Customers Are People First (Strategic Tuesday/People)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing. It’s Strategic Tuesday and we are continuing our series on emotional branding.

Often in the quest for success and profit we forget that customers are people first.  And people, as we know, have emotions.  Think about how you interact with your family, loved ones and friends.  It is on an emotional level.  It’s ok to create an emotional bond with your customers and that is what we are going to discuss today.

According to Mark Gobe in his book Emotional Branding the most important thing you can do for your brand is to develop the right emotional connection with your customer.  He suggests creating partnerships and communicating with customers just like you would with members of your family.  He says it’s ok to let customers enjoy your brand.  That is what you want to accomplish with emotional branding.

Mark Gobe has created what he calls the 10 Commandments of Emotional Branding.  I’m not going to go through the entire list now, you will be able to find it online.  I will cite a few commandments that I think are very important.

First, he says they are not customers, they are people.  That makes a lot of sense, doesn’t it?  Next, you aren’t selling a product, you’re selling an experience.  We love that experience because it makes us feel good and we remember the brand.

Another is moving from communications to dialog with your customers.  You have conversation with your friends and family, you should with customers as well.  Lastly, transition from a service perspective to a relationship, you are not only providing customers with solutions, you are creating a relationship in the process.

All I can say now is that I hope you are really enjoying Once a Day Marketing.

Thanks for tuning in, please stop by tomorrow for Action Wednesday.  To discuss an online or face to face service engagement and enhance the marketing and branding for your organization, contact James Glover: (505) 501-1330 or onceadaymarketing@gmail.com.  I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing and we’ll see you next time.

Emotional Branding: Bonding with Customers (Smart Monday/Process)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing. Today is Smart Monday and we are starting a series on emotional branding.

Emotional branding is when you bond with your customers on a personal level and look at them more as individuals.

There are two sides to emotional branding.  First, you formed a company and offer a product to enhance the lives of your customers.  If you make that evident to the customer using your product, it will resonate with them on an emotional level.

Next, when customers use your product they have an emotional attachment to it.  Perhaps it makes them feel better.  Take a cookie store as an example.  When you walk into a cookie store and smell the cookies baking you know they are going to taste great.  However, that aroma might also take you back to your grandmother’s kitchen when she was making cookies.  Now you are bonding with the customer and they are bonding with you on a more personal level and that is what emotional branding is all about.

The best way for me to share more about emotional branding is to site a couple of encounters I have had that have touched me personally.  The first is Disneyland.  When I was very young I had the opportunity to go to Disneyland when the theme park was just opening.  It was something I will never forget.  It wasn’t so much about riding the Matterhorn; it was the opportunity to see all the Disney characters around the park; having the map of the whole Disneyland theme park and riding to Tom Sawyer’s Island and for a moment pretend I was Tom Sawyer with Huck Finn.  Those experiences touched me deeply as a child and I will never forget them.

Another example involves Team in Training, an organization that raises money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.  I decided to raise money by running the Dublin marathon with Team in Training.  They assisted me in training for the marathon and gave me tools to raise money.  When I crossed the finish line, knowing I had raised money for cancer research felt very good indeed, but more than that, I felt good about myself and taking time to run the marathon and aid cancer patients in the process.  I will never forget that experience and will always be aligned with Team in Training because of it.

You would be surprised how many branding experts really don’t understand the idea of emotional branding.  We are going to talk more about it tomorrow, specifically looking at the book Emotional Branding by Mark Gobe, one of the top branding experts in the world.  He defines something called the 10 Commandments of Emotional Branding and we will look at how those will assist you in developing personalized relationships with your customers.

That concludes our Smart Monday.  Be sure and stop by tomorrow for Strategic Tuesday when we will continue our series on emotional branding.  To discuss an online or face to face service engagement and enhance the marketing and branding for your organization, contact James Glover: (505) 501-1330 or onceadaymarketing@gmail.com.  I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing and we’ll see you next time.

Webinars and Other Online Engagements

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing.  Today is Digital Friday.

When information is digital there are no boarders.  You are able to communication your content with people all over the world.  We are going to be talking about that today in our video advice.

There are many ways to harness the power of the internet to engage clients online.  To begin your efforts in this area, consider one on one consulting.  Leverage online tools to create a relationship with an individual who you work with virtually and use your capabilities to design solution for them.

Next look at webinars, you’ve probably attended a webinar, if not, I recommend that you do.  There are free and fee-based webinars depending on the content being delivered.  Webinars are another tool using the technical capabilities of the internet which enable you to share information using a PowerPoint with clients all over the world.

Consider online video conferencing.  You are able to host a live event with guest speakers or panelists that is shared through the power of the internet.  A friend of mine was recently an online keynote speaker.  He presented to a group of people in an auditorium from his home.

The material for all of the forums we have discussed can be captured and re-used over and over again as long as the content remains relevant.

As you are engaging customers online, the question you have to ask yourself is how much content you should provide free vs. fee-based.  One rule of thumb indicates you may have to share 97% of your content on a no-fee basis.  That may sound high, but the reality is that the other 3% are potential customer waiting to seek out your product or service.

With respect to fees you also have to also have to take into account whether the content is very specific and very personalized to the needs of a customer.  The more you tailor online delivery to a customer the more you can charge.  You have to create the right mix between free and fee.

It’s up to your to determine which of these powerful tools is the best way for you to personally engage customers using online technologies.  I recommend that you seriously consider how to present yourself and your products and services to potential customers all over the world using these technologies.

Thanks for tuning in to Digital Friday.  Join us next week for Smart Monday.  To discuss an online or face to face service engagement and enhance the marketing and branding for your organization, contact James Glover: (505) 501-1330 or onceadaymarketing@gmail.com.  I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing and we’ll see you next time.

Your Reputation Precedes You (Recon Thursday/People)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing. It’s Recon Thursday where we look at your business, the market or your competition and we have a great piece of advice for your today.

We’ve all heard the expression “your reputation precedes you”.  In the marketing sense, that is the definition of branding.  Think about that.  People become aware of your company and what you stand for without ever encountering you or your product.

There are many examples of things that you personally have never seen yet have an understanding of.  That is what you want to achieve with branding.  Ensure the message you are advertising in the marketplace conveys an image to potential customers of what your product is all about.  If it gets to the customer before you so, that’s a great thing.  You want your brand reputation to precede your actual engagement with the customer.  When they already have a solid understanding of what you are all about sales will be much easier.

To determine if your brand precedes you, start by leveraging the internet.  Search your company name and review the information you find regarding your brand.  Is it enough?  Is it what you want it to be?

Another fun exercise is to drop your company name to someone you just met.  Look for recognition of your company name.  If they have that deer-in-the-headlights look, that is not necessarily good.  Or, they may smile and say “yes, I’m familiar with that company”.

Nothing is more rewarding than when I have name dropped my business and someone responds favorably.  It’s very exciting because you know your branding effort is working.

That concludes our Recon Thursday, stop by tomorrow for Digital Friday.  To discuss an online or face-to-face service engagement and enhance the marketing and branding for your organization, contact James Glover: (505) 501-1330 or onceadaymarketing@gmail.com.  I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing and we’ll see you next time.

Supporting Non-Profits: Good for the Brand (Action Wednesday/People)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing.  Today is Action Wednesday and I know you’ve heard the expression “win-win”.  Today we are going to talk about something where you can help a good cause and also enhance your brand.

For Action Wednesday I’m recommending that you get involved with a local charity.  We’ve discussed previously that a brand is simply everything.  Your association with a non-profit will create a favorable impression in the minds of your customers.

Chose a non-profit that aligns nicely with your business if possible, more importantly, make sure it aligns with your own personal interests.  Then roll up your sleeves and get involved at the board level giving your time to help make decisions for the organization.  Or, get involved when the organization needs help.  Over time, all of this effort will be seen very favorably by your customers.  They are going to notice your company is supporting a great organization and may seek out your products and services more often in the future.

There are so many benefits associated with this action item.  First, you are supporting a good cause. Whatever charity that you’ve selected, you are going to assist them in meeting their mission.  Second, you will feel very good inside because you’ve taken the time to support the non-profit.  Lastly, you will also enhance your company’s and your personal brand in the process because of your personal involvement with that organization.

Thanks for joining us on another Action Wednesday.  Stop by tomorrow for Recon Thursday. To discuss an online or face-to-face service engagement and enhance the marketing and branding for your organization, contact James Glover: (505) 501-1330 or onceadaymarketing@gmail.com.  I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing and we’ll see you next time.

Overt Benefit: Finding That One Thing (Strategic Tuesday/Positioning)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing.  It’s Strategic Tuesday and today we are going to talk about overt benefit and finding that je ne sais quoi for your product.

What is overt benefit?  Before we answer that let’s take a look at the old movie City Slickers.  Jack Palance as Curley and Billy Crystal as Mitch were driving cattle across the range.  Jack Palance says “There’s one thing to the secret of life” and he holds up his finger.  Billy Crystal asks “What that?”  Jack Palance replies “That’s for you to find out”.  The same thing is true in determining the overt benefit of your product.

Doug Hall of Eureka Ranch probably coined this phrase.  It’s all about discovering that “certain something” beyond the features and benefits of the product, one thing that, at the highest level, stands for your product.  It may be why you entered into business or why you created the product or service, perhaps to solve a problem or fill a gap in the marketplace.

In one of his books, Doug talks about a company that manufactures electric BBQ grills.  Their grill was so good it wasn’t allowed to be used by professional cooks in BBQ competition because it provided an unfair competitive advantage.  That was the overt benefit to him.  He was now able to tell the client that they should leverage the fact the grill was banned from competition when creating their marketing campaign.

It is important for you to understand overt benefit.  In today’s world consumers/clients have a vast array of choices.  Overt benefit could be the means to communicate what is unique about your product and differentiate it from the rest.

Think about something as simple as dental floss.  You used to be able to go into Walgreens and quickly pick up dental floss.  Now there are probably 60-75 different kinds of dental floss available.  How does the consumer make the choice?

Now give some thought to the new phone apps.  It seems like every business has a phone app.  Again, if there are > 500,000 phone apps, how is yours going to be found by your customers?

Knowing your overt benefit allows you to cut through the advertising clutter and strengthens your position to build your brand in the mind of your customer over time.

It’s not always easy to determine what the overt benefit is but it’s absolutely critical that you do so.  Once you know your “certain something” you will be able to share that with your customers and create an accurate image of your product in their mind.

That’s our advice for today.  Be sure to tune into tomorrow for Action Wednesday.  To discuss an online or face-to-face service engagement and enhance the marketing and branding for your organization, contact James Glover: (505) 501-1330 or onceadaymarketing@gmail.com.  I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing and we’ll see you next time.

Brand Image is Everything (Smart Monday/Positioning)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing. It’s a new week, thanks for stopping by.  Please continue to comment, re-tweet, Likes us on Facebook and share with friends.  Many more of you are tuning in and we are really building our brand.

Today we are going to talk about brand image vs. brand identity.

You have heard the expression “image is everything”.  Let’s take a look at brand image.  As we have discussed previously, brand image is the perception of your brand in the mind of your customer.  That perception is built over time given the experiences they have with your brand.

Canon camera ago clearly understood this point.  They launched a new camera called the Rebel with the slogan “Image is Everything”.  They hired Andre Agassi, the rebel in professional tennis at the time, to be their spokesperson and it was a great fit.  Canon had a sophisticated new camera; they had the rebel of tennis and a slogan that implied the camera took great photographs.  And Canon knew it was creating the right brand image as well.

Brand identity is what you want your customers to perceive.  All of your marketing, branding and strategies are designed to create the perception in customers’ minds of what you believe your product is with respect to its benefits both physical and emotional.

Branding is the process of using brand strategy and marketing to align customers’ brand image with your brand identity.

It is important to align brand image with brand identity so customers have the correct perception of your product.  If they don’t, they may seek out your product for the wrong reasons.  They may buy the product expecting one thing and get another, resulting in an unfavorable experience.  Additionally, if their perception is not accurate, they may not buy your product at all.

Your branding efforts should ensure customers understand the benefits of your product and that their brand image does in fact align with the brand identity that you want to project into the market place.

Thanks for joining us on another Smart Monday.  Stop by tomorrow for Strategic Tuesday. To discuss an online or face-to-face service engagement and enhance the marketing and branding for your organization, contact James Glover: (505) 501-1330 or onceadaymarketing@gmail.com.  I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing and we’ll see you next time.