WebProWorld Marketing Forum |
Marketing Learn to Fly & Career Pilot Seminars
I have two seminars that I market and the people that buy them really love them. I update them every month, buyers get free updates for life. The seminars are PowerPoint converted to flash. They are factual honest really help those that watch them. Avialble for instant download. etc, etc (site is in my signature)
Search Engine Marketing Blog: Inputs Required
I've launched an SEM Education blog (URL in signature) in the beginning of this year. I've got a PR of 4 and got some good links as well.
MSN Messenger used for Customer Support
I have been digging on some of my main competitors and I have noticed that a few are offering MSN Messenger Support to their existing customers.
|
|
|
| Recent
Articles |
New Data on Click Fraud
ClickZ's Kevin Newcomb explores latest click fraud survey results from SEMPO. While there appears to be increased awareness of click fraud, the actual instances of click fraud remain steady.
Yahoo Ending Competitor Trademark Bids
As of March 1st, Yahoo Search Marketing will change its policy regarding bids for trademarks by competitive advertisers.
How To Chat Up Writers
Reporters, bloggers, journalists, writers, authors, call us whatever you like, but when you do call, please bring something of interest to the table.
Blog Readership Down, Influence Up
Nearly ten years after blogging began in earnest, the readership of blogs among Internet users ranks well below other activities those users do online regularly.
Employee Communications is the Chicken...
Marketing is the egg. In a preliminary post to the employee communications blog at the IABC Communication Commons, I reiterated my oft-stated view that employee communications is the most important communication effort a company undertakes.
The Four P's of Blog Marketing
Anyone who has spent any time around marketers has probably heard about the profession's "Four P's."
Do B2B's and B2C's Collide in Search Marketing?
I talk with marketers and IT folks all across the country about their web sites and their potential to use the search engines to drive traffic.
|
|
|
|
02.28.06
How Important Is The Brand?
 By
Jennifer Rice
I'm going to interrupt my series on Maslow & Branding to chime in on a debate between Tom Asacker and Laura Ries.
Laura says, "Building strong brands is the key to success, in our opinion, not better products or better people." (go read the entire post for background).
Tom says, "Wow! I couldn't agree with her . . . less." The comments were even less kind:
"Are you kidding me Laura??? What planet are you from??? How can you brand a bad/mediocre product or service anyway? I guess she also believes advertising is the other key to success."
Laura responds by saying,
"Is Google a 'better' search engine? Is Red Bull a 'better' energy drink? Is Microsoft a 'better' operating system? Or did these companies build better brands? Building a brand means standing for something in the mind of the consumer. What gets you into the mind? Usually it is by being first in a new category..."
You really need to read all the comments on these few posts to get the gist of the passion on the two sides of this debate. I'll bite and add my two cents.
Branding is so complex and often misunderstood. The traditional view is that branding is something done by the marketing department or ad agency to position the brand in consumers' minds, usually through advertising. Laura's father Al Ries and Jack Trout wrote a famous book called "Positioning" that outlines this theory. It was the bible for ad agencies (and probably still is.) He wrote it back in the days when products were generally well-made, customer service hadn't yet been outsourced, there were half the number of products on the shelves, and the pattern of releasing software too early hadn't yet become commonplace.
Then life started speeding up; competition got faster and fiercer; outsourcing was discovered; quality started declining... but the perception was that "we can still win if we do positioning and advertising." The dot-boom exemplified this phase: companies with no real product or business plan were spending millions on Superbowl advertising. Sure, they were first in their categories and followed all the right steps as outlined by traditional marketers. But they thought they could buy their reputations instead of earning them.
Al and Laura aren't wrong; we can't throw the baby out with the bathwater and just focus on products and people. Marketing shouldn't be forgotten. We need to find a balance. But their emphasis on marketing and being first unfortunately doesn't address the core need we have today of getting back to the basics and creating something worth talking about.
That said, I think their emphasis on building a strong brand is right on... and that's because I believe that brands are not the domain of marketing departments but of executive teams. A brand strategy is, in essence, a focused strategic platform that guides every aspect of the business. If a brand is a house, then the various departments are the rooms, and the brand platform (the brand mantra) is the foundation. Ideally the foundation sums up the purpose of the company in 5 words or less. In other words, why should people care about you?
The full brand strategy fills in the details; it's the blueprint for the house and guidelines for interior design. The blueprint outlines the type of customers who will visit the house, how it will be used, and how the experience should differ from the other houses on the street. If the blueprint and execution are done right, marketing is simply an open-house sign in the front yard. Starbucks created a powerful brand with no advertising. Ditto with Google. They both created a new and/or better experience for people to talk about.
I think (and hope) that this is what Laura has in mind when she talks about the importance of brands. I don't necessarily agree on the importance of being first, especially in the technology arena. Someone can come up with a great idea (Newton) but another company can quickly figure out how to do it better (Palm). And I think that marketing is partly the job of everyone in the company, not just the people who call themselves marketers. But I do agree that building strong brands is the key to success... and it involves aligning great products and great people with a great purpose to meet customers' unmet needs.
About
the Author:
Jennifer Rice is the founder of Mantra Brand Communication. She has extensive experience in brand/marketing strategy, market/customer research, integrated marketing communications and channel support.
Jennifer also writes theWhat's Your Brand Mantra? blog which offers musings on branding, marketing and the ecology of business. |
