The biggest bite-back I received from my presentation at the Small Town 140 Characters Conference on Monday was my declaration that “Brands are planned.” Granted, it was small group that disagreed, but I feel it needs some explanation. First, take a look at the video of my presentation below: “Your Tweet is Your Brand.” Each
Category Archives: branding
Nonprofit Marketing: It’s not an event
Let’s get rid of this notion that nonprofit organizations should market differently than for-profit businesses. While nonprofits may not be selling goods and services they are selling something; donations, passion, or an idea. The primary flaw in nonprofit marketing is micromarketing, focusing on short-term, one-time events. Nonprofit organizations tend to focus on marketing for donations,
Want a fresh start? Reframe your business.
Businesses get stale. Entrepreneurs running businesses get stale. Customers lose interest. It’s time to reframe the business. It’s not unusual for businesses to get to the point where they’re running on cruise control. Just selling stuff and facilitating transactions. The business owner starts running out of ideas and feels like he is just re-hashing the
Running a Business vs. Building a Brand
Most small business owners don’t launch a brand, they start a business. That, unfortunately confines them to the realm of running a business rather than building a brand. It’s a matter of perspective, but it’s an important distinction. To see why, let’s compare the two. Selling vs. Engaging Small business owners are constantly fighting the
>The Marketing Spot Time Machine: September Edition
> With more than three years of history in The Marketing Spot Blog archives, it’s fun to look back and see what was on the radar screen. As we get set for September 2010, let’s step into the time machine and see what was on our minds the past three Septembers. September 2007 on The
The Connection Between Branding and the Customer Experience
In my four spot marketing model you see that branding and the customer experience are connected. Here’s how that works. Branding provides the promise that the customer experience keeps. Brands make promises that must be kept. Those promises are delivered when the customer experiences the brand. The branding – customer experience connection allows a business
Subtract the Scope, Add the Focus
“Even in the best of times, the principle of focus is a hard mistress, demanding fidelity, courage and determination.” – Marty Neumeier in The Brand Gap Over time, companies drift. They lose focus. Mine did, and I paid the price. “Only by being ingrained in a narrow segment of the market can you hope to
>In Defense of the Mission
> Photo credit: Oh My Higgs Venture capitalist and author Guy Kawaskaki says in his book, The Art of the Start and in this video that a business should “make mantra” or what he describes as a verbal formula that contains the business’ “mystical potentialities.” Some of the examples he gives are: Nike –
What does it mean to Re-brand
What people usually mean when they start talking rebrand is putting a new spin on things. Changing perceptions without changing the business. Sometimes, just changing a logo is thought of as a rebrand. Other times, a name change is all that’s required. But really that’s the equivalent of putting some fancy, frilly new duds on
Case Study: Branding an Etsy Store
Or at least that’s what we thought we were doing when Barbara Behan agreed to let her Blue Kimono Studio Etsy Store be a case study on The Marketing Spot. But as we got into the branding conversation, Barbara’s perspective changed. As Barbara put it: “…since starting your suggested exercises, it became clear that I
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