Build Brand Identity Through Product Branding

Building a product into a brand leader is not easy, but I truly believe that you can improve your branding impression if you follow these 2 rules; Passion & Consistency as well as the 4P's of Branding that I have developed, PRODUCT ? PLACEMENT ? PROMOTION ? PEOPLE. These 4 P's will enable you to check the way your brand is interpreted. Each of these very distinct headings has an impact on your brand, and the brand in turn will affect each of these areas. For those of you who have gone through Marketing 101, you will see that the only difference between the 4P's of Marketing and my 4P's of Branding, are People, and people affect the brand more than any other area.

Product

Imagine this scenario, it's lunchtime, you have decided, after working in your office all morning, that you would like to have an orange for dessert. You drive to the local supermarket, go to the fruit department, and find that there are only 2 oranges left, they both look the same until you pick them up. That's when you notice that one of them has Sunkist stamped on it. Which one will you buy? Well if you are like 99.999% of the country, you will by the Sunkist orange. Why? Because over the years, Sunkist has promised you an orange that not only looks good, tastes good, but is also good value for money. Now comes the kicker, you see, there is very good chance that you would probably still buy the Sunkist brand, even if you had to pay a penny or so more for it. That is what building a brand leader is all about. At the moment of truth, if all things are equal then there is a good chance that the "brand" will be the purchase choice, and even command a premium price for the product.

Placement

Next is Placement. In my brand concept overview I have listed Distribution, Location, Stores, Transportation and Plant. Now these are generic headings, and you may well be able to add more that are pertinent to your specific industry. I want you to imagine that all of these areas are like a full-page advertisement for your company. They should all have the communications message that is consistent with the rest of the campaign approach you are now working on. I know that this is somewhat unusual, but every single piece of communication affects the end user or consumer in some way shape or form. You see it really is the logo on the truck, but it's also the logo on the driver's shirt, the cleanliness of the truck and the way in which the delivery person interacts with the customer. They should act the way you want them to, the way you want your brand to be enacted. This should all be scripted, leaving nothing to chance or choice! They are your brand image.

Promotion

Promotion is the area that we think of most when discussing brand and brand impression. Promotion covers the vast area of communication. From the very essence of the brand to it's image, Advertising, Sales Promotion, Direct Mail, Internet advertising, Public Relations, Marketing, Sales Force, and Point of Sale. There are so many different elements, that it would take a whole series of articles to even get started. However, I would strongly recommend that you remember what I said at the beginning, "Consistency" should be pervasive throughout all of the components. Sometimes you don't have to have a great design as long as you are consistent with the creative and the message.

People

As I mentioned earlier, People are the one area that makes my 4P's of Branding different from the 4P's of Marketing. People are involved in every step of the production of your product or service, and people are the Brand. Your employees, Dealers or Distributors, End Users, Vendors, Friends and honestly the Rest of the World. Every employee represents the brand, the people in the Accounting Department, Shipping, Research, Legal, Shop Floor, Marketing, and on throughout the company. It's not just the Sales Department! Think about this - your accounting department calls someone in your clients accounting department on a regular basis. Maybe it's to chase money, to clear up a billed consignment that perhaps got lost. But this is also a chance for your accounting person to get a little closer and find out how your company is doing with them, the customer. This is a great opportunity to get inside information.

How are we doing? Why do you think our competition is getting the lion share of the business? How can we do a better job for your company? And many other questions that you would like answered, I would go so far as to try to get these two people together, give them the opportunity to get closer, go out to lunch on you. It will pay back dividends in the long run.

There are many more opportunities to make your brand grow, make sure you follow the golden rules, passion, consistency of message and multiple quality impressions, and your brand will be on it's way to becoming a brand leader.

To measure how strong your brand is copy and paste: (http://brandidentityguru.com/bightml/brandmasterpiece.html). Then click "Take the brand strength test". This is a short survey that measures the strength of any company's brand. It's a great tool to see where you are today.

Scott White is President of Brand Identity Guru (http://www.brandidentityguru.com), a leading brand consulting and market research firm located in Easton, Massachusetts, USA, near Boston.

Brand Identity Guru specializes in creating corporate and product brands that increase sales, market share, customer loyalty, and brand valuation. Over the course of his 15-year branding career, Scott White has worked in a wide variety of industries: high-tech, manufacturing, computer hardware and software, telecommunications, banking, restaurants, fashion, healthcare, Internet, retail, and service businesses, as well as numerous non-profit organizations.

Brand Identity Guru clients include: Sun Life Financial, Coca Cola, HP, Sun, Nordstrom, American Federal Mortgage, Simon (America's largest shopping mall manager) and many others, including numerous emerging growth companies.

Scott White is a very enthusiastic speaker and has the gift of being able to explain the principles of branding in a compelling and entertaining manner so that people at all levels can understand.

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Google News Updated : Sat, 11 Oct 2008 05:49:35 GMT McCain Lauds and Attacks Obama in Same Day - New York Times CBS News McCain Lauds and Attacks Obama in Same Day New York Times - 41 minutes ago Senator John McCain of Arizona and his supporters at a rally on Friday in La Crosse, Wis. By ELISABETH BUMILLER LAKEVILLE, Minn. - After a week of trying to portray Senator Barack Obama as a friend of terrorists who would drive the country into ... McCain Moves to Soften the Tone at Rallies Washington Post John McCain, speaking to supporters, tries to defuse an anti ... Los Angeles Times Reuters - DetNews.com - Austin American-Statesman - The Miami Herald all 304 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 11 Oct 2008 05:08:14 GMT Bush: US authority able to solve financial crisis - People's Daily Online Telegraph.co.uk Bush: US authority able to solve financial crisis People's Daily Online - 1 hour ago US President George W. Bush arrives in the Rose Garden at the White House to makes a statement on the economy in Washington, October 10, 2008. President Bush vows action on financial crisis Los Angeles Times Bush's Lullaby to the Markets Washington Post Birmingham Star - Wall Street Journal - CNN - Bloomberg all 1,302 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 11 Oct 2008 04:12:49 GMT Paulson Indicates Need to Purchase Bank Equity `Soon as We Can' - Bloomberg Telegraph.co.uk Paulson Indicates Need to Purchase Bank Equity `Soon as We Can' Bloomberg - 1 hour ago By John Brinsley and Rebecca Christie Oct. 11 (Bloomberg) -- US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson indicated that pumping government funds into banks is a priority and said financial markets will remain volatile. US planning to buy equity in financial institutions Reuters Treasury Weighs Investing In Banks Washington Post International Herald Tribune - MarketWatch - CNNMoney.com - Bizjournals.com all 1,783 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 11 Oct 2008 04:21:05 GMT G-7 Commit to `All Necessary Steps' to Stem Global Meltdown - Bloomberg Voice of America G-7 Commit to `All Necessary Steps' to Stem Global Meltdown Bloomberg - 1 hour ago By Simon Kennedy Oct. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Group of Seven finance chiefs, meeting after stocks plunged and as a global recession looms, vowed to prevent the failure of vital banks while failing to unveil new initiatives for thawing credit markets. Group of 7 Nations Seek Coordination in Rescue New York Times In latest bold step, Treasury will buy bank stakes The Miami Herald CNNMoney.com - The Associated Press - Boston Globe - FN Arena News all 890 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 11 Oct 2008 04:03:42 GMT Democrats Are Gaining, Registration Data Shows - New York Times Los Angeles Times Democrats Are Gaining, Registration Data Shows New York Times - 2 hours ago By NICHOLAS CONFESSORE and GRIFF PALMER Some longtime Republican strongholds in New York are becoming increasingly Democratic, a striking change driven by demographic shifts, intense voter registration drives by Democrats and allied groups and sagging ... Campus registration drives in full swing KARE Ott, Hook face off for open county office St. Joseph News-Press The News-Press - Winston-Salem Journal - Tampabay.com - Beaufort Gazette all 739 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 11 Oct 2008 03:20:33 GMT US Near Changing Stance on North Korea as Terrorist - Wall Street Journal BBC News US Near Changing Stance on North Korea as Terrorist Wall Street Journal - 1 hour ago By JAY SOLOMON WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration is hoping to announce as soon as Saturday that it is tentatively removing North Korea from its list of state sponsors of terrorism, in a bid to kick-start a stalled nuclear disarmament agreement, ... AP: US to remove North Korea from terror blacklist The Associated Press US May Remove North Korea From Terrorism List, AP Reports Bloomberg Los Angeles Times - Voice of America - Financial Times - The Miami Herald all 1,714 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 11 Oct 2008 04:02:40 GMT Genomics project unites four Wisconsin research institutions - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Genomics project unites four Wisconsin research institutions Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - 19 minutes ago By KATHLEEN GALLAGHER Wisconsin’s four biggest academic research institutions will collaborate on an initiative aimed at giving the state national stature in the fast-emerging field of individualized medicine, Gov. Marshfield Clinic gets biggest donation yet Chicago Tribune Wis. governor unveils gene research triangle Forbes Bizjournals.com - GenomeWeb News (subscription) - WJFW-TV - WISN.com all 51 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 11 Oct 2008 05:29:44 GMT RSS2Blog RSS to HTML

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