Marketing Profs

Far too often, agencies and companies alike unwittingly focus on tactics, rather than strategy, in their marketing and communications activities.

We see it often, as companies are shrinking and combining sales and marketing departments. Merged departments means fewer people with more to do. Often, the same people are involved in management, in direct sales, in product development, in marketing and in communications.

It's not always easy for companies to pause, step back, and review where they are going. However, if you don't have a clear marketing road map, you'll likely be going in circles, wasting time and money, and falling short of business and sales goals.

Understand your brand

Before we look at how you can develop your strategy, we need to understand how that strategy relates to your company's brand. The brand is the primary driver behind your marketing efforts.

The term "branding" is one that is used frequently, and is perhaps almost as frequently misused.

A brand is not a slogan. Perhaps the greatest mistake many advertisers (and advertising agencies) make is to assume that a brand is simply a slogan or tagline.

In doing so, they point to such examples as "When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight" and "The ultimate driving machine."

Yet, while a slogan or tag line can sometimes capture the essence of a brand, it cannot create one. The brand must be understood first. Then, the right tag line or theme can reinforce it. But unless the brand is already understood, a slogan or tag line is meaningless to the audience.

In fact, some of the best-regarded brands, such as Starbucks and Nordstroms, don't even have slogans.