Operational Branding This isn’t your Daddy’s Branding!

Operational Branding: This isn’t your Daddy’s Branding! By Paul Miser, MBA January 11, 2007

Branding has become a huge “buzzword- in the business realm in today’s society. As well it should. This concept was started many, many years ago when cattle ranchers first put -œbrands- on their livestock to differentiate their cattle from others. Many companies and business people still believe that branding is just this, a logo and/or copy written about the company to be sent to the customer or potential customer to differentiate their brand from others and entice them to buy. This, however true, is only a mere fraction of what the total concept of branding is. You may be asking, -œPaul, if the majority of business have been thinking this way forever and it seems to has worked in the past, where can changes be made in companies to improve their image, company awareness, and branding effectiveness?- I’ll tell you-¦ Branding, to me, is a company’s conscious operational effort to build an image, personality, and message to portray to the public (current customers, potential customers, competitors, etc.) that will elicit a certain feeling or attitude that parallels that of the company with which will be memorable and position itself in a certain way. This definition, and branding itself, is now broken down using an old business adage-¦The 80/20 Rule. 80/20 Rule Let’s start with the 20% first! 20% of branding is the idea and message that you and your company want to portray to the public. This 20% is essentially the personality or characteristics of your company that you want to convey to the minds of stakeholders when they think of your product or service. Finding your message or personality could be a strenuous activity but I have developed three easy steps to help you understand your company better and find your message. ? What is your company’s personality? Every business, like human beings, has its own personality. To help identify this, ask your founder or President what they think the it is. The majority of Entrepreneurs create a business -˜in their own image’ or, in this case, personality. ? Look at your current culture. What about it differentiates you from your competition? ? Understand where you currently fit in the marketplace and where you want to be in the mind of the consumers? I always ask this question to my clients and have them compare where they are and where they want to be to the automobile industry where image and quality are easy to see. Doing this speeds up the process a little and helps you begin to think about your company in a branding perspective. Comparing to other companies isn’t stealing ideas; it’s an easy fix when it comes to brainstorming. I suggest doing it often. Completing these steps will allow you to develop a message that will, not only, portray your company’s personality, but also, position yourself properly in the mind of the consumer. Three steps! It’s that easy. Well at least 20% of branding is that easy. Now that you have the message, personality, and image, you must put them to work. So, what is the other 80%? I’ll let you in on a little secret-¦80% of branding is operational! This means, the main concept to understand about branding is that your company’s day-to-day operations elicit 80% of what the customer remembers and uses to position your company. I’ll say that again, your company’s day-to-day operations elicit 80% of what the customer remembers and uses to position your company. Sure the customer sees the great little marketing pieces or reads the clever slogans written to suede them to use your product, but that just begins the selling and retention processes. Your people, your employees, the front-line, and your processes need to build and enhance this message off this intrigued consumer mind once you have their attention. The 20% will intrigue the consumer mind, the 80% will hit home that the message is actually true which positions your company correctly in the mind. But in order to not confuse the customer and lead them astray, your people have to understand the brand concept, believe in it, and know what needs to be done to continue this image created by the message or personality. Now the question becomes, -œHow do we do this as effectively and efficiently as possible?- Tips to Build Effective Operational Branding: ? It takes 21 days to change a habit. Build a program that ingrains the brand concept in your employees to ensure understanding and effectiveness of the message, image, and personality that is being portrayed. Once completed, implement this program for one month, outlining why it is so important to understand the branding image. Make it fun and involved, people learn better that way. ? Be sure that your company is saying the same thing. Don’t confuse the customer. This will spawn from building the habit. If everyone is on the same page of brand understanding the message will be congruent and your voice will be louder than your competition. ? Allow the operations and customer service to portray the same message as your brand idea. This will increase brand effectiveness and loyalty. Any time an employee makes contact with the customer, the branding message needs to be communicated. The personality of the founder and company needs to shine through to all employees and their actions. ? To ensure effectiveness, Scream louder than your competitors! If you, your employees, and your processes all believing in and screaming the same message, no one will be able to stop you gaining the correct position in the customers mind which will also gain market share, revenue, and most of all brand loyalty. In conclusion, branding is not as simple as once thought. It takes understanding, creativity, dedication, persistence, and intra-organizational communication. If your company follows the information provided above, I know that you will see a change in your branding effectiveness. Don’t confuse your customer, help them see the light and give them one simplified message; they like that a little better. To help you with a quick summary of Operational Branding, I have provided you with a 3 Step Process to make sure you are on the right track. 3 Simplified Stages of Branding: 1. Lead in- This entails the message or idea you came up with using the three step process described in the 20% section. Start with marketing materials to lead in a meeting with your customer or advertise your message to your target audience; this will create the intrigued mind that we mentioned earlier. 2. Operations- Your day-to-day operations need to portray a congruent message with stage 1. This means everything from the mailroom clerk to the CEO and all the people in between need to understand, believe, and portray the message/image to the consumer through actions and processes. 3. Follow up- Keep the message going. With the operations of your company still lingering in the customer’s mind, send more marketing materials or a follow-up -œThank You- call to keep that good feeling going. It never hurts to thank your customers. All-in-All you need to Scream One Voice Louder Than Your Competition’s Many Voices! Good Luck! Paul Miser, MBA is the owner operator of Miser Advertising & Marketing, a marketing consultancy and networked agency. To contact Mr. Miser, email him at (pmiser@miserad.com) or visit (www.miserad.com). Copyright Paul Miser 2007. All rights reserved

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Branding, Marketing, Small business, Advertising, operations, Operational Branding, Miser Advertising, Miser,

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