Brand Champions

Dr. Jill Biden- Brand Ambassador for Higher Education

For years the USA higher education community has complained that it has not been given its just priority from the federal government. As someone who has spent most of my career in that space, I concur with that view. Perhaps now that most developed and many developing countries are surpassing the USA on many fronts, including education, the time has come for priorities to shift.

Another reason that I am confident that a change is in the wind, is the fact that the USA Second Lady, Dr. Jill Biden has been asked to play a leading role in raising the profile of higher education, specifically community colleges. As you probably know, Dr. Biden has been a long time educator, most recently an adjunct professor of English at Northern Virginia Community College. Apparently she is the first Second Lady to hold a paid position while her husband is Vice President. Good for her, and good for education.

Hail to the chief brand ambassador for higher education! I am a champion of her brand.

Can You Tell Your Brand Story in 140 Characters of Less?

That is the question to be answered by participants at the next gathering of the Brand Cafe in Denver on Monday. Each month brand experts, brand novices and others meet to discuss topics relevant to brand development. In the past we have discussed verbal and visual identity, social media, getting buy-in and other brand topics.

This month we take twitter offline and ask each participant to come prepared to verbally tell their brand story in 140 characters or less. Most of the participants have twitter accounts and regularly tweet. So it will be interesting to hear how effective they are in transferring their daily written ritual to an offline and verbal format. In a sense they are using twitter as a template to develop one's elevator speech.

An effective way to recruit and retain brand champions is to give them a story to tell about your brand. Are you able to tell your brand story in 140 characters or less? If so, feel free to share!

Brand Champions of the Day- Jack Dorsey, Biz Stone and Evan Williams, Founders, Twitter

For those of you who are regular visitors to this site, you know that on Mondays and Fridays I feature individuals and organizations who understand what it means to be a brand champion. Those who realize that the mission and core values are at the heart of an organization and what ensures sustainability for their brand. At times these champions share their perspective in their own words like Barb P. did last Monday. On other occasions, the words are mine like today.

About a year ago I was in Chicago awaiting a flight at Midway Airport. It was at that time that I knew I had to be more engaged in social media beyond this blog. So that day in Chicago I decided to create a twitter account. It was quite easy, but I was not sure what to write in my twitter box. While pondering my thoughts, I received an email indicating that a gentleman in Chicago was "following me." My immediate thought was that someone at the airport had somehow gained access to my computer so I shut it down.

My twitter account laid dormant for a few months. During that brief hiatus from twitter I started a Facebook page for me and my company, and linked it to this blog. After gaining a better understanding about how to utilize social media as a business resource I revisited twitter. I am glad I did and now am one of the biggest champions of the brand. Little did I know that day in Chicago that a year later I would be helping my clients execute their brand strategy with twitter and recognizing the founders on my blog.

Today, I want to thank the founders of the company for their contributions to business communications. Jack, Biz and Ev, you are the Brand Champions of the Day!

Communicating Your Brand with Social Media Marketing

Yesterday I posted a few thoughts about the transition brands are facing now with the need to incorporate social media into their brand communications plans, and asked if your brand could pass the Red Skelton test. Scroll down to read more about what I mean by that. I am of the mind that all brands need to apply some form of social media to their brand develop efforts. Once you determine which ones align with your brand strategy (you do have a brand strategy don't you?) then it is important to determine how those fit into your brand communications plan.

No matter where you and your organization are in your brand development process, there is a resource that I recommend to anyone responsible for brand building. I guess that would be all of you. I embraced and began using social media as part of my brand strategy about a year and one-half ago when I started this blog. Since then I have incorporated Facebook, twitter, Linked In, Friend Feed and others. In the past week or so I felt like I needed a refresher course to make sure I have everything aligned. I discovered a great how-to book, Dave Evan's Social Media Marketing.

Whether you are still a skeptic about social media, a novice or an early adopter, I think you will find this book relevant to your needs, and be able to answer the question, Are we effectively recruiting and retaining brand champions online?

Does Your Brand Pass the Red Skelton Test?

A while back I saw a marvelous documentary about celebrities who made the successful transition from vaudeville to radio, and then from radio to television. People like Milton Berle, Jack Benny, Bob Hope and my favorite, Red Skelton were featured. For some us those are names we grew up watching on television. For others, radio seems old school and most have never heard of vaudeville.

That show and those personal brands featured, got me to thinking about how brands are going through similar transitions now. For many organizations, the 1990s represented a great lead forward when they developed their first website. Most simply transferred their offline of brochures and turned them into online collateral material. It did not take long before we realized that strategy would not work. An effective website helped enhance your brand reputation, especially to your prospective brand champions.

Today organizations are going through a similar transition phase with social media. Like they did in the past, many have resisted or simply do not see the need. Now more and more organizations are deciding that they need to embrace social media like blogs, Facebook, twitter and others. Others were early adopters, but did not align them with their brand strategy. Now more and more organizations understand that they need to have a plan. I know from my experience, I work with an organization to help them develop their brand strategy and then we decide how best to execute that strategy with social media.

These are exciting times for brands. Those that can pass the Red Skelton test are the ones that will be sustainable. Going from strictly brick and mortar, to a brand with a strong website, and now having an effective social media strategy is a necessary part of doing business in the new economy. Could your brand pass the test today?

How Far Should a Brand Go to Recruit Brand Champions?

On Sunday I devoted my afternoon to one of my favorite brand experiences, the Indy 500. The competitors, teams, venue, fans, sponsors and all other aspects makes for an exciting event. My two favorites going into the race were Danica Patrick and Paul Tracy. I was hoping for the first female victor or someone who was making a come back of sorts to see victory lane. Of course another storybook ending took place. Congrats to Brasil!

Each time Danica's on-board cameras gave us  her view of the race, they also zeroed in on the numerous godaddy.com logos. That has been common practice for a number of years now. Just like the past couple of years, godaddy.com also paid to have its brand prominent with numerous television ads during the race. As they have done so previously, the ads pushed the envelope big time. If they did not cross the line, they sure came close. It felt a bit awkward watching Danica compete live during the side-by-side shots and at the same time watching her getting into the shower during an ad.

Even though I don't always agree with traditional advertising like television spots, they have worked in the past for godaddy.com, especially in the beginning, from an awareness standpoint. Did they go too far this year, and did they dilute the Danica Patrick brand? What about her team, and other sponsor brands? Did they recruit and retain godaddy.com brand champions?

Brand Champion of the Day- Sunflower Farmers Market by Barbara Perzanowski, Guest Blogger

Today, Barbara Perzanowski, social media expert, shares her thoughts from the customer perspective, on what it means to be a champion of the Sunflower Farmers Market brand.

Sunflower Farmers Markets

"Many brands excel at creating experiences that engage all our senses to produce positive feelings about the brand and build trust, respect, and anticipation. This concept of multi-sensory branding, developed by branding expert, Martin Lindstrom, was highlighted in a recent Brand Champions blog post. Sunflower Farmers Market, a regional grocery chain in a 6-state southwest region, is one brand that effectively creates an outstanding multi-sensory experience for shoppers.

"Each and every time I walk into Sunflower’s Colorado Boulevard location in Denver, I am ushered through a sensory adventure that connects me to the Sunflower brand experience. Unlike most other grocery stores with their sterile displays, the Sunflower experience is consistently unpretentious, and inviting. The smells and sights of fresh baked breads, pastries, and desserts greet me as I enter. An open floor plan invites my eyes to the vibrant colors of neatly displayed fresh produce - bright oranges, yellows, reds, and greens - strong and appealing visuals. I can almost taste the juicy orange or ripe strawberries.

"Low-profile displays throughout most of the store keep sight lines clear, allowing shoppers to easily navigate the aisles of the market. While frozen and dry goods are stocked in a conventional setup, the displays are lower and less imposing than displays found at most other stores. Music, accompanied by the sounds of workers hustling about, restocking shelves, and interacting with other shoppers, tastefully plays in the background. And the Sunflower employees, diverse in age, gender, race, and ethnic background, are not distinctly different from other grocery store chains, and yet, I sense employee’s genuine interest in working at Sunflower.

"Through a perfectly-balanced blending of elements that engage the senses during the shopping experience, Sunflower successfully connects with shoppers to create an appealing environment, making the Sunflower shopping experience a champion in the world of brands."

Barb, thanks for taking time to be our guest blogger today. It is great to hear from a consumer brand champion. You can follow Barb on twitter.

 

 

 

Who is Your Brand Manager?

Most every week since the USA presidential election, the media and others question the Republican party brand. I think insiders and outsiders alike agree that the Republican brand is in need of an alignment. The balancing of the party's internal culture with its external reputation. I work with a number of organizations helping them attain this alignment so I follow what is happening with the GOP.

When I work with organizations in helping them develop their brand strategy, I usually start with an audit of the brand to determine how out of alignment it is by assessing the internal and external gaps between perceptions and the organization's mission and core values. I then help the organization develop a brand platform to guide communications, culture building and business development. It appears that the Republican party needs to develop a new brand platform, or needs to re-discover what they stand for.

One of the most enjoyable aspects of the work that I do is working directly with brand champions of the organization, especially the brand manager. That person who spearheads the brand initiative internally and externally. For the Republican party that appears to be the Republican National Committee Chair, Michael Steele. But, without an effective brand platform, can Steele do his job? Others might think people like Dick Cheney, Rush Limbaugh, George W. Bush or someone else is the manager of the Republican brand. Without a recognized brand manager, how is he or she able to recruit and retain the right brand champions?

I think it is time for some brand basics to be given priority. Who is your brand manager?

Brand Communications- Wireless, Paperless, Pointless?

With the rise of digital marketing, the number of social media options available and increased commitments to social responsibility, questions about how best to communicate the essence of brand becomes more prevalent too. Like the gold rush days of the 19th century in the USA, it seems everyone is hopping on the social media bandwagon, or brandwagon. Similar to those days, people are diving in head first without a plan to help guide their execution.

Of course I am a strong proponent of social media, witness this blog, my facebook page, twitter profile, linked-in connections and more. But, I try to develop content, design and delivery based on my brand and my organization's brand strategy. This post will be fed to my facebook page, as will my daily twitter post. Hopefully I have something compelling to say that helps others in their quest to develop a sustainable brand strategy too. Once I realized the value of these types of communications resources, I went to my office closet and dumped all my paper marketing materials and I never looked back.

Now that most everyone is wireless and there is greater expectation to be green, will your organization be the first in your category to go completely paperless, or will that seem pointless? I think you will find that your brand champions will get the point.

Brand Champion of the Day- FAST COMPANY

For the past few years I have enjoyed reading about new technology, designers, innovators and brands in one of the leading brand publications. FAST COMPANY magazine provides its readers with contemporary approaches to brand building. While some of the usual suspects are featured (like the Obama brand), often times there are those personal and organizational brands that are not yet on anyone's radar screen, but get the benefit of FAST COMPANY telling their story.

I would have to say that this magazine was as much of an influence as any source in informing me about the importance of social media and how they can be utilized as a key driver of brand. This month the magazine includes FAST COMPANY'S ranking of the 100 most creative people in business. As you can imagine, many are from the technology world. Of course, aren't we all these days? Many of the people I am familiar with, and others I discovered for the first time, like No. 43.

For all you do to promote brands, and to recruit and retain your own brand champions, FAST COMPANY, you are the Brand Champion of the Day!