Posts Tagged: Branding

A five year old’s take on branding.

January 31st, 2012

Companies spend thousands of dollars on branding and logos. Ohio-based identity designer Adam Ladd showed his 5-year-old daughter popular logos and asked her to comment on them. Some of these are most likely familiar to her and thus her comments aren’t surprising, but others are very interesting. This video reminds us that we can learn so much from children.

Don’t Risk Losing Control of Your Brand

January 15th, 2008

At a new media session at CES that I attended last week the panelists cautioned companies to ignore new media (especially blogs and social networks) at their peril. If companies insist on being ostriches with their corporate heads in the sand, they risk losing control of their brand.

Last weeks furore over Tim Horton’s employees and their Facebook antics is a case in point. With over 3,400 members, the “Rules of Ordering and More” group lists 80 or so tips that customers should take to heart if they want good service. Apparently the group is administered by Timmy’s employees unbeknownst to their employer. Its actually quite funny – you should take a read.

Had Tim Hortons (the famous Canadian Donut franchise owned by Pepsico) been monitoring the Internet effectively, the company would have been aware of groups like this much sooner and could have put contingencies in place to protect its brand or HR policies to outline appropriate employee conduct on the Internet. Had it been more proactive it could have channeled the publicity it received last week to its benefit rather than detriment.

Companies cannot ignore web 2.0 technologies any longer. They must, at the very least, be listening to what is being said about them even if they are not ready to be contributing to the conversation: in that way they have a chance at least of maintaining some control over their brand.

4 key times when a company should consider re-evaluating its brand

August 08th, 2007

For some of us, summer is a quiet time of the year. With all of this free time it’s good to take a step back, take a look at your business and see if your brand needs refreshing. In her recent newsletter, Liz from Market Navigators wrote a great piece about branding and why it’s important to give it close attention. There are 4 key times when a company should consider re-evaluating its brand. Her colleague Rachel Bennett from Frank Branding explains:

  1. When you want to grow. Your brand is all about differentiation—what makes a customer choose you over someone else. Solid branding helps define what makes you unique. It provides focus, gives staff direction, and simplifies marketing decisions.
  2. When you’re competing to attract and retain employees. In a tough labour market, a strong brand can create an emotional connection with your employees as well as your customers. Brand strategy provides focus for decision-making, increases employee engagement and retention, and helps you attract the right kind of new talent.
  3. When you’re looking for funding. A strong brand communicates that you are serious about doing business, have a professional approach, and consider your business market-viable. In addition, a brand can be a corporate asset—the better you are known in the marketplace, the higher the value of your business.
  4. When your service reputation has slipped. Your customers are your most important promoters. If your reputation has slipped, evaluating your brand promise—the experience customers associate with your brand—offers insight. Once you clearly define it, you can ensure it’s delivered in all customer interactions.

I know that sitting on the beach is quite nice, but while your there take a few minutes to do some brand evaluation.

Branding to Reduce Risk

October 26th, 2005

Brendan Sinclair, Editor of Sitepoint’s Tribune explains why he finds branding to be one of the most misunderstood aspects of marketing.
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