Archive for category Brand Identity
Put “Unique” Back Into Your Selling Proposition
Posted by Mike Paffenback in Brand Identity on November 18, 2011
We’ve talked in the past about true brand differentiation and suggested many marketers seem to have strayed from clearly defining a Unique Selling Proposition: the statement of a valued singular point of differentiation for their brand, product, or service. Fact is, there are more product and service options now available to us as b-to-c or b-to-b consumers than at any point in history. And each of us as potential buyers wants a reason to select one alternative over another. The need to develop and communicate a true and substantive point of difference has never been more important, yet many marketers don’t do it – which suggests a tremendous upside for those that do.
All well and good, but how exactly do you go about defining a true USP?
You’ve already done the heavy lifting if you strategically developed your brand identity – the plan for how your brand lives, breathes, and succeeds. Two vital components of a brand identity are the value proposition and positioning statement. These work hand in hand, the value proposition presenting the specific (and hopefully unique) benefit that will be derived by using your product or service, and the positioning statement laying out your decisive advantage over competitive solutions. Together, they form the reason someone should use your brand based on appreciable points of difference. If you haven’t formalized your brand identity, start there. The process forces a thoughtful assessment of what you really are and where you really fit from a brand standpoint. As you craft the brand identity, keep the concept of a truely differentiated brand experience at the top of the list of requirements.
Being unique also means you need to stop trying to be all things to all people. We’re all guilty of this, and you’ll probably believe you’re walking away from potentially valuable business. While true for the short term, the more important long term benefit is that your brand will become acknowledged for one thing — one valued difference — and those appreciating that difference will flock to your brand alone, grateful for having been given a distinctive reason.
Everything can be differentiated (even commodities), and opportunities for true, appreciable differentiation can be found in many areas: product or service attributes, new uses, packaging, support services, simplification, manufacturing process, brand heritage, distribution channels, customer service/warranty policies, selection, and many others.
For inspiration, several noted marketers have published books on brand differentiation and the Unique Selling Proposition. Check out “Differentiate Or Die” by Jack Trout and Steve Rivkin, and Seth Godin’s “The Purple Cow” to start.
A lot has been written, but few marketers heed the call for real differentiation and developing a true Unique Selling Proposition. There’s business waiting to be gained for those that do.
Differentiate Your Brand. Or Watch it Die.
Posted by Mike Paffenback in Brand Identity, Brand Positioning on November 11, 2011
With so many b-to-b and b-to-c brands vying for attention and business, there’s never been a greater need for true, relevant differentiation among competitive products and services.
Bombarded with so many choices, tossed at them in so many ways, potential customers are desperately seeking a reason to justify one competitive solution over another. Yet most marketers fail to deliver a truely differentiated branding effort for their product or service. Instead, they offer up a similar-but-slightly-different feature/benefit story, seemingly trying to be all things to as many people as possible while in actuality setting their brand to sail on an already cluttered sea of competitive sameness.
Granted, true differentiation is hard work, but isn’t it worth the effort?
What’s the true difference in comparable healthcare services? Banks? Cement brands? Bottled water? Competitive software solutions? Sports shoes? Activated carbon? Your brand versus your competitors’?
(Hint: true differentiation does not lie simply in the cleverness of a great ad campaign, pricing, selection, quality, or customer service.)
Noted marketer and Harvard professor Ted Levitt wrote in his 1991 book, Thinking About Management, “Differentiation is one of the most important stratgic and tactical activities in which companies must constantly engage.” Hmmm. Me thinks this man speaketh the truth. So, what about it?
Long Live The Unique Selling Proposition
Any advertising or marketing professional worth his or her salt remembers Rosser Reeves as the man who formalized the concept of the “Unique Selling Proposition” in his 1960-published book, Reality in Advertising. According to Reeves, in order for their USP to be effective, advertisers were required to focus on the single genuine differentiating reason to buy their product or service. While it still resonates today, many marketers for some reason fail to apply this sage counsel to their branding efforts.
I’ve personally wrestled with identifying and clarifying the USP for many of the brands I’ve worked with in the past, so I know firsthand that it ain’t as easy as Reeves makes it sound. But it’s ultimately a matter of the success or failure of your brand that you do it. And do it well.
In 2001 (and updated in 2008), marketer and author Jack Trout published Differentiate or Die, an excellent read on the need and ways for true differentiation. He acknowledges that, in our modern era of reverse engineering, lasting product differentiation is tough. And patent protection only goes so far. Still, differentiation with the product or service itself is the first thing to consider. As Trout puts it, “improve, update, or reinvent.” Improve or add meaningful features – or completely reinvent – to provide a genuine, appreciable point of difference.
Operating more efficiently and effectively than your competitors is not typically a viable long-term differentiating strategy either, though many brands focus on better customer service, improved communications, etc. The problem is, though you may enjoy short term gains, competitors will eventually level the playing field.
The key is finding the point of difference that’s uniquely yours compared to whatever your competitors are doing (and you DO have at least one), and doggedly pursue it. This difference must be genuine, and it must be something of true value to your prospects. Strategically, this is brand positioning – part of the larger process of crafting a finely honed, sharply defined brand identity.
In future posts we’ll will offer suggestions for discovering the true point of difference for your brand. In the meantime, look inward to your brand and outward to the marketing environment and begin thinking about opportunities for true brand differentiation. Your business depends on it.
Focusing on “Brand” in Marketing Communications
Posted by Mike Paffenback in Brand Identity on November 4, 2011
Following is something I wrote a while back, but thought it worth revisiting as the concept of “brand communications” gains traction in popular marketing jargon:
For years I referred to what I did for a living as “Marketing Communications.” That is, communications activities that specifically supported the marketing efforts of a client’s product or service, differing from “Corporate Communications,” which delved into internal communications, PR, financial reporting, etc.
More properly, the term I should have been using is “Brand Communications,” embracing a more encompassing recognition of the role of “brand identity,” and the role communications plays in delivering and reinforcing that identity to marketing audiences.
The brand identity is the strategic platform developed to define what the brand stands for, what its value is to customers and prospects, and the decisive differences and advantages over competitive offerings. Think of it as a distinctive set of fingerprints – brandprints — that can only be associated with your particular brand. (Do you have a formalized brand identity for each of your brands? If not, check out more details here.) At its core, this should remain constant for the individual products or services that will be marketed under the brand identity.
Now comes the brand communications part, and there’s two primary areas to consider here:
CONTENT is what you say.
It’s the messaging that comes directly out of the brand identity platform. It conveys why the product or service is better, different, of value, etc. The content should be consistently delivered and reinforced in the next part of the equation, contact.
CONTACT is what you do.
It’s the delivery of the content through your brand touchpoints — those significant and seemingly insignificant ways folks engage with the brand. It could be sales pitches, advertising, social media, trade shows, the receptionist, invoices, delivery personnel, community goodwill, sponsorships, public relations, packaging, etc. Each and every point of contact should be carefully considered, ensuring the desired content is delivered as prescribed in the brand identity.
Collectively, it’s ”Brand-Centric Communications.” But that’s too mind-numbing to say. Let’s just leave it at “Brand Communications.” Ultimately, the goal is to sell more of your “stuff,” but from a more strategically-considered brand platform. Are you there?
What Exactly is Brand Identity and Brand Communications?
Posted by Mike Paffenback in Brand Identity, Brand Image, Brand Touchpoints on October 19, 2011
A lot of ad agencies and design firms refer to “brand identity” as the tangible visual elements of a brand — logo, typography, color palette, design style – the tactile look and feel of the brand. While this isn’t entirely incorrect, it is entirely incomplete.
Perhaps a better view of brand identity is this: a strategically-crafted blueprint for how you want your brand to be perceived among your customers, prospects, influencers, vendors, employees, and other stakeholders. It includes not only the graphic identity but also many other components as noted below and on this previous Touchpointers blog post.
Components of brand identity
Brand communications is the presentation of this carefully crafted identity to your markeplaces, resulting in the formation of a brand image that drives sales. Brand communications isn’t just advertising, social media marketing, website, public relations, trade shows, etc. It’s also the more subtle ways your brand identity takes root like the professionalism of your delivery and set up personnel, the helpfulness of customer care reps, the ease of navigating your phone system, the clarity of user documentation, and many other types of brand interactions — touchpoints — that can positively or negatively reinforce the formation of your brand image. There’s more to read about brand communications here.
Brand identity is strategic; it takes time and careful consideration to develop a brand identity that differentiates and resonates. Brand communications is tactical; it takes place over time (years), working to create your brand image and drive sales. Many businesses jump into brand communications without first crafting their brand identity, which harkens the old-but-true cliche, “without a map any road will get you there.”
Sure, a great looking logo is cool. But have you crafted a complete brand identity and brand communications program? Today would be the best day to get started.
Employee Training for Brand Touchpoint Delivery
Posted by Mike Paffenback in Brand Identity, Brand Touchpoints on April 15, 2011
Last week my wife and I traveled to visit my daughter at college. Stopping at a Dairy Queen about half way for a mid-afternoon pick-me-up is part of the routine. One of DQ’s signatures is, of course, The Blizzard, and I’m a big fan. A Blizzard, for those unenlightened few, is simply a cup of soft vanilla ice cream hand-blended with your choice of ingredients like Oreo cookies, M&M candies, Reeses candies, etc.
No doubt, DQ has identified at least a few important brand touchpoints for employees to deliver during their preparation of this brand-defining, flagship product: complete blending of ingredients, clean presentation of the cool treat, and a warm smile. It’s likely there are others, but I imagine these are the very basics.
On this particular visit, our DQ server completely failed to deliver on those basics, which left me with a less-than-stellar impression about that DQ location specifically, but also a bit of tarnish on the DQ brand overall. The product was virtually un-blended and the rim, upper inside, and outside of the cup were splattered with ingredients. It was an unappealling mess.
Clearly, the employee had not been properly trained on the nuances of making and presenting a perfect rendition of The Blizzard. It made me wonder what else he hadn’t been trained to properly do. That’s a problem of local franchise management to be sure, but also for corporate management who is charged with defining and managing delivery of the DQ brand identity. I mentally compared this experience with the obvious care my local Starbucks barista takes in preparing a perfect cup of coffee and it occured to me who’s paying closer attention to important brand-defining touchpoints, and who’s likely more sucessful as a business.
Are your employees completely steeped in your brand identity and the brand touchpoints required to properly deliver that identity to your customers? Are you sure?