Brand Champions

Brand Champions Gather to Address Sustainability

Brand Champions from throughout Colorado, and Australia, gathered today at the Colorado State University- Denver campus to discuss brand development. Communications, marketing, public relations and senior administrators from construction, education, financial services, government, manufacturing, military, outdoor sports, religion and other industries met. Participants came to learn more about issues ranging from brand development processes, differentiation, employee buy-in, naming, internal branding, re-branding, verbal and visual alignment of brand and more.

I facilitated the session, along with director of communications, Karen Gerwitz, from the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA). I presented on many of the issues that participants came to hear about and discuss, and Karen shared her experience in leading DORA's branding initiative. The session was very engaging, but with a limited amount of time Karen and I were not able to get to everyone's topics, or questions and answers.

So, the blog is an opportunity for participants to continue our dialogue from today, as well as give others who were not able to attend, the chance to weigh in. The question that we want everyone to answer is this. Branding: Latest Fad or Sustainability Strategy? Based on your experience, what is your answer?

Can We Afford to Brand?

The question of affordability always comes up, and rightfully so. Developing a brand is not free. We marketers always ask, "can you afford not to brand?" Unfortunately, for many of our colleagues, it is not that simple. So we have to help convince them that our brand is our most valuable asset. Especially our friends and associates in the budget office. Potential funding issues arise because our colleagues do not have a marketing background and do not always understand the need for an organization to constantly be building its brand.

So how can we as brand champions secure the funding necessary to build effective brands for our organization? I think the first place you should start is the budget office. Make sure you engage them in the brand building process, just like you do all other stakeholders. You will need to help them understand what branding is, and how important it is to the sustainability of the organization. They too need to realize that developing a brand is a critical investment in the future of their company. We must not assume that the financial folks "get it" when it comes to branding. I would invite them to serve on a branding committee. Once they participate in the process, they will see the need to fund your project and who knows, they might become your biggest advocate.

Thanksgiving Brand, Smells Like a Turkey!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you in the United States. Right now I am thinking about the sensation that I will experience tomorrow when I smell and taste the savory holiday meal. Thinking about these sensations makes me recall a multi-sensory branding conference that I attended in Berlin a couple of years ago, facilitated by Danish brand guru, Martin Lindstrom.

Martin talked about how most of our branding and marketing efforts focus on what we see and hear. Think collateral materials and radio spots. But what people remember most is what they can smell, taste and touch. A good lesson when we are developing ways to execute our brand strategy. Martin should have a new book out and speaking tour soon so stay tuned!

Wouldn't it be great if our brand had associations that immediately came to mind for everyone, like those we have with Thanksgiving Day? Turkey, dressing, gobble, Pilgrims, Autumn colors, family, tradition, holiday and others.

It's Not About the Tagline!

This morning I read a great online article for The Chronicle of Higher Education. Author, Thomas Bartlett's piece, Your (Lame) Slogan Here, discusses the obsession that many schools have with the need to develop mottos and taglines. His insightful article also highlights work from branding firms that specialize in that area.

For those of you familiar with my work, you know that I am not a big fan of mottos and taglines. Primarily because many organizations limit their brand development efforts in this area. Instead of conducting appropriate research, developing a brand positioning platform, implementing a brand strategy, organizations go right for eye candy like taglines, logos and advertising.

Despite the fact that many companies specialize in tagline and motto creation, many organizations are drawn to these tactics because people want something tangible to latch onto in the beginning stages of the brand development process. Let's face it, research and brand positioning don't seem as sexy, as a really cool tagline. But, in the end, most taglines and mottos don't effectively reflect the essence of the organization and in short order, become lame!

The World of Educational Branding

Last summer I had the pleasure of presenting on this topic at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology-Zurich in Switzerland. Like many institutions of higher learning, this world-renowned research university is considering a branding initiative. European brand guru, Peter Lux and I were invited to Zurich and asked to facilitate a dialogue about whether this school should brand itself.

As many of you know, branding found its way onto the educational landscape in the mid 1990s, and is a now taking place on most campuses around the world. Even the K-12 marketplace is now embracing branding. However, most schools have limited their brand building efforts to logos, taglines and advertising. These approaches have been met with mixed results, often falling short of expectations. 

If prestigious institutions like the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology- Zurich are understanding the need to develop long-term sustainability plans through branding, then other colleges and universities, as well as K-12 schools, should not only get in the game, but think about the approach they take to building their brands. If not, their ability to compete will suffer.

The Four Ps of Marketing Are Old School

"In Life After the 30- Second Spot, I pooh-poohed the four Ps which continue to be taught in colleges and universities around the world to unsuspecting students who will no doubt encounter a rude awakening when they realize that marketing is not a formula, and certainly not one that deals in the commoditized and oversimplified Product, Place, Price and Promotion." This from forward thinker, Joseph Jaffe, in his ground-breaking book, Join the Conversation.

Jaffe advocates replacing the four Ps model of marketing with a six Cs model, comprised of commerce, customization, content, context, community and conversation, and at the center of the model is another C, consumer. I agree with Jaffe that the four Ps are worn out and no longer the formula for marketing, let along brand building. For the most part, I also think Jaffe's six Cs make sense. However, as an advocate of building brands from the inside out, and engaging all employees in the brand building process, I suggest replacing commerce and context with customer and culture, and move another C to the center of the mix, core values.

I invite you to weigh in on the dialogue and suggest other new school approaches to the four Ps.

Building a Brand Without Advertising

Can we build effective brands without advertising? I think the answer is yes. First of all, advertising is expensive, difficult to measure and is usually developed by creative people who are left out of the brand building process and have little, if any, knowledge of the mission, vision, values and goals of our organization. Worse yet, often advertising is developed by non-creative personnel, who are fully aware of the mission, vision, values and goals.

Brand guru, Don E. Schultz, professor emeritus in-service at Northwestern University says in his article in Marketing Management magazine of the American Marketing Association, "The first thing that pops into most branding moguls' minds is, we need some ads. There's a headlong rush to develop brand advertising, primarily commercials that can be placed in mass media. That should do the trick they say." Schultz is right, too often advertising is top of mind thinking, and often considered the silver bullet.

Advertising should not be the first or last step to effective brand building. When that happens, advertising will dilute our brand, not add value. As brand champions, one of our biggest responsibilities is helping our constituents understand that branding is not advertising and that there are other, more cost effective and measurable solutions to developing an effective brand.

Guest Post- Photography's Role in Branding

Photographer, Tim Ryan says that because of our visual nature and the predominance of imagery in our daily lives, it's essential to pay special attention to photography choices that enhances our brands. Customers and businesses have become visually savvy. Businesses that embrace original photography as a means of expressing their brand promise create lasting impressions in the minds of their target audience, and customers expect original imagery that reflects a brand's essence, rather than generic stock photography.

Organizations often overlook photography. Instead, they focus on taglines or logos a visual solutions, without considering the value original photography can have in communicating their brand. While it is important to have an identity that can be represented by graphics and text, it is just as important to communicate the organization's identity through original photography.

Concept, style and execution are key ways to differentiate your photography, and your company, and should be considered before embarking on a photo shoot. Take the time to assess your brand promise and your target audience and think about what type of imagery aligns with your brand and resonates with your customer. It will be obvious if the images you use align with your brand. Once they do, you will see the power of photography.

What do you think?

Favorite Blogs

Here are a few of my favorites.

American Marketing Association

www.amacolorado.blogspot.com

The Chronicle of Higher Education

http://chronicle.com/review/brainstorm/

Drew Kora

www.gravitymachine.net/educationdeck

Joseph Jaffe

www.jointheconversation.us

Michael Stoner, mStoner

www.mstonerblog.com

Josef Katz, Marketing Maestro

www.trumpuniversity.com/blogs/marketingmaestro/index.cfm?category=Eco-Marketing

Seth Godin

www.sethgodin.typepad.com

Robert Scoble

www.scobleizer.com

Innovative Educators

www.weeklyinnovations.org

Websites for Brand Champions

The following is a list of recommended websites that provide resources for brand champions.

www.acoustic-branding.com

www.brandchannel.com

www.jaffejuice.com

www.martinlindstrom.com

www.marketingpower.com

www.nicholasind.com

www.thecoolhunter.net