| |
| |
|
WebsiteAlways |
|
Shattering the Branding Myths
If you've been online long, you're sure to have seen many "gurus" give their ideas about branding. However, much of what you read simply isn't true. Over the years, many myths about branding have taken hold in the online world and spread like wildfire. The fact is: They are doing you more harm than good. Branding is not one aspect of your marketing campaign. It is the combination of everything your business stands for. Branding is not created with a single, stand-alone event -- rather it is created over time through a series of strategically thought-out actions. Let's take a few minutes to shatter a few common myths about branding and to introduce constructive, proactive branding principles that you can build on. Branding Myth #1 - Your USP Is Your Brand Absolutely not. While your USP (Unique Selling Position) might be used to help convey your brand, it is not - in and of itself - your complete branding strategy. Branding Principle #1 - Your Brand Is All Encompassing Your brand is built, and conveyed, with every action you take, with every product/service you offer, with every piece of communication you send, and with every contact you make with your customers. Branding Myth #2 - To Be Remembered, You Must Have A Logo Also not true. Look at companies like Marlboro (cigarettes), Puffs (tissue), and Ziploc (plastic bags). They simply use a specialized font with the product name. No swirls, no images, no "logo." While logos certainly are not "bad," they are also not mandatory. Branding Principle #2 - Customers Remember You Primarily By How They Are Treated The most innovative logo, the most attractive colors, and the world's best logo designer will do you no good if you don't offer excellent service. Customers remember you and your company by the way they are treated. Was their shopping experience good? Were all their questions answered? Were their problems solved to their satisfaction? These things go way further to help customers remember you than any logo could ever hope to. Branding Myth #3 - Once Your Branding Strategy Is In Place, You Need Do Nothing More This is probably the biggest myth of them all! So many online businesses are led to believe that once they have an amazing USP, and a snappy logo they have accomplished everything in the realm of branding. However, just the opposite is true. Your branding strategy is an ongoing process, not a one-time event. Defining your strategy is just one part of that process. Here are some basic tips to help you define and implement your brand. Successful brands are those who are well defined and that have the support of the entire organization. Brands based on myths are those that simply have a spiffy logo, a "killer" USP, and the hope that the customer will "get it." Would you rather base your brand on sound principles or myths? That's what I thought! Copyright 2004 Diane Hughes About The Author Diane C. Hughes * ProBizTips.com FREE Report: Amazingly Simple (Yet Super Powerful) Ways To Skyrocket Your Sales And Build Your Business Into A Tower of Profits! ==>> http://madmarketer.com/diane
MORE RESOURCES:
Branding - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Business Branding - How Character Affects Customers and Your Business Image The public buys far more than just your products, services and so-called image promotions. Whenever they interact with anyone or anything associated with your business, they are automatically branded emotionally, good or bad, by the totality of your business character. Brand Equity Building - Measuring Brand Value Measuring brand equity allows a company to establish a baseline and track changes in its brand equity over time. If a company consistently works to improve the strength of its brands, it must trace progress, or risk "flying blind. Branding Article: Pepsis Missed Brand Opportunity I love Pepsi. It's that slightly sweeter taste and the all-American logo combined with the non-conformist statement that, well, it's not Coke. Your Business Logo and Color Scheme My business logo and color scheme started one lovely spring day in my office, after two years of working with words and images. I purchased some rubber stamps and played with them. Build Brand Identity Through Product Branding Building a product into a brand leader is not easy, but I truly believe that you can improve your branding impression if you follow these 2 rules; Passion & Consistency as well as the 4P's of Branding that I have developed, PRODUCT - PLACEMENT - PROMOTION - PEOPLE. These 4 P's will enable you to check the way your brand is interpreted. Logo Design - Corporate Identity Branding - Brand Identity Guru Like it or not it's who you are. Your corporate Identity touches all aspects of your business and plays a vital role in your customer's overall feeling with your organization. Why Having A Niche Automatically Boosts Your Credibility - Become The Expert by Getting Focused Yes, yes, we've heard it all before.. The Big Uneasy: Clearing the Clouds of Guess People often come to me to assist them with developing their brand because they are unable to accomplish the business success they desire. They're experiencing what we call the Big Uneasy--the state of being when things are hard. Eye On The Pie: Branding From an Investors P.O.V. When building a business as a brand it's important to avoid a myopic view and consider another important aspect of the business game as well-- investing. After any amount of toil and hard work to create a valuable product, service or company the big game is when you go public-- when money-minded people want more, they want a piece of your brand pie. The Art of Successful Branding Branding: it's a term that carries great weight in the world of advertising. Successful branding is best illustrated by the world's most prominent corporations, but it's no less important to the small business owner. Brand Your Name! Have you ever thought about branding your name? Does the idea sound too egotistical for you or does it make good business sense? Let's examine personal name branding and how it can help you achieve the recognition you need for your business and put you quickly on the path to success!Promptly upon receiving my layoff notice from my position of nearly eleven years, I decided I needed to venture out on my own. I formed a limited liability company and named the concern after my name. Good Logos Make Great Sales Tools Every day, the average person is exposed to millions of visual stimuli including hundreds of company logos.A logo is a unique visual image that represents a company or its products. Brand Strategy - Brand Identity Guru If you could have the secret recipe and all the manufacturing facilities of Coca Cola but not the Coca Cola brand-or have its famous brand but no facilities-which would you choose? It's not a trick question. But it demonstrates the power of the brand. Revealing the Roots: The Process of Building Brand How is branding different than marketing?Branding is not so much different from marketing as it is an element of marketing. We think of marketing as a tree; the brand is the roots, holding the tree in place and providing constant energy. A Lesson in Branding from Paris Hilton I have never been a fan of Paris Hilton.I see her parading around in her odd-looking clothing choices, leading her loyal following of giddy anorexic schoolgirls around by their noses, and I think, "Skank. Top Eight Mistakes to Avoid When Naming Your Business Naming a business is like laying the cornerstone of a building. Once it's in place, the entire foundation and structure is aligned to that original stone. The New Branding Awareness - A Value Based Concept The new branding awareness is about when you take ownership of a commodity, a special talent, concept or product. What is it that you stand for? What you stand for is an experience that your customers feel from you. Choosing The Right Business Name Sometimes, new entrepreneurs are in such a rush to get started at their businesses that they jump right into working with customers without giving much thought to their BUSINESS NAME. "I'll just do business under my own name for a while, until I find something I like. Does Your Message Pass the Test? Develop an effective benefit message and you're well on your way to building your company's entire marketing program. After all, you need focus to create success. What is Private Franchising? It is Nothing Someone Made It Up The Federal Trade Commission has an obligation to the general public, their stated consumer education mission and to the over regulated franchising industry and the small business operators running Biz Ops to separate the two business models by way of legal definition. Any failure to completely separate them will trigger additional problems down the road and cause the current on-going process of rule review to continue, without any formalization for decades.
|
| Interesting articles | Home | site map | Link |
| © 2006 |
