Catalyst: Putting the Pow! in Power Branding: The Sequel
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The document discusses power branding and outlines the five forces of power branding: position, promise, personality, story, and elements. It explains that positioning sets a company apart from competitors and involves core values, brand pillars, mission statement, and unique selling propositions. The other forces involve making promises to customers, developing a consistent company personality, telling a story about the company's origins and direction, and using consistent brand elements like logos and colors. Building awareness, credibility, and authority through these forces increases brand equity.
Catalyst: Putting the Pow! in Power Branding: The Sequel
- 1. Catalyst: Putting the POW! in Power Branding: The Sequel http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs071/1100671039235/archive/11103... ABOUT THE MARX GROUP | CATALYST ARCHIVES | CASE STUDIES | OUR TEAM | CONTACT US July 2012 Issue No. 93 Did You Miss Part 1? Click Here to View our Previous Article on Power Branding Part 2: The Five Forces, Revealed Everybody loves a In order to become a true powerhouse, your brand needs to embody superhero. It's no accident superhero properties. As we explored in our previous Catalyst (click that these dynamic here to read the article), this is only possible if you heed the Five characters create the kind of Forces of Power Branding. excitement that rakes in the big bucks. For a perfect example, look no further Five Ways to Add Superpowers to your Company than the recent release...read more. The first force of branding is your POSITION. This creates perceptions about your company both within and among your target audience and their influencers. Your position will set you apart from your competition and is perhaps the most important of the Five Forces. Position is something that you build very carefully and deliberately. Think of it as a structure with a foundation, pillars and superstructures. At the base are your company's Core Values. Everything you do as a business arises from them. Core values for most companies include such things as honesty and trust. They might also include excellence Tom Marx to Bust and unflinching self-examination. Or they might revolve around the customer experience, embracing strengths such as compassion, Marketing Myths flexibility and empathy. During CAWA Presentation Next you have your Brand Pillars, which are the most important attributes and principles that you want your brand to communicate. Are On Friday, July 13, Tom you faster than a speeding bullet (at delivering products)? More Marx, president and CEO of powerful than a locomotive (in supporting your customers)? Able to fill The Marx Group, will tall orders in a single bound? These Brand Pillars are what hold up your present "Marketing structure. Mythbusting 101 - What Distributors Really Want Your company's Mission Statement - which is basically a summation Manufacturers to Know" of your company's purpose - arises out of your brand pillars. It might be during the 2012 California your mission to carry the single most complete product line in your Automotive Wholesalers niche or incorporate the latest leading-edge technology into all your 1 of 4 7/9/2012 4:51 PM
- 2. Catalyst: Putting the POW! in Power Branding: The Sequel http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs071/1100671039235/archive/11103... products. Perhaps your company's mission is to provide the best customer service on the planet, or to make products with no Association (CAWA) comebacks. Leadership Meetings. This brings us to your Unique Selling Proposition - the things about Click Here For More your brand or products that make you stand out from the competition. Details Do you have super marketing powers? X-ray vision into consumer demand? Or maybe your products are the least expensive, the easiest to use, or the most highly engineered in the galaxy. Ideally, these Unique Selling Propositions arise out of your company mission. All these attributes are of little use if you don't communicate them effectively. You do this via your Key Messages. Key messages are what you want your audience to hear and remember about your company and its products or services. Key messages are important but can be tricky to narrow down. It's tempting to try to communicate everything there is to know about your company or product, but that's more than most of your audience can absorb. The key is to keep the messages brief, powerful and on target. The second force of branding is the PROMISE you make to your customers. People love superheroes because they know what to expect, which makes it easy to believe in them. What are your promises to your Visit us on LinkedIn: customers? Are you able to keep them? Nothing will drive customers away faster than broken promises. Make sure your promises are Tom Marx realistic and desirable to your audience. For example, your product will Kerri Petersen be easy to install. Or your customers will get on-time delivery. Or there Leslie Allen are no lower prices on comparable products this side of the planet Gary McCoy Xenon. Gloria Medina Christine LeMay The third force is PERSONALITY. Have you ever seen a superhero Craig Martinez without a personality? Even Clark Kent had an alter ego. Every company also has a personality, a way they present themselves to the world. Your personality is your company's voice. Make sure you don't undermine it unintentionally with your actions. The fourth force is STORY. It might seem odd to think that a corporate entity needs a narrative context. But there's no better example of how a story engenders customer loyalty than those comic book heroes we considered at the start. A story gives a company dimension and context. Become a FAN of Your story - where you come from, how you got here, where you're The Marx Group headed - sets the stage for what you want to communicate. A cartoonist can drop a few frames onto a page and make an impact because everyone is already in on the story. A company can do the same. Finally, we come to ELEMENTS. If your personality is your voice, your brand elements are your face. They present a complete (and hopefully Need a marketing expert to consistent) picture of your brand wherever you go. Brand elements provide insider insight about include your logo, icon and tagline, corporate colors and all those the automotive and marketing tactics in your toolkit, from website to signs, to collateral, heavy-duty aftermarket news releases, packaging and everything else that is face-forward to industry? Please submit your your audience. Like a superhero's cape and tights, the elements must question. be functional, look good together, and have consistency. 2 of 4 7/9/2012 4:51 PM
- 3. Catalyst: Putting the POW! in Power Branding: The Sequel http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs071/1100671039235/archive/11103... Improving the Equity of YOUR Brand You may consider a multi-million dollar manufacturing plant or huge fleet of delivery vehicles your largest assets, but your company's brand equity is equally important, if not more so. Having a visible, well-known and trusted brand can increase your sales, help you generate more cash flow and improve your profits. When it's time to sell, brand equity figures into the equation as surely as real estate. It can also bring more attention to your company's flaws, which is why it is important to have a foundation of core values, and stick to them. Brand equity is created every time you communicate with the world, whether through advertising, public relations, your website or educational channels. A consistent brand image is important; it is critical to make sure that every employee is trained in your core values, messaging and personality. Brand equity depends on three things: 1. AWARENESS. This is built by successfully deploying the five forces of branding. 2. CREDIBILITY. A credible company delivers on its promises. 3. AUTHORITY AND LEADERSHIP. These refer to the extent to which your audience believes in you as a leader, and turns to you for knowledge and expertise. Are you Ready for Power Branding? Making your brand profitable doesn't have to be a superhuman task. If you can sell your products at a competitive price (not necessarily the lowest) and add value (such as better locations, faster service, professional installation, etc.), you've got what it takes to build customer loyalty and brand equity. Add that to the Five Forces, and you're well on the way to building brand equity and a supersized future. Kapow!! Marketing Communications & Business Strategists The Marx Group is a team of marketing and sales strategists, creative directors, media experts, account managers, graphic designers, copywriters, web developers, PR specialists, and experienced business minds in the Automotive, Heavy Duty and Commercial Vehicle Aftermarket. We have over 30 years of experience in the industry, a solid network of relationships, as well as media expertise to drive sales, attain press coverage, and transform the way the world sees the companies we work with. By anchoring our approach first with a strong understanding of our clients, we are then able to develop and execute a customized strategy that meets their needs. 3 of 4 7/9/2012 4:51 PM
- 4. Catalyst: Putting the POW! in Power Branding: The Sequel http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs071/1100671039235/archive/11103... A Division of The Marx Group Marx Group Advisors is a team of experienced industry specialists providing clients with strategic advisory services for mergers, acquisitions and divestitures, as well as assisting with capital formation for private equity placements. By: Fred Janssen, Tom Marx and Tom Herndon Time and time again great ideas become less effective, the marketing department's efficiency is diminished, there is finger-pointing between sales and marketing, and presidents, CEOs, and others worry over revenue goals that continue to go unmet. Marketing Sucks! (and Sales, Too!) captures the frustration felt by many parts of the organization when marketing and sales are not aligned, and introduces a better way. Purchase now at AMAZON.COM ABOUT THE MARX GROUP | CATALYST ARCHIVES | CASE STUDIES | OUR TEAM | CONTACT US 4 of 4 7/9/2012 4:51 PM