Know-How Exchange : Branding

I would put in writing why a mission or vision statement is important to the direction of your marketing and sales. Ask them not only to read it, but give you some meeting time to discuss and show examples as to where this paid off with other companies, and detailed ways on how they could for your organization.

As someone who was trained as an engineer and now works full-time as a marketing and branding consultant, I know exactly what you're facing. And I've done precisely what you're trying to do many times.

The key is to (1) explain the benefit of a branding strategy, and then (2) break down the branding process into finite steps. (Engineers love a detailed recipe or formula with a specific, measurable result.) Do NOT make it sound like a fuzzy thing that will simply make customers feel better about the company over an indefinite period of time.

Of course, you need to be sure before you begin that a branding strategy is the right marketing approach for your company and your industry. It depends on exactly what benefit you provide and how the target audience perceives your offering today. Branding isn't a magic cure-all for whatever ails a business.

Good luck. Let us know what happens.

The moderator's comments above are right on. Process is very important to people who have been trained as engineers.

Senior management is most receptive to the concept of brand strategy when there is a clear sales or marketing problem to be addressed. For example, if you are demonstrably losing sales because your sales force is unable to properly communicate what is distinctive about your products and services, that could be a way in.

You may also need to educate senior management about the changing marketplace--total transparency, client in the driver's seat, etc. This means that the one way messages that were used in the past may be outmoded.

Even though brand strategy is my business, I do everything in my power to avoid using "buzz words". Think of positioning as offering your company an "elevator speech" that is easily understood by your employees, and is clear and relevant to your customers and prospects. There is a definite benefit to having everyone in synch, and excited about what the company stands for. Good luck!

While you're thinking "branding", what concrete measurable actions are you planning to do? That's what upper management wants to see - what's the anticipated ROI for your activities?

Heidi,

The question is: What are you being paid to do? Upper management won't listen to much if it's not in line with what they believe they hired you to do. You highlighted your responsibilities as, "managing our wholesale, B2B marketing and sales efforts." I pick up from this that your bosses don't know the difference between marketing and sales and they are expecting you to "generate leads." And I am suspecting they are wanting to see results NOW - meaning that the sales force is invited into prospects' offices and are closing more sales. That's an immediacy issue. Branding and vision statements and mission statements - they are strategies and are "for the good of the longevity of the company." Strategy efforts will pay off in the long run and have stickiness to them, meaning that once you get them going, things will continue with little effort for a long time after. But, it's not "cash in your pocket" now.

If this is the case, align your efforts to tasks your upper management are expecting you to do NOW. Show results. Get credibility. Then introduce the longer term strategy stuff. Your success rate at getting management buy-in and getting the company going in the right way will be much higher. In the medical field, this is "triage." Stop the bleeding and then treat the high blood pressure.

I hope this helps.

Wayde

In the most simple terms, a brand is a promise to the customer.

A promise that your company will help the customer achieve his or her goals, both stated and unstated, and concrete and fuzzy. Think of a 2x2 matrix. The goal is to transform the customer interaction from a one time transaction to an ongoing relationship, mutually beneficial to all parties.

Marketing is the embodiment of that brand promise and ensuring all the activities of the business are centered around delivering the customer's desired experience.

Take Apple for instance and it's shiny apple logo - when you state that to someone in a Western context they get it. People fly all over the world to attend Apple store openings - (see Martin Lindstrom's Buyology videos for further details)

A good example of how transforming a brand can have positive benefits is Ford. Ford has been working for a long time to revamp its car design down to where they understood their customer's needs and worked diligently on delivering those. Their product designs really came together in the 2006 model year. But Ford's brand got a real shot in the arm when during the financial crisis of 2009, they didn't need to take a government bailout. So now Ford made the most money in the first half of 2010 in the last 10 years as the customers are choosing not only a good car (which they were for sometime) but a company that they believe is doing things the right way, and provides the customer a chance to express their own beliefs about enterprise, and freedom.

The reality is you can't preach to management about branding. I would challenge you to think about your own personal brand. Once you understand management's ultimate goals and develop the relationship with them showing how what you propose will help them achieve them, you will be pushing a rope uphill (a near impossible task). Create the pull, be patient and diligent.

Chances are pretty good they've heard the branding speeches before. And as soon as you start talking identity and persona and so on, you've lost them.

Here's an approach that might catch their attention. Study the competition's branding strategies (if they have one). Reverse engineer it for them so they can see that companies that they routinely come up against have moved into the 21st Marketing century. Try to find companies that traditionally win over you.

Don't overemphasize it or you'll put them to sleep. Branding is one part of an effective marketing strategy, but don't start using a vocabulary filled with absolutes and predictions of brandless doom.