Personal Branding Re-loaded

In addition to being able to boast these enviable benefits, strong brands have something else in common. They all exhibit the “three C’s” of branding: Clarity; Consistency; and Constancy. Does your brand pass the Three C Test?

Clarity

Strong brands are clear about who they are and who they are not. They understand their unique promise of value. And this promise of value sets them apart from their competitors. It differentiates them and allows them to attract and build loyalty among the groups of people who can help them achieve their goals.

Consistency

In addition to being clear about who they are, strong brands are also consistent. Madonna is an excellent example of brand consistency. She is the chameleon brand of entertainment. She reinvents herself with each CD that she produces.

Constancy

Strong brands are constant. They are always there for their customers and prospects or for those people who can help them achieve their professional goals.

Full article: The Three C’s of Personal Branding

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Personal Branding

Big companies understand the importance of brands. Today, in the Age of the Individual, you have to be your own brand. Here’s what it takes to be the CEO of Me Inc.

It’s time for me — and you — to take a lesson from the big brands, a lesson that’s true for anyone who’s interested in what it takes to stand out and prosper in the new world of work.

Regardless of age, regardless of position, regardless of the business we happen to be in, all of us need to understand the importance of branding. We are CEOs of our own companies: Me Inc. To be in business today, our most important job is to be head marketer for the brand called You.
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Developing Your Brand Strategy

By the time you finish this free online course: Developing Your Brand Strategy, you will have a polished brand strategy that will give the the competitive edge.

Developing a brand strategy can be one of the most difficult steps in the marketing plan process. It’s often the element that causes most businesses the biggest challenge, but it’s a vital step in creating the company identity.

Your brand identity will be repeatedly communicated, in multiple ways with frequency and consistency throughout the life of your business.

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Evaluate Your Brand

Brands are the most valuable assets that many companies have, representing a substantial portion of a consumer company’s overall market value or equity. Also, because it is becoming increasingly more difficult to sustain competitive product or technological advantages, it is likely that brands will continue to grow in importance and significance.

This is the introduction of an interesting PDF from GfK Custom Research and PriceWaterhouseCoopers, entitled “What Are Your Brands Worth?“, dealing with subjects as:

  • Advanced Brand Valuation Model
  • Psychological Brand Strength
  • Brand Isolation Module
  • Brand Forecast Module
  • Brand Risk Module
  • Brand Strategic Option Module
  • Case Study: Euro Max Petroleum
  • Determination of Brand Value
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Trends in Future Marketing

Someday in the not-so-distant future, branding as we know it will be thought of as so 20th century. With societal, cultural and technological changes occurring at increasingly accelerated rates, keeping your eye on the horizon of future trends in branding gives your company the advantage.

1. Consumers Are the New Creative Directors
Born from consumers’ desire to differentiate themselves from the mass market, this trend toward customization will continue to grow with the flexibility and efficiencies offered by technology at home and in manufacturing.

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HR and branding

In the war for talent, HR professionals are not being equipped with one of the most important weapons in the recruitment armoury – employer branding.

An exclusive survey of 1,889 Personnel Today readers with responsibility for recruitment reveals that 95% of respondents believe employer branding is ‘important’, with 80% saying that it will become even more so. And yet only 25% of those surveyed have responsibility for employer branding.

One said: “There is so much competition for good candidates, those with a good employer brand will be able to pick and choose from the best candidates.” And another added: “People are becoming more inclined to look for roles where the organisation’s values are aligned with their own.”

Via PersonnelToday.com

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First Steps in Branding

Over at Entrepreneur.com there is a short introductory tutorial on branding and how to start-up the branding process:

Defining your brand is like a journey of business self-discovery. It can be difficult, time-consuming and uncomfortable. It requires, at the very least, that you answer the questions below:

  • What is your company’s mission?
  • What are the benefits and features of your products or services?
  • What do your customers and prospects already think of your company?
  • What qualities do you want them to associate with your company?

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Co-branding strategy

Marketing goods or services under two or more trademarks of different companies is a popular way to broaden an existing or new brand’s exposure in the marketplace and can be used in many ways.

Although co-branding is not a new concept, it remains crucial to consider the strategic objectives of the project and to address all the possible risks before it is launched.

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Un-Branding the Brand

When the New Yorker reporter Jeffrey Goldberg asked Sen. John Kerry whether the Democrats had a credibility problem on defense controversies, the party’s titular leader replied without equivocation, “Look, the answer is, we have to do an unbranding.” As Kerry saw it, the political problem had to do with salesmanship: “We have to brand more effectively. It’s marketing.” An editor on the linguistic qui vive titled Goldberg’s article about the Democrats’ need to shuck off the appearance of weakness “The Unbranding.”

The hot word in the field of sales — indeed, pervading the world of perfect pitching — is brand.

In a world where the words new and fresh are relentlessly repeated on every product label, the name of the sales technique is getting old and stale. Where is the ad-Ubermensch, the creative Ogilvy, who will put forward a new moniker for the name of the atmospheric marketing game? The time has come, as John Kerry puts it, to unbrand the word brand.

Via Houston Cronicle

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Online Branding Dollars

MediaPost and Deutsche Bank surveyed advertising executives regarding their online budgets. The results of the survey are published on MediaPost Web site. 35% of budgets dedicated to online branding went to niche sites such as iVillage and Marketwatch. 21% went to the three largest portals, with [tag]Yahoo![/tag] capturing 11%, as much as MSN and America Online combined (MSN had 6% and America Online had 5%). 13% went to Web sites of local media, while 11% went to ad networks. The remaining 20% went to various other sites, including Web sites of local media.

69% of respondents also reported spending more to buy sponsored listings on search engines. 35% of executives said cost-per-click had increased between 1 and 10%, while 25% reported a price increase of 11 to 20%; 9% of respondents said paid search was now at least 21% more expensive than in Q4 2004. Google accounting for 53% of search budgets and Overture accounting for 28%. 4% of search dollars went to Findwhat and 4% went to MSN.

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