Brand U – Brand Building in a Digital World
Back in early December, I posted a link to MPlanet. http://www.mplanet2009.com/marketingblog/ If you aren’t aware of the event AMA is putting on in Orlando, please visit www.mplanet2009.com because I highly recommend it.
Well, this week, MPlanet has asked bloggers across the country to talk about one of their 4 themes for 2009!
So, I started thinking about Brand building in a digtial world. I thought, “Scott, what is your brand?”
We all know the importance “Brand” plays in the success of a company. We also know how difficult it can be to change a Brand image, once established. In fact, many would say our company Brand is the most important thing we have. So if Brand is so important to a business’s success, couldn’t we also argue that it is equally important to our own success, as employees? Do you think about what YOUR “Brand” is? Are you creating the “Brand U”? Well you are, whether you know it or not. Here’s some good news. Brand building in a digital world is not as challenging as you might think.
As a Xerox Graphic Communication Sales Growth Consultant, I spend a lot of time creating “my Brand”. For example, I started using ConstantConstant.com to help me put out a monthly Graphic Communication industry enewsletter. I started my own industry blog at
http://titus.blogs.xerox.com, featuring a section called “customer corner” where I ask my customers to leave feedback about me and my team. I also began attending seminars and industry events that were more relevant to my customers’ business than my own business. In fact, I began presenting at some of those seminars, including customer seminars, major franchise meetings, Printing Industries of the Carolina events and NAQP sessions. I even put together my own industry events, bringing in Industry consultants and other Xerox resources in to present on topics related to business and sales growth vs. my Xerox Digital Solutions. An interesting thing began to happen. My network and brand started to grow. Suddenly, my customers began to talk about the value I was bringing as part of the business partnership. One customer was featured in a recent magazine saying, “I bought a relationship – the equipment was free.”
I read a book several years ago by Seth Godin called “The Purple Cow”. If you haven’t read it, I highly recommend you do. My goal was to become a “Purple Cow”. That is, I wanted to be so unique, so spectacular that people would have to stop and take notice!
So, think about “Brand U”. As a marketing person, what is your brand? What sets you apart from your peers, your competitors? Most important, do your customers agree with what you think your brand is?
Let me stress again, building a company’s brand in today’s digital world is easier than you think. Why? People can spread messages faster and more efficiently than ever before. It’s no longer just print, TV, radio, phone and word of mouth. You can use email. You can text. You can use a blackberry. You can use twitter. You can use facebook. You can blog. You can “internet search”. You can join networks on sites like linkedin.com. And I could go on and on.
Basically, you can communicate to millions and millions of people in seconds in today’s digital world. Equally as important, so can your customers! And what if they communicated “Your Brand”?
Go ahead. Take a minute and write a comment about what you think of when I say, “Brand Building in a Digital World.” And let’s make it a goal in 2009 to expand OUR brand.
Scott has provided a lot of valuable information to my company. I have been absorbing this knowledge and we will be launching an all out “Branding” in 2009.
Scott you are so right when you talk about our personal brands being created whether we know it or not. The new year is a great time to take a step back and think about the brand we want for ourselves and our companies. To go along with that everyone should have an “elevator speech” -that 30 second response that helps promote their brand and their business. Next time you’re asked “whats new” you can be prepared with a positive answer that furthers the brand you want to create!
Scott, thanks for sharing your thoughts. Insightful, as always. Anyone who wants to build their Brand U is well served by reading “The Go-Giver” and “Love is the Killer Application.” In Go-Giver, I learned how “The Five Laws of Stratospheric Success” provides a framework to do well by doing what’s right. In Love is the Killer App, I learned that “Nice Smart People Succeed” by freely sharing their knowledge and sharing their network, and by showing compassion at work. NSPS, like Scott!
Scott, you have definitely created a brand that the competition will find hard to measure up to and one that makes you invaluable to your customers.
In a “me too” environment, creating and building your brand – both personal and professional – is one of the best things you can do. You do a great job at this! Thanks for setting the right example and for encouraging everyone to do the same!
What’s interesting is I’m putting together a presentation for Modern Marketing for Small Businesses, where I talk about how companies define themselves to their customers, basically how they are going to view their brand. If you understand who your customers are, the “brand” that you convey will impact that.
Your comment about the ways in which you can state your brand is correct, but will they convey the correct message to your target audience? If all you do is communicate via e-mail or on the internet, to the customers that aren’t from the digital age, they will be missing the message. The brand needs to speak to the who you are and your focus. If your customers feel innovation is key to their business, then using new technology is important. If consistancy, reliability, and standard service is needed, then you don’t want to seem that your changing constantly, but will be able to support the customer for years at their current level.
Understand who your talking to, and your brand can communicate how you can support their needs.
It’s all about your audience/customers and what they feel is important in order to meet their needs. Digital technology can be the means by which people see your brand (internet), or it can be used to make the messages you convey more relevant to those that haven’t adapted quite as fast (targeted direct mail).
Scott,
You sent me into an interesting thought pattern regarding “Brand Management.” Is it possible in today’s world for a large company to build and/or re-position their brand by using strictly their employees to “spread the gospel” through e-mail, blogs, etc? In this model there would be very little money spent on your traditional forms of advertisment.
I am also a big fan of Seth Godin and he talks incessently about the viral aspect of marketing. Is there a viral aspect of one’s own brand that can spread as fast?
Just some food for thought, keep the thoughts coming, thanks.