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[D225]Destination Branding For Small Cities

by Aaron Siegel, Aar

Branding does more than create recognition however, branding builds trust and loyalty among the consumer market allowing you to penetrate future markets with new product offerings more successfully. Successful branding campaigns can expect more sustained customer relationships and sales over longer periods of time than companies not implementing branding strategies.

The largest and most successful companies in the world all have used branding in their marketing communications building their brand equities into billions of dollars. Tide, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Nestle, Ford, Boeing, Kellogs, and many more have all successfully built their brand to the point where consumers know them by heart and trust their products enough to purchase them without debate to the safety or quality of the product.

Branding is a long term strategy for any business but should be strategized and implemented into marketing communications from the very beginning. If your a small brick and mortar business in a small town or city you should still follow branding strategies just the same as if you were a national franchise or corporation. There is no excuse to not use a branding strategy for your business and that includes small e-commerce websites. If you own a business, you need to brand.

Starting a branding strategy does not entail a giant budget or advertising campaign if your low on company funds. You can start small in various different ways, some ways you may have already started using.

1.)Voice mail – Every business has a voice mail for when there is nobody there to answer. Make sure you use your company name in the voice mail twice. Once in the introduction and secondly in the end.

An example might be “Hello, you have reached 1.) Company Z. We're sorry but we are unable to answer your call at this time, please leave us your name and number and we'll get back to you as soon as possible. Thank you for calling 2.) Company Z. Have a great day."

This reinforces your company name building recognition helping condition consumers and customers to remember your name from all the other names out there and that is what you want to do in ALL communications.

2.)Mail Communication – This section will apply to email as well. Use your company name and logo at the top of all letter heads including email. Reinforce your company name in the signature area after your messages as well. Example:

Sincerely,
Bob Smith

Company Z, Inc.
www.companyz.com

Constant reinforcing of your brand is crucial to the life of your business and once again you see the use of the company name used twice. Once in the Letterhead and once after the signature. Beginning and end.

3.)Phone Numbers – Local or national, a custom number can help do wonders when it comes to sales call centers or retail locations. While finding a custom vanity toll free number can prove to be somewhat costly, you can still use local vanity numbers for your location even if your a national business. You won't always have a short business name but by using industry words mixed with abbreviations for your company you can help reinforce brand image just the same. Be creative and you may find some easy and fun ways to implement your company name or niche into an easily recognizable phone number.

4.)Advertising – In all advertising focus on how to include your company name and logo. Audio advertisements use your name twice. Once in the beginning and once at the end minimally. Display and television ads always make sure you company name or logo is always present and visible. Display ads will include online banner advertising as well. Contextual advertising always use your company home page in the visible URL section to simplify the viewing of your company name. The extension of the URL should not be present as it will distract the eyes from the home page name.

There are many other ways to add branding strategies into your marketing communications, just remember that every mention of your company name is another way to reinforce company image to the consumer bringing recognition for your industry equaling into future sales. Anything that involves your company communication to consumers, businesses, employees, press, peers, etc. should always be branded. You will find that a good branding strategy can carry your business a long way and strengthen your company for future markets and endeavors.

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Branding is still here to differentiate one thing from another and it is still about 'mental shelf space' or recognition of something.

But these days it is more - it is about 'emotional shelf space' too.

Now it is about describing a company or product or service's core tangible & intangible attributes, values, character, expectations and reputation both before and after purchase to anyone in the defined audiences for the brand.

Defined audiences may include employees, distributors and consumers.

Describing this multi dimensional 'personality' of a brand involves creating a positive visual, emotional, rational and cultural image using a name, packaging, colours, symbols, straplines, music etc. etc.

The purpose is to ensure that more individuals 'develop a relationship' with the brand, remember it better than competitors and feel they have received greater value and satisfaction by buying 'their brand'.

Your brand is what identifies your business to consumers. It resides in your customers and prospect's hearts and minds - it is all their experiences and perceptions. Good branding results in loyal customers. It is well known that existing customer relationships are the key to profitability. So it's no wonder that branding is a major marketing goal.

Kieron Matthews, the IAB's head of marketing has said about branding: "I have always worked from the point of view that my role in advertising is a glorified filer. I have to ensure that my target audience has my brand (e.g. a McDonald's Burger) filed right at the front of the fast food part of the restaurant section that sits in their brain. By keeping it so front of mind, you can be sure that there will only ever be one winner when your consumer is faced with the perennial Whopper Vs Big Mac choice."

Your feelings about a company or product or service can be shaped by just word of mouth: the rule that says one unhappy customer tells twenty to thirty people. But a brand, as we have noted, is not just about that 'mental shelf space' or 'brand perception' built up by advertising or word of mouth. It is the sum of all experiences from first hearing about the product to purchase to repeat purchase to customer service etc. It is created from a series of experiences, from every interaction over the lifetime of the relationship with each adding to or subtracting from the 'brand experience.

Can smaller companies create a successful brand?

Well, they need to do so whether they know it or not - because of the 'brand experience' phenomenon. As just noted, every interaction over the lifetime of the relationship is what creates the brand with each adding to or subtracting from the 'brand experience'.

Patrick Hanlon, CEO of branding company Thinktopia suggests seven "pieces of primal code" that go into making a great brand:

• the creation story - where you come from is as important for people to know as what you believe
• the creed - defining, understanding and communicating your mission to employees and customers
• the icon - graphic or other representation that clearly shows who they are and what they stand for
• the rituals - the repeated interaction that people have with your business and how you handle those interactions
• dealing with nonbelievers - by defining the pagans, you define who and what you are not
• the sacred words - the words that you must know to belong within that group e.g. 'skinny latte' or 'death kitty' or 'emily the strange'
• leadership - successful brands have a person who is the catalyst, the risk taker, the visionary

Never underestimate the power of story, says Hanlon. "Take Pom Wonderful who have less than 100 staff" he says, "its Web site includes an entire history of the company and the pomegranate itself. All brands are a narrative; the story is what draws us in".

Once customers are in, it's a company's value system or creed that keeps them coming back. Take Blue Banana who specialize in alternative clothing, band merchandise, fashion accessories and body jewellery and have just 11 stores plus their webstore. Their creed is: ".... to allow you to join in with others who have a similar view about life to you. Your culture and music remains at the core of everything Blue Banana does, everything is influenced by your music."

These companies and others like them have spent a lot of effort in creating their brands and realize that it can be destroyed very quickly. They have defined what their organization must do to support their brand values.

This has paid off in increased sales and profitability which has been shown to be the case time and again - brand savvy companies have better growth, profits and shareholder returns.

However, a Microsoft survey showed that over a third of UK small businesses admit to having no brand values and those companies with between one and ten employees were the least likely to have built a brand, with a disturbing 58 per cent of this group shunning the creation and communication of brands within the business.

So, if those companies are willing to be persuaded here are some of the things they could do:

• Define the business' personality:
• How do you want to be perceived?
• What is it that makes your product or service desirable?
• Why should customers choose to come to you instead of your competitors?
• Be consistent, ensure the same values, messages and visions are communicated to all of your staff and make sure they act
on them.
• Build recognition, ensure your brand designs and rituals are found at all 'customer touch points'.
• Make the most of what you've got. One of the most effective yet simple ways to have a strong brand presence is through your website. Although seven out often small firms have a business website, half of them are not using it for marketing purposes.

Article Source : Pg. 20

About Author

Both Aaron Siegel & Richard D S Hill are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Aaron Siegel has sinced written about articles on various topics from Mobile Phone Reviews, Email Advertising and Family. Wanting for your business? Visit TopSavings.Net for receptive advertising solutions and branding wi. Aaron Siegel's top article generates over 12100 views. to your Favourites.

Richard D S Hill has sinced written about articles on various topics from Social Media Marketing, Internet Marketing and Computers and The Internet. Richard Hill is a director of and has spent many years in senior direct and interactive marketing roles. E-CRM provides EBusiness,. Richard D S Hill's top article generates over 27100 views. to your Favourites.