Growing Your Brand Assets

Okay. Raise your hand if you think brand management is just for BIG companies (like Target, McDonalds or Ford.) Wow! That's a lot of hands! Well, guess what? You're all wrong.

Brand issues are important to ALL companies for the simple reason that people buy from other people. People have personalities. Branding establishes and communicates a company's personality (sometimes referred to as company image.)

Think about YOUR company. What personality or image do you want to present to customers and prospects? Should it be warm, friendly, and down-to-earth? Polished, knowledgeable, and sophisticated?

Does your company's current logo and literature design reflect the image you want to present? Is your company's personality presented consistently in all forms of communication?

Are you overwhelmed now? Let me simplify. There are four key steps in brand management:

1) Positioning - identify your company's unique benefits and image.

2) Planning - develop a road map for your brand identity programs.

3) Protection - guard the integrity of your brand.

4) Promotion - build awareness of and preference for your brand.

Brand management is an ongoing process, not a destination. Bad news: the work is never done. Good news: if you do the positioning and planning up front, protection and promotion programs flow naturally.

About The Author

Claire Cunningham, president of Clairvoyant Communications, Inc., has 20+ years' experience developing and implementing successful business-to-business marketing and communications programs. Sign up for Claire's monthly newsletter, Communique, at www.clairvoyantcommunications.com Claire can be reached at 763-479-3499 or e-mail to claire@claircomm.com.

---

How to Profit from Your Expertise (Part 1 of 2)

Are you looking for a natural way to market your... Read More

Fail Your Way To Small Business Marketing Success!

Are you willing to fail your way to great marketing... Read More

Pay for Performance Pricing Models for Search Engine Optimization

I do think that it is entirely possible for an... Read More

Choosing Networking Functions

Time is a concern for all of us. We only... Read More

Polishing Your Translation Style - Marketing Your Services

You have read part 1 & 2 of this article... Read More

Postcard Direct Mail Marketing Works (Its Cheap, Quick, Affordable and More)

Used the right way and with the right audience, postcards... Read More

The Benefits of a Marketing Plan

What is a Marketing Plan? Marketing is to do with... Read More

Real Estate Investing - Writing Killer Postcards to Attract Motivated Sellers!

So many of you have been telling us that you're... Read More

What You MUST Understand About Your Web Numbers

Two years ago, when I first started selling online, I... Read More

Great Marketing is Like Making a Great Movie

KNOW YOUR AUDIENCEThe Oscars will be handed out soon, and... Read More

How to Really Get Your Customers

What Really Makes Your Postcard Mailing Successful? The biggest single... Read More

The Apprentice: 5 Lessons in Marketing

Donald Trump's hit reality show, The Apprentice is a godsend... Read More

Four Super-Deadly Marketing Sins - And How To Fix Them

It seems nowadays every marketing guru and their brother-in-law has... Read More

Basic Marketing Dope

Sometimes the simplest data is the best. Marketing is not... Read More

Marketing To Women

Recent studies concerning the "new world of women" have been... Read More

The Forgotten Market

There are a great many online business people who are... Read More

Too Much To Do: Four Keys to Effective Delegating

Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what... Read More

Money Making Real Estate Marketing Ideas

Real estate marketing is a lot simpler than most Realtors... Read More

Twelve Places to Buy a Mailing List

©2004 Jeffrey DobkinThere are two types of lists, determined by... Read More

Effective List Management Can Save You Big

Let's talk about how to keep your postage costs down.So... Read More

4 Steps To Increase Your Job Sign Marketing

It's no secret that using a job site sign can... Read More

Market Yourself as the Expert

As a small business how do you compete with the... Read More

Cave Paintings, Baseball and Connecting

There's no such thing as a captive audience--any of us... Read More

First to Market Theory

AGE OLD QUESTIONBusiness scholars throughout the planet keep asking the... Read More

The Greatest Business Tips are FREE

The best way for someone to hang on to a... Read More

Brochures that Generate Sales Leads (and How to Write Them)

One rule in direct mail is that your letter sells... Read More

Marketing in Business and Commerce in the New Consciousness

The point is what you give to another you give... Read More

How Price Gouging Can Hurt Your Business

"Price gouging" is an emotional, inflammatory term. Everyone is against... Read More

Misrepresentation - Through Silence!

We're back to the subject of ethics, more specifically, business... Read More

How To Recover Your Almost Customers

You'll always need to find new prospects for your business.... Read More

Natural Marketing for Full Business Success

Is your mind muddy on marketing? Do you wake up... Read More

My Product is Obviously Better ? Why isn?t it Selling?

The movie, "Field of Dreams" opens with a farmer standing... Read More

The Marketing Funnel: Simple, Effective Marketing Strategy

No matter if you're publishing your first book or producing... Read More