 Your new post is loading...
Your new post is loading...
CEOs and executives have understood for a long time that a company’s brand is important and goes way beyond just a logo and tagline. But questions about the actual value of the brand have often relegated this vital asset to a fuzzy, feel-good, slightly nebulous item that rarely gets the executive attention it deserves.
It turns out that companies can determine how much a brand is worth. We’ve seen this most recently in the bidding war breaking out for Steinway, which is a brand that transcends time and technology. It has legendary cache, in a way that fabled brands like Kodak or Polaroid did not. We know that strong brands with good reputations have 31% better total return to shareholders than the MSCI World average....
"Brand" will always be a nebulous term. Arguments rage about its true value, especially on social media...
Although recent research shows that it can be responsible for nearly 15% of your total worth (Or much, much more, if you’re J.K.Rowling), it’s still seen by many as the ultimate wooly metric. There’s no doubt that being a household name will improve your chances of success in social, but just how far will it take you?
I’ve taken a look at the world’s top ten brands, and matched up their profiles across the biggest social media platforms.Let’s see what’s in a name...
If you’re a brand strategist, you have a point of view, an agenda, and a need to influence. You’re an activist for your brand. Today, brands must be seen as experts, and we claim that title through content marketing, which means producing content that informs your buyers and keeps them apprised of news and trends. Which makes content marketers journalists too, and with that, comes responsibility...
... Nearly 40% of CMOs do not think they have the right people and resources to meet their goals, says an Accenture report entitled “Turbulence for the CMO”. Martin Sorrell, the boss of WPP, the world’s biggest marketing and advertising group, says that since the 2008 financial crisis marketers have been elbowed aside by finance and procurement chiefs. Dominique Turpin, the head of IMD, a Swiss business school, writes that “the CMO is dead”. Yet some have never felt perkier. With new digital tools marketers can reach the likeliest customers when they are most in the mood to buy. Last summer Wall’s ice cream and O2, a mobile-phone network, teamed up to send advertisements to Londoners’ smartphones when temperatures climbed. When the weather cooled Kleenex, a brand of tissues, used Google search terms and health-service data to target ad spending to areas likely to suffer the most sneezes. Andy Fennell, the marketing boss of Diageo, a drinks firm, thinks this is “a golden era for brand builders”....
Often these days, content marketers are syndicating content across platforms in social media, Facebook included. The CMI, for example, noted that 80% of B2B content marketers are now posting content through Facebook. In any content marketing play, it’s almost inevitable that Facebook will be brought up. But too often, people expect sponsored stories, a couple of funny posts and some good videos will be enough to change the very nature of their brand in the social space. But let’s take a step back for a moment and look at what exactly is happening in the space. Social media relies on people having an implicit trust in one another, and for brands, it becomes very difficult to put your faith or trust in something so abstract. Take a piece of research by Forrester. It suggests that the majority of content being posted by brands just isn’t being trusted. There are a few reasons why this might be the case....
Real-time social media marketing can be incredibly powerful as it adds elements of context and relevance to your social media content and audience interactions. The challenge for many organizations is that existing processes can stand in the way of engaging and interacting with audiences in a timely manner. Process by its nature takes time, and virtually strips organizations of being able to act in real-time. Opportunity identification, legal reviews, running approvals up the ladder, creative ideation, risk assessment, production, organizing and rallying a team to create content are a few of the factors that can grind execution of the best intentions to a halt. All of these components are important, but to capitalize on real-time opportunities on social media, certain planning and preparation will need to be in place. Also, in some cases, concessions or modifications might need to be made to your organization’s regular processes. Following are a few suggestions and ideas for how you can prepare your organization to be equipped engage in real-time on social media:...
If you are looking to purchase a PC what does come to your mind? HP, Dell. That’s because they have build a Personal Brand around their products. Similarly as a blogger or a business that blogs, you need to build a brand around your blog. Readers should be able to refer your blog if something comes up related to your nice or expertise. Remember to get Good Name for Blogs and also ensure they are Professional Blog Names even if its for your personal or business blog. 5 Blog Branding Actions That Build A Good Brand There are various things that you can do as part of your blog branding campaign, remember to add the following 5 Personal Branding Blogs actions to your campaign to build a good brand....
As content takes its rightful place at the forefront of marketing, I'm seeing many marketers fail at basic storytelling. Marketers are ineffective when they use the classic "customer testimonial" format and pop that onto their blog or make it into a video. "Here’s our product. It is great. Here are customers who say it is great. Now buy some of our product." This just doesn't hold people's attention. How interesting would a book or movie be were it to have this plot?:
Boy meets girl.
They fall in love.
They get married. That's what most people do with their business writing. Effective storytelling
The best stories drip with conflict. They have a hero and sometimes a villain. There is a story arc. As a writing teacher once told me: "Writing without conflict is propaganda."
A fresh and liberating approach to defining a brand and why we ought to consider total brand consistency as an unachievable ideal. The practice of branding is undergoing a deep transformation — a change brought about by our kaleidoscopic postmodern culture, the development of communication technology and rapid globalization. In prior decades, brand managers aimed to establish their products and services primarily by way of consistency and repetition. A brand’s voice and message were to be the same, independent of marketing channel. The goal of the designer was to define identity systems that would ensure compliance and coherence in all of the brand’s manifestations, as codified in brand identity style guides....
What happens when you combine corporate reputation and brand equity? A powerful “Hidden Harmony” that can result in exceptional business results. According to a 2012 research study by the Council of Public Relations Firms and Harris Interactive, the outcome is a powerful “Hidden Harmony” that can result in exceptional business results....
Recent research conducted by the Council of Public Relations Firms reveals that there may be an even stronger relationship between brand equity and corporate reputation than previously thought. An analysis of 50,000 consumers showed that when these two strategies are combined, the effects are stronger than the individual power of each. These results have a big impact for marketers. They suggest that by combining brand efforts and corporate reputation efforts, companies can achieve better results with respect to things such as purchase consideration and recommendation.... [Interesting study worth noting by both marketing and PR ~ Jeff]
Colleague Andrew Nemiccolo has just published his new e-book on business storytelling and I really like it.
I know -- you are thinking, "What?! ANOTHER ebook on business storytelling??" Yep, and it's good. Here's what I like about it:
1. The focus on 'back-channel' communication and listening
2. Tackling being vulnerable and getting comfortable sharing your personal stories
3. Advice to NOT find stories, but find experiences instead
4. Steps for figuring out who your audience is first before you share a story
5. All the great story prompts for figuring out and organizing the experiences you want to share
6. Tips for creating a story bank of your experiences
I am not crazy about the definition of 'story' that Andrew uses -- basically for him, anything is a story. Well, that's not helpful and actually leads to a lot of confusion for people. A Tweet is not a story, but it can be part of a larger business narrative. Knowing the difference will help you better target your storytelling efforts.
The book is primarily focused on marketing and branding. Even so, the information and advice can be use in a whole host of other biz story applications.
Go grab the easy-to-read-and-digest book and get smarter about working with stories in business.
I have no affiliation with Andrew or his company other than a promise to chat over coffee sometime. Enjoy the book!
This review was written by Karen Dietz for her curated content on business storytelling at www.scoop.it/t/just-story-it
Twitter may be the newest battleground for big brands. While these duels appear to be all in good fun, one can’t help but notice how much attention both sides are getting because of a little friendly brawl. Ad Week highlights two conflicts between four very high profile brands. Oreo recently got dunked by AMC Theatres and Taco Bell mixed it up with Old Spice. Sometimes, Twitter is all about understanding your audience. Oreo asked its followers, “Ever bring your own Oreo cookies to the movie theater?” AMC Theatres replied @Oreo “NOT COOL, COOKIE.” This response was certainly not what Oreo had expected. However, maybe this little dose of creativity and engagement is why AMC Theatres has over 136,000 followers, while Oreo has about 53,000. Shane Adams, the voice of the AMC Theatres Twitter account, explains that these posts are not just about being clever. He says that Twitter is about trust and how a brand’s voice is defined. Once the audience knows the brand personality, they will be able to relate more to the brand. Oreo responded @AMCTheatres, “Fair enough, but don’t hate the player, hate the game.” No hard feelings here, just a little social media creativity....
|
The changing way in which customers review products can be great for business ... or terrible.
You ask a friend where she got her new Macbook Air and she gushes about the selection and service at her local electronics store so much that you decide to check it out next time you're in her neighborhood. Your boss can't decide where to go out to dinner, so you pull up Yelp on your phone and find a nearby restaurant with the highest ratings. Whether you're aware of it or not, both you and the businesses you patronize benefit from brand advocacy.
Brand advocacy is the latest reincarnation of a concept that most of us are quite familiar with: word–of–mouth advertising, individual recommendations, vouching and the like. It relies on advocates promoting brands via personal marketing, which can be as simple as telling a friend verbally or posting on Facebook.
This method is incredibly effective because of a simple – and very, very human – concept: trust. We trust our friends, the Yelp community, particular bloggers or Twitter personalities who share their preferences and influence our decisions accordingly. From the consumer’s perspective, personal testimony is vastly more relatable than pure numbers, and we value reviews over ratings. How often have you looked at a Yelp or Amazon entry without reading the reviews?...
The Starbucks Coffee marketing research department is kept busy providing oodles and oodles of insights into the Starbucks brand through yearly brand audits. And take it from this former long-time Starbucks marketer: The company learns a lot from these studies.
However, when it comes to measuring and managing the Starbucks brand on a daily basis, the Starbucks marketing department generally relies on a much simpler method—a brand checkbook.
Just as your personal checkbook has credits and debits, a brand checkbook has credits and debits in the form of brand credits and brand debits. "Brand credits" are business activities that enhance the reputation and perception people have of a brand, and "brand debits" are those that detract from the reputation and perception of the brand....
Despite its current popularity, brand reputation management is not a new concept, but today it's about actively managing the references, conversations, and feedback that typically occur online....
So, what course of action should you take? Basically, having a good defense as well as attack strategy is required. Here are seven key areas you should address: - Search engine dominance - Brand monitoring - Social media PR - Reviews and recommendations - Customer service and culture - Negative-PR management- Brand advocacy...
Paid, earned, and owned media. The phrase may be a marketing workhorse, but with the explosion of digital channels and new technologies, “paid, earned, and owned” is a lot less useful as a way of looking at media strategy and spend than it used to be. As the lines between the three categories of media have eroded beyond recognition, marketers need to rethink how they spend marketing dollars, staff teams, drive strategy, and collaborate with agencies. According to an Altimeter Group report, The Converged Media Imperative, agencies and brands need help (a lot of help) understanding and navigating the new landscape....
... here’s the truth: branding your business does not have to be complicated, and business branding is not just for the big marketing firms. It’s for every business that wants to carve out a space for itself and leave its mark. Now that we’ve gotten that cleared up, what’s the next step? If your business is new and building a brand from scratch, or if you are reinventing your business brand online, here are 4.5 ways to get a head start...
Just like people, brands come in all shapes and sizes. A brand is not a logo, colors, fancy tag line or even a fancy Super Bowl commercial. A brand is not your Facebook page, Twitter background or set of beautifully designed Pinterest boards.... ... On average it takes a minimum of 6-7 brand touches for someone to remember your brand. You better make every touch count. It’s humans who decide if they like you or not, if they tell their friends good or bad things about you. The sooner you can acknowledge the importance of becoming a human brand and the need to truly inspire and connect with your audiences, the sooner you will see results and progress as you integrate social media into the DNA of your organization. Below are 13 characteristics of the human brand. I could write 100 of these because you can’t simply define a human nor a human brand in a short list of characteristics. However, here are 13 straight forward characteristics of human brands. If you are wondering what human brands do and think this is a good place to start....
We've all read that social-media ROI is weaker than other traditional marketing channels. Recently, social media came under fire again in an articles in which Unilever aired their concerns in Marketing Magazine. Unilever marketing teams are questioning the logic of shifting big budgets to social media, when the equivalent spent on in-store promotions can deliver an ROI up to 50% higher. This statement suggests a lot about the mindset of some marketers who work for big companies. Social media has been developing for about a decade, but these marketers still miss the point. Consumers are no longer passive targets that you can simply feed with coupons and vouchers. People want their purchases to be inspired by stories that matter. And they're even ready to trust brands to tell their stories, if brands are sincere. They want to know how a brand is trying to change the world. Naive? Maybe. But, maybe not....
Your logo is a visual representation of everything your company stands for. And with a statement like that, who wouldn’t be overwhelmed? It can be a difficult undertaking to sum up you or your clients’ entire brand identity in just an image or logotype. So where do you begin? Inspiration is the first thing that comes to mind. Here at Go Media we often ask clients to send us some logos they like to get a sense of their aesthetic taste. Of course we have an in-depth discovery meeting where we glean as much information about their company to create the most representative logo for their brand....
It would appear that our buzzword du jour is “content marketing.” You might have noticed that they talk about it a lot here on Copyblogger. (If you haven’t noticed that, you’re either new or you don’t pay attention very well.) At a gathering in Boston recently, I threw out this one: “Content marketing is weaponized storytelling.” It got a lot of retweets. And now, weeks later, I don’t really know if I even agree with that. But I do believe that content marketing is a lot more like sales than it is that dubious (and yet somewhat important) word “branding.” Here’s what I mean by that....
...The big question that opened the conference: which has more influence on purchase consideration and recommendation, reputation or brand? As new research presented by Robert Fronk of Harris Interactive revealed, the answer depends on what dimension you’re looking at. The Harris study found “excitement,” “quality,” and “outperforms expectations” rating high among brand-centric influencers, while “clear vision,” “strong growth potential” and “good company to work for” mattering among reputational factors. None of that should come as any surprise. The big wow came from Harris’s painstaking cross -tabbing of data. As it turns out, the combination of positive brand equity and positive corporate reputation drives purchase and recommendation to a degree that often far exceeds the sum of parts. The Council packaged it up well as Hidden Harmony, a valuable white paper on the study.... ["Hidden Harmony" is a valuable white paper and important reading for PR, branding and marketing. The most important take is the power of brand equity and reputation working in concert. ~ Jeff]
Do you know the importance of an online presence, but aren't sure if your brand is on the right track? This graphic provides some helpful reminders for success.
I'm in Miami this week taking part in the Holmes Report's Global PR Summit and the topic of "Brand Journalism." I know nothing about the subject but no one else does either because it's a made up term that is in the early stages of being defined. Nothing wrong in that, I do it all the time but I try to think of concepts that make sense and this one doesn't make any sense at all.... [Tom Forenski says "brand journalism" is NOT journalism. Is he right? ~ Jeff]
Marty Note
I see the need for rebranding. PR has imploded swept away by search engines and social networks. I can also understand a desire for an attachment to brands. Brands are perceived as the lasting core of marketing. I don't understand the concept of "brand journalists" since journalism is investigative and far ranging and sends shivers down the spines of most CEOs and CMOs I've worked with or for.
Since brands are becoming more social, with much of this new work being done by brand advocates and supporters NOT people with a direct stake (employees in other words), I see a brand champion role that PR experts could help create and shape.
Perhaps the most important idea for our new PR brand marketers to understand is how much flux brands and branding are in. Take a look at this infographic about how brands are "socializing": http://www.scoop.it/t/curation-revolution/p/791811864/branding-is-changing-socializing-your-brand ; Brands and companies are changing rapidly. Here are some important ways companies and brands are changing:
* Brands and companies are becoming publishers. * Brands and companies are becoming curators. * Brands and companies are becoming entertainers (Meetups, Videos, etc..). While "Brand Journalism" may seem dissonant to what brands were and are becoming, brand curator or brand champion is a much needed missing set of marketing skills. PR skills such as building relationships with thought leaders, organizing disparate information into engaging communication, promoting engagement and connecting companies and brands to their supporters wrap around this idea quickly and well.
PR pros could become the brand sherpas of a new more open, engaged and social branding. Brand journalists as a concept just sends shivers down the CEOs and CMOs I've worked with (lol).
Via LPM Comunicação SA, Jeff Domansky, Martin (Marty) Smith
|
I think getting a good brand to your name/company is so important. I think that this is really the only true difference between your coffee shop and the coffee shop around the corner or that soap over this soap. The coffee may be exactly the same and the cafe have the exact same menu, however the brand is what will bring the consumer in and keep them coming back. Just like Starbucks, in my opinion the coffee it self is actually pretty rubbish same goes for the food (also over priced) compered with most cafes in auckland there are hundreds of nice and better options, yet I will still go there over the next door cafe purely because of the brand.
I also think this is where it is going to become a lot harder for companies and products to create this brand when they have to rely solely on digital media to do so. As I beleve the strongest brands are formed thru a tactile encounter with the product by actually going into the shop or business and experiencing it for your self. This becomes much harder when it is only on a screen with a million other distraction as well as sitting anywhere doing so in a very uncontrolled environment.