tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16931230811165188542024-03-19T03:26:10.017-04:00Branding Strategy SourceThis blog provides practical information on brand research, strategy and positioning. It also covers brand equity measurement, brand architecture, brand extension and other brand management and marketing topics. Brad VanAukenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14901536149324905438noreply@blogger.comBlogger701125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1693123081116518854.post-84963384887812276522024-02-15T08:17:00.001-05:002024-02-15T08:24:35.475-05:00Power Tool Branding and Color<p>Back in May of 2018, I wrote a post entitled "<a href="https://www.brandingstrategysource.com/2018/05/identifying-riding-lawn-mower-brands-by.html" target="_blank">Identifying Riding Lawn Mower Brands by Color</a>." It has become one of this blog's most popular posts. Today, I am following up on that post with a short post on power tool branding. Even more so than riding lawn mowers, power tool brands can be easily identified by color. Anyone who works in the construction industry can immediately tell which brand of power tool someone is using by the color alone. </p><p>Below are pictures I took of power tool brands as they are displayed in a Home Depot store. </p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiePZ9p7Q1j0oVi7ZHZoyNa9NwJA9dkisHx9qqx6bLaRuNIR6G6chL8X_91sfE2t6IHkoI5gn5x77g_P2wpqaHBzpzpK7o8d_SRC1lCWzY73WcqlpW39BCr4o5yHyxKwL9WAyQtLW0NOlb9aPgqH0e0tJaA9XC1VL6QcNSxZBDMW2ldnzpk-aGRFnCtrf8y/s4032/IMG_3356.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiePZ9p7Q1j0oVi7ZHZoyNa9NwJA9dkisHx9qqx6bLaRuNIR6G6chL8X_91sfE2t6IHkoI5gn5x77g_P2wpqaHBzpzpK7o8d_SRC1lCWzY73WcqlpW39BCr4o5yHyxKwL9WAyQtLW0NOlb9aPgqH0e0tJaA9XC1VL6QcNSxZBDMW2ldnzpk-aGRFnCtrf8y/w400-h300/IMG_3356.HEIC" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ5ford0NjEWoswgnQOabFwsJUaDIIVK7wC7W39fqSyz6pfzSwfUaeIxZt4n4y72hSbmCPxlBU3dOYT6LXvouA85qaAzrLRHVivdl6WuO-YG8Rl8kB590xcLngdCvKXcLKOecriIaF-yocvgF4GgK7jQfG9Xr6a_riwzuTDIo1ZFtz4JWU5Xrb5j5GDLur/s4032/IMG_3357.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ5ford0NjEWoswgnQOabFwsJUaDIIVK7wC7W39fqSyz6pfzSwfUaeIxZt4n4y72hSbmCPxlBU3dOYT6LXvouA85qaAzrLRHVivdl6WuO-YG8Rl8kB590xcLngdCvKXcLKOecriIaF-yocvgF4GgK7jQfG9Xr6a_riwzuTDIo1ZFtz4JWU5Xrb5j5GDLur/w400-h300/IMG_3357.HEIC" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPBnyrXft9il96dpD4OtgvugP2EPIr7dqG6Obd4EYzgFIfd4gmwYVFruE3C437qB2UI-FBtbfJrnwhYAh-ldeNMtTeau0S2V4-gqaHV_A0_B-Vl1ZzOjbxkRI5dedhdsp90VHKYg7EIu5qDL9oXcH8H2v9cKsEMkXM__RcMHMuQqelN4QEb5ut__vp_Zc1/s4032/IMG_3354.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPBnyrXft9il96dpD4OtgvugP2EPIr7dqG6Obd4EYzgFIfd4gmwYVFruE3C437qB2UI-FBtbfJrnwhYAh-ldeNMtTeau0S2V4-gqaHV_A0_B-Vl1ZzOjbxkRI5dedhdsp90VHKYg7EIu5qDL9oXcH8H2v9cKsEMkXM__RcMHMuQqelN4QEb5ut__vp_Zc1/w400-h300/IMG_3354.HEIC" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpZZvvqC_FWDoxg_Q2MZQ7-5elIw_UlEDKLrXAb8xn02gA5FxxfYPz08SI0RRuHiraeOiK3NmYpF09I4B2pw9UFPkLheWCt-yO3SWEs2H3mYQ9lgYRaRuCg58_qxcVw4RH8fObdeKrlKzozbJZvsWY0qNVzSddJv6iECfi266Hp9MJZuVqcN1mpE4mQj3i/s4032/IMG_3355.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpZZvvqC_FWDoxg_Q2MZQ7-5elIw_UlEDKLrXAb8xn02gA5FxxfYPz08SI0RRuHiraeOiK3NmYpF09I4B2pw9UFPkLheWCt-yO3SWEs2H3mYQ9lgYRaRuCg58_qxcVw4RH8fObdeKrlKzozbJZvsWY0qNVzSddJv6iECfi266Hp9MJZuVqcN1mpE4mQj3i/w400-h300/IMG_3355.HEIC" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdj2a2fyilJqB2_UkBe2RZSqQSDBLNP0V7xM7eK_SZrGjpTfcJCALQgNK51-lZ9hpMvqm38pOL_OGGwlamaNgFpjxTX-hbLbICCGjIIFAE97HF0WAr5RO1hM8N57_EmW9eAIvhvr6UAWZNl7O8e3RmhyphenhyphenmbxlvwK9GJPZNCvoTsboIL4MHvtgFnLbwvtitN/s4032/IMG_3358.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdj2a2fyilJqB2_UkBe2RZSqQSDBLNP0V7xM7eK_SZrGjpTfcJCALQgNK51-lZ9hpMvqm38pOL_OGGwlamaNgFpjxTX-hbLbICCGjIIFAE97HF0WAr5RO1hM8N57_EmW9eAIvhvr6UAWZNl7O8e3RmhyphenhyphenmbxlvwK9GJPZNCvoTsboIL4MHvtgFnLbwvtitN/w400-h300/IMG_3358.HEIC" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div>In some product categories, color plays a dominant role in brand identification. Notice how the retail signage reinforces each brand's principal color.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p><br /></p>Brad VanAukenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14901536149324905438noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1693123081116518854.post-66237977723263655742023-11-17T13:19:00.000-05:002023-11-17T13:19:46.486-05:00Marketing Courses for Christmas!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE0Oui58MrBMT6jkD7f2-kbtIKxVUkthC8WVBxbz6lA3u1NOjTHjTKEpvEVoVSSGbacayctHlyFz3rnCAwm3EHz8CUA9H9N4-h6cfxC3sGB9Kj5RM6UQtaOK1kPSOJwstUW2GMugsQAF_aU4IWHbwhunBiULO42SArHNSETHKXMShPeu_e6KYfOk4Fle_6/s1798/Screenshot%202023-11-17%20at%201.16.45%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1270" data-original-width="1798" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE0Oui58MrBMT6jkD7f2-kbtIKxVUkthC8WVBxbz6lA3u1NOjTHjTKEpvEVoVSSGbacayctHlyFz3rnCAwm3EHz8CUA9H9N4-h6cfxC3sGB9Kj5RM6UQtaOK1kPSOJwstUW2GMugsQAF_aU4IWHbwhunBiULO42SArHNSETHKXMShPeu_e6KYfOk4Fle_6/w400-h283/Screenshot%202023-11-17%20at%201.16.45%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>Give the gift of marketing expertise this Christmas! </p><p>Based on thirty years of experience crafting strategy for more than 200 brands, these are links to seven online marketing courses that I am offering through learnformula's The Marketplace. They are extremely reasonably priced from $10 to $15 each (US). They include videos, exercises, templates, worksheets, links to relevant online blog posts and articles and quizzes to test your knowledge. These courses are guaranteed to increase anyone's understanding of brand management and marketing.</p><p>Give the gift of marketing expertise this Christmas!</p><p></p><ul><li><a href="https://cpd-digital-marketing.learnformula.com/course/positioning-your-brand-to-win-1?referral=50q9Te" target="_blank">Positioning Your Brand to Win</a></li><li><a href="https://cpd-digital-marketing.learnformula.com/course/tapping-into-human-needs?referral=50q9Te" target="_blank">Tapping into Human Needs</a></li><li><a href="https://cpd-digital-marketing.learnformula.com/course/brand-research?referral=50q9Te" target="_blank">Brand Research</a></li><li><a href="https://cpd-digital-marketing.learnformula.com/course/developing-the-brand-plan?referral=50q9Te" target="_blank">Developing the Brand Plan</a></li><li><a href="https://cpd-digital-marketing.learnformula.com/course/brand-identity-architecture?referral=50q9Te" target="_blank">Brand Identity & Architecture</a></li><li><a href="https://cpd-digital-marketing.learnformula.com/course/out-of-the-box-marketing-techniques?referral=50q9Te" target="_blank">Out-of-the-Box Marketing Techniques</a></li><li><a href="https://cpd-digital-marketing.learnformula.com/course/importance-of-color-in-brand-identity?referral=50q9Te" target="_blank">The Importance of Color in Brand Identity</a></li></ul><div><br /></div>Brad VanAukenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14901536149324905438noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1693123081116518854.post-692616103591832692023-09-08T18:17:00.000-04:002023-09-08T18:17:43.303-04:00Marketing Today<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjELbpqLjnefxvZpEMB6ZkzE2vgroePpcrM315DJC3upPk6-x6Zf_3DmwnxxJfb98wh55W9wEE3Bx_LaasKi_pc04h621CkTMNPtbjf95Hy6qLQa3FO3jGd-UJigG5RiSIKPmB2VcqCI9_mI38-ABIXVH3RJEmulkxw8gK2amjQv4Z9CFX_sElzkBSbdf9E/s1478/Screenshot%202023-09-08%20at%206.12.00%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="810" data-original-width="1478" height="219" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjELbpqLjnefxvZpEMB6ZkzE2vgroePpcrM315DJC3upPk6-x6Zf_3DmwnxxJfb98wh55W9wEE3Bx_LaasKi_pc04h621CkTMNPtbjf95Hy6qLQa3FO3jGd-UJigG5RiSIKPmB2VcqCI9_mI38-ABIXVH3RJEmulkxw8gK2amjQv4Z9CFX_sElzkBSbdf9E/w400-h219/Screenshot%202023-09-08%20at%206.12.00%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p>This is based purely on my observations and personal experiences. I believe the way marketing works today is different from the past, and not just in strategies and tactics, but fundamentally. Yes, one must still start with an understanding of the customer and one must still deliver a unique value proposition to that customer. But the advent of the Internet, social media, AI and data analytics has changed everything. </p><p>Here are the two approaches to marketing that I believe work today. The first is not that different from what worked in the past but I believe it is even more necessary now when many more traditional approaches are far less effective or have ceased working altogether - word-of-mouth, referrals, peer-to-peer marketing and returning satisfied customers. This is all about human-to-human interaction. No wonder the very popular Net Promoter Score (NPS) measures the extent to which one would recommend a particular product or brand to a friend or colleague. It is a measure of attitudinal loyalty but it also gets to the core of what works today, person-to-person influencing. </p><p>The second approach relies on an active online presence, AI and data analytics. I can personally vouch for the fact that if you allow your online "likes," "clicks," and purchases to be monitored, you begin to receive offers of products that are increasingly tailored to your particular needs and desires. This pin-point accuracy in individual targeting was not possible even a decade ago. The purchase rate is much higher when every online ad features something that you highly desire. </p><p>What has gone by the wayside? Cold calls. Unsolicited mail. Unsolicited email messages. Unsolicited text messages. Dialing for dollars. People you don't know asking for "just a minute of your time." We are receiving too many of each of these types of communication every day to consider any one of them for more than a fraction of a second. My routine is to delete as many email messages as possible as quickly as possible and if I recall that I deleted something that I was expecting or could be interested in, I have to go back to the deleted folder to move it back to the inbox. And, as a business owner, I get no less than five solicitations a day from lead-generation companies that want to make cold calls on my company's behalf. I can't imagine being a chief marketing officer today. That person's administrative assistant must spend most of the day running interference with all of the cold callers out there. </p><p>So my advice for the future is to focus on peer-to-peer marketing and using data analytics and AI to get to your potential customers. Yes, there still is room for television, radio, outdoor and other traditional advertising approaches and I am always a fan of publicity and guerrilla marketing, and if you are a food product, free product trial still works, but try focusing on peer-to-peer and data analytics. I believe those are the future of marketing. </p>Brad VanAukenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14901536149324905438noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1693123081116518854.post-14966125096127418042023-09-02T11:15:00.002-04:002023-09-05T10:15:46.302-04:00Business Hours & Convenience<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijZLKyAUAk10mjf1y7yLN2LlcokHXVWrKv0AfFf4E-hUCahlC3vJDe4CcL6aoadyJegFt1nfUNmGriSfkAUpNL79Y3r53klsrs2yCiSCJhsB6DDnNjRxadwac5AXfDbGCy-0sFccUKDGcGUVT2IW02KYv8UxRI6L_YbGYR0oO9_5pZt-b0SKd8dLsvW2B3/s1116/Screenshot%202023-09-02%20at%2010.47.52%20AM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="632" data-original-width="1116" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijZLKyAUAk10mjf1y7yLN2LlcokHXVWrKv0AfFf4E-hUCahlC3vJDe4CcL6aoadyJegFt1nfUNmGriSfkAUpNL79Y3r53klsrs2yCiSCJhsB6DDnNjRxadwac5AXfDbGCy-0sFccUKDGcGUVT2IW02KYv8UxRI6L_YbGYR0oO9_5pZt-b0SKd8dLsvW2B3/w400-h226/Screenshot%202023-09-02%20at%2010.47.52%20AM.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">One of the drivers of customer brand insistence is accessibility. I recently encountered a local bookstore with these hours. It is a new store and I love books so I wanted to explore it. Despite driving by the store a few days each week, I have not yet gone by at a time when it was open. I have now given up on the store. Unless the brand offers a highly demanded item or items not available anywhere else, inconvenient store hours will completely take it out of the consideration set. People do not have a high tolerance for inaccessibility, especial in the era of Amazon.com and a myriad of other 24/7 online stores that can ship overnight. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Clearly, this is an extreme example of ridiculous hours of operation, but I have encountered many other places with similarly strange hours. If you don't uniquely offer the next big thing, don't handicap your business with limited or strange hours. And even if you are uniquely offering the next big thing, you would do much better to offer as much accessibility and convenience as possible. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I suspect the bookstore I am citing will be out of business within six months, if not sooner. </div><br /><p></p>Brad VanAukenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14901536149324905438noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1693123081116518854.post-48321106940620166962023-08-02T09:06:00.000-04:002023-08-02T09:06:40.192-04:00Pricing Research<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU_eb26nMROuV4FOALuNA-Yh69gHt0Tgb_51mwqMg8PbtL-C0wxOtdf37WkzGco3_XQAR-b1MhIoZLwW_Nr67aQ-kFSHcDaCTEKcTgKKTQzs12ephDnDwReHZFpw5wcxJ-FHiY1uU7BqHrCd-Aqktzk6tdPI_UBhfFKHJZCx4DR2AT9DqpihBZHTBoko9C/s1382/Screen%20Shot%202023-08-02%20at%208.38.39%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="776" data-original-width="1382" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU_eb26nMROuV4FOALuNA-Yh69gHt0Tgb_51mwqMg8PbtL-C0wxOtdf37WkzGco3_XQAR-b1MhIoZLwW_Nr67aQ-kFSHcDaCTEKcTgKKTQzs12ephDnDwReHZFpw5wcxJ-FHiY1uU7BqHrCd-Aqktzk6tdPI_UBhfFKHJZCx4DR2AT9DqpihBZHTBoko9C/w400-h225/Screen%20Shot%202023-08-02%20at%208.38.39%20AM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />If you are trying to get a sense of what price to set for a product or service, there are three questions that will help you make a more informed decision:<p></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>How much do you think this product or service costs?</li><li>What would you being willing to pay for this product or service?</li><li>What is the most you would be willing to pay for this product or service?</li></ul>Different customers will answer this differently. In fact, there may be customer segments that value the product or service differently or who have the ability to pay more or less for the product or service than other customers.<p></p><p>In pricing a product or service, you must always consider your costs and the value of the product or service to the customer. Generally, unless you are pursuing a "loss leader" or a razor-razorblade pricing strategy, you must price your product or service somewhere between the cost and value assuming the cost is less than the value. </p><p>You could explore and influence <a href="https://www.brandingstrategysource.com/2015/08/important-pricing-concepts.html" target="_blank">reference prices</a>, that is, other prices that inform perceptions of your product's or service's price. You could create a price segmentation scheme, that is charging different prices for different customer segments, to maximize revenues and profits. And, if you are just entering a market with your product or service, you could pursue a penetration or skimming pricing strategy depending on what you are trying to accomplish. </p><p>There are many other considerations when pricing a product including price elasticity/sensitivity, price thresholds, bundling/unbundling, sales terms, payment methods, subscription model versus outright purchase, etc. </p><p>Having considered some of the other components of <a href="https://www.brandingstrategysource.com/2015/08/important-pricing-concepts.html" target="_blank">pricing strategy</a>, these are still the most important customer questions to inform your pricing strategy:</p><ul><li>How much do you think this product or service costs?</li><li>What would you being willing to pay for this product or service?</li><li>What is the most you would be willing to pay for this product or service?</li></ul><div>Make sure to ask these questions before you set your price. </div>Brad VanAukenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14901536149324905438noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1693123081116518854.post-19515296060972209282023-05-11T14:39:00.000-04:002023-05-11T14:39:50.337-04:00Who Should You Hire to Help You with Your Branding?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEoqtzu-57rTIDw8HwmVhv2Gs6ZtjYX8ilME8_UBHeSEb5Vq791JR5TZ_Y9U9E8oJu9DmeK4ou_I_lT8PAuv2-MNqLuLdK6xYSRZU5J4TqSud3s39q1CzDgB0S5qN4aEiPU8L1EorYk6b0sQ6DesDGUvU8C_XTfJN6xNi_xg8kbJJiw6owK0c6oN23UQ/s1063/Screen%20Shot%202023-05-11%20at%202.35.02%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="594" data-original-width="1063" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEoqtzu-57rTIDw8HwmVhv2Gs6ZtjYX8ilME8_UBHeSEb5Vq791JR5TZ_Y9U9E8oJu9DmeK4ou_I_lT8PAuv2-MNqLuLdK6xYSRZU5J4TqSud3s39q1CzDgB0S5qN4aEiPU8L1EorYk6b0sQ6DesDGUvU8C_XTfJN6xNi_xg8kbJJiw6owK0c6oN23UQ/w400-h224/Screen%20Shot%202023-05-11%20at%202.35.02%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>When hiring someone or some organization to help you with your branding, be sure to know what you are seeking first. Some people think of a brand as a name or a visual identity. Some think of it as a set of messages and communications. Some think of it as an exercise in finding the optimal positioning. Some see it as synonymous with competitive strategy. And some see it as a holistic approach to business that includes all of these things plus IT, HR, customer service and technical support alignment. What are you looking for? What will solve your problem?</p><p>Are you trying to increase sales, increase profitability, increase brand awareness, increase brand preference, increase brand trial, increase brand usage, encourage new uses for your brand, target new customer segments for your brand, increase emotional connection to your brand, increase brand loyalty, increase customer retention, overcome a crisis, freshen up a dated brand, extend the brand into new categories, change brand perceptions, reposition your brand, solve a brand problem or something else?</p><p>Once you have figured out what you are looking for, then it is time to reach out to individuals or organizations that can meet this need. If you are only looking for a visual identity, brand identity firms and most marketing agencies can help you with this. What you need is a graphic designer who is experienced in brand identity design and brand guidelines development. If you want accompanying messages and communications, you need a good copywriter too. But, if you want these messages to powerfully convey a unique value proposition, you will need in-depth customer research and an experienced brand strategist. If you are looking for help with brand strategy, especially as it intersects with competitive strategy and business model strategy, you are also likely to need an MBA with concentrations in marketing strategy and competitive strategy. And if you are seeking a complete approach to branding, you will want to hire a firm that specializes in this. </p><p>For the comprehensive approach to branding, you will need the following skill sets: a business/marketing strategist, a marketing researcher skilled in qualitative and quantitative brand research, a graphic designer skilled in brand identity design and brand guidelines development and a talented copywriter. And it wouldn't hurt to have someone skilled in inside-out branding, someone who can put a CEO's hat on and view your enterprise from that holistic, higher level perspective.</p><p>In summary, you need to know what you are trying to achieve, what deliverables you are seeking and what skill sets can get you what you want. Some marketing agencies have all of these pieces, while most tend to be strong in graphic design and marketing communications and weaker in customer research and brand and business strategy. A common mistake is to hire the wrong person or organization to help you with your branding needs.</p><p>I once participated in a municipality's branding project RFP process that demonstrated a complete cluelessness about this. When the municipality emailed answers to the questions the agencies had asked regarding the RFP, more than 50 organizations were on the distribution list and they ranged from individual graphic designers and copywriters to marketing research companies, brand strategists, social media companies and full-service marketing agencies. It was clear that the municipality didn't know what it was seeking, nor did it know who to go to to find it. Once I saw that, I excused my company from the process, as I am sure other sophisticated marketing agencies did. </p><p>The bottom line: You need to know what you want and who can provide it for you. And you need to be thoughtful about this before you begin the search process.</p>Brad VanAukenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14901536149324905438noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1693123081116518854.post-57067107667917304562023-05-04T13:16:00.000-04:002023-05-04T13:16:07.625-04:00Four Simple Tips to Help Your Marketing<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqnbioRrJSQFRCnP_z2nABtkDzynBv9BKvmO3MwrCloX6lypLQJKQU8hG7uBD6sHHMruTeCMYEHjA-S7MoqAJE5FukV4TbrHtv67rJruD_BLPj-LKLeBk7bJ_TW5LGBPYh1-HY3Gio4MthUXiTBCee3N16AFhiOpW7HYli4dsbYA2JiRrLY9bDEOrwMQ/s1046/Screen%20Shot%202023-05-04%20at%201.11.13%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="589" data-original-width="1046" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqnbioRrJSQFRCnP_z2nABtkDzynBv9BKvmO3MwrCloX6lypLQJKQU8hG7uBD6sHHMruTeCMYEHjA-S7MoqAJE5FukV4TbrHtv67rJruD_BLPj-LKLeBk7bJ_TW5LGBPYh1-HY3Gio4MthUXiTBCee3N16AFhiOpW7HYli4dsbYA2JiRrLY9bDEOrwMQ/w400-h225/Screen%20Shot%202023-05-04%20at%201.11.13%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></div></div><p>Over the years I have learned some simple, common sense tips to improve marketing outcomes. These are not 'rocket science.' They are just simple things you can do to improve your marketing outcomes.</p><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Whenever you conduct customer research, ask this simple set of questions at the end of your research: "<b>Where do you go to get information</b> about products in this category?" "To whose advice do you listen?" "To what websites do you go?" "What publications do you read?" "What conferences do you attend?"</li><li>Whenever possible, but especially when interacting with the public, make sure you <b>capture each person's name and email address</b>. You would be surprised how many people forget to do this even at marketing events. And know that it is always better to have the prospect's contact information than making sure they have yours. One way to make sure this happens at conferences, trade shows and events is to require the person's name and email address as a cost of entry to your presentation, activity or booth.</li><li>In any online communication, <b>suggest that the recipient share the communication</b> with or forward it to friends and colleagues who also might be interested in your product or service. This simple prompt will cause many people to do just that, forward or share your communication with friends and colleagues. You can also add "share" buttons to the the post or email message to make it even easier to share.</li><li>Whether it is in an email message or an online ad, make sure there are <b>multiple places a person can click that will take him or her to the intended action</b>. I will likely be a combination of words, images and buttons.</li></ol><p></p><p><br /></p>Brad VanAukenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14901536149324905438noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1693123081116518854.post-14673463836862208312023-03-29T09:04:00.003-04:002023-03-30T14:07:19.885-04:00Online Branding Education<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDJxuW-RsfQSjcoSOOt2vEzQwd5r6zd_VLTxThZUcckl94g9KxUDfx07NT0aZugfe776AJjTQJHm0lKqPTNanu7npRq84XI0I-iSEcxIgyYaZhpDqYMwCM-wBLeYvLmIWHVp4s5JuKjyBavWgW8Rc2Rj-pcHCLjqJNE0sIxZBJJWiDUapDfwTNkiMY6g/s2000/online-education.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1041" data-original-width="2000" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDJxuW-RsfQSjcoSOOt2vEzQwd5r6zd_VLTxThZUcckl94g9KxUDfx07NT0aZugfe776AJjTQJHm0lKqPTNanu7npRq84XI0I-iSEcxIgyYaZhpDqYMwCM-wBLeYvLmIWHVp4s5JuKjyBavWgW8Rc2Rj-pcHCLjqJNE0sIxZBJJWiDUapDfwTNkiMY6g/w400-h209/online-education.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /></div></div><p>I have created two new online brand management courses: (1) <a href="https://www.learndesk.us/class/5736871684472832/positioning-your-brand-to-win" target="_blank">Positioning Your Brand to Win!</a> and (2) <a href="https://www.learndesk.us/class/4716143631663104/brand-research" target="_blank">Brand Research</a>. If you have a couple hours to spare and want to dive deeply into these two topics, click on the links to begin your education.</p><p><br /></p>Brad VanAukenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14901536149324905438noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1693123081116518854.post-63463631676047724042023-03-22T14:28:00.002-04:002023-03-22T14:40:44.219-04:00How to Remain a Leading-Edge Marketer Throughout Your Career<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJusZyE6_8hIU1nr5vtJosRTYDBygJBktmID7GC-WbAq31ewuoxKLReKPLQVbRYqpG3lOXrStJErjrLrDRNzJEDopm8qjULZcPvCnXG7w2DBjT_tMVq0nZRYA7y5TWaIRBaklNvEo0OsHMhvuXT-HCbFZtBPvTlkQngD-tGsgfvR7JKxIarWMu8J4reg/s670/Screen%20Shot%202023-03-22%20at%201.38.25%20PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="542" data-original-width="670" height="324" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJusZyE6_8hIU1nr5vtJosRTYDBygJBktmID7GC-WbAq31ewuoxKLReKPLQVbRYqpG3lOXrStJErjrLrDRNzJEDopm8qjULZcPvCnXG7w2DBjT_tMVq0nZRYA7y5TWaIRBaklNvEo0OsHMhvuXT-HCbFZtBPvTlkQngD-tGsgfvR7JKxIarWMu8J4reg/w400-h324/Screen%20Shot%202023-03-22%20at%201.38.25%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I have been a marketing practitioner for 38 years. And I am happy to report that my skill set has kept up with the latest marketing concepts and technologies. So, how do I stay abreast of the latest developments? Here is my list of the things that one can do to stay current:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-size: medium;">Hold a variety of marketing positions over time - I held positions in product management, new product development, trade marketing, brand management, brand licensing, advertising, promotion, media planning, marketing research, CRM, corporate communications and marketing management</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">As a consultant, help other companies solve their marketing problems - I have helped more than 200 organizations in 60+ industries develop successful brand strategies</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">Read every new marketing, marketing research, customer service, psychology and behavioral economics book that is published</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">Read as many other genres as possible</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">Go to marketing conferences and take lots of notes</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">Speak at marketing conferences</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">Attend marketing webinars and take lots of notes</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">Develop marketing webinars</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">Watch marketing "how to" videos on YouTube and Vimeo</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">Take marketing e-learning courses</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">Volunteer to help not-for-profit organizations with their marketing</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">Teach marketing as an adjunct professor at a local college or university</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">Conduct marketing seminars at a local library</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">Develop and produce marketing e-learning courses</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">Publish a marketing blog - so far, I have written 1,460 posts for three different marketing blogs</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">Create a marketing-related YouTube channel</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">Create a marketing podcast</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">Become a guest on other people's podcasts</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">Interview CMOs for your podcasts, videos and blog posts</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">Write a book on marketing</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">Write marketing-related articles for professional journals</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">Volunteer to judge marketing competitions</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">Join the local chapter of the American Marketing Association</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">Join the local chapter of PRSA</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">Join the American Advertising Federation</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">Network with other marketers</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">Create and publish a marketing industry survey to identify the latest marketing trends and issues</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">Create websites and manage social media for your favorite hobbies and organizations - I manage five different Facebook pages for five different organizations in which I am involved</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">Make sure you understand social media marketing, mobile marketing, CRM, email marketing, marketing automation, geofencing, retargeting and OTT and CTV marketing</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">Use Chat-GPT in a variety of ways to make sure you understand it</span></li></ul><div><span style="font-size: medium;">This list may seem overwhelming but true experts never stop learning. They relentlessly explore deeper and deeper into every aspect of their field of expertise. And they do the same with closely related fields of expertise. This is how one becomes a world-class marketer.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">I hope this provides you with some ideas of how you can stay at the top of your game throughout your marketing career.</span></div></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /> </span><p></p>Brad VanAukenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14901536149324905438noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1693123081116518854.post-91579377302293745272023-03-15T11:42:00.001-04:002023-03-15T14:28:13.062-04:00Social Media & Digital Marketing<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2abadYGCWL0teeo9wm6HMk_i-7Iikf2b1IVgEagvALIXNwuVJwea1fEvps4Zvw3fVGHvd9bX3rGZzq7MdFHOo_6LPPM2Lb_bU-RV-LT_wIgdNFghOe3LQA-LbcQscms3GNdjlAv3kQbfXSNuhHdl35_F1-uuInfg9DmTAd-dq19Q-oPIKVbPp_0eq2g/s1251/Screen%20Shot%202023-03-15%20at%2011.38.16%20AM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="835" data-original-width="1251" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2abadYGCWL0teeo9wm6HMk_i-7Iikf2b1IVgEagvALIXNwuVJwea1fEvps4Zvw3fVGHvd9bX3rGZzq7MdFHOo_6LPPM2Lb_bU-RV-LT_wIgdNFghOe3LQA-LbcQscms3GNdjlAv3kQbfXSNuhHdl35_F1-uuInfg9DmTAd-dq19Q-oPIKVbPp_0eq2g/w400-h268/Screen%20Shot%202023-03-15%20at%2011.38.16%20AM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">I am an older guy. I was on the forefront of the revived brand management movement in the mid-to-late 1990s. And I have ridden it out until the present. I was also an early user of the Internet - going as far back as 1976 when it was primarily a military communication vehicle (ARPANET). Further, I was on the ground floor of coding, learning Fortran, COBOL and basic assembler language in college. When I was at Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) in New York, I was an expert in reading binary code, hexadecimal code and core dumps to identify coding errors. I had an online newsletter before there were blogs and I started a few of the first marketing-oriented blogs. And, I have kept up with web design, SEO, content marketing, social media marketing (Google, Facebook, et al.), digital marketing, mobile marketing, CRM, data analytics, email marketing, marketing automation, CTV/OTT, geofencing, retargeting, podcasts, YouTube channels, etc.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">I share this background to indicate that I am grounded in both classical marketing and branding concepts and techniques and the most recent tools and advances in social media and digital marketing. I am not just speaking from one of these two perspectives. And I am not a luddite.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Here is my point. Social media and digital marketing are overrated. Brands and enterprises have become over reliant on them. Why? They are modern - the latest "shiny objects." They are relatively inexpensive. And, most importantly, you can track and measure their results (which cannot be said of many other marketing components).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">However, while they have their place in the marketing mix, here is what they continue to lack - the human touch, relationship building, peer-to-peer marketing, real world publicity stunts, and the power of a good salesperson to close a sale.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Yes, over time, blog posts, podcasts and YouTube and Vimeo videos can create a certain level of trust, emotional connection and thought leadership. And, there are ways to make digital content go viral, especially to an extent that cannot be achieved otherwise. However, more "high touch" marketing tactics must be kept in the marketing mix to create a truly integrated and powerful marketing campaign. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">When a person only knows how to use a hammer, everything looks like a nail. When marketers only know social media and digital marketing, the primary marketing vehicle becomes digital by default.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">To have a fully rounded marketing campaign that is highly effective, generally you need the following marketing components: target market definition and segmentation, marketing research for customer insight, marketing strategy and plan development, graphic design, videography, copywriting, media planning and placement, media relations and publicity and social media and digital marketing expertise. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">I have witnessed more and more companies with limited resources relying solely on social media and digital marketing to achieve their marketing goals - often with lackluster results. This is not always the case, but it is often the case. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">If I were to start a marketing campaign with very limited resources, I would start with media relations and publicity including proactive publicity and carefully crafted publicity stunts. In today's world, this would include social media and digital marketing. But social media and digital marketing wouldn't be the only components of such a campaign.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">So, my core message in this blog post is that while social media and digital marketing are likely to be components of your integrated marketing campaign, they should not be the sole or dominant components of that campaign. </span></p>Brad VanAukenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14901536149324905438noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1693123081116518854.post-22419676095865906882023-01-05T09:15:00.001-05:002023-01-05T09:15:23.210-05:00Blog Posts with Numbered Lists<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiTt-ivqv1gDvI_beXCYqFKQSYGHaL5H9v_m173G839snJL0rN9BzTGV-TuWE2nMCa_bWbwqJknbJfsrjE2MAIK8C3YMy5gKTadkCjMm_4oRoqId6eTgqiDo91WhBK-mDdpKJcolAgtf19SHdE1OF_aybj2xHoagfLK5uCo51D9K-3f-Ui5YTQIHqMDA/s742/Screen%20Shot%202023-01-05%20at%208.28.31%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="386" data-original-width="742" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiTt-ivqv1gDvI_beXCYqFKQSYGHaL5H9v_m173G839snJL0rN9BzTGV-TuWE2nMCa_bWbwqJknbJfsrjE2MAIK8C3YMy5gKTadkCjMm_4oRoqId6eTgqiDo91WhBK-mDdpKJcolAgtf19SHdE1OF_aybj2xHoagfLK5uCo51D9K-3f-Ui5YTQIHqMDA/w400-h208/Screen%20Shot%202023-01-05%20at%208.28.31%20AM.png" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><span style="font-size: medium;">From our archives, these are the Branding Strategy Source blog posts that include numbered lists (from most recent to least recent):</span><p></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://www.brandingstrategysource.com/2022/04/78-trends-shaping-our-world.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;">100 Trends Shaping Our World</span></a></li><li><a href="https://www.brandingstrategysource.com/2021/10/26-of-most-common-startup-challenges.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;">26 of the Most Common Startup Challenges</span></a></li><li><a href="https://www.brandingstrategysource.com/2019/06/ten-ways-to-successfully-position-your.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;">10 Ways to Successfully Position Your Brand in Overcrowded Markets</span></a></li><li><a href="https://www.brandingstrategysource.com/2019/02/55-ways-to-sabotage-brands.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;">55 Ways to Sabotage Brands</span></a></li><li><a href="https://www.brandingstrategysource.com/2018/10/twenty-research-based-findings.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;">20 Research-Based Findings Regarding Brands</span></a></li><li><a href="https://www.brandingstrategysource.com/2018/07/39-marketing-tactics-that-work-part-1.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;">39 Marketing Tactics That Work - Part 1</span></a></li><li><a href="https://www.brandingstrategysource.com/2018/07/39-marketing-tactics-that-work-part-2.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;">39 Marketing Tactics That Work - Part 2</span></a></li><li><a href="https://www.brandingstrategysource.com/2018/07/39-marketing-tactics-that-work-part-3.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;">39 Marketing Tactics That Work - Part 3</span></a></li><li><a href="https://www.brandingstrategysource.com/2018/01/50-growth-strategies.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;">50 Growth Strategies</span></a></li><li><a href="https://www.brandingstrategysource.com/2017/10/twenty-brand-management-tips.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;">20 Brand Management Tips</span></a></li><li><a href="https://www.brandingstrategysource.com/2017/09/six-approaches-to-brand-positioning.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;">6 Approaches to Brand Positioning</span></a></li><li><a href="https://www.brandingstrategysource.com/2017/02/the-twelve-key-elements-of-marketing.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;">The 12 Key Elements of Marketing</span></a></li><li><a href="https://www.brandingstrategysource.com/2016/12/the-ten-most-important-things-to-know.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;">The 10 Most Important Things to Know About Your Customers</span></a></li><li><a href="https://www.brandingstrategysource.com/2016/02/25-things-marketers-should-know-about.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;">25 Things Marketers Should Know About Brands</span></a></li><li><a href="https://www.brandingstrategysource.com/2015/12/three-common-brand-problems.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;">3 Common Brand Problems</span></a></li><li><a href="https://www.brandingstrategysource.com/2015/11/nine-favorite-brand-management.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;">10 Favorite Brand Management and Marketing Books</span></a></li><li><a href="https://www.brandingstrategysource.com/2015/11/eight-common-brand-problems.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;">8 Common Brand Problems</span></a></li><li><a href="https://www.brandingstrategysource.com/2015/09/seven-ways-to-damage-brand.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;">7 Ways to Damage a Brand</span></a></li><li><a href="https://www.brandingstrategysource.com/2015/08/seven-absolutely-brilliant-brand-names.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;">7 Absolutely Brilliant Brand Names</span></a></li><li><a href="https://www.brandingstrategysource.com/2015/07/the-three-things-every-brand-needs-to-be.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;">The 3 Things Every Brand Needs to Be</span></a></li><li><a href="https://www.brandingstrategysource.com/2015/04/the-10-laws-of-branding.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;">The 10 Laws of Branding</span></a></li><li><a href="https://www.brandingstrategysource.com/2015/04/the-10-proven-ways-to-align-your.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;">10 Proven Ways to Align Your Organization with Its Brand's Promise</span></a></li><li><a href="https://www.brandingstrategysource.com/2015/04/ten-sources-of-potential-share-loss.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;">10 Sources of Potential Share Loss</span></a></li><li><a href="https://www.brandingstrategysource.com/2015/03/top-ten-branding-mistakes.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;">Top 10 Branding Mistakes</span></a></li><li><a href="https://www.brandingstrategysource.com/2014/12/top-15-actions-to-build-your-brand.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;">Top 15 Actions to Build Your Brand Online</span></a></li><li><a href="https://www.brandingstrategysource.com/2014/12/6-powerful-ways-to-differentiate-your.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;">6 Powerful Ways to Differentiate Your Brand</span></a></li><li><a href="https://www.brandingstrategysource.com/2014/10/50-ways-to-differentiate-your-brand.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;">50 Ways to Differentiate Your Brand</span></a></li><li><a href="https://www.brandingstrategysource.com/2014/10/50-things-successful-brand-managers-know.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;">50 Things Successful Brand Managers Know</span></a></li><li><a href="https://www.brandingstrategysource.com/2014/10/the-6-hottest-trends-in-branding.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;">The 6 Hottest Trends in Branding</span></a></li><li><a href="https://www.brandingstrategysource.com/2014/10/ten-signs-that-people-do-not-understand.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;">10 Signs That People Do Not Understand Marketing</span></a></li></ul><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><br /><p></p>Brad VanAukenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14901536149324905438noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1693123081116518854.post-19983193959384292312022-12-30T10:20:00.000-05:002022-12-30T10:20:02.957-05:00Why Customer Touch Points Matter<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSdrZHUwjNyGg0Qz3gQkI6Zwdgu4ywFC6sJAIkXfGoWANjV0uVPZmYl0ZO0h3b59oBl7Cs5tj3dOmJ3Kr_nSScjPOVUVbG7YiWjtqlxVUohWuRopqZmXu5M1pGs3tP9Lglld3Xjlv8tsfEIulGJAKfUs7kiezJqXcJ1CgYnNzwsJi2bYP_dqWOQleNqA/s498/Screen%20Shot%202022-12-30%20at%2010.17.08%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="373" data-original-width="498" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSdrZHUwjNyGg0Qz3gQkI6Zwdgu4ywFC6sJAIkXfGoWANjV0uVPZmYl0ZO0h3b59oBl7Cs5tj3dOmJ3Kr_nSScjPOVUVbG7YiWjtqlxVUohWuRopqZmXu5M1pGs3tP9Lglld3Xjlv8tsfEIulGJAKfUs7kiezJqXcJ1CgYnNzwsJi2bYP_dqWOQleNqA/w400-h300/Screen%20Shot%202022-12-30%20at%2010.17.08%20AM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /></div><p>When people think about brands and brand management, they usually think about one of these things: brand positioning, brand strategy, brand identity and brand marketing. But they should also think about customer touch point design and execution. This is often driven by processes, systems (human and computer), organization design, front line employees (including customer service and tech support), hiring criteria, training, metrics, reward systems and other HR, operations and IT functions.</p><p>Consider the impact of each of the following scenarios on how you might perceive the brand:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Someone in a branded vehicle cuts you off in traffic and gives you the middle finger.</li><li>You call a customer service line and are asked to punch an endless set of digits only to find that there is no option for what you are seeking.</li><li>You call a customer service line and are put on hold for over 20 minutes only to have the call dropped so that you have to start all over again.</li><li>You interact with a tech support person who knows less than you do about fixing a problem you are encountering.</li><li>You complain at the front desk of your hotel about a problem in your room but no one ever shows up to fix it or to compensate you for your inconvenience.</li><li>(This one actually happened to me this year.) You sit on a chair in the hotel. As you get up a small nail sticking out of the seat tears your brand new dress slacks and cuts your leg. You inform the hotel staff but they do nothing about it. You move the chair away so no one else encounters the same problem but they put it back again...repeatedly.</li><li>You find rodent hairs in your soup.</li><li>Your online reservation is lost when you arrive at the hotel. They tell you that there are no available rooms except for the presidential suite, which is $600 a night.</li><li>When you reach a customer service representative, she informs you that she does not have the proper authorization to fix your problem. </li><li>You receive a defective product via FedEx or UPS. When you reach the company's customer service person, he doesn't give you a pre-paid return address label to send the defective product back. Instead, he gives you the address to which you need to ship the defective product at your expense.</li><li>You enter a cafe's restroom only to discover filthy toilets, sinks and floors. You are afraid to touch anything, especially the toilet seat.</li><li>You are served partially frozen food at a restaurant. The food was supposed to be hot. Your waitress has disappeared. You can't find a waiter or waitress to whom you can complain. </li><li>Or, we are in the mist of this, Southwest Airlines has cancelled your flight and the flights of most everyone else because of a systems problem. You can't get back home. You are furious and they can't seem to solve the problem.</li></ul><div>While brand marketers can say all they want about the brand through advertising, social media, mobile marketing, etc., this is not going to overcome poor or inconsistent quality or service, which are mostly caused by HR, operations and IT issues. The brand manager needs to work closely with these functions to ensure that the brand is consistently delivering on its promise and creating positive emotional connections with its customers. And this alignment needs to be driven and supported at the highest levels of the organization.</div><p></p><p><br /></p>Brad VanAukenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14901536149324905438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1693123081116518854.post-86376772257474346272022-12-29T14:19:00.003-05:002022-12-29T14:28:56.481-05:00Hiring Marketing Professionals<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAhZE21pU5jJMa11ZFbcCyAmiTy-jzwNVNsBrqBXHbz1sDUV1C8Rg8_7paGB0O154att99q4-ht5Y2zw5Audap_Bq2WeP0fWQyOb88WEFN79TNEboZw0ELrtVleCbS6RRUqVFquULwF1p8br7L9xkO29m0xA38Sy7UX71d3PeTm-9eIm7q58y_9Yku-w/s547/Screen%20Shot%202022-12-29%20at%202.06.22%20PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="274" data-original-width="547" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAhZE21pU5jJMa11ZFbcCyAmiTy-jzwNVNsBrqBXHbz1sDUV1C8Rg8_7paGB0O154att99q4-ht5Y2zw5Audap_Bq2WeP0fWQyOb88WEFN79TNEboZw0ELrtVleCbS6RRUqVFquULwF1p8br7L9xkO29m0xA38Sy7UX71d3PeTm-9eIm7q58y_9Yku-w/w400-h200/Screen%20Shot%202022-12-29%20at%202.06.22%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>I recently helped a not-for-profit organization hire a new marketing director. That position's responsibilities span many marketing sub-disciplines. The skill sets we were seeking were extensive - corporate communications, PR, crisis management, blog and newsletter content creation, graphic design, videography, marketing plan development and execution, marketing research, brand management, collateral material development, social media marketing, CRM, marketing automation, guerrilla marketing, etc. That person would become a marketing department of one person, with the ability to craft winning marketing strategies while also executing all of the supporting tactics. He or she would work with outside marketing agencies, influence other staff members, work with volunteers and insure that the sales force was following through with leads. </p><p>A large number of people applied for the job and we interviewed a smaller number of them. As an experienced marketer I was both surprised and not surprised with our selection. There were number of candidates with MBAs. We did not hire any of them. There were candidates with bachelors degrees in marketing, communications, journalism, and graphic design. We did not hire any of them. Most people had worked with the Adobe suite of graphic design software, CRM platforms, marketing automation software, Facebook advertising, Google Analytics, SEO, etc. We also bypassed several people with the most extensive of these skills. </p><p>Who did we hire? We hired a person with an associates degree in business administration who started out as a wine buyer and store manager. Why did we hire him? Well, he did attend Google Analytics Academy. He has used the Adobe suite of software products and created and edited very successful videos. He has conducted marketing research. And he has managed press releases and public announcements. He created a very successful viral marketing campaign. He has also developed and executed comprehensive marketing plans. But this is not why we hired him.</p><p>Here is why we hired him. He has great interpersonal skills. He is very good at building rapport fast. He has a lot of common sense. He is an out-of-the-box thinker. He isn't afraid to try something new. He has an intuitive sense of customer needs and behaviors. He is curious and a lifelong learner. He is self-taught in all the of the marketing skills he has acquired. He watches YouTube "how to" videos and listens to marketing skills development podcasts. His first inclination is to create inexpensive media attracting events and other low- or no-cost marketing tactics. He is curious and wants to continuously grow professionally. He is honest. He tells you when he doesn't know something. He has a strong work ethic. And he was very concerned about not letting his current employer down during his job transition. The bottom line? He is a natural marketer. He has a great emotional intelligence. He is humble. And he is constantly growing professionally. I am convinced that he will pick up what he needs to know as time goes on.</p><p>So, why have I written this piece? I have learned over time that it is better to hire for personality and character than for specific skill sets. We can teach skills. We can't as easily change personality, character and the capacity for thinking and continuous learning. And some people are out-of-the-box thinkers, while many are not.</p>Brad VanAukenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14901536149324905438noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1693123081116518854.post-26696835259864727922022-12-22T16:13:00.005-05:002022-12-22T16:19:19.937-05:00Online Marketing Courses<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr9LtTlsez6a16T2qA_tqLba1DCIQnbEg_m5ZPxawmY-xIx9t0J9u2dtjRhD0aoS819RFWJpm1_uUFerCcWiKZ-uRyMSEG3BPAJvQa8ReyoFqqQhJfoIROMaXKlQgbQiyt5CXnvjAiOHyZrtGa_SZ1aMHb3DOExLwePLKqH4E_jSvwJmY-k5jCrqpsfw/s782/Screen%20Shot%202022-12-22%20at%204.11.15%20PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="712" data-original-width="782" height="364" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr9LtTlsez6a16T2qA_tqLba1DCIQnbEg_m5ZPxawmY-xIx9t0J9u2dtjRhD0aoS819RFWJpm1_uUFerCcWiKZ-uRyMSEG3BPAJvQa8ReyoFqqQhJfoIROMaXKlQgbQiyt5CXnvjAiOHyZrtGa_SZ1aMHb3DOExLwePLKqH4E_jSvwJmY-k5jCrqpsfw/w400-h364/Screen%20Shot%202022-12-22%20at%204.11.15%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Give the gift of marketing expertise this Christmas! These are links to seven online marketing courses that will increase anyone's understanding of brand management and marketing:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://cpd-digital-marketing.learnformula.com/course/positioning-your-brand-to-win-1?referral=50q9Te" target="_blank">Positioning Your Brand to Win</a></li><li><a href="https://cpd-digital-marketing.learnformula.com/course/tapping-into-human-needs?referral=50q9Te" target="_blank">Tapping into Human Needs</a></li><li><a href="https://cpd-digital-marketing.learnformula.com/course/brand-research?referral=50q9Te" target="_blank">Brand Research</a></li><li><a href="https://cpd-digital-marketing.learnformula.com/course/developing-the-brand-plan?referral=50q9Te" target="_blank">Developing the Brand Plan</a></li><li><a href="https://cpd-digital-marketing.learnformula.com/course/brand-identity-architecture?referral=50q9Te" target="_blank">Brand Identity & Architecture</a></li><li><a href="https://cpd-digital-marketing.learnformula.com/course/out-of-the-box-marketing-techniques?referral=50q9Te" target="_blank">Out-of-the-Box Marketing Techniques</a></li><li><a href="https://cpd-digital-marketing.learnformula.com/course/importance-of-color-in-brand-identity?referral=50q9Te" target="_blank">The Importance of Color in Brand Identity</a></li></ul><p></p>Brad VanAukenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14901536149324905438noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1693123081116518854.post-69769994199879858692022-10-13T14:47:00.000-04:002022-10-13T14:47:24.655-04:00Positioning Product Brands<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigBayOuiAyaNNyS38aApzg9Xy7lwMaEp8PNarQGLo3v1zJuvDAtMEmUdYVOivaZ6KLr_vkWqpev_uk1GevQL9ueVWDw6rf2cENNLeIn0kkF3THasu4wuctLcnrbayTMNxyvLS8AxPeXZJNID5SZvhylt0frj4tcnvM9tvmNRGnAbRS7cP3vnd0XIptSw/s836/Screen%20Shot%202022-10-13%20at%202.39.46%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="836" data-original-width="584" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigBayOuiAyaNNyS38aApzg9Xy7lwMaEp8PNarQGLo3v1zJuvDAtMEmUdYVOivaZ6KLr_vkWqpev_uk1GevQL9ueVWDw6rf2cENNLeIn0kkF3THasu4wuctLcnrbayTMNxyvLS8AxPeXZJNID5SZvhylt0frj4tcnvM9tvmNRGnAbRS7cP3vnd0XIptSw/w280-h400/Screen%20Shot%202022-10-13%20at%202.39.46%20PM.png" width="280" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">When entrepreneurs or organizations start out with a product seeking a market versus the other way around, they need to think carefully about which market or markets their product (and brand) would be most wise to serve. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This involves target market identification, product category selection and unique value proposition determination.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I will use a real-life example with which one of my client companies is now wrestling. This company has created a very tasty parmesan cheese substitute that has no dairy component. It is in a ground up form that can be added to food from a shaker. The product includes many healthy ingredients and no artificial or harmful ingredients. It is a very good product. But the question is, "What are the most advantageous markets for the product?"<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">To determine this, we must consider the customer segments, potential product uses, market sizes, market growth rates, market profit margins, and the competition by market. Once these are used to identify the most advantageous market segments, then the appropriate product category or categories must be selected and the unique value proposition must be crafted to fit the chosen category or categories. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Going back to the parmesan cheese substitute, it could be added to pasta, used to flavor popcorn, shaken on top of grilled steaks or seafood, added to soups, stews or salads, added to quiche, added to fondue or eaten with a spoon as a snack. Which are the most likely uses for each potential market segment? Which uses provide the largest markets? For which uses are the largest quantities consumed? Which uses have less competition? Which uses would make the most intuitive sense to people? Which uses would be the most compelling?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">What do the targeted markets and the intended uses imply about the product category? Is the product a healthy parmesan cheese substitute, a non-dairy parmesan substitute, a cheese-flavored seasoning, a condiment, a healthy food additive, a flavor enhancer or something else?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Each of these product category descriptions might appeal to different target markets. For instance, a non-dairy parmesan substitute would primarily appeal to vegans and people who are lactose intolerant. How big are these two markets?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">One must also consider who cooks, what types of meals they prepare, how often they prepare different types of meals, how much the snack, what types of snacks they consume and what flavors their palates prefer. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In the case of this product, one must also consider whether it is to be positioned as a variation on a traditional ingredient in classical cuisine or as an ingredient associated with nouvelle cuisine.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Once the target markets, product categories and product uses are determined, one must also consider the competition in arriving at a highly compelling unique value proposition (UVP). What will make this product and brand stand out within its intended product category?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Also, one might think through whether the product or brand might best be associated with comfort, nostalgia, family, friends, experimentation, excitement or something else.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I hope this helps you to see that product uses, product category definitions, target markets and market segments and unique value propositions need to work together to create more focused, integrated and effective brand and marketing strategies. These are all components of a brand's positioning.</span><o:p></o:p></p>Brad VanAukenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14901536149324905438noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1693123081116518854.post-39700104850199649202022-08-30T13:05:00.006-04:002022-11-22T11:28:48.600-05:00New Product Development - Corporations versus Startups<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaGxlK5DdXZh20gW9Tj3oAk7W_fsXO5PC2L8h3j7yQkgnU51_jAk293i2GS4pEmIVPxnH7CHpQY9mdDBU0PtZDSnEUtX5UCY33kSA6RGfkkkZ7-4C-_LmuWJReYnNk1evOfLhTbRReriVZ5zQ2U3xdOrZUubGZ086nZ2Q6tqx4gDDoZTkzw3QHWXHD_w/s836/Screen%20Shot%202022-08-30%20at%2012.52.11%20PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="815" data-original-width="836" height="390" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaGxlK5DdXZh20gW9Tj3oAk7W_fsXO5PC2L8h3j7yQkgnU51_jAk293i2GS4pEmIVPxnH7CHpQY9mdDBU0PtZDSnEUtX5UCY33kSA6RGfkkkZ7-4C-_LmuWJReYnNk1evOfLhTbRReriVZ5zQ2U3xdOrZUubGZ086nZ2Q6tqx4gDDoZTkzw3QHWXHD_w/w400-h390/Screen%20Shot%202022-08-30%20at%2012.52.11%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>It is interesting to compare and contrast how we approached new product development within Hallmark's Product Discovery & Development division versus how startups that I coach through RIT's Venture Creations business incubator do it.</p><p>Hallmark is a large corporate entity that is marketing-driven, but also risk adverse. While the startups that I coach are created by entrepreneurs who are willing to risk much to see their startups succeed. Most of these entrepreneurs have technical backgrounds, but little to no understanding of marketing including marketing research.</p><p>Given Hallmark's high profitability hurdles, risk aversion, and large marketing research department, we often succumbed to analysis paralysis. </p><p>At Hallmark, we would explore trends through our resident environmental scanning manager, who would report a new societal trend in depth each month. We would also hold new product ideation sessions for each market or trend that we identified as "high potential." We conducted more than one hundred focus groups a year to explore different potential markets. When one of our new business strategists came up with an idea, we would have that person develop a concept statement and later an "ad-form" concept statement (including a visual), which we tested against a normative database (ConScreen was one of them) to determine market need and gap and to project potential sales volume. Each concept needed to explain the product concept including its primary benefit or benefits simply and without any modifying superlatives. </p><p>After the concept testing, we would often refine the concept, and if it seemed that it had enough potential, we might conduct a few more focus groups to refine it even further and then test its marketplace need and gap again against a normative database.</p><p>The Hallmark new product development process is based on the concept of a screening funnel with most new product concepts dropping out at some phase of the evaluation process. We often developed product prototypes. We sometimes performed attitude and usage (A&U) studies to size a new market and determine its sales potential for a specific category of products. We used conjoint analysis to refine product functions and features. Sometimes we would conduct market segmentation analysis. And sometimes we would test product package designs.</p><p>The final step in the funnel process for the successful product concepts that had made it that far was a full-blown market test in which the product was developed and tested in a test market. A component of those tests was testing different marketing approaches for the product to determine which might work best for the full product launch.</p><p>Now I want to contrast Hallmark's approach to new product development to that of our mostly younger entrepreneurs. We have to work hard to get those entrepreneurs to develop unique value propositions for their products. And we push them to conduct "customer discovery." Sometimes, that consists of only ten interviews with potential customers, although it should consist of far more interviews than that to increase the likelihood of success. </p><p>One of the flaws, but also one of the advantages, of entrepreneurs is that they often (but not always) jump into their startups without much knowledge of what they are getting into regarding industry, product category and business functions outside of their general knowledge or academic training. This makes me think about the Dunning-Kruger Effect, which recognizes that the people who are the most ignorant about something are often also the most confident about it. This can lead to many stumbling blocks and mishaps, but it can also lead to novel solutions for problems that industry experts and others with more knowledge assumed had no solutions. This, in turn, can lead to true breakthroughs as there are no preconceived notions that align with those of industry insiders.</p><p>Entrepreneurs often start with what is called minimum viable products (MVPs) and incrementally add functions and features to the products as dictated by early adopter feedback and as their resources allow. </p><p>I hope this illustrates the two ends of a continuum regarding how new products can be developed. One end is based on exhaustive, methodical research. The other end is based on learning as you go, nimbleness and rapid pivoting. </p>Brad VanAukenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14901536149324905438noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1693123081116518854.post-71184499173578611322022-08-04T13:37:00.001-04:002022-08-04T13:54:17.007-04:00The Essence of Marketing in One Paragraph<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-C982qQcj5aG9aSQO6iUoYBqlKz5RwLvROiHFPCod0vjwr6qB3UHpyjW-Oa8GCGaOMQohIyMawhQftb1IHFSetyzp4talreiTHCiVzeS57qB4VMDo1Lcy5s_f5fI6Dd8gkwK5vuLplKtNniQGB4o9T_291htLxWu2sgBq-VnYPP32aw8TVnh0beobpQ/s579/Screen%20Shot%202022-08-04%20at%201.06.44%20PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="385" data-original-width="579" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-C982qQcj5aG9aSQO6iUoYBqlKz5RwLvROiHFPCod0vjwr6qB3UHpyjW-Oa8GCGaOMQohIyMawhQftb1IHFSetyzp4talreiTHCiVzeS57qB4VMDo1Lcy5s_f5fI6Dd8gkwK5vuLplKtNniQGB4o9T_291htLxWu2sgBq-VnYPP32aw8TVnh0beobpQ/w400-h266/Screen%20Shot%202022-08-04%20at%201.06.44%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Recently, a Venture Capital intern asked me to explain marketing to him at the end of our two-hour interview. While I have spent more than 40 years working on hundreds of successful marketing campaigns for almost as many brands, and while I could spend days talking about the nuances of marketing research, brand strategy, brand architecture, PR, pricing strategy, distribution strategy, digital marketing, marketing automation, package design, retail merchandising, etc. - I believe in simplicity. So, I explained the essence of marketing to him in less than one minute, which can be articulated in one paragraph. This is what I said...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The first step in marketing is being able to completely put yourself in the customer's shoes. What are her hopes, fears, beliefs, attitudes, values and behaviors? What are her pain points? What does she need and what does she desire? What problems is she trying to solve? Then you must craft a product/service solution that uniquely meets those needs and then articulate that unique value proposition as simply and powerfully as possible. Your brand's unique value proposition must be presented to her in as many ways as possible as often as possible to build her awareness of and emotional connection to your brand. And finally, you need to possess common sense to say and do the right things at the right times to move her from brand awareness to brand purchase and then ultimately brand loyalty and even brand advocacy. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It's as simple as that. All of the rest of marketing is just tactics, which can be taught.</div><br /><p></p>Brad VanAukenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14901536149324905438noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1693123081116518854.post-90935706325686742092022-06-23T11:29:00.002-04:002023-08-17T09:02:02.219-04:00Customer Discovery<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOdSN8dU5hwTlaMJzR6VXkvh3n2rzSl0NXRvdWvgimqwzuC2iCTb_L9DrvsF48942L2Sm5xnCF7asbhuCbOi6D8H_rkCC9sSYIXMx4kw5fJiSDnIHjQQe-xhYeHzZ8sJ0Y3PjwAgsVV5uh8Zo2LlnwkOIhV09sBpOFIw8tc2T97_-O3tdd7CDjsGBWGg/s782/Screen%20Shot%202022-06-23%20at%2010.47.41%20AM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="389" data-original-width="782" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOdSN8dU5hwTlaMJzR6VXkvh3n2rzSl0NXRvdWvgimqwzuC2iCTb_L9DrvsF48942L2Sm5xnCF7asbhuCbOi6D8H_rkCC9sSYIXMx4kw5fJiSDnIHjQQe-xhYeHzZ8sJ0Y3PjwAgsVV5uh8Zo2LlnwkOIhV09sBpOFIw8tc2T97_-O3tdd7CDjsGBWGg/w400-h199/Screen%20Shot%202022-06-23%20at%2010.47.41%20AM.png" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>Customer discovery must run deep. You need to talk with a lot of people and you need to probe deeply with each of them. That means understanding their hopes, fears, aspirations, anxieties, beliefs, attitudes, values and more. While a highly trained marketing research moderator may use a variety of qualitative research techniques (including projection, ideation, guided imagery, sorting exercises, etc.) to discover these motivations and behavioral drivers, you can do much of this yourself by asking open-ended response questions and spending more time listening than talking. </p><p>The types of questions that can elicit deeper responses include the following:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>What keeps you up at night?</li><li>What is your most pressing need right now?</li><li>If this product or brand were a movie/book/car/party/musical genre/food/etc., what type of movie/book/car/party/musical genre/food/etc. would it be and why?</li><li>How does it make you feel?</li><li>What is missing?</li><li>Do you think the product says anything about you, about who you are?</li><li>Would you recommend this to a friend or colleague? Why or why not?</li><li>What about this appeals to you?</li><li>What is the most important need this would fulfill?</li></ul><div>I will give you an example of superficial customer insight versus deep customer insight.</div><div><br /></div><div><u>Superficial Insight</u></div><div><br /></div><div>Q: Why did you purchase a Tesla?</div><div>A1: Because gasoline prices are soaring, electric vehicles (EVs) make increasing sense financially.</div><div>A2: Because I care about the environment.</div><div><br /></div><div><u>Deeper Insight from Deeper Probing</u></div><div>Q: Why did you purchase a Tesla?</div><div>A1: I have always admired Elon Musk and wanted to buy one of his cars.</div><div>A2: Teslas are the coolest, newest cars on the road.</div><div>A3: Tesla acceleration makes it fun to drive.</div><div>A4: Tesla stereo systems are "to die for." I enjoy tooling around listening to some of my favorite music.</div><div>A5: I like their clean lines inside and out. They are aesthetically pleasing. </div><div>A6: I love showing my car off to others. </div><div>A7: I want to support society's transition from fossil fuel powered vehicles to EVs.</div><div>A8: I want to help slow down climate change. </div><div>A9: When I drive a Tesla, people view me as successful, progressive, an early adopter and environmentally conscious.</div><div>A10: Teslas are really fun to drive. They perform very well on the road.</div><div>A11: I can always beat other cars across an intersection after a full stop at a stoplight or stop sign.</div><div>A12: Teslas have fun "toys" - whoopee cushion noises under seats, light show, caraoke, Netflix movies, etc.</div><div>A13: I am just really happy when I am driving my Tesla. It is a joy to drive.</div><div><br /></div><div>Looking at this list that was compiled from deeper probing, we now have to determine which of these are the primary drivers of the purchase decision. And then we have to distill that to a unique value proposition and brand messaging.</div><div><br /></div><div>A possible unique value proposition for Teslas given this list of purchase motivations might be:</div><div><br /></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Teslas are the coolest cars on the road. They are really fun to drive and they are good for the environment.</li></ul></div><div>Asking your family, friends and colleagues if they like your new product or service idea is not customer discovery. Try for a minimum of 60 interviews. If this seems like an overwhelming task, set aside two hours each week to conduct a few customer interviews. Breaking the task up into smaller chunks will make it seem easier and ongoing customer discovery is better that one-time customer discovery anyway.</div><div><br /></div><div>The only way to arrive at a truly compelling unique value proposition for your startup is to base it on thoughtful and rigorous customer discovery. </div><p></p>Brad VanAukenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14901536149324905438noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1693123081116518854.post-76713918002102058462022-05-25T15:53:00.000-04:002022-05-25T15:53:32.574-04:00Branding & the Customer Experience<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEUWsi3WD2qc-BVcdv_rFHixIuhVujFkgaAOM71y38brHRHC6XAg2RzPgFvBd-mwjTix9bcQtsxhg_0XA8sJ3t3f38SPOwLWySKdjZR-A3YQZ-NI7vyTIoGHDdZc_yGqvg1eL8ikRB6V0BoiDu3F0plFlNmP6aOiWZv7RJKfOBm9Bn8EG5NlthMoUWPw/s1181/Screen%20Shot%202022-05-25%20at%203.31.17%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="788" data-original-width="1181" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEUWsi3WD2qc-BVcdv_rFHixIuhVujFkgaAOM71y38brHRHC6XAg2RzPgFvBd-mwjTix9bcQtsxhg_0XA8sJ3t3f38SPOwLWySKdjZR-A3YQZ-NI7vyTIoGHDdZc_yGqvg1eL8ikRB6V0BoiDu3F0plFlNmP6aOiWZv7RJKfOBm9Bn8EG5NlthMoUWPw/w400-h268/Screen%20Shot%202022-05-25%20at%203.31.17%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>Mostly, when people talk about brands and branding they are thinking about the brand's name, identity system, positioning, and marketing messaging. They are not thinking about its underlying order fulfillment, customer service, technical support, crisis management and other systems and policies that create the overall customer experience. And yet, a brand's reputation can be enhanced or tarnished by these systems and policies. </p><p>Think of a surly customer service representative that you have interacted with. Or, alternatively, think about a particularly empathetic and helpful customer service representative.</p><p>Think about someone who hung up on you when you were seeking help versus one who stayed on the phone with you for hours until your problem was completely solved. </p><p>Think about an order that took dozens of screens and multiple inputs to complete versus one that was completed with one click. </p><p>Think about a hotel employee who personally saw to it that your request was fulfilled versus one who passed it on to someone else, or worse yet, one who never followed through on your request. </p><p>Think about input screens that were very confusing or that timed out versus those that were simple and intuitive. </p><p>Think about brands that create a huge series of walls so that you can never reach a live person versus those in which a real person answers the phone. </p><p>Think about systems that anticipate your needs versus those that can't seem to to help you find what you are looking for. </p><p>Think about the FAQs that never seem to address the question you have versus those that are thorough and help you solve your problem.</p><p>Think about an order that arrived overnight versus one that took weeks and weeks to arrive.</p><p>Think about brands that surprise you by including unexpected product enhancements after your purchase versus those that surprise you by including unexpected hidden costs and surcharges.</p><p>Think about assembly instructions that were incomplete and impossible to follow versus assemblies that were so intuitively obvious that you didn't even need instructions.</p><p>Think about retail establishments in which you were immediately greeted in a friendly but unobtrusive way versus those that didn't even acknowledge you. </p><p>And think about warm and welcoming brand environments versus sterile or off-putting environments.</p><p>These systems, processes, policies and constructs all contribute to the brand experience. It doesn't matter how cool the brand's identity or marketing messages are. If your interaction with the brand frustrates you or makes you angry versus putting a smile on your face, your perception of and loyalty to the brand will suffer. </p>Brad VanAukenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14901536149324905438noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1693123081116518854.post-31528042942134065902022-05-04T13:50:00.000-04:002022-05-04T13:50:11.619-04:00FREE Marketing for Startups Webinar<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRW-ZWkQW5Xl6UFKO-c_iXyMMR7KJmMeAqciPQ1UT5mDtA-lzI2WPP4TsDDbGtdk2pNlEmAZkcj56GIzPg35f33_K0roHN3vxmtBtdLkpSy7pj1LhxeFfOTVvshIH68ePn1nomjJhqniUUThzV_gCS1oSL8zFnIvy_Tf7_W1_MfCG5Sz1Bd1pAXOiudQ/s1083/Screen%20Shot%202022-05-01%20at%206.20.56%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="709" data-original-width="1083" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRW-ZWkQW5Xl6UFKO-c_iXyMMR7KJmMeAqciPQ1UT5mDtA-lzI2WPP4TsDDbGtdk2pNlEmAZkcj56GIzPg35f33_K0roHN3vxmtBtdLkpSy7pj1LhxeFfOTVvshIH68ePn1nomjJhqniUUThzV_gCS1oSL8zFnIvy_Tf7_W1_MfCG5Sz1Bd1pAXOiudQ/w400-h261/Screen%20Shot%202022-05-01%20at%206.20.56%20AM.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">FREE Marketing for Startups Webinar on Wednesday, May 18 from 11:30 am to 1 pm ET. Sponsored by RIT's Venture Creations Incubator and Nextcorps. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Sign up here: <a href="https://nextcorps.org/event/marketing-for-startups/">https://nextcorps.org/event/marketing-for-startups/</a> </div><p></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p></blockquote><p><br /></p>Brad VanAukenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14901536149324905438noreply@blogger.com33tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1693123081116518854.post-11064527881949458042022-04-14T09:43:00.008-04:002022-12-21T13:03:24.278-05:00100 Trends Shaping Our World<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjijByH0IHiicfRpnJZgjmtnlc3o446eGzRp1EFRBkv4KSy3pc8O2tNE4sIePdC5Vi0q8WeCEUQzVF6FvzxJbOfF5pvJccUKpZaSXD1CGs5Q5aGCTH6eid8zx5Pb3NA2_7sGiYJOZjGzd5LO5a1Of0I0q51xp96aCNbffh6VYB71g_R0bz0ddm5FQMdBA/s1289/Screen%20Shot%202022-04-14%20at%209.32.47%20AM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="835" data-original-width="1289" height="259" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjijByH0IHiicfRpnJZgjmtnlc3o446eGzRp1EFRBkv4KSy3pc8O2tNE4sIePdC5Vi0q8WeCEUQzVF6FvzxJbOfF5pvJccUKpZaSXD1CGs5Q5aGCTH6eid8zx5Pb3NA2_7sGiYJOZjGzd5LO5a1Of0I0q51xp96aCNbffh6VYB71g_R0bz0ddm5FQMdBA/w400-h259/Screen%20Shot%202022-04-14%20at%209.32.47%20AM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">Sometimes it’s useful for marketers to understand trends that may affect their businesses. Here are some of the current trends that I am monitoring:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.25in;"></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: arial;">5G technology</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">The Internet of Things</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Mobile Internet</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Cloud technology and distributed infrastructure </span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Democratization of technology</span></li><li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The world becomes hyperconnected</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Move toward all media consumed through the Internet</span></li><li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Seamless language translation, making the world even smaller</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Exploration of more direct human-computer interfaces (HCI)</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Electrification</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Electric vehicles (EVs)</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Autonomous vehicles</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Drones</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Battery technology, including sodium-sulfur molten salt batteries</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Microgrids</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Grid-connected renewable energy systems</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">All forms of clean tech</span></li><li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Atmospheric (electromagnetic) energy</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Software defined vehicles (SDVs)</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">AI & machine learning</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Deep structured learning</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Autonomic systems</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Generative AI</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Big data analytics</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Edge computing & tinyML</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Quantum computing</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Nanoparticles</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Next generation materials including honeycomb lattice</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Photonics</span></li><li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Quantum teleportation</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Virtual and augmented reality</span></li><li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: arial;">3-D multisensor transmitters</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Advanced robotics</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">3-D printing </span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Process automation and hyper-automation</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Explosion of smart devices</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Genomics/genetic engineering</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Psychobiotics and microbiome therapeutics</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Health care data analytics</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Personal medical devices</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Telehealth and mobile medicine</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Hyper-personalized medicines</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Social determinants of health (SDOH) receive greater attention</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Mental health becomes a larger priority</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Unbundling of health care</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Living building material</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Web 3.0</span></li><li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Homomorphic encryption</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Blockchain (distributed ledger) technology and decentralized identifiers</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Cryptocurrency</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Non-fungible tokens (NFTs)</span></li><li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: arial;">A cashless society</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Privacy and cybersecurity</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Open-source intelligence (OSINT)</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Biometric technology (face, voice, eye, hand and signature security)</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Deglobalization</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Redesign of supply chains</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Increased self-service</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Recurring revenue streams</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Distributed enterprises and remote employees</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Increased flexible work </span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Continued growth in the gig economy</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Huge need for retraining for new economy jobs</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Minimum living wages as an alternative to job loss</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Increased time sharing of all things</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Fractional CXOs</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Extreme personal profiling</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Hyper-targeting and hyper-geofencing </span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">OTT (Over-the-top) media service platforms</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">On-demand personalized customer experiences</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Move from retail stores to Internet distribution centers and home delivery</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Move toward unique and boutique in retail</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Increasing use of personal digital assistants</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Cameras, cameras everywhere</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Struggle for personal privacy</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Increasing popularity of veganism and vegetarianism</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Increased focus on personal health</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Decrease in romantic relationships</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Increasing acceptance of sexual freedom </span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Decrease in organized religion, increase in personal spirituality</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Continued decreasing trust in traditional institutions, especially government</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Shift from a patriarchal society to a matriarchal society</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">More focus on the home</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Increasing self-care and compassion toward others</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Increasing importance of pets as family</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Increased frequency and severity of natural disasters due to climate change</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">More eco-friendly lifestyles</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">The private sector steps up its support of social and environmental issues</span></li><li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Distributed localized agriculture through hydroponics and aeroponics</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Increased “fake news” and disinformation</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Increased sophistication of deep fakes</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Increased botnet activity</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">More censorship, less free speech</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Increased public awareness of and pressure to address economic inequality</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Less capitalism, more socialism</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Continued urbanization</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Continued population shifts to less expensive states</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Less abundance thinking, more scarcity thinking</span></li><li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The blurring of war and crime with the emergence of terrorism</span></span></li><li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Rethinking of the criminal justice system</span></span></li></ol><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;">If you aren’t familiar with some of these, I would recommend that you search on and read about those that most interest you. </span><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p><style class="WebKit-mso-list-quirks-style">
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</style>Brad VanAukenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14901536149324905438noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1693123081116518854.post-36219505408368632212022-03-29T09:55:00.001-04:002022-03-29T09:57:13.172-04:00Brands and the Digital World<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAAFYA91Djs-wsRAP4Eb6KKNOX2GV7mI5gu-AKNoHdlYc6-et-RZdNoPzS0nXYHLsvZ_J1ON6RI5tQYZP-fojP5zIcQjqkaoTozMnIxkzGcr4uvPTQuI4weystmhw7Ini6G7SBkRt3oT2hRFpJ4-XV9hZjj9vrvTUtMWIq4qTqPIq2DLuzr0fuC_SBLA/s1093/Screen%20Shot%202022-03-29%20at%209.46.48%20AM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="727" data-original-width="1093" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAAFYA91Djs-wsRAP4Eb6KKNOX2GV7mI5gu-AKNoHdlYc6-et-RZdNoPzS0nXYHLsvZ_J1ON6RI5tQYZP-fojP5zIcQjqkaoTozMnIxkzGcr4uvPTQuI4weystmhw7Ini6G7SBkRt3oT2hRFpJ4-XV9hZjj9vrvTUtMWIq4qTqPIq2DLuzr0fuC_SBLA/w400-h266/Screen%20Shot%202022-03-29%20at%209.46.48%20AM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;">Here are some of the effects of the digital world on brands:<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>A brand’s online presence can improve brand awareness.</li><li>A brand’s website is critical to the perception of that brand because most people investigate a brand by going to its website.</li><li>Blogs can create thought leadership and emotional connection for a brand. But consistent new content over time is required to activate these effects.</li><li>If a picture is worth a thousand words, then videos are worth ten thousand words. Consider creating a YouTube channel for your brand.</li><li>For thought leadership, consider podcasts too.</li><li>SEO is still important.</li><li>A third (older) to a half (younger) of people investigate brands through social media before they purchase. </li><li>Advertising in social media makes it easier for people to become aware of and try new brands, including brands that could not break though in the analog world because of lack of marketing funds. This, to some degree, levels the playing field for smaller brands.</li><li>More and more product offerings are delivered through social media feeds.</li><li>Low follows, likes, views and shares can reflect negatively on a brand.</li><li>If you are just starting with your brand’s online presence, use Facebook and Instagram first. </li><li>Consumer targeting is significantly improved through Facebook and Google ads. Data analytics can result in highly targeted or even tailored product offerings to individuals.</li><li>Brands would do well to set up pages on Facebook and Instagram as a way to interact with customers.</li><li>The Internet provides many forums for people to provide feedback on brands, including negative feedback. It would behoove brand advocates to monitor as many of those forums as possible and respond as appropriate. It is important to respond as quickly as possible.</li><li>Online forums can increase consumer engagement with brands.</li><li>The Internet leads to greater brand transparency, but skilled marketing can also make a brand seem bigger or more popular than it actually is.</li><li>Marketing automation can generate quality leads.</li><li>Marketing automation makes it easier for people to respond to offers without prior awareness of the brands behind the offers.</li><li>One needs to be extremely careful about how the marketing automation is set up or it can backfire on the brand. This is very similar to how automated telephonic customer service can backfire on the brand. </li><li>Geofencing can encourage immediate purchase when a consumer is near a retail outlet. </li><li>Geofence in the places that your target customers are at the times when they are there. Think this through carefully </li><li>Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, Venmo, PayPal and Amazon’s 1-Click Ordering make it easier for people to purchase things online with fewer clicks.</li><li>The online presence of brands makes price comparison much easier, which can drive down prices or at least direct the consumer to the cheapest source of the brand.</li><li>Online clothing brand sales are still tricky. Several approaches have been implemented to help with sizing and visualizing the clothes when worn but there still are issues with tactile qualities of the fabric, quality of the construction and fit. This may lead to more returns for online purchased clothing brands than store purchased clothing brands.</li><li>The younger the consumer, the more everything is transacted on the smart phone. All brand interactions must be optimized for mobile. </li><li>To some degree, the digital world has made people more savvy and cynical about brands, mostly due to increased transparency.</li></ul><o:p></o:p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p>Brad VanAukenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14901536149324905438noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1693123081116518854.post-60039463027296717382022-03-24T14:08:00.001-04:002022-03-25T17:37:01.820-04:0021 Stories for Scouting<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_wIyWyv9N8cIuNbhSuvmomCj5vstUnt23aYs2KuDBjRfofWxOtxDLlAhnJgRT9M_YSLLs8xIwCAxJEH0F71SdxJUMz0Y1flOYempw2IozbPnr2vJOY2q7P-d68m7790e02TuCp8ItqDaBUNQE7UFMqfy85rRPqKVvsgF8b24KwZY46GKuRnebYekzlg/s1092/21%20Stories%20for%20Scouting.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="612" data-original-width="1092" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_wIyWyv9N8cIuNbhSuvmomCj5vstUnt23aYs2KuDBjRfofWxOtxDLlAhnJgRT9M_YSLLs8xIwCAxJEH0F71SdxJUMz0Y1flOYempw2IozbPnr2vJOY2q7P-d68m7790e02TuCp8ItqDaBUNQE7UFMqfy85rRPqKVvsgF8b24KwZY46GKuRnebYekzlg/w400-h224/21%20Stories%20for%20Scouting.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I have always been a fan of proactive publicity. In 2011, my local Boy Scout council decided to enlist the services of Over the Edge Global (https://overtheedgeglobal.com) to create a fundraising event in which people donated $1,000 each to rappel down the side of a 21-story building. I was on the committee that helped pull this together. It was a novel idea at the time and no one had tried it before, especially as a big well-publicized event, in downtown Rochester.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial;">We created a PR plan that enlisted the support of local news anchors and talk show hosts on television and radio. We invited those people to rappel down the building the day before the actual public event. And we set it up as a competition in which those local celebrities competed against each other for who could raise the most money. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Not only did we get people to pay $1,000 apiece to rappel down the side of the building. We had people raising far more than that from friends, family and co-workers to sponsor their rappelling. One guy, “Little Joe” Aiello, who was in his eighties, alone raised tens of thousands of dollars of sponsorships each year for his rappel down the side of buildings, which he did several years in a row until he was 93. But there were also event sponsors. The event itself was covered by almost every local media outlet. And even better – the media people couldn’t stop talking about the event days before it occurred and weeks after it occurred. Our local Boy Scout council received over a half a million dollars in free publicity the first year alone. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And the best part is the event tied into a real Scouting activity that reinforced “fun” and “adventure,” two key components of the Scout program.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial;">This is just one example of the power of proactive publicity. These blog posts list some others:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://www.brandingstrategysource.com/2015/05/proactive-publicity.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: arial;">Proactive Publicity</span></a></li><li><a href="https://www.brandingstrategysource.com/2014/11/proactive-publicity.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: arial;">Proactive Publicity</span></a></li><li><a href="https://www.brandingstrategysource.com/2015/10/colonel-sanders-in-new-york.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: arial;">Colonel Sanders in New York</span></a></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://www.brandingstrategysource.com/2017/05/genesee-brewing-company.html" target="_blank">Genesee Brewing Company</a></span></li><li><a href="https://www.brandingstrategysource.com/2021/03/h-e-b-brand-big-winner-in-texas-energy.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: arial;">HEB Brand the Big Winner in the Texas Energy Outage</span></a></li><li><a href="https://www.brandingstrategysource.com/2020/11/brand-benefit-cues.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: arial;">Brand Benefit Cues</span></a></li><li><a href="https://www.brandingstrategysource.com/2020/11/out-of-box-marketing-techniques.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: arial;">Out-of-the-Box Marketing Techniques</span></a></li></ul><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></o:p></p>Brad VanAukenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14901536149324905438noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1693123081116518854.post-2545265484238344772022-03-23T14:30:00.006-04:002022-03-23T14:58:01.582-04:00Branding & Pitch Decks<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNTxZYsov4K6-19jDGgRPCnHiu_IABQcKD9Yg2QY0xrXUp8VjBp0Y51gSuKjZuH6GBtkpE_UhQ9AoFXfkCe-KDJqGnTU8BrKW4LwAgdhbXOv9N5gNDaj1TRs-EHAI-jkdwb9r7nS_T0-T_gLAzbf6PpWPTtlJ5X3j9SUJZkKY85oEK46wBzP7JlVBgkg/s695/Screen%20Shot%202022-03-23%20at%202.11.19%20PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="587" data-original-width="695" height="338" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNTxZYsov4K6-19jDGgRPCnHiu_IABQcKD9Yg2QY0xrXUp8VjBp0Y51gSuKjZuH6GBtkpE_UhQ9AoFXfkCe-KDJqGnTU8BrKW4LwAgdhbXOv9N5gNDaj1TRs-EHAI-jkdwb9r7nS_T0-T_gLAzbf6PpWPTtlJ5X3j9SUJZkKY85oEK46wBzP7JlVBgkg/w400-h338/Screen%20Shot%202022-03-23%20at%202.11.19%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: white;">I have found that my experience in crafting brand strategy and positioning has helped me immensely in coaching startups in their pitch deck creation. Startups use pitch decks to raise funds and other support for their nascent businesses. Just like brands, pitch decks need to tell a story. By definition, stories have plots and characters. The characters are the target customers and the plot is how the nascent business will uniquely solve a significant problem that those customers have. The story needs to outline the company’s unique value proposition and the business model that will enable it to deliver on that unique value proposition. The value needs to be defined in terms of customer benefits rather than product functions or features.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p style="background-color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: white;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: white;">The business must demonstrate that it has done due diligence in understanding who its target customers are demographically and psychographically and what their functional and emotional needs are. It needs to show how it will deliver a unique and superior solution in meeting its customer’s needs. This requires a thorough understanding of the competition. Further, the business will want to illustrate what its product is and how it will be used, including how the customer will experience using it. Ultimately, the business will want to share its long-term vision, which is very similar to the vision that would be a part of a mission | vision | values statement. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p style="background-color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: white;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: white;">Sure, there are some other elements in a pitch deck that are not typically a part of brand strategy or messaging, including an overview of the market, the startup team and its advisors, the potential risks, the finances and why they are pitching to a particular investor. But, whether one is creating a new product concept statement, a brand positioning statement, a brand ‘elevator speech,’ a startup pitch deck or even a grant application, the following components are essential:<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="background-color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman"; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span dir="LTR"></span>Detailed customer description,<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="background-color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman"; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span dir="LTR"></span>Customer insight including an understanding of their unmet needs or pain points,<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="background-color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman"; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span dir="LTR"></span>Unique value proposition,<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="background-color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman"; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span dir="LTR"></span>Which includes an articulation of the unique benefits that will be delivered to the customer,<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="background-color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman"; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span>And an understanding of the competition,<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="background-color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman"; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span dir="LTR"></span>And finally, proof points and “reasons to believe” that you can deliver on your unique value proposition; put another way an indication of how the organization’s business model supports delivery of its unique value proposition.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: white;">And, if there is additional space for description, the messaging would benefit from being told in the form of a story with a happy ending.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0in; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: white;">My experience in new product development, brand positioning and strategy, not-for-profit grant writing and now new venture coaching has allowed me to identify the similarities between these activities. It all boils down to understanding an unmet customer need and developing a solution that uniquely meets that need. Further, it requires proof points that one is capable of uniquely delivering against that need. Finally, this message can be delivered in a more compelling way through storytelling. It’s that simple and it is also that complicated. </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></p><style class="WebKit-mso-list-quirks-style">
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</style>Brad VanAukenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14901536149324905438noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1693123081116518854.post-19931800075040339752022-02-15T09:57:00.000-05:002022-02-15T09:57:05.603-05:00The Essentials of Marketing<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiLbsULGN1bvUBUmQUr7Db3nqjDX1YEynOXCd5lbbwcxmPM9FUOkSzml5e-nWPWMHv66W7FNJtWKFu7okRd_vxZQKjMOlcyqDEx0JvIvahcFOhHaxBaJkjTL1InCyCcaxnO-p4pWI5v4A1hthDY3qDC42VHN9_NLtqub-Krub-RVzIHaI0lE6zrQI1pww=s1097" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="548" data-original-width="1097" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiLbsULGN1bvUBUmQUr7Db3nqjDX1YEynOXCd5lbbwcxmPM9FUOkSzml5e-nWPWMHv66W7FNJtWKFu7okRd_vxZQKjMOlcyqDEx0JvIvahcFOhHaxBaJkjTL1InCyCcaxnO-p4pWI5v4A1hthDY3qDC42VHN9_NLtqub-Krub-RVzIHaI0lE6zrQI1pww=w400-h200" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>I have crafted successful marketing plans, strategies and campaigns for more than 250 brands over the past thirty-eight years. Over those years, I have witnessed enormous changes in how marketing is executed. However, most marketing fundamentals have not changed in decades. Here is my summary of those fundamentals:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>People are primarily driven by emotions</li><li>Images are more powerful than words and videos can be more powerful than images</li><li>But it is also important to paint vivid pictures with your words</li><li>In copy, generally less is more</li><li>Product / service quality and consistency matter</li><li>Outstanding customer service can overcome other flaws</li><li>Having a unique value proposition is essential </li><li>Continuous innovation is a must for extending a brand's lifecycle</li><li>Maintaining high brand awareness is critical to customer brand insistence</li><li>Brands that share important values with their customers create the highest loyalty</li><li>Brands are often used as self-expression badges</li><li>Price segmentation yields increased revenues and profits</li><li>One of the most important aspects of marketing is successfully recovering from errors or crises</li><li>Guerrilla marketing, proactive publicity and publicity stunts can yield the highest ROI</li><li>PR and media relations are important elements of the marketing mix</li><li>Identifying and using influencers can be very productive</li><li>Word-of-mouth and viral marketing can be very powerful</li><li>"Unexpected" and "outrageous" almost always work in marketing</li><li>Humor and entertainment are key elements of advertising campaigns </li><li>Brands can tap into the human propensity for tribalism</li><li>Unfortunately, fear still sells</li><li>Gaining deep customer insight through marketing research is a key marketer's tool</li><li>Market segmentation is as important as ever</li><li>For larger organizations, creating the optimal brand architecture is one of the trickier marketing tasks</li><li>Carefully crafted (and tested) headlines and subject lines can make a huge difference</li><li>It is possible and hugely advantageous to design and implement the optimal customer experience</li><li>Most automated customer service systems are disastrous </li><li>In the end, it is all about the customer and what motivates him or her</li></ul><p></p><p><br /></p>Brad VanAukenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14901536149324905438noreply@blogger.com16