Brand Visibility Through Aerial Advertising

The pace at which advertising is developing, it would not take time to fill up the sky with ads. Every morning comes with a new hope and a new technique in which you can market your business. Strategies never fall short of innovation and ideas. Some times they are so hard hitting that it is bound to grab the attention of the target market. The advertising industry has an aura about it. It works in its own pace and has captured a huge audience in no time. The new one in line is the aerial ad concept. Flying billboards are bound to catch your attention. Anytime, anywhere. It is a brand new concept and can gain amazing affects for your business.

Most new companies have taken up the opportunity to bank on the new dimension of sky advertising. It is said that “sky is not the limit” and the ad world proves it so. Aerial advertising bring forth a whole new set of opportunities to create hype on products and services. The following are various ways by which you can enhance your brand image and reach out to millions through aerial banner advertising.

Ways you can establish your brand:

  1. Aerial billboards: Sounds surprising but yes, it is possible. It is time we can have aerial billboards up in the sky. It is an eye catcher, an efficient tool to grab immediate attention and awe. There are various aerial advertising companies that offer customized aerial billboards. They make it as per your specifications and then fly the billboard over the target market. This is done with the help of airplanes that tow the banner. This is a reasonable way you can come out as a unique business among various competitors. Your thoughts, ideas and company profile reflect in the way you brand yourself. Aerial advertising, for sure, can add extra zing to that image. Be it a beach, any cruise ship, a sports stadium, parades, lake shores, golf course, state fairs, rush hour traffic, so on and so forth. The medium does not depend on people tuning in to the radio or TV channel before they get a glimpse of your banner. It just there, before their eyes to see.
  2. Letter banners: Advertise your business through an aerial text banner. Aerial banner advertising is the perfect way to build a brand recall. Your banners, towed by an airplane, kissing skyscrapers, what better way can you bring forth your style of presentation? It is not annoying, just awesome. It is the mode of ad that can leave the spectator, wide-eyed and spellbound for sometime. That is exactly what you want to do. Write in your messages which can carry the punch line for your business and a small description that creates higher impact.
  3. Logo Boards: This is another name for brand awareness. Want progressive business, go for logo boards. The aerial advertising services are larger than the previous counterpart. This flies your company logo in full color. Hit your target with awe an awesome portfolio displayed up in the air. It demonstrates your innovative ideas and definitely the quality of work. Display graphics or pictures, whichever goes best with your business and you can change the trailing text message from flight to flight.

Increase Your Brand Visibility With Printed Carrier Bags

Printed Carrier Bags is now one of the most popular promotional items that are sought-after by a great number of business companies. They have proved to be one of the most economical and effective products which is quite capable of making your brand known and bringing in successful results of your marketing campaign. When selecting a promotional product, business companies need to make sure that this product increases brand visibility, as this is one of the most important marketing strategies to increase revenue. The product should also cater to the needs of your target audience, who will always prefer to have a utility product. Considering these key aspects of brand promotion, Printed Carrier Bagsis one of the leading promotional products in the country.

Business companies dealing with promotional products offer a wide range of carrier bags such as vest style carrier bags, duffle styled bags, paper bags, recycled bags, rope handled bags, conference bags, backpacks and so much more. These are also popular has it has the capability of carrying an easily imprinted company logo as there is ample space on both sides of this bag. They are long-lasting as well, thus making it possible to keep your product known in the market for a longer period of time.

Selecting a suitable product and placing an order for Printed Carrier Bagsis a simple procedure. There are a great number of online web stores who deal with promotional merchandise and some of them specifically work with carrier bags. They market a wide range, and you can browse for these products and select the most appropriate bag for your marketing campaign. Consider placing bulk orders as it offers you a greater discount.

Invariably the same online stores offer the facility of imprinting your selected product too. You have two options:

1) To do your own design for the imprint and upload it for printing

2) Provide the required information and let the online web store do the designing

Almost all of these stores are well experienced and possess the required expertise to design logos and brand names. You are also free to obtain their assistance in developing an attractive and clear logo, brand name and marketing message.

Gifting a printed carrier bag to your potential customers or existing clients makes them “walking ambassadors” and “advertising agents” of your product, each time they carry the bag with them. This creates good brand visibility and helps to keep your company’s name known in the consumer world.

Printed Carrier Bags are products of quality that are manufactured to suit the different groups of target audience. If you are planning for your next campaign which will require mass distribution of these bags, these web stores are able to supply you with the appropriate product. Similarly, if your target audience is of a higher executive grade, suitable products are available as well.

If you have decided to use printed carrier bags for your next marketing campaign, visit these online stores and take your time to study the available products, their specifications and prices and select the most suitable item which will be able to increase your company’s brand awareness and brand visibility.

How to Create a Brand Professional That People Want to Get Behind

Have more than a blog and a social media account.

In case you desire to generate a significant impact as a business online, having a blog and a social media account is definitely not enough. What is crucial is to be aware that there has to be a brand behind that blog and social media account. There have to be something that make people feel is a whole, not just a bunch of posts and comments that are not tied together. Having a logo doesn’t automatically makes your site a brand. To have a real brand you have to comprehend what’s behind all the text you can write, it’s like the essence that is deep of your whole platform, it is that little something that makes it special. Once you have a brand you’ll have fans, in order to achieve that you need to create yourself and image, that image you create needs to get exposure.

When can you conclude you have a brand.

You may ask yourself, if I have my site logo, and it doesn’t is the brand, then what is it? Something is pretty obvious, a brand without a name is not a brand. When you register your company you give it a name right? That name will be your online site’s name at the same time. The big company Google, says, that brands are more successful at SEO nowadays, at the same time from the user’s perspective sites with brands can be seen as even more professional than sites with no brands defined. A good example for this: if you call your site “Sports World”, it will work much better than just calling it “Sports Articles”.

Visual language of your brand.

Something that is also very important in this concept is having “visual language” in your site. After your logo has been created, the next step is selecting the colors and also images that relate to your business brand and are the basis of your brand’s logo. At the moment you have all these elements, you have to combine them into everything else you develop to your site. For example if your logo has the colors black, brown and gray, then your website needs to use these colors, same for your social media accounts, it’s about expanding your visuals to everything that you create from now on for your business.

Your Mission Statement.

So, the work doesn’t end there. Now you need to be able to create what is called as “The Mission Statement”. This is the more important aspect of your brand. Some experts say this mission statement is what to need to be defined first. “The Mission Statement” is just a short paragraph that explains what is your business about. Basically what you do and the reason behind it. This includes the goal you have, the vision and also the commitment you put to make it works. After you define this, you’ll have a better vision of what your business is about and based on that you’ll get the inspiration you need to create the elements of your business, the logo and the name are a couple of them. At this point you made your business name and your logo stand for something, thus now people can stand behind you and your business.

Why Instagram Is So Powerful for Your Business and Personal Brand

Do you know how powerful Instagram is?

Most people by now have heard about the little app called Instagram; that has taken the world by storm. It doesn’t matter if you are a technology expert, that knows about the latest and greatest apps, or you can barely check your email. We can all agree that someone we know is always on Instagram. If you look around nowadays it’s a rare sight if you don’t see someone glued to their phone, completely unaware of what’s going on around them. It’s really interesting how much people use their phone while in the middle of a conversation, sometimes more focused on the phone than the conversation they are having with the person right in front of them. Has this ever happened to you, or maybe you even done this yourself?

It’s a different world we are living in now; as opposed to 10 – 20 years ago. Back then smartphones weren’t that smart, apps we not as prevalent, and people where not totally mesmerized by their phones, and more importantly, the apps they use on them. Nowadays you can use applications like Instagram to chat with friends whether by tagging them in something you saw, sending them a video message, replying to a story they posted, or even based on seeing something that reminded you of them. You can also get caught up exploring different cities, watching your favorite actor every day life, or your favorite comedian doing a live steam or some sport highlights from last nights game. None of this existed 15 years ago, back then people would turn to maybe the TV for entertainment but now people are spending more time one their phones than ever before and Instagram is where they are spending most of their time. Whether you own a business or want to build your personal brand… Instagram is definitely one of the platforms you need to utilized, here is why.

Did you know on Instagram you get access to over 800 million users every month. Instagram is quickly rising to the top of all social media platforms, and with a whopping 800 million users it has become one of the best platforms with which to reach your targeted audience. While Twitter has remained at 350 million users for a few years, Instagram has blown past that and will reach 1 billion users within the next year or two. As the old saying goes, “Meet your customers and people where they are.” And right now, they are on Instagram, and Instagram, is on their phone making it even more powerful. Take a look around, you can always find someone staring at their phone, and more importantly using Instagram.

Instagram makes Networking easier for you. The networking capabilities and extensive reach that Instagram has given us, on a global scale is unmatched. Smart people like yourself know they must take advantage of every opportunity to grow and expand their network. Instagram allows you to connect with people based on their interests, location, hash tags and mutual friends and contacts. The best part is you can build your network all around the world from your smartphone. Now this actually gives you a good reason for all the time you spend on Instagram.

Instagram maximizes your reach and engagement. Instagram has 58 times more reach and follower engagement than Facebook, and an astonishing 120 times more reach than Twitter. So building your Instagram audience is vital to your success now and even more so in the coming future. If your not building your targeted audience (people who are interested in your business or personal brand) it’s almost like not having a cell phone or email for people to contact you. It’s like a fisher men not having a fishing pole or net to catch fish, a barber not having clippers to cut hair, we’re sure you get the point by now. Start building your audience today so you can start gaining momentum and exposure fast setting you up for the future with a solid foundation to build on.

Instagram is fun and easy to use. For those who are familiar with Instagram, you already know how fun and easy it is to use. Whether you currently have a personal or a business account you probably already understand how powerful Instagram can be. People are able to explore different cities, countries, and continents right from their phone and also see and do live videos for their audience. You can join someone on a live video, interview style. and the possibilities are endless with new feature being added often. Instagram allows you to basically have your on TV network with out the TV network cost. Even better you are able to get live feed back from your audience with comments and engagement right as you are talking to them, that is more powerful than TV.

People love pictures now and always have and always will. For those who have never used Instagram before, it can be an amazing way to connect with people and build a targeted audience that is highly focused. You can build an audience that is local, nationwide, or international depending on your preference; brand, professions, or passion. There is an old saying, ” A picture is worth a thousand words.” Start using Instagram today, and let your pictures say thousands of words for you. People have always loved pictures for generations so you know Instagram is going to be here for the long haul.

Using Instagram you can create meaningful connections. Most people know by now that Instagram has been growing by leaps and bounds. Especially in the last several years, now the timing is perfect for you. Everyone knows someone that’s always on their phone checking their Instagram, and more importantly Instagram holds people’s attention. It has become one of the most powerful platforms that people and businesses can utilize to connect with others. Can you imagine connecting with new people and potential customers everyday simply from using Instagram. What if you were able to develop a rich, meaningful, connection with your audience. At the same time create and develop your own brand and presence in the minds of people all over the world. Not to mention also to stay up to date with friends and family, Instagram truly allows you to do it all and more.

Sensorial Branding – The Future of Brand Building

“People spend money when and where they feel good”
– Walt Disney

Most brands & products are now interchangeable. This sad statement emanates from one of the fathers of marketing, Philip Kotler.

For a brand to be identified, recognized and understood in its values is the core of every strategy, the nagging issue of every marketing manager.

However, in a competitive environment where the usage & functional value of a brand (a product or a service) can be easily copied or duplicated, what is left to stand out from the crowd? How can the customer’s preference be triggered to ensure their loyalty? How can the tie that will closely link your brand to the consumer and put you ahead of the competition be built, retained or strengthened?

These are questions to which sensorial branding answers: use senses (and their impact on the consumers’ perceptions) to enrich the brand experience and build up its uniqueness and personality, while ultimately paving the way to the consumers’ affection, preference and loyalty.

Sensorial branding (and sensorial marketing) fills the gap left by traditional marketing theories when it comes to answering today’s consumer mindset. This new kind of thinking finds its origins in the ’90s, with the shift from the rational mindset that formerly prevailed in the consumer’s decision-making process to the emotional and hedonist quest that now drives their desires and consumption acts.

In reaction to an increasingly virtual and pressurized industrial world, people have started seeking a way to reconnect to reality in their private sphere, for a pathway to re-enchant their world. The individual values of pleasure, well-being and hedonism rose along with a true new concept of consumption that exposed the limits of traditional marketing theories.

Consumption today is a form of “being”. Just like any leisure activity, it becomes a place to express a piece of your personality, where you share common values with a small group of other individuals (a tribe). And maybe more than anything else, consumption acts must be analyzed as “felt” acts, as experiences capable of providing emotions, sensations and pleasure.

Purchasing acts are driven by this desire for sensational experiences that re-ignite senses and drive emotions. No matter how effective a product may be, it is its hedonist and emotional added-value, as well as the distinctive experience it offers, that lead consumers to buy it and ensure its loyalty.

What does it mean from a branding point of view?

First, it means that price and functionality are now taken for granted (or, in other words, not sufficiently differentiating). It is now the intangible, irrational and subjective attributes of the brand offering that are the new factors of success.

Second, it highlights the fact that sensations, new experiences and emotions must be part and parcel of the brand experience. It is through these 3 channels that the brand can create greater differentiation, influence consumer’s preference and secure their affection.

In summary, focusing the brand strategy on rational arguments regarding its functional value is no longer sufficient to ensure success. What is clear is that empowered brands are the ones managing to deliver hedonist and emotional attributes throughout the brand experience. This is where brands can add meaning and, therefore, value and sense to products and services, transforming them from interchangeable commodities into powerful brands.

This is where sensorial branding is competent: exploring and unveiling how brands can connect with people in a more sensitive way, at this true level of senses and emotions. To put it more clearly, it focuses on exploring, expressing, and empowering the brand’s hedonist and emotional potentials.

In this theory, sensations prevail because they are a direct link to consumers’ affections. Senses are directly affected by the limbic part of the brain, the area responsible for emotion, pleasure and memory. In a way, it is no big surprise. This is all about going back to basics, to what actually appeals to a human being on an everyday basis. Sense is a vital part of our human experience. Almost our entire understanding and perception of the world is experienced through our senses. A growing number of research shows that the more senses your product appeals to, the greater the brand experience.

While communication & visual identity focus mainly on sight and sound, an accurate poly-sensorial identity integrating touch, smell (and taste when applicable), sends a more powerful emotional message to consumers, multiplying the connections or touch points through which the consumers can be attracted, convinced and touched by the brand. It enables and encourages consumers to “feel” and “experience” the brand (product or service) with their “emotional brain”.

As Martin Lindstrom, author of best-selling book Brand Sense states, success lies in mastering a true sensory synergy between the brand and its message.

The first brand to intuitively implement the sensorial branding theory was Singapore Airlines. Like any other airline company, Singapore Airlines’ communication and promotions primarily focused on cabin comfort, design, food and price. The breakthrough was made when they decided to incorporate the emotional experience of air travel. The brand platform they implemented aimed at one simple, but rather revolutionary, objective: to present Singapore Airlines as an entertainment company. From that moment onward, every detail of the Singapore Airlines travel experience was scrutinized and a new set of branding tools were implemented: from the finest silk and colours chosen for the staff uniform, to the make up of the flight attendants that had to match Singapore Airline’s brand colour scheme; from the drastic selection of the flight attendants that had to be representative of the “Asian beauty archetype”, to the way they should speak to passengers and serve food in the cabin. Everything had to convey smoothness and relaxation to transform the Singapore Airlines travel experience into a true sensorial journey. Right after turning the Singapore Airlines flight attendant into an iconic and emblematic figure of the brand (the famous “Singapore Girl”), they broke through the barriers of marketing again by introducing a new dimension to the brand: a signature scent. They specifically designed a signature scent, called Stefan Floridian Waters. This olfactory signature was used by the crew, blended into the hot towels served to passengers, and it soon permeated the entire fleet of planes. Described as smooth, exotic and feminine, it was the perfect reflection of the brand and achieved instant recognition of Singapore Airlines upon stepping into the aircraft. It soon became a unique and distinctive trademark of Singapore Airlines, capable of conveying a set of memories all linked to comfort, sophistication and sensuality.

Another example given by Martin Lindstrom is Rolls Royce. To recapture the feeling of older “rollers” and maintain the luxurious aura surrounding the brand, Rolls Royce analysed and recreated the unique smell made by materials like mahogany wood, leather and oil that permeated the interior of the 1965 Silver Cloud Rolls-Royce. Now every Rolls Royce leaving the factory is equipped with a diffuser in the underside of the car’s seat to convey this unique identity of the brand.

What we learn here is that only when all the sensory touch points between the brand and consumer are integrated, evaluated and leveraged can true enrichment of your brand identity be achieved. In the future, it can become the most cutting-edge tool to stand out from the crowd, boosting the brand experience and eventually influencing consumer loyalty.

Few brands today are truly integrating sensorial branding in their strategy, while forward thinking companies are already implementing it with success. Adding a sensorial dimension to the brand experience is surely about to become the next competitive asset.

In the future, brand building for marketers may lie in one simple question: what does my brand feel like?
To get more information about Sensorial Branding services, either in China or internationally you can come have a look at Labbrand website.

Vladimir Djurovic

Brand: You, Creating and Self-Marketing Yourself to Find a Job During Tough Times

A career brand is an image that portrays you as an expert in your field, attracts your ideal employer, and reveals how you can help their business. How can you promote your career brand effectively, to stand out among increasing competition in the workforce? Self-marketing!

Before you begin self-marketing, you need to understand:

1. What you are going to market about yourself

2. Who you are going to market yourself to

3. Why you are going to market yourself to them

This article offers some important tools to develop your career brand and understand your self-marketing plan.

Goals of Self-Marketing

1. Provide direction to help eliminate trial and error. As a result, save time and money.

2. Network with key industry players.

3. Identify your transferable skills. Marketing these skills, not just job history and accomplishments, puts you in higher demand (i.e., more interviews).

4. Determine what other industries your transferable skills fit into. The industry you are in affects the success of your career. Market yourself in growing industries (green-collar, biotechnology, nutrition, IT). Steer away from dying 5. industries (textile, printing, newspapers, steel manufacturing, etc.).

6. Resolve any setbacks that hurt your career and prevent you from getting interviews. Fix your resume so it does not portray you as “a job hopper”, “lacking education”, or “unable to advance at a company”.

Create Your Own Mission Statement

Just as mission statements provide direction and purpose for companies, individuals can benefit from having their own personal mission statement too.

Your mission statement says what is important to you. Write yours before starting a career to get on the right path and connect with companies that have similar values and beliefs. You can revise it or write a new one at a career crossroads. Its sense of purpose is great motivation!

What to include:

1. Goals – Aspirations in life (short-term and long-term)

2. Core values – Who you are and what your priorities are

3. Successes – Professional, personal, etc.

4. Offerings – How you can make a difference for the world, your family, employer or future employers, friends and community

Integrate Assessments into Your Career Branding

Career and personality assessments reveal consistent patterns in your traits, characteristics, strengths, preferences, and skills. The assessment results may lead you in a new career direction. If you have an established career, they tell you how well your traits and branding messages align with your career path.

Present your distinctive and noteworthy traits to your targeted employers. Remember that not all recurring patterns contribute to good branding (e.g., introversion). Disregard any pattern you feel is not really you.

Incorporate the assessment results into your career branding materials: resume, cover letter, elevator speech, interview responses, portfolio, business card, etc. Convey a consistent branding message throughout all of these materials. But you can use different branding statements for different industries.

Tag! You Are “It”!

Self-marketing is not just about selling your specific skills. Everyone has skills. They get you in the door, but not necessarily get you the job. There can be 100 or more applicants per job posting, and they all have the same or better skills as you. How can you stand out as “the one”?

Develop a tag-line. A great tag-line tells people exactly what a product is and how they will benefit from using it. This is what employers want to know about you! Specifically, how you will help them make and save money. Tell them how much money you helped a previous or current employer make or save on a given project, sale, or time period.

Dear Career Journal…

Did you have a diary or journal when you were young? It helped you express feelings when no one else would listen, or when you did not want anyone else to listen! Similarly, a journal can help and guide us in our professional adult life too.

Writing in a career journal allows you to set aside time to think and learn more about yourself and your career. Just as when you were younger, using a journal allows you to express emotions (good and bad) about career progress. When you read past entries, see how far you have come!

Use your career journal to:

1. Write your personal mission statement

2. React to self-assessment tests

3. Do a SWOT (Strengths/Weaknesses/Opportunities/Threats) analysis

4. Evaluate your current situation

5. Reflect on your successes and failures

6. Devise career goal ideas (breaking into a new career, as a volunteer or consultant)

7. Think about career alternatives

8. Establish daily or weekly career-related objectives or tasks

9. Develop action plans to achieve your objectives and tasks

10. Make checklists

11. Record network contacts, job interview results, etc.

12. Develop job correspondence material (cover letters, resumes, thank you letters, etc.)

13. Practice job interview questions and answers

14. Gather salary information

15. Jot down ideas and information you like and want to use in the future

16. Record things you want or need to learn, skills to improve upon

17. Discover and explore your workplace values

18. Record your job-related likes and dislikes (and employers’ likes and dislikes)

19. Note lessons learned

20. Develop ways to improve the workplace

21. Review job-search trends

22. Develop plans for achieving promotions

23. Document the career paths of your peers that you want to emulate

24. Prepare for job performance reviews

Do not keep your career journal at your workplace. Keep it at home on your computer or in a notebook. Try to set a regular time of day to work on your journal, maybe right after work. Maybe before work to get yourself motivated and focused on what you can achieve that day!

Your journal is always ready, and no matter where your career path leads you, you can continue to use it throughout your professional life.

Key Marketing Tools:

Strategic Marketing Plan

Your plan answers these questions:

1. What have I accomplished, where am I now, and where will my career be if I do not take action?

2. Where do I want to go with my career?

3. How do I get to where I want to go?

4. How do I put my plan into action?

5. What do I need to change if I am not getting success?

Market Research

Understand trends in your career field. Consult resources such as the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Outlook Handbook. Interview industry professionals. Study the companies you would like to work for. Use this information for your cover letter, resume and job interview.

Marketing Mix

You are probably already familiar with the 4 P’s of marketing, or the “marketing mix”. The 4 P’s are product, promotion, place, and price. Translate these in terms of you and your career for job search success.

Product

You are the product with unique characteristics, features, and skills. Expose your “product features” in your tag-line and resume. Let employers know your work experience, leadership experience, professional memberships, technical skills, education and training.

Make sure that your on-line marketing tools (i.e., Facebook or Myspace) are cleaned up and employer ready. You do not want a potential employer to see something on your personal networking sites that will land you in trouble.

Do not forget “packaging”, to properly present yourself and your credentials to potential employers.

Promotion

This is your cover letter, resume, phone calls, correspondence and interviewing. Promotion tools include anything that you can use to get a job interview and ultimately get a job offer.

Be memorable by utilizing multimedia marketing like email, follow-up phone calls, or try using regular priority mail envelopes to send resumes, cover letters and other “marketing materials”. This increases your career brand and distinctiveness.

Place

This includes everywhere employers can access you. How are you reaching employers or people who can connect you with employers?

1. Internet job-searching and applying to job postings

2. Cold calling

3. Networking with current and former coworkers, colleagues and alumni

4. Speaking with recruiters at staffing and employment agencies and company HR departments

5. Visiting your university career centers and alumni offices

6. Attending professional association meetings and seminars

Price

Price includes all aspects of the compensation you can receive from potential employers, as well as your strategies to get the price you want, and that the employer feels you deserve. Your price not only includes salary, but also insurance, benefits, paid time off and perks.

Call in the SWOT Team!

Performing a SWOT Analysis, used in marketing planning, is helpful to use in your career planning. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. It answers:

1. What are your Strengths and Weaknesses (in your internal environment)?

2. What are Opportunities and Threats in your career field (external environment)?

Strengths

Internal, positive aspects which you can capitalize upon, such as:

1. Work experience

2. Education

3. Technical skills and knowledge (e.g., computer skills)

4. Personal characteristics (e.g., superior work ethic)

5. Strong network of contacts

6. Involvement with professional associations and organizations

7. Enjoying what you do

Weaknesses

Internal, negative aspects that you plan on improving, such as:

1. Lack of work experience

2. Inconsistent major with the job you are looking for

3. Lack of specific job knowledge

4. Weak technical knowledge

5. Weak skills (leadership, interpersonal, communication, teamwork)

6. Weak job-hunting skills

7. Negative personal characteristics (e.g., no motivation, indecisiveness, shyness)

8. Weaknesses identified in past performance appraisals

Opportunities

External, positive conditions out of your control, but you plan to leverage or add value:

1. Field trends* that create more jobs (e.g., globalization, technology)

2. Field needs your set of skills

3. Opportunities for advancement in your field

4. Location

5. Strong network

Threats

External, negative conditions out of your control, but you may be able to overcome:

1. Field trends* that diminish jobs (e.g., downsizing, obsolescence)

2. Companies are not hiring people with your major/degree

3. Competition from college graduates with your same degree

4. Competitors with superior skills, experience or knowledge

5. Competitors who attended better schools

6. Limited advancement in your field (too competitive)

7. Limited professional development in your field

8. Find hiring/employment trends in your field. Go on-line to ABI/INFORM, Business News Bank, and Lexis/Nexis.

After completing your SWOT Analysis, add the results to your Strategic Marketing Plan. Also, use your SWOT results to develop the following in your Plan:

1. Career goals

2. Marketing strategies

3. Action plan with deadlines

The Elevator Speech

The Elevator Speech is a clear, concise introduction that can be delivered in the time it takes to ride an elevator from the top to the bottom of a building. It can be as short as 15 seconds or as long as three minutes. Write down your Elevator Speech, and practice it so it comes naturally. Be ready to deliver it!

Use it at:

1. Networking events (including “unconventional” ones, like shopping)

2. Career fairs

3. Cold calls to employers

4. Voice-mails

5. Your current workplace, when you encounter the higher-ups

6. Job interviews when asked, “Why should I hire you?” and “Tell me about yourself”

Your Elevator Speech includes:

1. A greeting

2. Your name

3. Your industry or field

4. Accomplishments, background, qualifications and skills

5. If you are graduating soon, what school and what degree

6. What you want to do and why

7. Why you enjoy what you do or want to do

8. What interests you about the listener’s company/business

9. What sets you apart from others

10. Your tag-line that you developed!

11. Your mission statement that you developed!

Finally, capture their interest and request action.

1. At a career fair: “May I have your business card, and give you my card and resume? Can you add me to your company’s interview schedule?”

2. Networking: “What advice do you have for me? What employers do you suggest I contact?”

3. On a cold call: “When can we meet to discuss how I can help your company? May I send you my resume?”

Brand Creation and Criteria for Development

1.0 What is a brand?

Brands can be defined in two ways. Firstly, a brand can be an identification or a mark that differentiates one business from another (through a name or a logo, for example). Secondly, a brand symbolises how people think about your business.Building a brand helps customers in their decision-making, creating a perceived knowledge of what they are going to buy – before they buy it. Brands are based on three related criteria.

Confidence in a business, product or service doing exactly what the customer already believes it will do. For example, a 24-hour convenience store brand can be based on customers’ confidence that it will be open, whatever the time of day or night.The emotional response of the customer to purchasing a product or service. For example, a clothing retailer can create a brand based around making its customers feel good about what they wear, how they look, how good they feel about buying clothes from that shop and what it says about them to their peers.( Josephine Collins,(March 2008)

A brand builds a unique personality for a business, and therefore attracts a defined type of customer.Most importantly, branding is based on consistently rewarding the confidence and delivering the expected emotional response. For example, a domestic cleaning company can build its brand successfully if customers’ homes are always thoroughly cleaned, the owners believe that they are using the best cleaning company and feel good about returning to their newly cleaned homes. Your brand can cover your business as a whole or separate products and services. (Josephine Collins,(March 2008)

When starting your own business, one of your most important concerns is to develop your company’s face to the world. This is your brand. It is the company’s name, how that name is visually expressed through a logo, and how that name and logo extend throughout an organization’s communications. A brand is also how the company is perceived by its customers – the associations and inherent value they place on your business.

A brand is also a kind of promise. It is a set of fundamental principles as understood by anyone who comes into contact with a company. A brand is an organization’s “reason for being”; it is how that reason.( Josephine Collins (March 2008)

is expressed through the various communications to its key audiences, including customers, shareholders, employees, and analysts. A brand should also represent the desired attributes of a company’s products, services, and initiatives.

Apple’s brand is a great example. The Apple logo is clean, elegant, and easily implemented. Notice that the company has altered the use of the apple logo from rainbow-striped to monochromatic. In this way they keep their brand and signal in a new era for their expansive enterprise. Think about how you’ve seen the brand in advertising, trade shows, packaging, product design, and so on. It’s distinctive and it all adds up to a particular promise. The Apple brand stands for quality of design and ease of use.

Brand is a big buzzword in today’s market, but what exactly does it mean? Simply defined, is the brand essence and purpose of what your business stands in the minds of your customers, that they thought what they purchase, both tangible (physical) and intangible (subtleties and feelings ).For example, Nike products provides sports physical. Nike also “selling” speed, fitness, strength, and style.

The brand is not accident, you should deliberately Show&Tell the public what you want them to know and remember about your business unique.

Branding is the action of transferring the brand to target market and create emotional tie to your unique product or service. Branding attract, satisfy and retains customers. Nike work through their consistent visual, logos and slogans determined using well-known athletes as spokespeople for the transfer of non-tangible of their brand.

The brand is important because it solves a problem for consumers. The brand helps them to choose that product or service quality, safety, or function cannot be complete until after the purchase is made is identified. Branding builds trust although cannot remove some risk, especially when doing business with big corporations located outside a local geographic area (credit card companies, broker, online shopping).

Without brand name, products and services easily be compared with each other, any financial institution, insurance representative mix, chocolate bar, coffee, beans, and athletic shoes will be indistinguishable from another, even if in reality a big difference in quality, price, taste, and service can exist.

The Logic behind branding is very simple: If your target market is familiar with your brand and good imagination, they more likely to purchase products and services. But consumers do not know what your business is all about unless you tell them!

Is your company branded? If a distinct graphic, slogan, or feeling doesn’t emerge when buyers hear or see your company name, the brand of your business has yet to be defined and developed. Customers must clearly understand and agree with the nature, character and purpose of your product or service before they’ll buy it. And how they know if you don’t inform them? Hire a professional graphic designer, copywriter, advertising agency to help create and promote your brand of.

It’s never too late to embark on your own branding campaign, regardless of size and age of your business. Creating a successful brand takes deliberate thought and execution, but the sooner you start, the faster the results you see on your bottom line. Here’s how to start:

* Who you are defines what you offer, your method of business, their audiences, and why customers should believe in your products and services is placed.

* The transfer decision and its recognition of all other companies with strong reference image, logo, typeface, colors, slogan, jingle, theme, or tagline. For best results, work with professional skill in graphic design and copywriting.

* Commit to consistently carry your brand through every aspect of your business- stationery, marketing materials, advertising, signage, product packaging, customer service, etc.

Invest in your brand is investing in the success of your company. Clearly know that you are and what you offer, then loudly and consistently portray the image with your target market. Brand of your business is a powerful asset, and therefore maximize its value!

In fact, a brand is mental real estate’. It’s a set of expectations a company instills in its customers and prospects, as well as its employees, suppliers and competition. Further, it’s a service/product or concept that’s easily distinguishable from others. Most important, a brand should enhance how you communicate with customers. I believe that successful branding begins with the recognition that everything a company does/says must drive profits and increase value for the customer. Sounds easy. But what is the true value of branding initiatives (i.e., your ROI), and why invest time and money this seemingly non-revenue-generating activity? In truth, there are many rational reasons, including:

Market Differentiation (competitive advantage)

Customer buying preference (retain a positive impression)

Supports the highest possible tolerance to price (perceived value)

Increased cross-sales opportunities (better profit margins)

Better awareness and recognition (leadership in the market)

Investor confidence (plus employees and external alliances), etc.

Without question, successful branding initiatives can have immense payback and add genuine value to your company, whether new or well-established. However, your brand’s success depends on an implementation strategy comprising four essential must’ principals. It must be a genuine reflection on your core strengths-values-management commitments and align with your customers’ values.

Your brand must also identify a unique position that clearly differentiates you from competitors. It must carry through every aspect of an organization, meaning you must articulate your brand identity into a series of actions, beliefs and tools. Finally, and perhaps most important, it must be consistent over time.

In every brand development process, we employ four distinct elements, each weighted equally. First, the Value Proposition; it defines the uniqueness you provide to customers. Brand Character Definition and Expression follows; the character of your brand must make sense to your most important customers (While your logo is part of your branding, other important elements include corporate identity, company boilerplate, and collateral materials such as brochures, ad templates, website identity, etc.) Next, Positioning Statements must express your place in the market to help suppliers, investors, customers and competitors understand your intent; these concepts often form a mission statement or a byline tagged to your company logo. And lastly, Key Messages must consistently communicate your chosen information; these must promote the brand intent and be consistently employed by the entire team.

Looking further, brand launch must comprise a continuous monitoring process to measure value over time to ensure maximum impact and benefit is being derived. This stage may also include press releases, promotional programs, presentation and memorable methods of reaching the marketplace.

It’s accurate to conclude that your brand gives your company identity, character, presence in the market and, yes, even respect. There is substantial evidence that this structured process works, in both the short and long view. A brand grows successfully by leaving a lasting mental picture a positive mark upon everyone inside and outside your company. A true value picture like none other. As Rodney blurted out on stage at Dangerfields’ that night years ago,” Why am I sweating, I’ve got the job it’s my Club”.

Look after your club’; the benefits of a professionally developed and well managed brand could astound you.

1.1 Do I need a brand?

Every business has already got a brand, even if it doesn’t treat it as one. Your customers (and potential customers) already have a perception of what your business means to them. Building a brand just means communicating your message to them more effectively so they immediately associate your business with their requirements. Brands can help increase turnover by encouraging customer loyalty and are particularly useful if you are in a fast-moving sector. If your business’s environment changes rapidly, a brand provides reassurance to customers and encourages their loyalty.

If you operate in a crowded marketplace a brand can help you stand out. For example,

there are many kinds of adhesive tape, but there is only one Sellotape. If you have no other points of difference and when customers are confronted with a wide choice of comparable suppliers, they will always choose the brand they feel will suit them best. Your suitability for a customer is portrayed through your brand.

Moreover, if you want to add value to your business a successful brand can make businesses more attractive to potential buyers or franchisees.

1.2 Branding a Start up

For start-up and small businesses, branding often takes a backseat to all of the other considerations – such as funding and product development. This is unfortunate, for a company’s brand can be vital to its success. Dollar for dollar, it is as important and needed as any other start-up activity.

Recently, a software management company, temporarily named TallyUp, invested in a branding assignment. Its flagship product, a software suite that tracks and runs bonus incentive plans, needed a clear identity and platform to appeal to its target audience – primarily financial executives. The name TallyUp, while somewhat descriptive, didn’t capture the appropriate and required level of sophistication to attract the desired clientele. TallyUp retained a branding consulting company; they recommended the name Callidus, which is Latin for expert and skillful to effectively and in an instant communicate their position. While both names communicate a similar concept, the new one works on a completely different level. Callidus better suits the ideal position of the company.

Serial entrepreneurs have a great deal of wisdom to share about branding and positioning. You can gather additional useful advice on the challenge of brand development from someone like Thomas Burns, whose story is covered in our article, Building a Credible Brand for Your Small Business.

If you’re concerned about the cost of brand development, take heart. While it’s easy to spend a lot to create a brand, you don’t have to. Read our article, How Much Does a Brand Cost? to understand the price range of brand development.

1.3 Creating a Brand

Once you have worked out your core competencies, brand values, perceived quality and brand stretch, you can communicate them to your customers. Build the message into everything your customer or potential customer sees and hears before they have any direct contact with your business. Make sure your company literature reflects your brand values. If necessary, redesign your logo and company stationery so it provides an immediate visual link to your brand values. (Kenneth A. Fox,Nov-Dec 2002)

For example, if speed is a brand value, add an indication of movement into your company’s designs.Reconsider any advertising you may do. Is it in places that reflect your brand values?

Does the copy reflect your brand values?

Make sure your staff understand the brand values and believe in them. Your staff’s attitude and behaviour will influence the success of your brand more than any promotional activity. Remember that if you make strong customer service a brand value, the brand is damaged if one customer feels that whoever they are talking to doesn’t care about service. Review your systems and make sure every point of contact that a customer or potential customer has reflects your brand values. For example, if being friendly is one of your brand values, make sure anyone who answers the telephone or has direct contact with customers is friendly. (Kenneth A. Fox,Nov-Dec 2002)

1.4 How Much Does a Brand Cost?

How much you can expect to pay for the creation of your brand is the $64,000 question. The answer is that the fee doesn’t have to be astronomical, but it can be depending on who you decide to do business with.

Creating a brand is often a classic case of getting what you pay for. Your cousin may create a name and commensurate logo (without applications like letterhead, signage and packaging) for $500, or you can pay an international identity and branding company $100,000. In theory, that $100,000 should by you higher quality images and plenty of targeted branding theory, but that isn’t always the case. (Kenneth A. Fox,Nov-Dec 2002)

Our recommendation is that emerging companies look for an in-between solution. Look for a company that is experienced in branding small or start-up businesses, and that understands your timing and budget constraints. Reputable firms charge anywhere from $25,000 to $40,000 for a name and logo. You should be thrilled with the product and get terrific results from a firm in this range. (Michael Long et al,June 2007)

Before choosing a branding, naming or identity company, scrutinize its portfolio to make sure their style matches your tastes. Also, don’t hesitate to ask for references-they should be proud to provide them. Call a couple of the references and find out whether they liked working with the firm.

Finally, remember that branding is a serious, long-term investment. If you’re going after or have received outside financing, it should be a line item in your budget. Building a brand is a core business activity, as important as leasing office space, recruiting the right people and developing your product or service. (Michael Long et al,June 2007)

1.5 Finding the Right Branding Company

Companies that create branding and identity are often difficult to distinguish from graphic design firms, but how they go about creating your brand may be much different. There are several important steps to select the right company to help you to brand your new business.

First, ask your contacts which companies they know that specialize in branding. Conduct Internet searches for “naming” and “corporate identity” and “branding.” Think extensively about what types of names and logos appeal to you. Research the firms that created the brands that you most admire. Be aware of the firms’ creative styles. Choose a company with

a track record for unique and original names, not one that has a history of creating coined names. However, don’t go with a highly creative firm if your constituency is very conservative and traditional. (Michael Long et al,June 2007)

Contact a handful of companies and take note of how quickly they get back to you. Do they seem motivated or preoccupied? Is the person who returns your call a partner or a sales representative? Meet with a few different companies and trust the chemistry. If it’s there you will know it; if it’s not, keep looking. Make sure that the person with whom you initially meet? usually a partner or owner – will do, or at least direct, the work. That way they will be personally motivated to produce results for you. (Michael Long et al,June 2007)

Ask each company about its process. How forthcoming are they? Are the representatives willing to talk about their procedures and the steps that they’ll take to create your brand? Make sure you talk about money; they may ask you if you have a projected budget for this project. It’s acceptable for them to ask, but it’s also okay for you to hear first how much it will cost, without disclosing your budget. How quickly do they get back to you with a written proposal? If you agree on Tuesday to work with them and you haven’t heard from them by the end of the week, this might not be a good sign. Again, be smart and go with your instincts.

2.0 Top Branding Mistakes

Branding, a commonly used term throughout the business world, essentially means to create an identifiable entity that makes a promise of value. It means that you have created a consciousness, an image, an awareness of your business. It is your company’s personality. Numerous businesses try, but many fail at creating a successful brand. For more on the definition of a brand, read What Is a Brand?

Here are 10 of the most common mistakes:

1. Not thinking analytically. Too many companies think of branding as marketing or as having a catch phrase or a logo. It is more than simply vying for attention. A brand warrants attention on a consistent basis, represents something that your audience wants but does not get from your competitors. For example, it could be providing the best customer service in your industry – not just through your tagline or logo – by actually providing the best customer service in your industry.

2. Not maintaining your brand. Too often, in a shaky economy, businesses are quick to change or alter their identity. Too much of this confuses your steady customers. For guidance, think of big brands – Nike, for instance, has used “Just Do It” as a logo for years. One rule of thumb is that when you have become tired of your logo, tagline, and branding efforts, that’s when they begin to sink in with customers.

3. Trying to appease everyone. You will never be able to brand yourself in such a way that everyone will like you. Typically the best you can do is to focus on the niche market for your product.

4. Not knowing who you really are. If you are not the fastest overnight delivery service in the world, do not profess to be. Too many business owners think that they are providing something that they don’t. Know your strengths and weaknesses through honest analyses of what you do best.

5. Not fully committing to branding. Often business owners let the marketing and advertising department handle such things as “branding,” while they work on sales and other important parts of the business. But sales and branding are tied together as integral aspects of your business. Many Fortune 500 companies are where they are today because smart branding made them household names.

6. Not sharing the joke. If only the people in your office get a joke, it is not going to play to a large audience. The same holds true for branding. If your campaign is created for you and not “them,” your brand will not succeed.

7. Not having a dedicated marketing plan. Many companies come up with ideas to market themselves and establish a brand identity but have neither the resources nor a plan as to how they will reach their audience. You must have a well-thought out marketing plan in place before your branding strategy will work. For help putting together a marketing plan, see How to Build a Sound Marketing Plan for Your Business.

8. Using too much jargon. Business-to-business-based companies are most guilty of piling on the jargon. From benchmark to strategic partnering to value added, jargon does not benefit branding. If anything, it muddles your message.

9. Trying too hard to be different. Being different for the sake of being different is not branding. Yes, you will be noticed, but not necessarily in a way that increases sales.

10. Not knowing when you have got them. Companies that have succeeded in branding need to know when to stop establishing their brand and when to maintain that which they have established. Monitor the results of your branding campaign. If your small business is a local household word, you can spend more time maintaining your professional image.

2.1 First Steps for developing a brand

Before you develop your brand identity, you have to assess your business, how it operates and the messages that you want to – and are able to – deliver consistently to your customers. You must be realistic right from the start. There are five key areas to consider.

1. Work out your business, product or service’s core competencies. These are what you achieve for your customer, not necessarily what you do. For example, a good wine shop’s core competence is selling wine that its customers enjoy – not just selling wine.

2. Assess who your existing and potential customers are and find out what they like and what they don’t. For example, if they are driven by competitive pricing, there is little point in you presenting yourself as a premium-price supplier of the same products offered by your competitors.

3. Find out how your customers and your employees feel about your business. Reliable? Caring? Cheap? Expensive? Luxurious? No-frills? Later in the process, these emotional responses (brand values) will form the basis of your brand message.

4. Define how favourably your business is viewed by customers and potential customers – this is your perceived quality. Do they trust your business, product or service? Do they know exactly what it does for them? What do they think of when your brand is mentioned to them? Low perceived quality will restrict or damage your business. High perceived quality gives you a platform to grow. (Stephen M. Wigley, et al,July 2005)

5. Consider how far you can develop your business with its current customer perception without moving away from your core competencies. The amount you can change your offer is your brand stretch. For example, a shop known for selling fresh sandwiches could also consider selling homemade cakes and biscuits without going outside its core competencies. But selling frozen ready meals too may stretch its brand too far. (Stephen M. Wigley, et al,July 2005)

2.2 Managing the Brand

A brand will not work instantly – it will develop strength over time as long as your business consistently communicates and delivers your brand values to customers. Keep all your staff involved in your brand and your business. As your staff will be responsible for delivering the brand, they all need to feel a part of it and believe in it. Discuss your brand values regularly with your staff so they are clear about them.(R.E. Rios et al,Jan 2009)

Encourage them to offer suggestions to improve your systems so the brand values can be more easily delivered. Monitor your customers’ response to the brand regularly and continually review how your brand values are communicated to them. Get regular feedback from friendly customers and find out if what your business is doing for them matches the expectation your brand creates. Ask dissatisfied customers or former customers too – you learn useful lessons about your brand through honest criticism. (R.E. Rios et al,Jan 2009)

Regularly review your products, services and systems to make sure they efficiently back up your brand message. For example, if freshness is one of your brand values, are there ways you can deliver the product even more quickly?

Once the brand is developed within your own business and your existing customers, you can use it to attract new customers. Use your core competencies to show the benefits of your business to potential customers. Show what your business can do for them, not just what you do. Make sure every communication with potential customers is also consistent with your brand values. Advertisements and sales literature to potential customers must be visually and emotionally consistent with what you provide to existing customers.

2.3 Extending the Brand

A successful brand can offer opportunities for a business to grow. However, if you are introducing new products or services, you must make sure they are consistent with your existing brand values.

Stretching a brand too far reduces its strength and can damage it. If you are introducing new products or services, consider carefully if they fit with your core competencies and brand values. If they do, brand them in the same way as your existing products and services so they benefit from your existing branding. If they don’t, you should consider branding them separately.

If your new products or services remain within your core competencies but not your brand values, you can consider a diffusion brand. A diffusion brand is a different message with its own identity tied to your existing brand. For example, an insurance company’s core competence is getting things put right after they go wrong. If it introduces a new service that repairs items rather than pays for their replacement, it should be a diffusion brand: the Fixit Service from XYZ Insurance.

Remember that any problems with a diffusion brand will also damage your main brand, so treat the diffusion brand with similar care. If your new products or services fit neither your core competencies nor your brand values, you must brand them separately.

2.4 How Long Will My Brand Last?

Your brand should last as long as you want it to. Barring unforeseen circumstances, such as the sale of your company, a change in leadership, or a major shift in your audience or product offering, your brand is the most important and permanent manifestation of your company and its values. It used to be conventional wisdom that your brand should last 20 years. In the information age, that seems like a long time – and it is. (Tim Ambler et al,July 1996)

Your brand might not last that long because your company might change into something else in months, not years. Still, you shouldn’t plan on changing your brand with any regularity. It takes discipline and vigilance to build and maintain a brand. You want it to work for you in the long haul. In time, it will assume a life of its own that transcends the company itself.

3.0 Conclusions

Having consider all the above mention results if a company wants to stand out in his field and make a distinction between themselves and their competitor there is no cast of shadow that they need a branding to explain an unusual line of business through which earn above average return other wise if they don’t have a dedicated marketing plan they have to lose the market.As you learned you must have a well-thought out marketing plan in place before your branding strategy will work. As a result we found that branding is one of the undeniable segments of our business.

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