We love our brands. So much sometimes we can actually squeeze them too hard, or push them too far.

I’m not saying we shouldn’t love our brands. Our brands should be considered in every marketing activity that we pursue…and the very reason we don’t pursue others.
 

The fact is, our brands are as good as they are. They are what they are. Another way to say it is that our brands have a position in the minds of our customers. And that position should be continually supported, maintained, and hopefully, strengthened in their position.

To love your brand so much that you have a false perception of it is dangerous business. To have so much reverence for your brand that you think it can be anything you want it to be is a terrible mistake. To assume that you can suddenly decide that your well-established brand can move from its current position is a recipe for disaster. And to try to maintain and strengthen your current brand position, while stretching it to encompass new product/service categories, is not advisable. This endeavor can actually dilute your brand to the point where it can be dethroned as the category leader. Just ask Coca-Cola.

Very few companies have ever had any success at this feat. And, if you’re contemplating a position change, your brand better have the patience of a penguin, the brand good will of Mother Teresa and the resources of GE, who, by the way, has had success in repositioning.

In the B to B world, there are some exceptions. You will have to consider the weight and breadth of market pressures before deciding to move or extend your brand. Sometimes customers force you into peripheral product or service areas with little or weak competition. In these cases, you will be forced to divide your organization or reposition your brand.

Finally, love your brand enough to invest in marketing it. Tighten its identity with brilliant graphic design and a Web site that tells its unique story. If you use video production services, don’t skimp on development. Poor quality hurts even the value brands. And don’t be afraid to tell the media who you are and what you’re doing. Love your brand for what it is. It will love you back.

Behind the slick, tightly-rehearsed speeches and timely appearances with their friendly talk show hosts, the candidates’ hide their true colors. Well, until they don’t. And seldom does the revelation frighten us.

On Sunday, February 3, on ABC’s "This Week with George Stephanopoulos," Clinton responded to the host’s prodding for clarification of a previous statement she made about garnishing wages as a means to implement her universal health care plan. Her response was a certain, suicidal political blunder:"I think there are a number of mechanisms" that are possible, including "going after people's wages, automatic enrollment."  That’s some ugly, scary color, Senator.

I can just hear her campaign leadership, “Oh no. Did she just say “going after people’s wages.”

Amazingly, the media appears to be missing the true color behind the statement...red.

Since the statement was made, the only media attention given to this outright blunder was from the usual sources on the right.

So, what are we to think of the lack of impact of Clinton’s frightening blunder? Does good public relations execution not apply to the political arena? Can’t be that – just ask Howard Dean. Could it be that so many of the media support Clinton and her step toward communism that they didn’t consider it newsworthy? Or did they simply want to make it go away?

When you hold Clinton’s PR blunder up to the light, arguably it is one of the most disturbing political statements ever made on U.S. national television during an election – a PR nightmare at best.

So you have a new product or service and you are diligently researching to find out who is your competition and how are they marketing themselves. Stop!

Don’t go a step further until you undergo this little visual exercise: Try to place yourself in 1945 in the cold waters off Normandie, France. The Germans have seized the beach head and been there for months, planning to defend their position against attack. Oh, and they are well-entrenched and well-armed with bunkers strategically placed along the cliffs with high-caliber cannons and machine-gun turrets pointed toward the sea.

As we know from history, the invading forces were successful in defeating the Germans. However, the victory required a monumental effort and the allies paid a huge price in lost lives and equipment.

This visualization provides an analogy for the difficulty you will face if you position your brand in direct competition against an established brand or brands within an existing product category. In some cases, though, it is inevitable, depending upon the differentiation that is inherent in your product/service.

However, in most cases it is highly recommended for you to avoid this scenario if at all possible. Before you determine which best describes your current situation, read the following.

We suggest you approach brand positioning in this way:

1. Identify the key differentiator/s of your product/service. This can be done by listing the characteristics of your product in order of market value, known and/or perceived, then conducting a comparison to existing products. The differentiators are the valuable characteristics that do not overlap the competition.
2. Research your marketplace. Determine market pressures or common needs that the differentiators in your product address. For example, let’s say your product is unique software that provides optimal delivery scenarios and costs for deliveries that must occur within required timeframes to customers of an OEM product. Your differentiator could be stated as follows: Differentiator 1 – Our software will optimize delivery solutions based on various required delivery times and budgets.
3. Name your newly created market category. In the above scenario, you might have called the new category OEM Delivery Optimization Technology. You’ve just created shelf space in the grocery store! But, before sales and marketing can begin promoting and selling, a few steps need to be taken...
4. Develop your positioning statement/s. In order to provide sales training and create effective marketing communications, you will want to start with some messages that will communicate the differentiation of your product and promote the key benefits. To explain this process would require an entire article. You might want to employ a marketing firm to walk you through this process.
5. Publicize and Promote. This is where marketing communication will develop your web site, public relations initiatives, marketing materials, videos, sales training materials, trade show booth/s, using the positioning statement as the basis for all messaging.
6. Sales Training. Many marketing communication practitioners stop too early. Our firm operates under the premise that the sales force is one of marketing’s key providers of market intelligence, especially in the case of a new product/service launch. (see our article on Sales/marketing relationship)

When determining your brand position, you should first ask yourself or your marketing director “Why should we position our brand, product, or service in direct competition with other more established companies?” If you examine this question, you might determine that the answer lies within the question. By the way, the answer is “We (you) shouldn’t.”

In order to simplify the concept, I’ll offer a metaphor. In order to position yourself, in a spatial sense, exactly where another object is, you would have to move the other object first. To further emphasize the point, imagine the marketplace is a puzzle, each competitor consisting of one piece. Now, imagine removing the piece that represents one of the companies you feel you compete directly against – one that you will strive to unearth from their enviable position in the marketplace. It’s pretty simple, right? After all, it is our nature to want to compete and beat the establishment at their own game.

Now, picture the shape and characteristics of your puzzle piece, which represents your company. It would not have the exact same size and shape of the company’s piece you’re striving to replace. Following that logic, your piece would not fit into the vacated space. Therefore, the answer to the question at hand, “Why should we position our brand, product or service in direct competition with other more established companies?” is likely to be “We shouldn’t and we can’t.”

If you’ve bought my premise thus far, your next question might be “Do we position our brand to compete against nobody?”  Precisely.

It isn’t easy. But it is easier than going head to head with established products, targeted to a similar audience, at a similar price. Imagine trying to get your customers and prospects to explain why they do/would do business with you if you’re constantly communicating through your advertising, publicity, web site design and internet marketing, direct mail, brochures and company literature that you’re just like competitor A or Z, only better.

The result is that many marketing initiatives will have minimal results. In fact, by making this basic and common error, most companies will come to the conclusion that marketing just isn’t effective or necessary for their company.  With a me too brand positioning approach, they’re probably right.

As Al Ries has so effectively documented in his books on positioning, the only surefire, if not the easiest, way to win category leadership for your brand is to be first in the category. That means you’re going to have to create the category in the minds of the customers. It is common for marketing directors to head for the safety of the me too camp at the very thought of this proposition. We recently had a client adopt the new category positioning strategy, then abandon it abruptly, even after the media and customers who called in had embraced the new category name in the exact terms used in our communication to the market. When asked why they wanted to abandon the strategy, one member of their team said, “Because the media and customers who are calling in are all referring to it by name.” Another said, “We don’t want to coin a whole new phrase.” Finally, another member said “If I Google the category term, I can’t find any mention of it.” Of course, they all missed the point of creating the category - you’re competing with nobody. Eventually, those searches would bring up results that would lead directly to their Web site and their site only. That is, until the me too followers begin chasing after their position, vainly trying to remove and replace their puzzle piece.

Once they had returned to the positioning of their competitors, who largely had failed to make much headway in the marketplace, we knew that any future marketing efforts would be undermined by a doomed position in the market. We resigned from the account.

We encourage you to develop your brand position very carefully and avoid a me too approach. And, we’re willing and able to assist in this process.

Most things, such as life itself, become more and more complicated as time goes by. Unfortunately for new business owners, that is not the case.

To start a new business successfully, today, one must consider the need for publicity, an online presence, direct marketing, advertising, brand identity, word of mouth advertising, networking, viral marketing, pay-per-click advertising, search engine optimization, positioning, market segmentation, html email campaigns, experiential marketing, etc.  Many of these activities are phase I functions that need to be considered and begun from day one.

It is much to think about, along with all the other mission-critical decisions to be made when you are launching a business, a product or a service. That’s why it’s good to have help with all these activities. It’s why it’s most efficient to have one marketing partner who has a working knowledge of integrated marketing communications, marketing communication plan development and execution.

Here are some other considerations that will help you succeed with marketing in the early stages of your company’s development:

1. Your marketing plan should be broken into stages. Every marketing activity should be weighted by how well it addresses business objectives, then by investment and how fast it delivers return on investment. Also, the chronology is important. For example, it would be ineffective to run an html email campaign before developing and launching your web site.
   
2. Time will be in short supply early on. Working with one marketing firm will help to streamline communication, reporting and execution.
   
3. Start with publicity. If you are able to achieve some quality article placements in key media, you will be able to use that publicity in coming months/years and in other marketing vehicles to build brand awareness and credibility.
   
4. Set reasonable expectations for response and return on specific marketing activities. Remember that your company is an unknown entity to your marketplace until you are able to begin building brand awareness and identity. This will take time. Don’t change course from a marketing plan that isn’t broken, simply because you’re growing impatient in other aspects of your business.
   
5. Be realistic about your budget. As a startup business, you might or might not be able to invest in simultaneous, integrated initiatives. Likewise, if your budget needs to be amended, let your marketing team know. They will adjust the plan and schedule to meet that new reality.

In conclusion, I’d like to suggest that you be engaged with the marketing process. The marketing team is going to rely on you for your passion and knowledge of your product, service and company. Together, you can enjoy many marketing successes.

As our marketing communication firm attracts new prospects and clients who have new products or services, or ones that haven't been publicized properly in the marketplace, a common ironic theme is repeated: “I have no budget.” After further prying, it is determined that they once had a budget, but they feel it was squandered on initiatives that failed to inspire confidence in more investment. We feel your pain.

So, try to shift your paradigm from  “no budget,”  to “no budget to waste.” That should be any marketing director’s standard.

The next step is to identify how to achieve that high standard. The fact is that no comprehensive and perfectly accurate guide exists to reveal every marketing communication initiative that will result in ultimate success. It will require using every bit of expertise and experience at your disposal, on your staff and for hire. Of course, any decisions in this regard will also have to meet your “no budget to waste” criteria, as well.

Some marketing directors will seek firms that have track records in their specific industry. Some will lean toward firms that excel at specific marketing initiatives they suspect will be utilized most often, such as Web site marketing and email marketing, advertising, special events marketing, public relations or media relations, or direct mail. Again, there is no absolute guide for this decision. However, rest assured that if you conduct an adequate evaluation, you're likely to succeed.

Here are some helpful steps to increase your opportunity for success:

1. Identify your internal strengths and weaknesses regarding marketing knowledge, experience and skills.
2. Identify resources that best match up with your marketing expertise and your organization. This could be a marketing firm, graphic design firm, PR firm, or advertising firm, etc. Some marketing directors will seek firms that have track records in their specific industry. Some will lean toward firms that specialize in marketing activities they suspect will be most utilized, such as Web site marketing and email marketing, advertising, special events marketing, public relations or media relations, or direct mail. Again, there is no absolute guide for this decision. However, rest assured that if you conduct an adequate evaluation, then complete the following steps, you’re likely to have abundant success.
3. Identify your organization’s top 3-4 business objectives (more info).
4. Work with your chosen resource to develop a simple, yet comprehensive and integrated marketing communication plan (more info).
5. Evaluate this entire process at least every two years. Marketing communication plans should be considered living-breathing documents. Consequently, they should also be refined every year, as you determine new opportunities, challenges, successes and failures through plan metrics.

Landmark Christian School of Peachtree Corners, located in Norcross, Georgia, like many private and public schools, relies on donations of time and resources in order to function effectively. The school is the recent beneficiary of some much-needed Web site design and renovation, which was provided by Danskin Creative Communication, a Norcross graphic design and marketing firm.

“We refused to approach the project as a non-profit endeavor,” said Mick Danskin, principal of the firm. “Instead, we approached Landmark as a client, and audited the existing Web site first, developing a list of communication objectives that must be achieved.”

Once the strategy and concept was developed, Danskin proceeded to design the new site, and even arranged two days to scout and photograph students and teachers for use on the Web site. Danskin also contacted a local Web hosting firm, MaximTech, who offered to provide the server for the Web site free of charge. Finally, Danskin wrote and edited content, as needed.

The Landmark Web site prior to the renovation:

 

“One of our communication objectives was to encourage refreshed content. We structured the site so that almost any content could be easily updated, added or removed by anyone with an administrative user name and password. Not only does this feature add convenience without cost, it ensures that content can be updated regularly, which will help with Landmark’s position in search engine results,” Danskin remarked.

You can review the new Web site at LandmarkSchoolofPC.org.