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All businesses should strive to create brand presence in their marketplace

Guest post by: Geoff Noake

Article Overview: Would your customers recognise your brand logo if you only showed them a third of it? What does your strap line say about your USP? Brands are instantly identifiable and there is no reason why businesses of any size should not strive to achieve it. In the eyes of your customers, your brand represents something. What that is is down to you. Think how often you've caught fleeting sight of a colour, a word, or an image as you've gone about your business. Into your mind has flashed something - food; holiday, sport. Whatever it is it has been communicated through pro-active brand management, building reputation and providing a service or goods of some kind. You may or may not buy it - but millions of pounds spent on advertising has ensured that you know what it is! Transfer that thinking to your own market. Build a brand and grow your busines

All businesses should strive to create brand presence in their marketplace

If I was to ask you to take the Nike logo, the Jack Daniels logo, or the McDonalds logo and cut a third off each side, you would be left holding the centre third.

Now, if you were to show this third to someone you know and ask them to name the brand, do you think that they would be able to? I think that they would. And the reason that they can name the brand, even though two thirds of it is missing, is down to one thing - brand strength.

Each one of these international companies has spent millions of pounds on promoting their brand to the world at large. Whether or not you drink whisky, eat cheeseburgers or can run a hundred meters in under 12 seconds, you have been exposed to their brand marketing. You only need to see the yellow M to know what that means!

These businesses all have one thing in common. They each make sure that their brand logos have prominence. “Just do it” doesn’t mention a brand – but you know what just does it!

The Three Lions of the England football team, has even featured in the pop charts. Twice in fact!

And, unless you’ve been living on Mars for the last 20 years, if you heard the Direct Line Insurance jingle on UK TV you could identify it immediately.

As a marketer, it is well within your powers to make your brand an icon in the eyes of your target audience. Your quotes, sales letters, emails, website, press ads – indeed, any item of communication, from a one sheet letter to a double page spread in a magazine, should show your logo – proudly and visibly.

What your brand stands for is equally important too. Does it represent reliability, innovation or an inertia that would make a snail look like Sebastian Vettel?

What I am saying is that you should have a think about what your brand means to your customers. Consider; when your next communication lands on their desk, what is it saying to them?

Working in the marketing and advertising industry, lots of logos and brands pass over my desk. When I see one particular logo I know that there will soon be a very quick follow up. Another, that the supplies I am going to receive are of 'top drawer' quality. And from another, I expect nothing other than basic, straight forward delivery. Nothing wrong with any of these, but the fact is, I have learned to understand what they represent.

Can your customers say the same about you? Think on.

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Article Tags: advertising, brand logo, brand presence, brand prominence, brand strength, Brands, building reputation, direct marketing, food holiday, logo, marketing, sales, usp
Referred by: http://www.draytonbird.com/



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Advantages with Social Media Sites - I just want to share my article about social media sites. Local Google Traffic - Social Media Sites There are other important ways to connect with your customers beyond Google Places, however. Some we already mentioned – other Google properties – which we will cover in more detail shortly. But first, let’s look at a relatively new way to reach your customers to promote your mortgage brokers marketing business – social media. One of the fastest growing segments of the internet over the last few years is what's known as Social Media. Facebook and Twitter are the two most well-known examples of social media sites that are gaining popularity these days as worthy means to promote online businesses. Having a Facebook page is becoming more and more important and now can function as a marketing tool for mortgage broker, because people have come to expect it. There are over 600 million users on Facebook, and if you don't have a presence there you're missing out on a lot of potential business. Plus, for many people Facebook has become synonymous with the internet. A lot of people spend most of their time online using Facebook, so if you aren't reaching them there, you may not have a chance to reach them at all. Facebook started out as a way to connect on a personal level, but over the last couple of years they have added a lot of features that are targeted at businesses. You’ve probably already started to notice a lot of big companies adding “Find us on Facebook” to their websites, advertising and other places. It can work just as well for local businesses; in fact it can work even better. Because Facebook is by nature a place to be “social” a local business fits in much better than a big, faceless corporation. Setting up a Facebook Page for your business gives you a way to connect with your customers “virtually” and it can help to create a real sense of community particularly in marketing your mortgage business. Twitter is another social media site where you should definitely have a presence. It’s a little different beast, because the whole point is to post short updates (up to 140 characters at a time) so you can only share so much information. It can be useful for sending out messages about special offers and other news, but more importantly it’s another way for your customers and potential customers to contact you. Your customers can send you messages, called “Tweets”, via Twitter so it is similar to email in some ways. But because the messages are so short, it can be an effective way for them to ask quick questions or give you quick feedback, without having to invest a lot of time to do it. Aside from reaching potential customers, there's another reason you should have a presence in these places - managing your brand. People will talk about their experiences with your company on the internet whether you're part of it or not. It's important that you are aware and updated.
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