A Branded Response

Here's a response that I received to this article that I posted a while back. This came from a certain Klay DeVries who offered up his opinion on the situation. For some reason I want to keep calling him Kyle Gass, maybe because I just watched The Pick of Destiny. Anyway, back to the serious stuff.

Here's what Klay had to say on the subject:

"First off, if an organization (nonprofit or otherwise) chooses to work with a firm that limits its branding work to designing logos and implementing graphic standards, that organization deserves the tyranny of navel-gazing and knuckle-rapping they'll likely experience.

Brands are obviously much more than how they're expressed visually. Brooks suggests that a brand is "who you are and what you do — as perceived by the public," and I think he's basically right. In its simplest form, a brand is a perceived promise. It defines for the individual what he/she expects to get out of his/her relationship with the brand in every aspect of that relationship: shopping experiences (in store, online and/or over the phone), product quality and value, customer service, corporate and customer communications, solicitations and advertising, etc. The more consistently and positively the promise is conveyed and experienced at every touch point, the stronger the brand is and the more equity it can build.

Brand identity systems can be very effective in helping to build brands, but not when they're nothing more than byproducts of a design exercise. They have to grow out of real understanding of and insight into an organization's customers' desires, its competitors' offerings, and its own values, personality, and — yes — aspirations. Let's not forget that before Nike or Target — universally acknowledged super brands — were established, respected, and loved by their customers, almost nobody felt cool or validated by lacing up a pair of "running shoes" or buying "cheap chic" or shopping at an "upscale discount" store. Those categories didn't exist in the minds of a broad cross-section of consumers until these organizations *created* niches their brands could define and own and to which prospective customers (and competitors) could aspire. The visual aspects of those organizations' brand platforms are still relevant and vital to their success, and they were essential to helping Target and Nike leapfrog their competitors when other elements of those brands (products, Web sites, customer service policies, store designs, etc.) weren't as visible or strong.

Finally, I think Brooks' rationale as to why donors give — which also speaks volumes as to why customers buy — is spot on. It really sums up the whole brand discussion. (My additions to his comments below are in [brackets].)

"Your donors [customers] give [buy] because of what giving [buying] means to them. How it gives them personal significance. How it fills their hearts with joy, or eases their conscience. How it changes the world in ways they care about. What it says about them — to themselves or to others.

"That’s what your brand must articulate: What about your organization feeds donors’ [customers'] needs? What is it about supporting [buying from] you that makes them feel proud, or fulfilled, or cool, or validated?"

So there it is, branding in a nutshell. A great brand answers a fundamental, universally asked question — "What's in it for me?" — the way a donor/consumer wants it answered, and it does so at every opportunity, every touch point. A great brand always keeps its promise. Organizations have to realize that while they own and are the stewards of their brands, their branding work has to be externally focused. Branding is not about the organization for the organization's sake. For a nonprofit it's about fulfilling on promises to donors and others who fund the mission, without whom there would be no opportunity to serve constituencies, For for-profit entities it's about fulfilling on promises to customers to whom the organization wants and needs to "sell more stuff more often at higher prices [margins] so the company makes more money."

Thanks for the response Klay! Any other input?

 

Night Of The Brand Shamans

Written and reproduced with permission by Jeff Brooks creative director at Merkle/Domain.

"Something strange often happens when nonprofits turn their attention to branding. Here’s how you can avoid the nightmare branding sometimes unleashes on unwary organizations.

You can sense the evil magic, tingling like static electricity. That’s one sign brand shamans are at work in a nonprofit. Other signs include:

* Rampant scheduling of focus groups.
* Nonstop chanting of the word “standards,” like a spooky mantra.
* Appearance of spiral-bound books filled with pictures of ways the logo should not be used.
“Branding” has swept through the nonprofit world. This should make communication better. But it hasn’t turned out that way. Branding actually has done more harm than good.

We can thank the brand shamans. Their backward form of branding fails to reach donors because it’s built on organizational aspirations and preferences — not donor needs. It’s a blend of dogged consistency and poor design principles, held together with bogus research.

The brand shaman product centers around a brand guidelines document, or graphic standards manual. The theory is that if your look remains consistent, people will know who you are.

The odd thing is, these standards almost always dictate sociopathic design that reduces readability and restricts emotional range:

* The fonts are often sans-serif and hard to read.
* Design techniques like reverse type, type over color and colored type only make things worse. (For a commonsense approach to readability and design, read “Type & Layout: Are You Communicating or Just Making Pretty Shapes,” by Colin Wheildon.)
* And the color palette is usually a witches’ brew of faddish, sterile and unemotional shades.

Brand guidelines don’t have to be bad. Sometimes they aren’t. But when your standards are created without donors in mind, that’s almost inevitably what you get.

Your brand is what you do and who you are -— as perceived by your public. What you look like is the smallest part of that. Most brand guidelines pay lip-service to this fact, but few of them do anything about it. Because they can’t. A brand is bigger than a set of rules. (Read about what a real brand is in “The Brand Mindset: Five Essential Strategies for Building Brand Advantage Throughout Your Company,” by Duane E. Knapp.)

A strong brand — one that drives success in the marketplace — is a crystal-clear expression of your donors’ aspirations.

Here’s the deal
Donors don’t give because your programs are so brilliant. They don’t give because you’re so smart or strategic. And they don’t give because of your long history or superior achievements.

Your donors give because of what giving means to them. How it gives them personal significance. How it fills their hearts with joy, or eases their conscience. How it changes the world in ways they care about. What it says about them — to themselves or to others.

That’s what your brand must articulate: What about your organization feeds donors’ needs? What is it about supporting you that makes them feel proud, or fulfilled, or cool, or validated?

The brand shaman approach to branding ignores this. Their guidelines tell you that if you follow the rules, you’re “on brand” — when really, the navel-gazing focus of the document pushes you away from the real brand. If your brand consists of a logo, font choices and a color palette — that’s all it’s going to be. If your brand belongs only to the marketing department, it’s not really a brand at all.

Branding without shamans
So you want a real brand, not a brand shaman sham. Here’s how: Go easy on the externals (like design), but be a stickler about the internals — who you are. Here some steps you can take:

1. Get rid of your brand guidelines. This will allow you, force you, to build a donor-centered brand. Instead of rigid design rules, you can have design principles that are about the heart of who you are. Couple that with a well-told story about your organization — its founding or defining moment — that’s aligned with donors’ dreams.

2. Test, test, test. If you want your brand to drive better fundraising results, you need to let your donors lead you. And the way to do that is direct-response testing. Testing discovers how donors respond in real life, not what they theorize in a focus group.

3. Get aligned. Everyone in your organization needs to believe the same thing about who you are. Everyone needs to be pulling in the same direction. Getting nonprofit employees on the same page can be like herding cats, but the payback in brand equity is incalculable.

4. Be great. There’s no substitute for simply being amazing and unique. I’m not talking marketing here, but what you actually are. Don’t just say you’re great — be great! Bowl-’em-over great, tell-all-their-friends great. A “purple cow” as marketing guru Seth Godin would say. (Read “Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable,” by Seth Godin.)

All that’s much easier said than done, but donors deserve it — and increasingly, they demand it. Anything less will have a hard time getting attention — or donations — in the crowded nonprofit marketplace.

The brand shaman fad will play itself out within a few years. Until then, stand firm and resist their temptations. And keep your donors in mind, every decision you make."

This is a pretty bold departure from the traditional paradigm but I think there are some points that are valid. There are also points that I don't agree with. You need to have some guidelines and standards or your logo might end up being surrounded by rainbow comic sans. As a marketing professional, I am always going to teach continuity of brand, regardless of your market. What are your thoughts?

 

What's The Difference Between Marketing And Advertising?

People often confuse the concepts of marketing, advertising, public relations and branding. Advertising is marketing, public relations is marketing and branding is a result of advertising and marketing. However if you are still confused, I stumbled across a graphical representation on Ads of the World that does a pretty good at illustrating the 4 concepts.

For quite some time I have been a fan of the website Ads of the World. Obviously a large majority of the ads showcased on the site are from "overseas" and some of the ads wouldn't see the light of day here in the states. Nonetheless, it is a great site to see some good creative. ANYWAY, for those of you seeking the answers, here they are.



Oh yeah, happy Halloween!

 

What's Behind Your Brand?

Contributed by Guest Blogger
Clare Price. Clare is a branding
expert who owns a California based
company called BrandVantage

"It's inevitable. Whenever I speak on branding, someone brings up cattle ranches and branding irons. Ouch! That hurts! Everybody laughs. But there is more to this analogy than meets the eye.

It's a well known fact that we as consumers "brand" ourselves with products from our favorite companies--companies like Starbucks, Ralph Lauren Polo and Coach purses. But it's what's behind that logo that really counts.

Cattle branding had two purposes in the Old West. First, the brand on the cattle identified the owner. You knew at a glance which steers belonged to you. Secondly, it identified the ranch. The size, importance and power of the ranch came from the size and quantity of its herd. Big ranch equaled big important brand. Little ranch equaled little brand. The respect that the cattle ranching community gave the brand came not from the brand symbol on the steer but from the size and power of the ranch behind it.

So what's behind your brand? What is the true size and power of your "ranch." Today when we talk about brand power, we mean brand equity. Your brand is your company's most important asset. Your brand is not just a logo or image; it is a capital asset with real net worth and financial power you can bank on. Brands have equity.

Brand equity is created by your company's ability to change market and customer perception into profits. To tap this brand equity, you must first understand what those perceptions are and how to harness their power so you can use your equity as capital to build your business.

Brand equity is measurable across five dimensions: Value and perceived quality of your product or service; market and customer awareness of your company, product or service; customer loyalty to your brand; market positioning, and competitive advantage...

For now, take a few minutes to think about how your company, product or service stacks up in each of these areas. Rate the following from 1-10 (10 high) for your business today:

1. Quality—How good are your products/services compared to:
   - Your ideal
   - Your competitors
2. Perceived value—How well do your customers value your product or service?
3. Loyalty—How strong is your customer's connection to your product or service?
4. Market recognition—How well known are you known in your product/service category?
5. Visibility—How much of your target market knows about you?
6. Image—How well does the average customer think of you?
7. Leadership—How much of the available market share have you captured?"

Thanks for the article Clare!

 

I Don't Have Any Thing More To Say - Not Really

As I am sitting here with a glazed over look and staring blankly at my computer screen, I can't remember what I was going to write about. I had a great idea last night but, for the life of me, I can't remember it. Then I got to thinking about a post over at ProBloggersMatrix called "How do you come up with all those inspiring ideas for your blog?" I went and re-read that post again and you know what?!? It didn't help. So there you have it. Today is the first time I don't have something witty, semi-insightful or remotely useful to throw your direction.

What I do know, that for the first time since it's inception, The Big Bald Blog has hit over 1200 unique visitors for the month so far and our RSS subscribers continue to grow.

Over the past 4 or 5 months, I have continued to play with the format, the monetization, and other miscellaneous little things in an attempt to make a better blog. In the last month or so, I have also come to the conclusion that, for me, the Blogger platform has run it's course. It was a great start for someone like me who didn't have a clue about starting a blog. However, the big "WP" has so much more to offer. So, once I decide on a theme, I will be making the transition over to WordPress. Other inevitable changes are coming down the pipe, including a domain change. I have always known the importance of branding your blog and when I read a post about the same subject over at John Chow's site, it just sank a little deeper. I have www.TheBigBaldBlog.com registered and will working on the new theme over the next several months. I am not going to make any promises on a launch date or anything, but after having seen John Cow's new theme, I've become inspired.

Well, that's about it. If you have any interesting topics for discussion or would like to write an article for The Big Bald Blog, drop me a line at, the big bald blog at impactmt dot com. Now I feel like Mike Rowe on Dirty Jobs with his plug for content at the end of every show.

Have a great weekend everyone!

 

What's in a name? Building Brand Equity.

Brand Equity. Defined as the value your brand has in mind of a consumer and is measured by the awareness of your brand.

How much is your company name, logo, product or service worth in the mind of a consumer?
If you don't know, should you?

Take for instance the Nike swoosh. A cross platform brand that instantly conjures up elements of loyalty, endorsers and notions of quality. This little icon cost a mere $35.00 to develop and is now worth just a little bit more than that.

OK, so how do you develop brand equity? It takes time, patience, perseverance and it starts with developing brand loyalty. This is accomplished in many different ways.

Product quality, product satisfaction, price, value, exclusiveness, and promotion all play an important part in your brand loyalty. Once consumers have bought into you and your product(s), keeping them satisfied through followup and continual delivery of quality will build your brand loyalty and ultimately it's equity. However brand equity can have a negative impact.

Take Pennzoil for example. In the 60's, it got a bad reputation being knows the oil that sludged up engines. Most mechanics told people not to use it. Still today, if you ask the older generation of "oil changers" this stereotype continues to exist. This is not the case today as most motor oils are extremely well designed. Nonetheless it had an impact on Pennzoil's sales well into the late 80's and still gets a lot of discussion on automotive boards.

Bottom Line - Build your brand on quality and value. Before you know it, you will be enjoying the fruits of brand loyalty, and as a by-product, brand equity is grown.