Many business executives understand the concept of branding, but few are able to properly execute a branding campaign.
Companies like Coca-Cola, Prudential and Johnson & Johnson have succeeded because their executives recognize that branding isn’t only about developing strategic marketing plans and focus groups, or about getting customers to recognize a company’s name and buy its products. Branding is a highly intimate process that dwells within the hearts and minds of customers and represents their experiences and perceptions of a company.
“All that exists in the world of marketing are perceptions in the minds of customers or prospects,” writes Jack Trout in his popular new book Big Brands Big Trouble. “The perception is the reality. Everything else is an illusion...The mind of the customer is where you win and lose.”
Many executives confuse positioning with branding. Positioning is getting customers to buy a product. Branding is about evoking the emotions that create preferences for a particular product.
For example, in the minds of customers, Kleenex represents more than a brand name. It’s the tissue itself. Nobody says: “What’s a Kleenex?” Similarly, when people are thirsty, they crave a Coke; when they want to get rid of laundry stains, they buy Clorox – even though competing products have almost identical compositions.
Effective branding campaigns combine the right mix of advertising, marketing and public-relations components. While advertising and marketing provide brand support, public relations is used for positioning and creating messages. More and more companies are placing greater emphasis on public relations.
“Brands that succeed today do so by relying on publicity rather than advertising,” said Laura Ries, president of marketing firm Ries & Ries, in the Harvard Management Update. “The value of mentions in newspaper or magazine articles can’t be emphasized enough.”
The first step to planning a successful public-relations program is to conduct market research, which may include everything from audits of media coverage to interviews with company executives, sales teams and customers.
Based upon this research, communications strategists should work with company executives to develop messages that effectively convey a value proposition. They should integrate these messages throughout all internal and external communications materials, including advertising, collateral pieces, Web sites and media kits.
Furthermore, communications experts should review a company’s positioning to make sure it properly tells the company’s story and is in sync with the company’s brand.
“If the brand and the positioning being used to support it are out of alignment, it will have a negative impact on the brand,” Clare Price, chief executive officer of Verstand, a San Francisco-based provider of brand-value management software, said in a recent PRWeek article.
Communications experts should evaluate whether a company has an adequate definition of its product.
“Companies, large and small, often have a tough time describing their product, especially if it’s a new category and a new technology,” Jack Trout said. “The positioning of a product in the mind must begin with what the product is… If you present a prospect with a confusing category, your chances of getting into his or her mind are slim to none.”
After communications strategists have completed the research, a company should begin an aggressive campaign that focuses on the media outlets that reach its target audiences. Often, companies waste valuable resources because they haven’t properly identified the right media targets.
Additionally, company executives should participate in media-training sessions to perfect their interview skills. The goal during interviews should not simply be to answer a reporter’s questions but to go further and communicate a company’s brand messages.
In today’s highly competitive marketplace, strong branding is becoming more essential to a company’s success. Company executives should work with experienced and highly knowledgeable communications experts who can develop and implement winning programs.
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