If you read the last post and watched the Seth Godin video, you saw the importance of being remarkable in your branding strategy. But there's a caveat...you can be remarkable, but be perceived as fake, just as I would look at the community in the video that is building a giant lava lamp in their community. You may go to see it once, which I concede has some merit, but why would you ever go back?
We believe that an enduring brand has to be REAL and REMARKABLE.
The first component to being real is being true to yourself. Is your business or organization designed around your passion and purpose? If not, what would make you excited about getting out of bed to build it each day? In the Jim Collins book, Good to Great, one of the key characteristics of great companies (and it's backed by his team's research) is that the company is driven by a common sense of purpose and passion. It's critical for long-term branding success.
The second component to being real is being what you say you are to others, in other words, delivering on what your brand promises. Also in Good to Great, Collins outlines how great companies decide what they can be the best in the world at and then diligently stick to that focus, regardless of any seemingly good opportunities that may come their way, but are outside the scope of their purpose. These companies know who they are and that's what they communicate to their customers and stakeholders. They are known for walking the walk and their customers come to understand exactly what they can expect from that company.
Here's a video of Joseph Pine, co-author of The Experience Economy and Authenticity, discussing this subject in greater detail:
Are you perceived as Real and Remarkable? At ICON, our Brand Transformation Process can help you incorporate these elements into your branding strategy. Contact us to begin today!
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Be Remarkable!
One of the keys to establishing a strong brand is to be remarkable; to completely set yourself apart from the competition. Google did this when they launched their search engine. Other search engines were becoming more complex and adding more features and Google launched with the intention to be simply the best search engine out there. That and a quirky name was remarkable or in other terms, worthy of being remarked about.
No one explains the importance of being remarkable better than Seth Godin, author of The Purple Cow (completely based on this topic), among other great books.
Here's an excellent video of Seth discussing the need to be remarkable:
In ICON's Brand Transformation workshop, we guide clients through the discovery of what is remarkable or potentially remarkable about their customer experience. In some cases it already exists and just needs to be better communicated, but in other cases there may need to be a change to way the business operates to develop a remarkable aspect. Either way, we can help...just contact us to arrange your workshop.
One note of caution - we don't believe it's enough to be remarkable, as many fads are remarkable, but don't last. More about that in the next post!
No one explains the importance of being remarkable better than Seth Godin, author of The Purple Cow (completely based on this topic), among other great books.
Here's an excellent video of Seth discussing the need to be remarkable:
In ICON's Brand Transformation workshop, we guide clients through the discovery of what is remarkable or potentially remarkable about their customer experience. In some cases it already exists and just needs to be better communicated, but in other cases there may need to be a change to way the business operates to develop a remarkable aspect. Either way, we can help...just contact us to arrange your workshop.
One note of caution - we don't believe it's enough to be remarkable, as many fads are remarkable, but don't last. More about that in the next post!
Monday, September 28, 2009
Check Your Website’s Competitive Ranking
Once your website is communicating what you’ve outlined in your branding platform, the next step is to see how your site is performing right now. This can provide a benchmark for you to view how you are stacking up against your key competitors and your industry. You can have the most attractive site in the world, but if no one is seeing it, what is its true value?
One way of doing this is to look at the Alexa Ranking for your website. This provides a measure of a website’s popularity over the past three months. The site ranked #1 has the highest combination of website visits and page views.
To illustrate, here’s how our website stacks up against a sample of other firms in our industry on Canada’s East Coast (note - the smaller the number, the higher the ranking):
ISL 936,670
ICON 2,772,683
Extreme Group 2,981,404
Three Ton 5,435,378
Hawk Communications 6,329,513
Colour 9,385,600
Revolve 10,489,438
MT&L 10,712,896
Target Marketing 13,993,862
Vibe Creative Group 21,508,990
Breakhouse 24,716,779
VMP Group 24,858,770
It should be noted that our old site, which we replaced in July of this year, scored much lower on this list. We applied our knowledge to building the new site and it’s doing much, much better…but of course, we want to reach the top of the list!
So we’d advise you to rate your site and see how you stack up. I’m sure this will be an enlightening experience, but don’t be discouraged, you can climb the charts just like we did.
One way of doing this is to look at the Alexa Ranking for your website. This provides a measure of a website’s popularity over the past three months. The site ranked #1 has the highest combination of website visits and page views.
To illustrate, here’s how our website stacks up against a sample of other firms in our industry on Canada’s East Coast (note - the smaller the number, the higher the ranking):
ISL 936,670
ICON 2,772,683
Extreme Group 2,981,404
Three Ton 5,435,378
Hawk Communications 6,329,513
Colour 9,385,600
Revolve 10,489,438
MT&L 10,712,896
Target Marketing 13,993,862
Vibe Creative Group 21,508,990
Breakhouse 24,716,779
VMP Group 24,858,770
It should be noted that our old site, which we replaced in July of this year, scored much lower on this list. We applied our knowledge to building the new site and it’s doing much, much better…but of course, we want to reach the top of the list!
So we’d advise you to rate your site and see how you stack up. I’m sure this will be an enlightening experience, but don’t be discouraged, you can climb the charts just like we did.
Beginning in the Beginning - The Branding Platform
Before you say ANYTHING online, it’s important to have a firm understanding of what you should be saying and to whom. It helps to have a foundation or platform upon which your key messages can be developed, but to do this, you sometimes have to back up to the beginning. Here are some questions to ask yourself in forming your branding platform:
1. What is the underlying purpose or passion that drives your business or organization?
2. Who is your ideal customer? What expectations will they have when choosing your product, service or experience?
3. What differentiates you from your competition? Does this point of differentiation matter to the ideal customer?
If you are happy with the answers to those questions, you’re ready to move on to a positioning statement; if not, perhaps you have some bigger decisions to make. Here’s a very simple outline for a positioning statement:
For [your ideal customer definition], [brand name] offers [your product, service or experience] that delivers [the ideal customer’s expectations] in a way that is [differentiators].
Now take a look at your current website. Does it communicate the current positioning statement through the use of text, images or other elements? If not, give some thought to what you can do differently to communicate this message.
Please note that this is a very simple approach to get a quick glimpse at your branding platform. We would highly recommend a more detailed analysis, which we offer in a half-day branding workshop. If you’d like to delve deeper, please contact us.
1. What is the underlying purpose or passion that drives your business or organization?
2. Who is your ideal customer? What expectations will they have when choosing your product, service or experience?
3. What differentiates you from your competition? Does this point of differentiation matter to the ideal customer?
If you are happy with the answers to those questions, you’re ready to move on to a positioning statement; if not, perhaps you have some bigger decisions to make. Here’s a very simple outline for a positioning statement:
For [your ideal customer definition], [brand name] offers [your product, service or experience] that delivers [the ideal customer’s expectations] in a way that is [differentiators].
Now take a look at your current website. Does it communicate the current positioning statement through the use of text, images or other elements? If not, give some thought to what you can do differently to communicate this message.
Please note that this is a very simple approach to get a quick glimpse at your branding platform. We would highly recommend a more detailed analysis, which we offer in a half-day branding workshop. If you’d like to delve deeper, please contact us.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Are You Managing Your Brand Online?
At a national online marketing conference this past spring, keynote speaker Arlene Dickinson of CBC TV’s The Dragon’s Den defined your brand succinctly as “your company or organization as experienced by others”. Given this definition, we each have to ask ourselves, “How is our brand is being experienced by others online?”
Over the next few weeks, we’ll be sharing some tips to help you analyze the effectiveness of your branding strategy online and we’ll give you some concrete direction you can take to make steps in a positive direction. We’ll look at your website, some E-marketing strategies you can take, and social media opportunities.
Please feel free to send us any questions you may have and, as always, if you need more help, feel free to get in touch.
Over the next few weeks, we’ll be sharing some tips to help you analyze the effectiveness of your branding strategy online and we’ll give you some concrete direction you can take to make steps in a positive direction. We’ll look at your website, some E-marketing strategies you can take, and social media opportunities.
Please feel free to send us any questions you may have and, as always, if you need more help, feel free to get in touch.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Play the word association game with your brand
If I say, 'Las Vegas', what comes to mind?
If you said gambling, casinos, the strip, Wayne Newton or Siegfried & Roy, you're in good company with the majority of folks (although when I asked one client, she responded "a new purse"!). While the Las Vegas brand is much more than these responses, they provide a strong indication of the city's position as a destination for fun, entertainment and excitement for adults. What happens in Vegas...
Now, can you describe the official logo for Las Vegas? No? The vast majority of people aren't aware of it, but you can see it at the top of this page: www.visitlasvegas.com. So after seeing the logo, tell me, how much did the logo influence the descriptions you came up with when you played the word association game? I'd bet the house that it's most likely not at all.
Often, when we talk to people about their brand, they think we mean their logo, their slogan, their colour scheme. Sure, those items all represent the brand, but they are not the brand. The word association game provides a closer description of the brand. At a recent conference, I heard Arlene Dickinson of CBC TV’s The Dragon’s Den define a brand succinctly as “Your organization as experienced by others”. That definition works for me.
So for Las Vegas, the brand could be shaped by past visits there, stories heard from a friend's visit, experiencing the city as a backdrop in movies or TV shows, seeing advertisements, reading articles, visiting their website, and on and on.
When you think about your brand, in what ways are your customers, employees or other stakeholders experiencing your organization? How are they treated when they call on the phone? What type of atmosphere do you have in your workspace? How are you handling complaints? All of these elements, and many more, shape the perception of your organization and form your brand.
So if you asked your customers or your employees to play the word association game with your organization, what would they say? Ask them...you may be enlightened with the results.
If you said gambling, casinos, the strip, Wayne Newton or Siegfried & Roy, you're in good company with the majority of folks (although when I asked one client, she responded "a new purse"!). While the Las Vegas brand is much more than these responses, they provide a strong indication of the city's position as a destination for fun, entertainment and excitement for adults. What happens in Vegas...
Now, can you describe the official logo for Las Vegas? No? The vast majority of people aren't aware of it, but you can see it at the top of this page: www.visitlasvegas.com. So after seeing the logo, tell me, how much did the logo influence the descriptions you came up with when you played the word association game? I'd bet the house that it's most likely not at all.
Often, when we talk to people about their brand, they think we mean their logo, their slogan, their colour scheme. Sure, those items all represent the brand, but they are not the brand. The word association game provides a closer description of the brand. At a recent conference, I heard Arlene Dickinson of CBC TV’s The Dragon’s Den define a brand succinctly as “Your organization as experienced by others”. That definition works for me.
So for Las Vegas, the brand could be shaped by past visits there, stories heard from a friend's visit, experiencing the city as a backdrop in movies or TV shows, seeing advertisements, reading articles, visiting their website, and on and on.
When you think about your brand, in what ways are your customers, employees or other stakeholders experiencing your organization? How are they treated when they call on the phone? What type of atmosphere do you have in your workspace? How are you handling complaints? All of these elements, and many more, shape the perception of your organization and form your brand.
So if you asked your customers or your employees to play the word association game with your organization, what would they say? Ask them...you may be enlightened with the results.
An online brand strategy fuels web visitation for Neuragen.com
Over the past few months, we at ICON worked with the marketing team at Origin BioMed to develop an online brand strategy for their flagship product, Neuragen. The strategy has helped to drive over 100,000 visitors to their new website in just three months since its launch, with 1 in 5 of those visitors requesting a coupon for Neuragen.
As stated by Jason R. Tutty, VP Marketing with Origin BioMed, "Growing North American demand for our product necessitated a strong web presence. We were starting from scratch and ICON guided us through an online brand strategy which served as the blueprint for Neuragen's online presence.
Together, we also built and launched the cornerstone of our online presence - an interactive, consumer-focused site. Since its launch, traffic and online consumer interaction continues to soar, translating directly into incremental revenue for the company."
A combination of organic and paid search, referrals from WebMD and direct requests from ads are driving traffic to the site and we're working on a new e-newsletter campaign that will enable the conversation with their customers to go to a deeper level.
So if you have diabetes, singles or fibromyalgia and suffer from nerve pain, you'll want to give Neuragen a try. Check out their site and request a coupon!
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