Brand Champions

It's Not About the Logo

Last week when I read several accounts about the possibility of GM changing their logo, I recalled one of my brand mantras, "It's Not About the Logo." Most of the stories I read involved GM changing the logo background from blue to green. Many reported the change would be more closely aligned with GM's enhanced commitment to making more environmentally-friendly automobiles. That may not be a bad solution down the road, but not right now.

As most of us know a logo is simply a graphic representation of our brand. It should reflect our mission and what our brand stands for. With all of GM's current challenges, the last thing they should be doing is tinkering with their graphics. If they are successful in retaining their current brand champions, and are able to recruit new brand champions based on proven strategies like going green, then making modifications to their graphic standards might make sense in the future.

When organizations limit their brand focus on their logo and not enough on their mission, core values and stakeholder engagment, then their brand is diluted. Oh by the way, it's not about the tagline and advertising campaign either. I hope the new GM leadership (whom I like) takes charge of the brand instead of the communications department or the agency that GM is working with now.

Education Branding, Admissions, Mobile Marketing and Social Media Converge in San Antonio

In another week I will be heading to San Antonio, Texas where I will have the opportunity to present for the third year in a row at the Noel-Levitz National Conference on Student Recruitment, Marketing and Retention. Two years ago in Orlando I presented a higher education brand 101 session. Last year in Chicago I presented on the relationship between education brands and social media. This year in San Antonio I will be presenting along with John Dolan, VP for Enrollment at. John and I will be sharing a case study on the brand initiative that we have been working with other stakeholders at La Salle University.

In my view La Salle University is creating the model for education brand building by which other institutions will determine is a best practice. La Salle University is one of the few institutions that has embraced brand development based on mission, core values and employee engagement. In the past, most colleges and universities, like most businesses, have taken a traditional approach to branding based on advertising and taglines. La Salle is also one of the few universities that has had the admissions department play a lead role in brand development.

I love the fact that Noel-Levitz is utilizing social media as a communications tool. Like many conferences are beginning to do, this conference has a hash tag (#NCSRMR09) that allows participants to engage before and during the conference on Twitter. Participants can also opt in to getting conference updates on their mobile device. For those who will be at the conference I hope to see you on Thursday, July 23 at 11:15 am. I will also be tweeting before and during the conference as I did yesterday. I look forward to engaging with brand champions from their respective colleges, universities and other organizations.

Governor Sarah Palin Needs a Brand Strategy

In the past I have shared my views about political brands ranging from Fidel Castro to Barack Obama, from the US Republican Party to the Taliban. Today, I need to put down on digital paper what has been going through my mind for nearly a year. Alaska Governor, Sarah Palin needs a brand strategy. Given the recent news of her resignation, I believe that now more than ever.

Let's start with the basic understanding that a brand is our name and the associations that people make with our name when they hear or see our name. Like a mission statement, our brand is what we stand for. If people are uncertain who we are and what we stand for then we allow them to define our brand for us. It feels like that is what is happening with Governor Palin. She was flung into the last US presidential race and the Republican party sort of defined her brand. After the race the media and others like David Letterman gave it a shot. When she has resigned her position as Governor everyone is giving it a go.

Perhaps now that Governor Palin has resigned her position as the CEO of the State of Alaska she can take the appropriate time and steps necessary to develop a brand strategy allowing HER to communicate her brand promise and the reasons to believe in the Sarah Palin brand. That will provide the direction required to effectively recruit and retain her brand champions. No matter what the future holds.

I am here if you need help with this!

Brand and Strategic Plan

I am often asked my opinion about the relationship between a brand and the strategic plan of the organization. Which comes first, the chicken or the egg? That depends upon where your organization is at in both its brand development process and its strategic planning process. Hopefully your organization is involved in both. If you have one or none then the answer becomes much clearer.

In my view all planning and development starts and ends with the brand. Your brand is your name and what your name stands for. A strategic plan is the process by which you are going to make your brand come to life and ensure that it is sustainable. In the real world, most organizations have developed a strategic plan and periodically update it. In the interim, the plan collects dust. So, how do we connect our brand and strategic plan, and make them both relevant for our stakeholders?

No matter where your organization is in the brand building and strategic planning processes, the first rule is that you must fully engage your stakeholders in the process. Only then will they understand the value of the brand and the strategic plan. In so doing you will demonstrate your value for them. If your organization already has a strategic plan in place, and are in the process of building or re-building your brand, then your strategic plan can play a significant role in helping you define your identity. If you have a brand strategy in place then your strategic plan will help operationalize the vision for your organization. Ideally these two concepts should fit hand in glove. If you have one without the other then your organization is out of alignment.

How does your organization connect its brand and strategic plan to recruit and retain your brand champions?

Brand + Social Media = No More Advertising Agency

Yesterday in four separate meetings the above formula was brought up by a graphic designer, a marketing director, an advertising salesperson and a brand manager, all independent of one another, and all of their careers have roots in the advertising agency model. Based upon their respective experiences, as well as the emergence of brand (without the ing), social media, the economy and other factors, each one of these professionals agreed that the advertising agency model is going the way of other traditional ways of doing business. Think newspapers, collateral materials, television advertising and billboards.

For much of my career I have worked with advertising agencies on the client side. Many of my friends and former colleagues currently work at agencies. So I have always had respect for agencies. Unfortunately many agencies still operate based on a 20th century model. An organization hires the agency to develop solutions based on advertising. Guess what? Most people don't like advertising anymore. Most organizations don't have the resources to devote to advertising anymore. Younger generations want to make a difference in the world and align with organizations that understand their mission and stand for something, not what they advertise or how they advertise. Add social media to the mix, and the traditional advertising model is going the way of media like offline newspapers.

If your organization does not embrace brand building based on mission and core values, it does not embrace social media and does not know what it stands for, can it be called a 21st century company? Does your brand formula equate to success? Without a 21st century model, how can companies sustain themselves, and how can they effectively recruit and retain brand champions?

Education Brands Should Embrace Mobile Marketing

Over the course of the past few months I have thought a great deal about this idea, and have shared my views with anyone who will listen. As an education brand consultant, I work closely with colleges, universities, K-12 school systems and other organizations with an education mission. My primary role is to develop and implement a brand strategy that aligns the organization's internal culture and external reputation.

As part of that brand development process it is important to assess current and future communications channels so that the brand strategy can be delivered effectively to internal and external audiences. For schools these audiences include prospective and current students, prospective and current employees, alumni, donors and others. Since most people utilize mobile devices for communicating via text, email and phone, doesn't it make sense to deliver your brand message that way?

When we hear or see the words mobile marketing, we tend to think about an ad being pushed on us. That is not what mobile marketing is all about. Mobile marketing is about allowing your prospective and current customers with the option of communicating with you by mobile, especially text messaging. Once students and others realize the value of mobile as a business resource, and when schools realize that students and others are ok with mobile as a way to update them, mobile marketing is going to explode.

When people realize that branding is not advertising, and when they realize mobile marketing is not advertising (a concept most people don't like), then the connection between brand and mobile marketing is going to allow organizations to more effectively recruit and retain their brand champions. Are you aware of how much time school age people spend texting? Shouldn't your brand be in that space?

Brand Champions Share Their Perspectives on Independence Day

For those of you in the United States and for many of those you abroad, you probably know that today is the anniversary of the date that the USA gained its Independence in 1776. This is a day that many celebrate all the reasons that they believe in the United States. Today is also a date that many reflect on the past and access the present.

Last Thursday I had the pleasure of attending the weekly airing of Your Brand Radio. Three weeks ago I was a guest on the show and have been a fan before and after that day. The show highlights topics and people related to brand. The topic this week was July 4 in the United States. Those in the audience and those listening around the world were invited to comment on what July 4 in the USA means to them.

Most of the guests talked about their favorite July 4 memories, others talked about historic events. I shared with the audience that July 4 is a date when I reflect on the present and the many situations around the world related to the USA and how many countries are in the process of determining what freedom means to them. If you want to hear more or share your thoughts on the July 4 brand I encourage you to comment here or at Your Brand Radio website.

Interesting sidebar. Last night my neighborhood held its annual fireworks show. While listening to music through my earphones I realized that most of the play list was comprised of British musicians. The Electric Light Orchestra and Sting were particularly well choreographed to the pyrotechnics.

Do Your Multi-Sensory Branding Efforts Smell?

That is the title of the next monthly session of the Brand Cafe in Denver. Last Monday we engaged in a dialogue about how to measure return on brand investment, and I look forward to a discussion about another emerging trend on July 27. As I have mentioned before, multi-sensory branding came onto my radar screen when I attended a symposium in Berlin led by international brand guru, Martin Lindstrom.

During that conference I learned that approximately 80 percent of marketing is focused on what we see and hear. 20 percent of marketing is devoted to the other senses, what we touch, taste and smell. Ironically, our sense of sight and sound are the least memorable. So why don't we as marketers, our organizations, our clients and our client's clients devote our resources to what people can remember?

At the next Brand Cafe we will exchange experiences and ideas about how to focus marketing efforts on what people can smell, taste and touch. Do you build your brand by incorporating all five senses with your marketing efforts, especially the sense of smell, taste and touch? Are your brand building efforts just like your competitors, devoting your resources to what we see and hear? In other words, do you spend your resources on what people don't remember? Can you recruit and retain brand champions if your brand smells?

Does the 2010 Camaro Enhance the Chevrolet Brand, and Can it Save the GM Brand?

Last weekend I came out of a restaurant where I had dinner one evening and saw a brightly colored 2010 Chevrolet Camaro like the one pictured here. My first thought was that it looked like a bigger, badder version of the Corvette. My second thought was I would look really good behind the wheel of that car. My third thought was that other people would think I was going through a mid-life crisis.

Apparently the 2010 Camaro is in the new Transformers movie where many viewers are having thoughts similar to my first two listed above. GM and Chevrolet are probably hoping that they can capture the emotion of those who are going through mid-life crisis and will make their way down to their local Chevy dealers. Are those still around? I am not the only person who has made an emotional connection with the 2010 Camaro brand as I learned from the USA Today earlier in the week. There is a wait list at many dealerships.

Can the 2010 Camaro recruit enough brand champions to save the GM brand?

Will American's Ever Embrace Futbol Brand?

Last Sunday I watched the final match between the USA and Brasil in the FIFA Confederations Cup championship in South Africa. As you probably know this was the first time the the USA has advanced to a FIFA final. During the first half of the match I started making mental notes about what I would write for yesterday's brand champion of the day post. During the second half of the match the powerhouse Brasil team botched any chance for that post to happen.

As an American I was pleased that our team made it to the finals. Like most, I have been critical of our team over the past few years. There are more young people in the USA playing the world's game of futbol than any other sport. But, we struggle to compete on the world stage. Now that there is a glimmer of hope for the USA as they travel back to South Africa next year for the Word Cup, is there also a chance that we will embrace the accurate sport brand?

Perhaps if Americans changed their thinking and embraced the word futbol rather than soccer we would have a better chance of attracting the best athletes to the sport. By embracing the brand futbol rather than soccer, young people in America (and Australia) would place a higher value on the game. If I were a young person and elite athlete today deciding on the right sport, I would much rather travel the world playing futbol in places like South Africa, than getting beat up playing American football in the USA.

Too me embracing futbol would attract more brand champions for the sport. Soccer sounds like futbol light and dilutes the brand champion enthusiasm. What do you think about the futbol brand vs. the soccer brand for the USA?