Branding Mistakes - Brand Identity Guru

1. It "sells itself." I don't need to market.

Okay, you might have a solid product or service. You might even routinely satisfy your customers. They might even send their friends and family to you. But wait. Is that your product or service selling itself? No (that is, unless your widgets have learned to speak). That's one of your customers playing out-of-the-goodness-of-my-heart salesperson for you. Yeah, word-of-mouth is nice, and if it's happening for you, congratulations! It's a sign of a great product or service. But relying on it exclusively can hurt you. Yes, six degrees of separation and all that, but counting on those connecting conversations to consistently mention you, especially down the line, is a bad gamble. Word of mouth needs help. A kick in the butt: a reminder to your customers of their good experience with you and an enticing offer to potential new customers to give you a try. Providing this kick is what a well-conceived branding and marketing strategy should do. At Brand Identity Guru (www.brandidentityguru.com), we've got some BIG boots.

2. "One of these things...looks just like the other"

You might sell red cars, and Johnny Big Wheel down the street might sell a similar blue car. But what's under the hood? Even better question: what's under the hood that makes your better than the blue car? This is the essence of differentiation in the marketplace, and if you're not playing up the things about you that make you different-and better-than your competition, your marketing is driving nowhere. At Brand Identity Guru (www.brandidentityguru.com), we know how to steer a marketing campaign that leverages differentiation to build your brand and increase your bottom line.

3. Liar, liar, your business is on fire and up and smoke

If you think word-of-mouth is powerfully working for you, it's just a fraction of the punch a bad buzz can pack. The best way to a bad buzz? Over promising and under delivering. It will kill you. That's why it's important to be truthful in your marketing. Say what you can do. Not what you wish you could do, or might be able to do. If you must err, do so on the side of under promising and over delivering.

4. One-trick marketing is like a no-trick magician

It won't do anything, and people won't pay to see your show. To get your message to resonate in a 21st century market, you need to make your appeal in every corner the market looks. Print advertising, direct mail, online, telemarketing, public relations, and in person. In every place, a consistent brand image and message.

5. Microsoft Word clipart is for junior high book reports, not corporate identities

A logo is the face of your company, so it must be unique and memorable. Not available for millions to place into whatever bake sale flyer they're working on at the moment. But a corporate identity is more than a logo. It's your company's unique value proposition and its products and services?all instantly recognizable on sight of your logo, name and tagline.

6. Don't be visually absent

Talk can be cheap if it's not paired with a strong visual presence. Well-conceived visuals connected with your market makes your message stick, no matter the medium. Brand Identity Guru is an agency that can drench any marketing effort with huge vats of sticky visual honey, even if you're currently bone dry.

7. The typewriter and telegraph are cool machines, but not to use today

A business owner by nature has to have a little bit of Evil Knievel in him, but when it comes to technology, he or she is often more of a cowardly lion. That's understandable. You got into your business because you know it, like it and can put food on the table with it. Not because you like to tinker with every new business technological innovation that comes down the pike. However, cutting edge technology can be a powerful profit-generating tool for your business, especially when it comes to marketing, and Brand Identity Guru (www.brandidentityguru.com), can help you find your technological sweet spot to get your message out.

8. If an employee's 14-year-old son designs your website, it will be painfully obvious

A website must have a nice look, but that's a small part of a good web presence. You have to give your prospect information they need and close the sale fast. Otherwise, they'll surf on by to a competitor's website. In today's digital marketplace, your website must be an integral part of your overall sales strategy. Not just a token presence. More than ever, prospective customers are researching their buying decisions on the web. If your site doesn't substantiate who you are and your offerings, educate, inspire and finally motivate your visitors to buy, your online presence isn't strong enough. Brand Identity Guru (www.brandidentityguru.com), knows how to strengthen it.

9. You have a website, but don't tell anybody

Having a website is pointless if no one sees it. That's why it's just as important to drive traffic to your website as it is to have one. How do you do that? A great way is through traditional advertising like billboards, print ads, signage and printing the web address on all your marketing collateral. Online, there's search engine optimization, banner ads, online advertorials, keyword purchases, links and cross-promotion strategies. A good mix of online and offline traffic strategies along with solid branding will drive traffic to your website.

10. "I don't need to be in the paper"

On the contrary, editorial coverage carries more credibility than any kind of paid advertising you can do. Getting it, however, is difficult. Only a well-conceived public relations strategy that targets media outlets your prospective customers frequent will get the job done. But it's not just about writing press releases. It's about providing relevant information to the media outlets you're trying to get into and cultivating relationships with key editors and journalists. If you're successful, you'll see your name in print and a bigger number on the bottom line.

11. Branding done yourself is branding done badly

Given the choice of doing branding yourself and not doing it at all, you may be better off not doing it all. There are few things worse for a business than an "amateurish" image, and that's usually the result with DIY branding. Even if you know how to do some graphic design work or are a decent writer, good branding takes strategic know-how and the finesse and time to get it just right-things only a good branding agency like Brand Identity Guru can offer.

12. If you think your employees aren't part of your brand? You're wrong.

Your brand is the face of your company in every interaction with the outside world, and your employees interact with it quite a bit. On the phone, on sales calls, at schmoozing and networking events, or in informal settings, you must train your employees to represent your company in a way consistent with its brand image. Doing so can ensure you have an army well-groomed brand ambassadors out there.

13. Failing to track your branding campaign's success can lead to future failure

If you don't make your market's reaction to your branding effort your business, your business will suffer mainly because you won't know where to go next. Successful branding is a constantly evolving process, and if you don't learn from your mistakes, you'll continually repeat them-and make more! On the other hand, once you know what your most successful strategies are, you can build off of them. Any branding agency worth its salt will be able to effectively track the success of your campaign.

14. Don't forget the clients who got you here, keep good relations

As businesses grow, they sometimes forget the little people who contributed to their success. Don't. Those who got you here can be an invaluable resource to you even if their business isn't as important as it was. Since they've known you for a long time, they can offer valuable counsel as to the future direction your company, such as offering their opinion on new products or services. They can also continue singing your praises as another satisfied customer. Plus, you never know when a little fish might eat a big lunch and become a big fish to you again.

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.

____________________

Advertisement: Honest Riches - Click Here!

Advertisement: Lost AdWords - Click Here!

Advertisement: Get $1 Million A Month In Google Pay-Per-Click Ads Free! - Click Here!

Advertisement: Who Loves Money? - Click Here!

Advertisement: SEO Elite, the GrandDaddy of SEO Software - Click Here!

---

Quick Tactics To Brand Your Business And Make More Sales

This may come as a surprise... to you, but Branding is more than just Logo and Business or Product Name recognition.Branding is "The total emotional and intellectual... Read More

Create a Niche: Stoke Your Market With Affiliate Branding

Propose success, demand performance, and brand your market with appeal. In a world of costly business start-ups, expensive design tools, and rugged competition you can still beat... Read More

Planning Ahead With Your Designer: Tips For Design Consistency With Your Logo And Brand Elements

While we recommend that you contract with the same designer or design team while creating your brand identity materials as possible, we know that this scenario is... Read More

Not So Stationary Stationery

The elements and functionality of the basic stationery system is changing. With the advent of email, fax, web and cell phones, stationery systems must be adjusted to... Read More

Branding Strategy - Brand Identity

Today, in many organizations around the world, branding is treated as a cosmetic exercise only, and regarded merely as a new name, logo, stationary and possibly a... Read More

How a Great Tagline can Help your Business

"Just do it." "We try harder." "The Ultimate Driving Machine." "Be all that you can be." Taglines are one of the best ways of branding a product,... Read More

The Top 10 Strategies for the Positioning of Success

Many businesses of today are often driven to compete striclty on price, quality, and features of their products and services. Companies who prosper over the long term... Read More

Corporate Branding ? Dont Forget Your CDs!

Companies have been branding their collateral materials such as letterhead, envelopes, business cards, etc. for years. In fact, we often identify a company by its familiar logo... Read More

Adventures in Advertising and the Affect on the Brand Name

Studying various target-marketing techniques and here is a thought. We have been reviewing companies who cross over into many sectors to identify with their potential customers. We... Read More

Value Proposition Writing - Brand Identity Guru

Your Value Proposition, or as I usually call it, your Core Marketing Message, is still misunderstood by most professionals. It's not just a tagline, sound bite or... Read More

Whats In A Name? When It Comes To Your Business, Plenty!

Q: How important is the name of a business? Should the name of a business reflect what the business does or is it better to come up... Read More

Choosing The Right Business Name

Sometimes, new entrepreneurs are in such a rush to get started at their businesses that they jump right into working with customers without giving much thought to... Read More

Could Ray Kroc have founded McDonalds in the Era of Sarbaines Oxley?

Over regulation of our free markets is stifling our growth in America and killing the next superstar Entrepreneurs. Let's discuss just how bad it really is. Let's... Read More

Optimize Your Mailing List For Better Results

A list of customers who have previously bought from you is your most important asset. These are the customers who will provide you with return business, which... Read More

Boston Brand Building - Brand Identity Guru

"Make no little plans, they have no magic to stir your blood... MAKE BIG PLANS. Aim high in hope and work." So wrote Daniel H. Burnham in... Read More

Pressure Washing Companies and Co-Branding

Pressure washing companies often miss what we call 'super niche' markets, those industries which very much need pressure washing services and are willing to pay top dollar... Read More

Its Time For Some Steak

Recently, I was reviewing our website statistics. One of the sites that had a link to mine caught me by surprise. Since this is a family publication,... Read More

Go Ask Alice

One of fiction's finest marketing minds, The Cheshire Cat, once told Alice in Wonderland something all business owners and marketers should remember:"If you don't care where you... Read More

Brand Identity Guru - Is Your Brand Vital?

The world is not waiting for you?or your product or service. Or your firm. Or your firm's message. They're getting along just fine without you. Until you... Read More

Brand Building For Profit: The Colour Behind the Brand and Why I Wear Red Ties!

Colour is essential to building a strong brand.Many of you know my passion for wearing red ties. I believe congruency with your personal and corporate brand is... Read More

Brand Identity - Corporate Identity and Brand Value

Companies work hard building the strength of their brands - it is critical to the ongoing brand management process to have meaningful and actionable data-driven measures of... Read More

The Big Uneasy: Clearing the Clouds of Guess

People often come to me to assist them with developing their brand because they are unable to accomplish the business success they desire. They're experiencing what we... Read More

Brand Positioning - Brand Image

That cross-trainer you're wearing -- one look at the distinctive swoosh on the side tells everyone who's got you branded. That coffee travel mug you're carrying --... Read More

Introduction to A Branded World: Adventures in Public Relations and the Creation Of Superbrands

You'd have to labor to shield yourself from the power of Branding; it's hard to avoid it in today's business and social climate. Even in the backwoods... Read More

Brand Lo-o-o-o-o-ve...

So... how have you been building your brand lately?Now, I'm writing this in my best Barry White voice... "How's your Brand Lo-o-o-o-o-ve, baby?"It may sound obvious, but... Read More

Creative Branding Increases Sales Through Company Recognition

The one thing that everyone has in common is that we are all consumers; we all buy. Every day, from daily small purchases, like your morning coffee... Read More