THE POWER OF BRANDING!
It's not painful, is it?

Back in the day, it was important for cattlemen to distinguish their stock from others. Though it's not as prolific these days, branding cattle was a critical business practice.

Just as it was important to distinguish stock in the 19th century, it is crucial to distinguish your business today. If you're not standing apart from competitors, if you are not in the public eye, if no one knows you are there, odds are you will get the same amount of business as the next guy -- who is also not branding.

Those companies which distinguish themseives, their products and services with an appealing "brand" are going to fare much better. Imagine 10 companies, all doing the same thing, competing for the same market share. Each will get a 10% share. Now imagine if two of them implement powerful, appealing branding strategies. They're going to scoop up additional shares while the others quibble over the scraps.

So, what is "branding" today?

The most obvious branding technique is corporate identity -- a logo with an associated tagline. For some, a logo is just a mark. For others, it provides the viewer with important information about a company. Does your logo tell a story?

For example, consider the Yellow Pages logo. It shows a hand with fingers "walking" along a page. The tagline is, "Let your fingers do the walking." After so many years of branding, we know what the logo stands for and what it means - there's instant recognition.

Branding is expressed in all your messaging. For example: Your product works faster than the rest. Your service saves the most money. The reputation of your company, products and services are part of your "brand."

Brand management is managing all of the perceptions associated with your offerings. Though it is important (in most cases) to be seen as the good guy when branding, sometimes it's just as effective to be branded as the bad guy. Boris Karloff branded himself as, "sinister" more often than not.

As for popular brands and how they work, consider:

Coca Cola = Refreshing. UPS = Fast and reliable.
Disney = Entertaining for children. Craftsman tools = Last a lifetime.
Q-Tip = Cotton swabs (such a successful brand, that ALL swab brands are often called, "Q-Tips).

Every marketing effort reinforces the brand (hopefully, effectively). Think about different companies, products and services. Consider how you feel about them and how the public thinks about them. Imagine all the messaging/branding which went into forming your perceptions. Finally, think about what you can do to create and reinforce YOUR brand. You want to be remembered and generate a sales opportunity whenever your prospective customer has a need for what you offer.

JINGLE BELLS, SANTA SELLS
(and it started with a soft drink)

During this time of year, you see him EVERYWHERE. He's on TV. His "Ho, ho, ho" is on the radio. Print ads, postcards, giftwrap, dolls, store windows . . .

Who is Santa, where did he come from, and how did he get to be the season's most prolific marketing icon?

Today's Santa Claus is an amalgamation of varying figures, both historic and mythic. Santa is a combination of European images of Jesus, Saint Nicholas, elves, and the imagination of varying artists from the 19th and 20th centuries.

Up until the 1880s, Santa took many different shapes and sizes, from a small elf to a tall skinny man. His suit ranged in style and color. It was in 1881 that Thomas Nast imagined Santa as the tall, jovial white-bearded man we know today. However, even Nast rendered Santa in a variety of ways, never settling on today's iconic figure.

In 1931 Coca Cola hired artist Haddon Sundblom to create a version of Santa to sell their beverages during the winter season -- a notoriously slow time for beverage sales. Drawing from Nast's vision of the merry old elf, Sundblom created the larger-than-life Santa Claus we all know today. Through a thirty-plus-year marketing effort using Sundblom's art at the helm, the today's Santa became crystallized in the minds and imaginations of billions of people.

To view a PDF article from
Coca Cola about their
historic Santa campaigns
click here:
Santa PDF

EVERYONE'S TALKING ABOUT IT:
THE @%&$@#& ECONOMY!!!!!

It's not that there's "no" spending going on. It's just that there's so little of it. Businesses are dropping off in droves. There are more, "for rent" signs in commercial spaces than ever. The news reported 533,000 U.S. layoffs for the month of November alone.

I speak with friends, clients, and through casual conversations with strangers, and it's on nearly everyone's mind.

The question is, "Do we have to let it be this way?" No, I don't think so! We can fight this crisis off. We either fight against it or it can engulf us quickly.

Okay, I'm a marketing expert, so what do I recommend? First of all, it's super critical to stay active. I cannot emphasize strongly enough how important it is to keep generating ideas, staying in contact with people you know and brainstorming.

In fact, during this insane time, I will make myself available for free consultations (and not just initial consultations). If I can generate ideas which increase your revenues, great! I always have ideas. All I ask is that if you need help implementing my ideas, give me a crack at it for a reasonable fee. If you have any friends or business associates who can benefit from speaking with me, I extend this offer to them also.

I'd love to brainstorm with you and see if we can generate some heat. Call me any time (just not at 3:00 a.m. -- unless you're dying)!

Alon
(760) 305-8015

CURRENT PROJECT HIGHLIGHT

Marketing Campaign for
Bejar Gate Company
Gate Design, Manufacturing, Installation and Service

Bejar Gate Company is a family owned business, specializing in the design, manufacture, installation and service of gates in San Diego County.

Founded in 1976, Bejar Gate Company counts the San Diego Zoo and Qualcomm Stadium among their clients. The Zoo and Stadium have particularly complex, custom needs and turn to Bejar Gate regularly for gate construction and maintenance. However, Bejar's specialty is residential properties. Property owners have security and traffic concerns and that's what we appealed to most.

Bejar Gate Company turned to Key Advertising to boost their marketing efforts. They wanted to try new, fresh ideas and strategies to generate added sales opportunities.

After conducting a thorough interview and researching the industry to assess their needs, their services, and the needs and perceptions of their clients, we developed a multi-part campaign. The campaign consists of a web site, a brochure, a magazine ad, and a direct mail postcard to property owners, general contractors and architects. Key Advertising developed the strategies, took photos, wrote the copy and designed and produced the materials.

Key Advertising most often recommends having a solid web presence before other marketing channels are implemented. Usually, other marketing channels will drive traffic either to call (for a sales opportunity) or to the web for further information (again, encouraging the prospective customer to a call, generating a sales opportunity).

The web campaign proved so successful, that it generated immediate sales opportunities. Adam Bejar, owner, reported that a prospective client called because of all the gate companies in San Diego, Bejar's web site showed off their work the best, demonstrating that they care about their work and know their business.

The display advertisement has also driven traffic to the web site. The brochure supports the sales effort, adds credibility, and continues branding Bejar Gate Company as San Diego's most reliable gate installation and service company. The postcard campaign will be initiated over the next few months, and an e-mail campaign is being considered as well.

If you have needs which Bejar Gate Company can fulfill, visit their web site at www.bejargate.com, or call: (858) 715-1414

Note: If you have marketing tips, or helpful articles to share with Marketing Adrenaline readers (published with your name and contact information), contact us by phone, (760) 305-8015, or e-mail: alon@keyadvertising.com.

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