Brandwerks3

What do you mean you don’t like red?

Bob Gagauf — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 15:26:53 +0000

You’ve taken all the right steps to develop your brand positioning and messaging platform, and now it’s time for you and your agency to undertake the development of the creative expression of that positioning.

What’s that process going to be like? Are you the only decision maker? Are representatives from sales, business development or product marketing going to have a say? Is there a review or marketing committee?

Most likely you are not making the decision on your creative approach on your own. That being the case, how do you avoid a process where purely subjective input gets in the way of selecting the best direction? There is no way to totally eliminate subjective opinions, but there is a step you can take to ensure that your new creative direction will generate the highest degree of success.

Start with a check list of questions that all participants need to address as they review the submitted creative.

Does the direction reflect and communicate your brand assets?

Does it clearly communicate what you do best and why you should be selected over your competition?

Are your key market advantages apparent?

Does the creative approach reflect your culture?

Is the look unique to your organization and within your market?

Can the approach be effectively applied to all your media?

Can you see the organization living with the creative direction for an extended period of time?

Each time a comment like “I don’t like red” comes up you can refer back to the list of questions developed. If the creative approach effectively addressed those points, then subjective issues can be easily (and respectively) put aside. And, in the end you’ll not only have built an internal consensus but a brand that will resonate in the marketplace.

About the painting:

You Don’t Like Red was created in oils on canvas by brandwerks3’s Robert Gagauf.

Top Nine Business Quotes of 2011

Bob Gagauf — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 15:49:05 +0000

How can it possibly be December already? I don’t know about you, but for me this year just flew by. One of the promises I made to myself at the start of the year was that I’d keep track of the more interesting things said to me during some of my business development efforts this year. I thought I’d pass a few choice ones by you – in no particular order.

“I’m not planning on any new branding or marketing initiatives right now because I am putting all my efforts into getting the hell out of here.”

“I see no value involving anyone in the sales department in our branding efforts because they have no idea what they are doing.”

“I need to increase sales of my product dramatically. I just wished the damn thing worked like it was supposed to. How would you address that?”

“I have no competition.”

“I want to undertake a new branding effort, but need to wait until I hire a new director of marketing. That should happen any time soon now because I have been looking for over two years.”

“Our revenues haven’t been affected by the economy at all. I need you to cut the prices in your proposal by at least 50%.”

“I’m currently putting together a committee to determine the process we will go through to select an agency. But we’re still trying to put together the committee that will select that committee.”

“I have to warn you that you won’t like dealing with anyone else in the company. They’re all nuts. But it’s a great place to work.”

“Sales this year have been horrible, so I’ve decided to take off the entire month of December.”

I’d like to get away for the entire month too!

As you can imagine, these folks didn’t turn out to be very viable new business opportunities. I try to recognize good opportunities as early on in the process as possible and not all are as easy to qualify as these. Or as entertaining.

If you’ve got some funny quotes to add to this list, please feel free to add them in the comment box. Maybe I’ll create a “Best Of” list in 2012.

Are you on a road to nowhere?

Bob Gagauf — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 13:55:10 +0000

When your sales force hits the road does the team have a good idea of your brand strengths and why their customers and prospects should buy from them? Effective marketing doesn’t end when you unveil your brand in your advertising and communications efforts. Your loudest voice in the field may be your sales force. When brandwerks3 undertakes any branding or marketing initiative we don’t forget the sales and business development teams.

You’d be amazed how many times we encounter organizations that have not provided their sales teams with a brand positioning or messaging platform. They aren’t provided with communication points that reflect the key assets of the product or service that they are trying to push. Just as potentially damaging are sales teams with fragmented and differing sales messaging. In many cases, it sounds like they have made it up as they go along, because that’s actually what’s happening. At a recent branding workshop half the sales team in attendance felt the organization was no different than any of its competitors. That was a result of a lack of good information and communication about the brand and positioning. How can anyone be expected to close a deal when they feel that way about the company and what it provides?

How do you avoid similar sales pitfalls? It’s actually pretty easy.

Ask your sales force what they think. Include key representatives of your sales team in the branding process. If they help shape the brand messaging and communications direction they are far better prepared to deliver that message.
Make a formal presentation of your brand position and messaging approach to the entire team. Don’t assume that they will get the information they need second hand.
Provide them with sales support tools that accurately reflect and communicate your brand.
Ask them how the market is reacting to the brand position and messaging that you have developed. Again, they are your eyes and ears and no one may have a better feel for the believability and accuracy of what your marketing is conveying.

Marketing and sales go hand-in-hand, but you have to ensure that they are linked by a common understanding of your competitive advantages, market differentiators, true brand assets, positioning and communications direction. Doing so should put you on a road to sales success.

How many of you sang Road to Nowhere in your head after reading the title of this newsletter?

About the painting:

The Road to Nowhere was created in mixed media – oils and photography – on canvas by brandwerks3’s Robert Gagauf.

Is your target audience turning a deaf ear?

Bob Gagauf — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 17:06:04 +0000

You’ve shifted more of your budget to digital initiatives. Your site is optimized to the hilt, you’ve been very aggressive with social media, and you are watching your online activity like a hawk.

So, how come visits to your site are short and not increasing? Why are your sales and business development people still hearing “who are you and what do you do?” during their sales calls? And most importantly, why haven’t you been able to develop relationships with more customers and increase sales as you had hoped?

Developing the right tactics and media approach is clearly critical to your success, but if the positioning and messaging that you are delivering is off track and not an accurate reflection of why someone should choose your company, products or services, chances are your target may be turning a deaf ear. It doesn’t matter how loud you shout your message if what you have to say isn’t believable, doesn’t make sense, isn’t the truth, or is simply not what the market place wants to hear.

We advise our clients to make sure that they have clearly established why someone should buy from them or utilize their services before thinking about how to deliver that message. They must “uncover” and “define” the following before they communicate their message.

What do we do best?
What advantages do we have over the competition?
What are our key brand assets?
Who is our target market and what do they value?
Is our brand position the truth?
Is our messaging clear?
Is our brand communication strategy sound?
How do we want our prospects to respond?

If an organization establishes these valuable marketing facts first, there is a far better chance that their target market will take notice of their communications efforts, listen, and pay attention.

About the painting:

A Deaf Ear was created in oils on canvas by brandwerks3’s own Robert Gagauf.

It’s Time to Dry Out!

Bob Gagauf — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 16:43:34 +0000

What an end to the summer it’s been! First an earthquake hit a good portion of the east coast, and then Hurricane Irene left a large number of us pumping out basements, eating by candlelight or negotiating our way around one roadblock after another.

All I’ve been hearing from people is “enough already” and “can’t we just have a bit of normalcy in our lives?” That sounds a lot like what we were thinking several months ago as our never-ending winter was finally gasping its last breath. August is typically a slow month for businesses everywhere, but this particular August work took a back seat to Mother Nature. At the very least, the weather took our minds off the dip in the stock market – which I won’t even get into.

As the Labor Day Holiday drew to a close, most of us were once again faced with getting back to business and trying to ramp up sales in what still has been a slow economic recovery. What’s on your plate for the fall planning season? Will you be too drained to give your marketing efforts that extra push that could get 2012 off to a good start? Don’t feel guilty. It’s always hard to get in gear again and this year will be particularly tough.

But, the coming new season is the perfect time for a fresh look at your marketing and advertising efforts. We advise our clients to think about these key questions:

Has my brand positioning changed?
Do I have the same competitive advantages?
Has my competition gained any ground on me?
Are marketing tactics getting old and tired?
Has the market’s perception of my company and its products changed?
Am I building relationships with customers and prospects, or just promoting?
Am I accurately measuring the success of my marketing efforts?

That’s a lot to think about. But answering these questions and addressing those that need addressing will energize your marketing efforts. Best of all, you’ll enhance your chance of business development success.

You can make it a great fall.

About the painting:

Strung Out was created in mixed media – photography and oils - by brandwerks3′s Bob Gagauf.

Opening the right doors

Bob Gagauf — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 15:55:12 +0000

One of the key components of any branding or marketing campaign is whether or not your initiative is opening the right doors to business development and sales success. If you’ve done your due diligence and uncovered, defined and communicated your key brand assets and why you should be selected over your competition, you’re only part of the way home.

The creative developed as part of your branding program must be an accurate reflection of your positioning and brand value. At several recent industry gatherings the conversations often drifted to the perceived lack of great creative. The consensus seemed to be that the concentration on SEO, SEM, and social media has compromised the level of creativity being produced. Marketers seem to be having a hard time driving the implementation of new digital media and a high level of creative execution at the same time.

The best media plan will reap few rewards if the level of creativity is not allowing your advertising to garner the level of awareness and response that you’re looking for. The greater shift to digital media is no excuse for creative that fails to grab attention and inspire the audience to take action.

One of the solutions to maintaining a higher level of creative is nothing new – establishing up front, the expectations and desired results from your advertising campaign. One of the key advantages of digital media is the ability to measure your results and ROI. If your campaign is successful, look to both the media mix and the creative execution. If results aren’t what you are looking for, again, evaluate the creative as well as the media recommendations.

Just a few things to remember:

A different media approach doesn’t mean that your creative becomes a secondary consideration
It’s the client’s responsibility to push the agency to produce amazing creative
While creative can be subjective, if it’s on brand message, it’s done its job
Measure the effectiveness of your messaging as well as your strategy
The best response will come from the ideal blend of media and creative

Sometimes, developing the best campaign possible is simply having the right frame of mind. And, that is not just thinking about your new media tactics but the creative that they deliver.

Managing Expectations

Bob Gagauf — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 15:50:40 +0000

One of the first questions marketers ask when undertaking a branding initiative is; “How long do I have to wait before I get the brand recognition I’m looking for?” Given the myriad of ways a company can build and communicate its brand in today’s marketing environment, often expectations are that brand recognition can be established overnight.

And while it’s true some brands can be overnight sensations, most companies need to understand that it will take an ongoing commitment of both time and financial resources to ensure that their brand reaches the desired level of awareness. It’s interesting that a lot of small to mid-sized companies often express a desire to quickly build a brand similar to the likes of Google or Nike, but fail to appreciate the commitments and efforts that went into building those brands.

Before undertaking a branding effort marketers must take a reality check and consider:

The size of the budget does matter
Success rarely happens overnight
Branding success takes a long-term and consistent commitment
Very few companies are Nike or Google
The value and sex appeal of the product or service play a role
Comparing b2b with consumer branding efforts is usually unrealistic
Always set realistic and measurable branding goals and ROI

While a few brands are indeed instant successes, most were not built overnight. Check out the years these brands were established.

Coca Cola 1892
GE 1876
Heinz 1869
Heineken 1863
Levi’s 1853

When you set realistic goals and expectations you’ll have a better chance of achieving the level of brand success you’re looking for.

Does your staff know your brand positioning?

Bob Gagauf — Sun, 01 May 2011 15:37:56 +0000

If you were to ask your key employees to describe your company and what you do best, how do you think they would answer?

How correct and consistent would their answers be?

If your staff members have difficulty understanding who you are and what your brand stands for, how can you expect your current and prospective customers to know?
Often marketers who are considering a new branding effort for their organization overlook getting a read on the impressions their own staff members have of their brand. There are many steps that you will take to develop a brand that is an accurate reflection of the strengths of your organization, and you should make sure that building your brand internally is on the list.

One key thing to remember is that your employees can be your most important brand advocates. Just think of how many people they come in contact with and how they are an extension of your marketing and sales efforts.

As such, you need to ensure that everyone on staff knows:

Your brand assets and positioning
Why you should be selected over your competition
Your unique selling points
The brand communications direction you are taking

Don’t leave your key staff members out of the branding process. Your sales, operational and business development teams can provide great insight on what the marketplace and your customers think about your products and services. And, once you have your branding and related communications strategy set, present those to your organization’s stakeholders. Not only will they be better informed, they will appreciate how their input led to your successful branding initiative.

Can’t see the forest for the trees?

Bob Gagauf — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 15:15:08 +0000

If you’re like a lot of today’s marketers you are so busy implementing the tactical components of your marketing plans that you often neglect the bigger picture.

For example;

Do your brand, positioning and marketing communications direction reflect the current state of your organization and its products or services?
Do they still reflect your true brand assets and what sets you apart from the competition?

Today’s economic climate has most organizations constantly evolving and if you find yourself in that situation, that evolution can alter what you sell, how you sell, and how you brand and market your products and services. Due to all your day-to-day tasks, before you know it, a significant amount of time may have passed since you last took a broader view of your organization’s brand position.

The bottom line is no matter what, marketers still need to be effective.

They will continue to be evaluated on the level of response and success they bring to their organization. But before you know it, an out-of-date brand position and brand communications strategy could be negatively impacting the success of your marketing and advertising programs. In many cases, the program’s tactics unfairly take the blame when response or awareness is down. But, it may very well be that you are implementing tactics that are built on a weak brand foundation.

You can help ensure the success of your tactical deployments by regularly taking that broader view of your brand and seeing if it accurately communicates why someone should choose you over the competition.

Before implementing new marketing communications programs, step back and make sure that they are being launched on a solid brand platform.

The Road Back to Brand Basics

Bob Gagauf — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 02:45:23 +0000

The essence of branding still seems to puzzle many people. Surprisingly, many still don’t have a clear understanding of what branding is and the benefits that can be realized from a proper brand position. It is critically important that when you are heading down the road to a branding initiative for your primary brand – say that of your company – or for secondary or tertiary brands like a product or service line, that those who are involved have a clear understanding of what branding is.

The best place to start may be to simply ask their thoughts on what a brand is. You might be surprised with what you hear. The answers will obviously depend on the level of experience of those you are talking to, but don’t be surprised by the number of people who will tell you that a brand is a logo, or a tagline or a series of headlines in an ad campaign. While all these elements are part of your brand activity, none in isolation is your brand. There is so much that goes into your brand, including a reflection of your core assets, key market differentiators, your culture, the promise you make to your target markets, what your customers value most, and more.

So, how come many view their brand as a logo, tagline or advertising component? It could be that no one ever took the time to educate them on what a brand is and what the expectations of a branding exercise should be. Typically your branding initiative will contain many components from branding workshops, to market research, to an analysis of what the competition is saying about themselves. Your deliverables could include a new logo or tagline, but in most cases the truly valuable components will be your brand positioning, messaging platform, brand characteristics and personality, and an overall brand communications direction or strategy.

That’s a lot for many marketers, especially those in small to mid-sized companies, to get their hands around. You have to be clear about the role of each component and how it will establish and build your brand. By doing so, you will not only provide a better idea of what branding is, you will establish a clear understanding of what the deliverables of the branding effort will be. And, you will have eliminated a potentially huge hurdle in your branding program.