Used with author's permission.
Where is your brand positioned in the marketplace? How is it perceived, both positively and negatively? Can you identify your brand's core strength's and equities? What are the barriers or threats standing in the way? A brand strategy company will provide you with an objective assessment of your brand.
They can deliver specific solutions that will allow you to reach your strategic business goals and objectives, and clearly differentiate your brand and identity in the marketplace. Contact a branding company and they'll explore how they can help you develop a "BrandMasterpiece" branding and positioning strategy.
Many clients have the mistaken idea that they can't brand their company because it is too expensive. In fact, a smaller business can build a very strong brand in their sales area by being uniform in their image and message through a proactive and consistent campaign.
Corporate image and branding are strongly connected. In order for the brand to work effectively, the correct colors, font and design must be used in your corporate identity. It is not enough to say I need my logo to be blue; it's knowing what shade of blue, out of the 1000's to choose from. Remember your corporate identity is designed to attract your target markets, as well as represent your company.
Why Positioning
When people ask a branding company what exactly is it that they do, they unhesitatingly answer, "positioning". While they also perform other marketing-oriented activities for their clients, their philosophy is that the entire marketing mix hinges upon good positioning. If the client's product hasn't been positioned properly, it will fail. Period.
The strategies, tactics, messages, and creative are all directly dependent upon the development of appropriate positioning. Unsound positioning will weaken each of these endeavors and yet it's probably the least understood and most neglected of marketing activities. Many brand positions are hurriedly crafted by committee to placate management with obvious results. A landmark article by HCI once pointed out that fully 70% of new product positions mimic that of an established brand in the therapeutic category. That's not typically a formula for success.
A branding company believes that good positioning is born of thorough market and product understanding. Only then can a diligent, proven process craft the positioning that will drive proper strategic, tactical, and creative work.
Positioning Design
Positioning is arguably the most important and yet the most difficult responsibility of the marketing professional. That may be why a branding company's most popular service is a positioning design process. This unique, process makes use of a rigorous developmental methodology that designs brand positioning, and is quantitatively proven to create a positive product perception and generate incremental new prescriptions.
Whether it's a new product requiring positioning developed from scratch or an under-performing product needing re-positioning, a branding company can enhance your product's performance.
A branding company utilizes a disciplined, proven process to engineer an optimal brand positioning and an actionable communications blueprint. The process is broken down into three distinct phases: Surveying, Design and Engineering, and Brand Blueprint.
Researching Phase
The Researching phase includes the development of the initial strategic assessment based on an evaluation of the currently available information regarding the product, audience, and marketplace. This phase also includes recommendations for additional market research and exploration. The Researching activities include, but are not limited to:
· Qualitative evaluation and situation analysis
· Product and market differentiation
· Customer segmentation, needs and problem analysis
Qualitative / quantitative research and analysis
Strategic Phase
A branding company should believe that strategy, message, and tactics all flow from a well-structured positioning. In the Strategic phase, positioning development, evaluation, and testing lead to the formulation of an effective strategic framework for the Brand. Only with a thorough understanding of that brand positioning, can key messages for offline as well as online delivery be crafted and evaluated. The Strategic phase activities include, but are not limited to:
· Positioning workshops and option development
· Strategy creation, mapping, and metrics
· Attribute articulation / messaging
Blueprint
The Blueprint is a unifying document that provides strict guidance on the tactical application of the strategy and positioning to the full cadre of outsource communications partners (i.e., professional and consumer promotional agencies, public relations, publication planning, e-promotion resources, etc.) A primary goal of the Blueprint is to ensure consistent, cohesive, and synergistic promotion for the Brand across all tactics and media. The Blueprint:
· Creates appropriate relationship between science & marketing
· Increases cohesiveness of internal and external teams
· Is a focusing tool for tactical partners
To measure how strong your brand image is click on this link: (http://brandidentityguru.com/bightml/brandmasterpiece.html) or copy and paste. 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.
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