Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Say It. Brand It.


Branding law #22: The Law of the Word.  In Al and Laura Ries’ (2002), The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding, the pair explain the importance of a brand wanting nothing more than to own a specific word in the mind of a consumer.   What’s the first word that comes to mind when its consumers see or hear their company name? The Ries’ blog gives a real life example of this law in their blog, Peeking inside the mind with Brand Tags.

In a nutshell, Solve Media offers a service that helps protect companies’ online market place from spam and fraud while managing brand recognition.  Solve Media uses Brand Tags to replace the annoying phrase-boxes (captchas) at the end of an online buying experience.  Rather than tying dispensed words or phrases, Brand Tags asks the customer to type the first word that comes to mind when they see a certain logo or company name.  Genius, right?

Law #22 asks one question: what comes to mind when you think about ___(insert company logo or name here)____?  The Ries’ (2002) explain that building a brand requires focused efforts word planting.  Solve Media solves a small branding gap companies face; no pun intended.

Rather than thinking about how a company wants to be known, it should focus its branding attention on how it is interpreted.  The latter is what we call brand recognition.  A brand should be a word; easily recognizable. 

Great brand recognition is one of the reasons great companies have trouble plateauing.  The Ries’ Pieces blog uses Purina as a Brand Tag example.  If Purina took on the branding attitude that it’s top in tasty pet foods, it would eventually hit the way—for several reasons.  1: pets don’t buy what they love; a human would  (almost) never taste pet food to know how scrumptious it tastes.  2: the buyer (pet owners) is never really in the market for great tasting pet nuggets for their four-legged friends.  Using Solve Media’s Brand Tags service makes it very clear what consumers thing about Purina’s brand.  It actually takes the guesswork out of strategic brand management.     

Monday, June 11, 2012

UGH--No More Excuses!


Oh. Em.  Gizzle.  Minus a few fowl language explosions, Gary Vaynerchuk nailed it in his speech, Do What You Love—No Excuses.  Every single thought was solid truth, but nothing was more passion-driven than his delivery.  His excitement as a speaker wheels his audience in and is a testament for his brand.  This social media expert's speech is a hustler’s gateway to the entrepreneurial world of hard work.  His message is crystal clear: do what you love.  No excuses.

There is a reigning notion that starting and branding a business is sweet and easy.  Gary addressed this faux image and was unapologetic about the pain that came with his response.   What’d he say?  Shut up and do it.  (Paraphrasing, of course.)  Get over the hard work—either you want it, or you don’t!  Are you a working entrepreneur?  Great.  Work your 9-5, come home, greet the family, and then work from 7-2AM.  If you love it, you’ll do it.  It’s all about building the brand.    

Gary has an amazing confidence that it is totally possible for everyone to live their dream and LOVE it.  He draws attention to the people that make the deliberate choice to be miserable in the work they do—he even chastises them.

Gary talks about the “P” twins: patience and passion.  Gary begs his audience to stop doing things that make them unhappy.  He says the financial risk for happiness and unhappiness is the same.  In less than a decade, Gary turned his family’s million dollar business into a $50 million dollar business.  But the moment he became a fraction of unhappy (1%), he had an epiphany that something in his life needed to change—even if it meant risking money.  His passion is illustrated through his care for his user base.  It all starts with the answer to one question: “what do I want to do every day for the rest of my life?”

It’s 2012 and there are no more gatekeepers to happiness.  Opportunity is in the hand of the brander.  The importance of a business model is crucial—make cash while you build your brand.  Gary says, “Legacy is greater than currency.”  Build your brand—not your bank account.  The financial restitution comes as a result of your professional reputation created by passion and patience.  Brand equity is the most fundamental resource to a business owner.  He says, “There is never a bad time when you believe, when you work hard, and when you know what you’re doing.”  The hard and rigorous work sucks.  But if you LOVE what you’re doing, then you succeed.  If you don’t believe in what you’re doing, neither will your followers.  Gary says that there’s only one chance at “this game”.  Do it.  Love it.  Mean it.  Own it.

Sunday, June 3, 2012

A Professional Association


Above all else, Christian entertainment managers plan and produce events.  To remain a multi-dimensional trailblazer in the industry, I’ve poked at a few professional networks and associations made up of professionals that think for the same type of client, but from varying perspectives. 

The Event Planners Consortium is a networking platform that refers event planning professionals to other specialty professionals that serve the same types of clients.  It’s sort of the dog pile for event planning resources.  For example, I produced a Christian fashion show this weekend that involved several planning elements: catering, staging, marketing, scenery, VIP experience, etc.  The Event Planners Consortium could have served as a one-stop-shop for my team during the planning process.  Rather than spending valuable time fine-tooth-combing through vendor lists, the Event Planners Consortium would have made recommendations on vendors and professionals that serve our target market.

The Event Planners Consortium allows industry professionals to speak or present on panels or at seminars on relevant industry topics.  The world of event planning is competitive.  Taking advantage of peculiar opportunities like this helps industry professionals “make their case” in the event planning world.  They can use these speaking platforms as credible ways to show and grow their networks.

The Event Planners Consortium only has a handful of resources immediately relevant resources, though.  Using the Event Planning Resources tab, industry professionals can access quick-help tools like general industry practices, event planning tips, certifications, and publications.  Some of these things may prove resourceful to up-and-coming industry professionals, but for seasoned professionals, that link may be a slight waste of a mouse click.

The Consortium has ample room (and need) for industry related advertising.  In fact, this is how their website seems to have been designed—lots of white space screaming for event planning ads and attention.  This feature will largely impact the event marketing industry and its recent innovations to increase its line of followers.