Branding Information



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Brand Building 101


Building your brand into a brand leader isn't easy. There are 2 areas that can really help you grow your brand, passion and consistency. Passion is incredibly important. You have to understand that even if you are a start up or a one-man operation, or are well on your way, you are still a brand. You have to care passionately about the way your brand is nurtured, developed and presented to your target audience. Everything that leaves your building, every impression that your staff and your company make, is lasting. Take advantage of this opportunity to get your customers and potential customers to remember you in the way that you want them too!

Passion is something that you have to feel deep down inside; you have to be driven by the belief that your brand should be the #1 in its category. I can't give you the passion, but I will ask you to think about this! For example, one of the greatest investors of all time is Warren Buffet. Mr. Buffet invests only in brands, or products that he really understands. He once wrote in one of his annual reports "A brand is like a moat around your business". This point is significant! A brand can protect you against competitive attacks, it can protect you from market fluctuations, it can protect you from having to get into a price war, and it can protect your premium price positioning. When all things are equal, consumers will usually buy the brand leader!

Consistency is probably the easiest part of the marketing communications to control, but frankly most companies fail in this area. What you should do is ensure that everything that comes out of your company looks like it should. Every piece of communication should be part of a "look" that you have agreed on. I really do not care what it is; it should always look like it's part of a family, part of an ongoing series of communications. There should be no difference. If it's a letter, they should all look the same. No different typefaces, different margins etc. This is an area that should not be a request in your company; it should be a mandate.

To measure how strong your brand is copy and paste: (http://brandidentityguru.com/bightml/brandmasterpiece.html). 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.


MORE RESOURCES:

New York Post

Syms hires chief for co-branding
NorthJersey.com
Joel Feigenbaum has been hired as chief integration officer and will head the Filene's Basement division and be responsible for opening co-branded Syms and ...
Syms tries on new execNew York Post
Syms hires exec to 'integrate' Filene's BasementBoston Herald

all 71 news articles »


Moinian misses a mortgage payment; Syms Corp begins co-branding process
Crain's New York Business
The 50-year-old retailer currently has 25 Syms stores and 23 Filene's Basements, as well as the two co-branded locations.

and more »


Overemphasis on Brand Building Leads to Mistrust
Inc.com
On the business side of the social Web, there's been a great deal of attention on brand building -- and understandably so. More relationships are started ...



The Relaunch of Syfy: When Search Shapes the Brand
Search Engine Watch
How do you define a "brand?" Traditionally when you think of a brand, you might envision a logo, ...



Managing your brand: Don't wait for crisis
Seacoastonline.com
A durable brand is complicated and elusive ...; just ask Tiger Woods or Akio Toyoda. Six months ago, both men thought their family — and ...



The Hindu

Google's Nexus branding under threat
TG Daily
Google launched the Nexus brand in January. But Integra Telecom apparently registered the name as far back as 2008, using it for a telecoms service, ...
The confusing Nexus One Google name gameDaniWeb (blog)

all 1,009 news articles »


The Age

Madonna, Iconix Form Joint Branding Venture
Wall Street Journal
Iconix Brand Group Inc. and an entity controlled by Madonna and the pop singer's manager Guy Oseary are forming a joint venture to develop ...
Madonna Does Fashion with "Material Girl" Juniors Line and MoreNBC New York (blog)
Call For Entries: Game ChangersTAXI Design Network
Madonna Pairs Up with Iconix for Macy's LineBloggingStocks (blog)
Examiner.com -Celebuzz (blog) -Reuters
all 331 news articles »


New brand, new plan for the West End
Pittsburgh Post Gazette
Dru Simeone thinks so -- and her enthusiasm rides on a new brand: West End Village. The executive director of ...



OPB News

USA's Vancouver tries to differentiate itself from Canada's
Vancouver Sun
America's Vancouver is busting out of its northern neighbour's shadow in a re-branding campaign that proclaims the city as "the original. ...
Tourism office in Vancouver (Wash.) changes name to distinguish from Vancouver ...OregonLive.com
Vancouver rebranded as 'USA Original'kgw.com
It's Vancouver USA! DadgummitOPB News
Portland Business Journal -The Columbian
all 26 news articles »


Houston rodeo's corporate donors show brands, aid education
Xinhua
HOUSTON, March 21 (Xinhua) -- Branding, usually a practice involving identification marks applied by heated iron pokers wielded by ranch ...

and more »

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