Branding and Internal Communication by: Robert F. Abbott / Williams Money Group

In the I-HR newsletter, moderator Beth N. Carvin asked if the idea of branding could be used, effectively, to improve productivity and retention. This is an expanded version of my response to her question:

Yes, I think you can use the idea of branding as a tool for improving employee productivity and retention.

Let's approach it from the perspective of a manager communicating with his or her subordinates. If the manager sets out to build a positive reputation over time and over a series of messages, then we might say he or she is embarking on a branding exercise. It's an attempt to create the trust and goodwill necessary to have messages both accepted and acted upon.

Marketers branding products do essentially the same thing: send out a series of messages designed to build a positive reputation over time.

And, when messages to employees enjoy trust and goodwill, then the manager can use communication to increase productivity and retention.

For example, in publishing employee newsletters for my corporate clients, I've always emphasized the need to provide articles and information of value to readers (the employees). By doing that, employees come to see their company newsletter as a useful resource, and not management propaganda. That, in turn, opens the door to asking employees to do or not do certain things (safety measures, for instance), and getting a positive response from them.

In a sense, referring to this process of building trust and goodwill as branding might be just a semantic exercise. However, I think that when we put a name to a process, we make it easier to comprehend and follow. And, that may be the real value of referring to branding in the context of employee communication.

Let's also look at this issue in a broader sense, too, because it's important to remember the different roles of communication in productivity and retention. Three generic types of communication figure in our thinking: instructional, contextual, and motivational.

Instructional communication provides information that helps others do their jobs more efficiently. Contextual communication provides the bigger picture, which should help recipients do their jobs more effectively. And motivational communication shows recipients the benefits of responding as we've requested.

To build trust and goodwill, the instructional communication should be accurate, timely, and functional. The people who receive our messages should be able to act on them, and know they can act on them with confidence.

The contextual communication should be relevant and helpful. It should put the task or issue in question into a framework that helps others understand how specific tasks or issues fit into the strategic flow.

And, the motivational communication should focus on them, not on you. It should show them the importance of their contributions.

In summary, think of branding as the process of building trust and goodwill, a process that makes it possible to increase productivity and retention through communication.

About The Author

Robert F. Abbott
The process of branding, as it's viewed by marketers, might be used in employee communcation, to increase productivity and retention through communication. Sponsored By Williams Money Group

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©2008 Williams Money Group - All Rights Reserved

Side-Step The Big Business Branding Techniques That'll... by: Corey Rudl / Williams Money Group

From the e-mail I've been receiving lately, it's clear there
is a lot of confusion surrounding the topic of online
branding.

Nike, Coke-Cola, Budweiser, McDonalds, Levi's, Amazon.com...
these are the branding masters. Now the question is, HOW
CAN YOU MODEL THEIR SUCCESS?

These days, online branding is being preached as one of the
big "Do or Die" marketing strategies. So everyone wants to
brand their e-business -- but no one is exactly sure what
branding is, how it's done, or where to start.

What is branding, anyway?

Branding is about building a COMPELLING ASSOCIATION
between...

A) Your company, your logo, your products, etc.

AND

B) An image, an emotion, or a memorable message that
embodies -- implicitly or explicitly -- the BIGGEST
BENEFIT you have to offer your customers.

Effective branding creates the kind of FIERCE PRODUCT
LOYALTY that leaves customers indifferent to the marketing
tactics of the competition.

It's what compels you to walk past all of those no-name-
brand on-sale colas at the local grocery store and pick up
the 6-pack of Coca-Cola that costs three times more. It's
what makes children plead and beg to go back to McDonalds
again and again. And it's what has made the phrase "Just Do
It" synonymous with Nike.

Say "Amazon.com," and people think of "The Earth's Biggest
Bookstore." Go to Burger King because you can "Have It Your
Way." Buy Energizer batteries because they "Just keep
going, and going, and going." And "When you care enough to
send the very best," send a Hallmark card.

But the slogans and taglines are only part of it. Think of
the Hallmark commercials. These tearjerker mini-dramas are
built around love and family values, ending with someone
showing they "care enough" by giving a loved-one a Hallmark
card. THEY EVOKE STRONG EMOTIONS THAT DRIVE THEIR SLOGAN
HOME.

And think about the Nike logo -- the "Swoosh" that
represents the wing of the Greek goddess Nike, the
personification of victory. While it's probably safe to say
that the majority of people are unaware of its mythological
significance, THEIR LOGO HOLDS JUST AS MUCH MEANING AS THEIR
NAME.

It's all very impressive, right? Well... yes. But before
you jump on the bandwagon, let's take a realistic look at
the "big branding picture" to see where your small or home-
based e-business fits into this.

First, let's debunk the THREE MAJOR BRANDING MYTHS I
frequently encounter...

MYTH #1:
I need to make my company or product a household name.

TRUTH:
You'll be most successful and most profitable if you
CLOSELY TARGET YOUR MARKET! Focus on getting your business
name and your advertising in front of your best potential
customers -- the people who have an expressed interest in
what you're offering -- as opposed to everyone!

MYTH #2:
Branding my business online means buying thousands of
dollars worth of high-visibility banner impressions.

TRUTH:
Banner advertising just isn't as profitable as it once was.
Ads that once pulled 5% to 10% click-throughs are now lucky
to pull 0.6% to 0.8%, if even that.

You'll be far more successful if you focus your limited
advertising dollars on more performance-based advertising.
Pay for customers... not overpriced, unproven advertising.

MYTH #3:
I'll need to spend a lot of money if I want to gain
brand recognition.

TRUTH:
There are plenty of free and low-cost techniques that
you can use to brand your e-business.

If you're a small or home-based business then, chances are,
you don't have the millions of advertising dollars it takes
to build a nationally recognized brand and make your company
a household name -- at least not yet!

So let's SKIP THE HIGH-PRICED LARGE CORPORATE BRANDING
TECHNIQUES that I'm seeing pushed everywhere I look...

-- after all, these strategies simply don't translate
to e-businesses with limited advertising budgets --

... and instead, let me give you some practical information.

COST-EFFECTIVE BRANDING TECHNIQUES
THAT YOU CAN START USING TODAY:

1) DEVELOP A STRONG UNIQUE SELLING PROPOSITION

Imagine yourself sitting across the table from your best
potential customer. In one sentence -- one very short
sentence -- clearly communicate how he or she will benefit
from doing business with you.

Your message should be clear, the language simple, and it
should be easy to remember. There's no room for wordy
corporate mumbo jumbo here.

I know this is a pretty tall order... but your hours of
agonizing, writing, brainstorming, and rewriting will pay
off in the end. This will be the message that your market
will identify you by and associate you with.

2) TARGET YOUR MARKET

The beauty of running an online business is that you can
reach literally hundreds of thousands of targeted potential
customers all over the world -- people who want to buy what
you're selling -- for little or no cost.

It's what has made it possible for small and home-based
business owners like you to take the Internet by storm and
MAKE OUTRAGEOUS PROFITS WITH VERY LIMITED ADVERTISING
BUDGETS.

Why would you turn a blind eye to this CRITICAL ADVANTAGE by
spreading your limited advertising dollars across the entire
web -- trying to sell your product to everyone -- instead of
focusing on those people who want to buy from you?

It just doesn't make sense.

So I know I've already mentioned this, but it's worth saying
again. It's ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL that you target your
market.

3) WHENEVER POSSIBLE, MAKE YOUR MESSAGE INTERACTIVE

If you can compel people to actively engage your marketing
message rather than passively hear or view it, you'll
dramatically increase the probability that they're going to
absorb it, remember it, and repeat it.

One of the best ways to make your marketing message
interactive is through VIRAL MARKETING. To read a previous
Marketing Tips article that explains exactly what you can do
to make your marketing message viral, visit...
http://www.marketingtips.com/newsletter/issue33/page1.html

4 ) BE CONSISTENT IN VOICE, FORMAT, AND DELIVERY

In order to engrave your brand in the minds of your target
market, you need to consistently repeat your message to
them...

* DESIGN A SIGNATURE FILE that contains your message and
attach it to the end of every e-mail you send. It costs
you nothing and it's an easy, effective way to repeat
your message to those people you have direct contact
with -- your best potential and repeat customers!

* Your web site design, logos, and graphics should, if
possible, VISUALLY EMPHASIZE AND REINFORCE your message.
Check out the McDonald's web site at http://www.mcdonalds.com
Does that yellow and red look familiar? Think about how
you can similarly use your web site design to further
impress your brand in the memory of your visitors.

* Your NEWSLETTER CONTENT AND YOUR WEB SITE CONTENT should
all ultimately contribute to your marketing message.
There is no room for distractions like articles or links
that don't move you towards your main goal (to sell your
product, remember?).

5) NURTURE EXISTING RELATIONSHIPS WITH CUSTOMERS AND
SUBSCRIBERS

If they already know you, if they're already familiar with
who you are and what you do, if they've already bought
something from you, then you should be building on these
existing relationships.

MAINTAIN REGULAR CONTACT VIA E-MAIL (it's free!), and
consistently remind them who you are, what you do, and most
importantly, how they stand to benefit from continuing to do
business with you.

If you play your cards right, not only will you PROFIT FROM
THEIR REPEAT BUSINESS, you may also persuade them to "spread
the good word" to others with similar interests.

6) BE VISIBLE TO YOUR BEST POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS

A big part of branding is obviously about getting your name
in front of your best potential customers, so that when the
time comes for them to buy, THEY'LL CHOOSE YOU OVER THE
COMPETITION!

Here are a few powerful ways that you can do this...

* WRITE ARTICLES that contain information that will be of
interest to your target market and then offer them to
industry newsletters and web sites free of charge. Web
masters and editors will appreciate the free, quality
content, and you'll get your name and URL in front of
your target market.

* PARTICIPATE IN NEWSGROUPS AND DISCUSSION FORUMS where
your target market hangs out. This is an easy, no-cost
way to develop your reputation as an industry expert.
Simply make yourself available to answer questions and
provide participants with information that they will value.

* SUBMIT YOUR WEB SITE TO THE SEARCH ENGINES AND
DIRECTORIES. Also be sure to search for directories that
are geared towards your industry and request a listing.

* REQUEST LINKS FROM SITES WHERE YOUR TARGET MARKET MEETS.
This is not only a great way to increase your visibility,
it's also an extremely powerful way to attract large
volumes of highly targeted traffic -- yet it's frequently
dismissed or overlooked!

* USE BANNER ADVERTISING - IN MODERATION! With well-
designed banners and a targeted ad campaign, you CAN
make money with banner advertising. Just be sure to
educate yourself on the latest, most cutting-edge banner
techniques before getting started.

To read an article on designing effective banners that
really work, visit...
http://www.marketingtips.com/newsletter/issue35/page1.html

* START YOUR OWN AFFILIATE PROGRAM. With your own
Affiliate Program, you can enlist an army of affiliates
who will spread your name and your marketing message
across the web -- and you don't pay them a cent until
they make a sale.

To read an article on how you can start and profit from
your very own Affiliate Program, visit...
http://www.marketingtips.com/newsletter/issue19/index.html

DON'T LOSE SIGHT OF YOUR ULTIMATE GOAL:

With branding being hyped as one of *the* marketing
strategies to pursue right now, I worry that some of you
may be steered off-track.

While it's a good idea to be aware of and actively direct
how your e-business is being branded, remember that there is
a key difference between creating awareness and actually
closing sales.

Given the innumerable marketing strategies that you can use
to simultaneously create brand awareness AND draw targeted
traffic to your web site, there is no reason for you to be
spending your limited advertising dollars on branding
techniques that don't return a significant profit.

Avoid being sucked in by the myth that the entire web needs
to know who you are. Focus on your target market and
realize that most forms of traffic generation ultimately
enhance awareness of your brand.

You are spelling out your brand message, directly and
indirectly, with everything that you do, say, and sell.

About the Author

Corey Rudl is the owner of four highly
successful online businesses that attract more than
6,000,000 visitors and generate over $5.2 million each year.
Sponsored By Williams Money Group
http://www.marketingtips.com/tipsltr.html

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©2008 Williams Money Group- All Rights Reserved

Shattering the Branding Myths by: Diane Hughes / Williams Money Group

Branding


If you've been online long, you're sure to have seen many "gurus" give their ideas about branding. However, much of what you read simply isn't true. Over the years, many myths about branding have taken hold in the online world and spread like wildfire. The fact is: They are doing you more harm than good.

Branding is not one aspect of your marketing campaign. It is the combination of everything your business stands for. Branding is not created with a single, stand-alone event -- rather it is created over time through a series of strategically thought-out actions.

Let's take a few minutes to shatter a few common myths about branding and to introduce constructive, proactive branding principles that you can build on.

Branding Myth #1 - Your USP Is Your Brand

Absolutely not. While your USP (Unique Selling Position) might be used to help convey your brand, it is not - in and of itself - your complete branding strategy.

Branding Principle #1 - Your Brand Is All Encompassing

Your brand is built, and conveyed, with every action you take, with every product/service you offer, with every piece of communication you send, and with every contact you make with your customers.

Branding Myth #2 - To Be Remembered, You Must Have A Logo

Also not true. Look at companies like Marlboro (cigarettes), Puffs (tissue), and Ziploc (plastic bags). They simply use a specialized font with the product name. No swirls, no images, no "logo." While logos certainly are not "bad," they are also not mandatory.

Branding Principle #2 - Customers Remember You Primarily By How They Are Treated

The most innovative logo, the most attractive colors, and the world's best logo designer will do you no good if you don't offer excellent service. Customers remember you and your company by the way they are treated. Was their shopping experience good? Were all their questions answered? Were their problems solved to their satisfaction? These things go way further to help customers remember you than any logo could ever hope to.

Branding Myth #3 - Once Your Branding Strategy Is In Place, You Need Do Nothing More

This is probably the biggest myth of them all! So many online businesses are led to believe that once they have an amazing USP, and a snappy logo they have accomplished everything in the realm of branding.

However, just the opposite is true. Your branding strategy is an ongoing process, not a one-time event. Defining your strategy is just one part of that process.

Here are some basic tips to help you define and implement your brand.

1. Decide how you want to be perceived by your customers. Do you want to portray an image of trust? Loyalty? Dependability? Innovation? Wide selection? Speedy service & delivery?

2. What makes YOU perceive other companies that way when you shop? Is it their selection? Customer service? Pricing? All of the above?

3. Make a list of the qualities you and your employees must display to customers in order to portray your desired brand.

4. Share the list with everyone in your organization and ask them to develop specific ways they can support the brand.

5. Compile a final branding strategy and share it with everyone in your organization.

Successful brands are those who are well defined and that have the support of the entire organization. Brands based on myths are those that simply have a spiffy logo, a "killer" USP, and the hope that the customer will "get it."

Would you rather base your brand on sound principles or myths? That's what I thought!

About the Author

Diane C. Hughes * ProBizTips.com
Sponsored By Williams Money Group

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©2008 Williams Money Group - All Rights Reserved

Branding in printing by: Florie Lyn Masarate / Williams Money Group

Branding


When you encounter the term branding in printing, the logos, designs and styles that are inherent are the first things that come to mind. Branding, if you dig deeper are not just these things. A more concrete definition of branding is the response that people have when they think about your business or company. The response may be in terms of emotional or intellectual aspect, depending on how the readers perceive them. Both ways, branding is the strong and consistent message that you impart and get through to the people.

Why is branding so important? It brings customer loyalty. If they have used your services, they will remember you for sure the next time they might be in need of something. Also they will be able to tell friends about you. In some cases, the logos and designs that the company has are the ones that stick most in their minds. If they do not remember other facts about you, chances are they will remember the logo and maybe even the colors in your printing designs. Understanding the customer's needs and issues should go hand and in hand with branding because this two works well together. One cannot always succeed without the other.

If branding in your business has already been established, it does not mean you can just leave it that way and relax. The brand that you have is also one part of your business therefore it should be maintained and updated often. As with the business itself, branding is also an ongoing process that should be reinforced if the business and booming and be exposed more in slower times. Wanting for your customers to retain a positive outlook about you is attained in branding. If your print job is losing the effectiveness your readers have gotten used to, they may also lose interest and think about using others for their needs. You would not want this to happen.

Building a strong and reliable branding for your printing materials can help your business or company more than you can imagine it could. Just think that it is not everyday people remembers and stays loyal to something. With the variety of other businesses available and easily accessible, staying loyal to one is getting more difficult to do. It is always best to maintain what you have started and continue it doing so for your customers.

Knowing what branding in your company's printing materials is one guarantee that you can be sure to result in revenue. But first, think what you need to brand about and how to keep it unique and memorable enough.

For comments and inquiries about the article visit http://www.colorprintingwholesale.com


About the Author

Florie Lyn Masarate got a flair for reading and writing when she got her first subscription of the school newsletter in kindergarten. She had her first article published on that same newsletter in the third grade.

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©2008 Williams Money Group - All Rights Reserved

Back To Main Page Click Here for more articles Google Pharmaceutical Branding by: Jeff Marsh / Williams Money Group

Branding

Branding is such an important aspect of business that even apparently boring products such as pharmaceutical products, drugs and medicines become interesting and exciting.

Pharmaceutical industry branding is immature compared with the consumer and business-to-business segments—but that is largely by choice. For decades, a pharmaceutical company’s brand success formula was simple: discover a drug that was needed, introduce it to the doctor via a sales rep, and watch the prescriptions get filled. What is more, the products themselves, secured under a decade of patented protection, were almost guaranteed to generate large profits. Integrated brand strategies were unheard of and unimportant. A scientist—whose role was discovery and development, not marketing—directed the corporation.

Gone are the days when companies used to release products with out much thought to branding, especially pharmaceutical branding. Now pharmaceutical companies are are starting to work on developing the pharmaceutical brand even before the product is fully tested and ready for production.

Pharmaceutical branding is an important way of creating awareness among the public to the potential benefits of drugs and medicines. The marketing process and branding give the public ready knowledge of what the product is about and thereby induces them to buy that particular product from among many other similar products in the market.

As more and more pharmaceutical companies start realizing the importance and the power of brands. So how do companies brand their products to stay ahead of the competition? To start with a good name is important. In fact a great name is very important! A great name can increase the value of a product brand and in turn the revenue, where as a poorly chosen name can lead to disaster for the product.

Marketing teams are spending more and more resources on getting the name of the pharmaceutical product right. However naming a drug or medicine is not the same as naming an electronic consumer product. Careful thought and consideration to all important factors is required for a pharmaceutical product.

If the product is going to be sold internationally then the name should not be wrong when translated into the local languages.

The second most important part of pharmaceutical branding is the product logo design. The logo has to be in tune with the target market with the exact font and colors. Iconic pharmaceutical logo design or illustrative logo design can create a great impact on the consumers.

Then comes packaging. The packaging of pills and other pharmaceutical products is very important. Like the name, the packaging and pill can't look like other products that may sit on a nearby shelf.

Also psychological issues are carefully examined. Take the pill shape and color. If a pill is large, and might seem difficult to swallow, dark colors such as black will be avoided because they make it seem even larger. If the pill has high toxicity levels, then a "hot" color such as red is avoided because it subliminally gives off a feeling of threat, experts say.

Pharmaceutical branding also heavily depends on the marketing and promotional materials. Every thing from brochures to the product leaflet has to be crafted to reflect the brand and appeal to the target market. Pharmaceutical products for children should have bright colored cut outs and packaging to appeal to children.

Sponsored By Williams Money Group

About The Author

Jeff Marsh is the Chief Designer with Logo Design Works, a Florida based Logo Design and Branding Company. Jeff has more than 7 years experience in branding and design and has worked with many high profile clients such as Auto2Auto, TatAd, Simpson University, Prophets University and others.

Jeff can be contacted via email at articles@logodesignworks.com or on their toll free number at +1 866 910 5646

logodesignworks.com

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©2008 Williams Money Group - All Rights Reserved

Small Business Marketing And Advertising: Branding vs. Direct Marketing

Branding


Too often, small business advertising and marketing campaigns prioritize branding at the expense of direct response--i.e., actually getting leads and/or sales right now. That is almost always a foolish and even dangerous proposition.

Small Business Branding Advertising and Marketing an Oxymoron?

Unless you're a ubiquitous consumer products company, the value of branding is far, far less than the value of direct response. What good is impressing someone with your brand if he or she never comes into contact with your business again? Why would they come into contact with your business again if you haven’t gotten a direct response?

Branding is essential for Coca Cola and Microsoft and all the other consumer giants because they don't need direct response. Their offering is available every time you drive down the street, so burning their logos into your eyeballs will actually make you more likely to buy. But if you have to search out the business, having a logo floating in your consciousness won't be enough to motivate you.

Even if branding alone could drive business, how long will it be before that logo or slogan or jingle has left your memory forever? A few hours? A day?

One of the basic requirements for branding is repetition. Numerous repetitions. Like seeing the little Microsoft flag every single day, in the lower left corner of your screen, on your computer's case, in magazine advertisements and on television commercials.

One visit to your website or one glimpse of your advertisement won't accomplish this—and remember, unless you have Microsoft’s budget, one exposure is all you’ll likely get if you don't get a direct response.

In reality, even numerous exposures to your brand might not be enough. There's only so much room for logos in people's minds, and you've got an awful lot of deep-pocketed competition for that space.

In contrast, if someone requested a whitepaper from you, or called in for more information, you would have their attention for much longer, even if you never followed up--which you could do, since you had their contact information.

The Two Cases when Branding Makes Small Business Marketing Sense

1. When branding enhances direct response rather than detracting from it.

Good branding enhances trust in your business. A good tagline, graphic design, and logo can also make it instantly clear what your business does, allowing users to go directly to your message without having to decide if you’re worth listening to.

Simply put: if you’re a watchmaker, put a watch in your logo, and the word “watch” in your name and your tagline or slogan. When you’re selling services picking a logo can be trickier, but it can be done. UpMarket Content’s logo is a scroll and pen. Just make sure your logo communicates what you do, rather than something foolish like a black rocket for an advertising agency.

Yet while branding usually enhances direct response, you should not hesitate to sacrifice branding if it hurts your response. If you find that a different tagline or font does significantly better in getting responses, run with them.

2. When you actually do have the opportunity to impress your brand on the same person dozens of times over the course of an average month.

For branding to work, you don’t just have to maximize total exposures, but exposures to unique individuals. Let’s be absolutely clear: in terms of branding, exposing 1,000,000 people to your brand once each is infinitely less valuable than exposing 1,000 people to your brand 1,000 times each. You have to maximize exposures to the same individuals. Aim for a hundred exposures per individual if you want to really enter people’s consciousnesses.

Of course, it may take far fewer than a thousand individual exposures. If someone is sitting in front of your branding advertisement for more than a few minutes, they may in fact be exposed to it dozens of times, each time their line of sight crosses it. But this kind of long-term exposure is likely going to cost you more.

How can you ensure that your brand advertising will maximize your brand exposure per unique individual? Place your brand advertising where users will come back often to see it. For instance, a banner on a website that has a strong following of returning users, or an advertisement on the local diner's placemat.

Even when branding does make sense, direct response will often also make sense, so you should combine the two if possible. For instance, at the bottom of a banner advertisement with your logo and tagline looming large, put a button labeled “get more information.” Or, underneath your businesses sign, put a telephone number with an offer to get more information.

Because if they never visit or call, who cares if they have your logo burnt onto their retinas?

About the Author

Joel Walsh is a professional content writer and founder of UpMarket Content, whose site has information on promoting your business with great website content: http://upmarketcontent.com [When posting on the web, please hyperlink this text as the visible anchor text: "website content"]

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©2008 Williams Money Group - All Rights Reserved

Branding for profits by: Pavel Lenshin / Williams Money Group Branding for Profits copyright 2008 Pavel Lenshin

Branding


General meaning of the Brand is quite abstract. In short,
brand is the image of your product, if we speak about
product branding and/or the image of your company if we deal
with corporate branding or, in case with one man business,
brand of personality.

Since the majority of online venture start-ups are
represented by small businesses, that are 101% online and
the life cycle of digital products is relatively short, it
is wise to unite these branding terms into one e-business
brand, that reflects market’s viewpoint on your business as
an unique entity.
This viewpoint exists in peoples’ minds whether they are
your competitors, clients, partners, friends or your own
employees. That is why your brand is psychological by its
nature, what creates new challenges as well as additional
potential.

Strong brand in the mind of a person generates honoring
feeling to your company/product or you as a company’s “face”.

Poor brand may represent negative impression about your
product or be the result of an absence of that impression,
and I should say that it is much more advantageous to offer
a new brand to the market, then try to do something with bad
image. Since we are dealing with psychology, it is clear
that good image and reputation is very hard to build, but it
is even harder to restore.

If you want to reach the heart of you customers’ “likes” you
need to:

* Offer maximum quality no matter what you offer or do.
* Deliver pleasure.
* Be innovative.
* Address to people’s emotions.
* Evoke desire and interest.
* Provoke active response.
* Build trust by repeated contacts as a foundation of
long-term relations.

FACTORS that would STIMULATE and REINFORCE
your BRANDING:

---1. Unique Selling Proposition (USP) is number one passive
“brander” for your business, where you go UP (Unique
Proposition) the straight road of successful branding or
making your way through a very deep forest of competing with
other already established brands.

Suppose you have created new proposition, new kind of
service and if you have named it, for instance, “WebSky”,
then all people would call it “WebSky”, not “A service that
offers you 1. … 2. … 3…. and provides 1… 2…. 3….” It would
have a neutral brand from the very beginning, no need to
create, imagine or popularize it among hundreds of others.

Windows is a TM and great Brand for Operation System of
well-know software giant. Don’t you think about what makes
us pronounce “Windows” instead of “Operational system” or
“OS”? The answer is simple – Windows occupies more then 60%
of OS market. Microsoft’s OS in the informational society
plays the same role that would have played some imaginable
Oil Monopoly in the former industrial society. Hopefully
there is no oil monopoly but there is a monopoly of the
software “fuel” which is used by majority of computer
systems.

The idea behind Microsoft is also true with McDonalds, Coca
Cola or Mercedes-Benz and it is on the surface – they are
monopolies or, at least, oligopolies in their respective
markets with their respective strong USPs and therefore
strong brands.

So let us summarize this important fact – the more unique
your market offer is, the more unique, easy to remember and
easy to associate with your brand will be.

---2. The second thing is the size of your business in terms
of financial capacity and market share. Very few people
pointing to that fact, but its effect on your brand shouldn’
t be underestimated. No matter what product you offer to the
online market, it will surely lose the brand war, if your
marketing budget is $00.00 and your whole business is
located on some unknown unstable hosting as a result of
funds deficit.

Everyone speaks about great brands like Coca Cola, but no
one actually says, that it makes absolutely no relation to
an entrepreneur, who wants to start his own small practice
online.

Know your competition and develop the marketing strategy
that would reflect your business capacity, needs and suit a
marketing budget. The smaller your business is, the more
aggressive your branding should be. Branding has a feature
of building itself when your business is rapidly expanding.

---3. Corporate culture is another vital brand creator. The
epicenter of your brand is the company itself; therefore the
more positive and brighter the company "feels" inside, the
more positive, attractive and shiny it will look outside.

If your online venture’s stuff numbers you and your cat :0)
you can easily build a delightful business culture but, to
my regret, it won’t have a big influence on outside world.
What will have an effect is the popularizing of your
business values through partner networks and/or clients.
Friendly atmosphere that welcomes employees’ or partners’
creative initiative with the focus on development of
personality, is exactly what makes a difference and lights a
“fire” in the eyes of every person your company deals with.

---4. Know your market. This small sentence comprises an
understanding of the needs of your market niche,
satisfaction of your market needs via directed promotional
campaigns, adopting the development plan in compliance with
analysis of the strength and weaknesses of your business as
well as closest competitors.

Don’t devaluate your brand through wrong market approach.
People pay much more attention to their own needs as well as
to companies that satisfy their needs. The market offers
should be specific and directed to particular niche with its
unique problems, joys, hopes and needs. Don’t try to shoot
several ducks with one shot.

Your branding campaign should reflect the market you are
working with in a clear and highly beneficial way to your
potential customers.

MAJOR WAYS of online branding:

1. All possible kinds of online promotion: banner
impressions, classified ads, solo ads, articles submission,
web-site traffic building, opt-in email campaigns,
promotional joint ventures, ezine publishing, viral
marketing. All these ways of branding positioning are to be
niche-oriented.
2. Expand your e-business network by running
partner/affiliate programs.
3. Co-branding by means of strategic partnerships, joint
ventures with the established brands in non-competing
markets, for additional market and branding exposure.
4. Unique personal and/or corporate culture.
5. Informational and design representation of your business
Web-site.
6. The product/service itself. It is mainly through them
your clients acquiring positive or negative experience of
dealing with your company.
7. Domain name, design, logo, motto, TMs, SMs are the main
subsidiary representatives of your brand. That is why they
should be clear and supplement each other in conveying your
“message”.
8. Testing and measuring the response rate of your branding
efforts.

Why branding is so important? Because it, firstly, creates a
platform via loyal market surroundings for easy and quick
business growth; secondly, increases perceived value of your
whole company. Do you want your own company to develop
smoothly along with exponential growth of its market value?
I do.

About the Author

Pavel Lenshin is publisher and web-designer, who offers:
+ Powerful package on how to run Private Info Business. Sponsored By Williams Money Group

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