Our Blog

Although it would be easy to do, this is not a BP-bashing post (tempting, but…).  Recently, a  pretty good article about where BP failed in its branding efforts did get me thinking about implications for my own industry.

Often times, I’ll be approached by an owner or executive looking to do some “branding.”  Many times, that “branding” is little more than a flyer, a brochure, an e-mail or something similar.  In some cases, the word “spin” is used in the discussion leading up to the production of the said “branding” materials.

I’ve got news for you.  Branding is much more than the slogan one uses on a flyer or the color scheme on the Web site.  It’s about more than consistency across media (although that’s important), and, above all else, it can never, ever, ever be “spun.”

That’s because branding is what your company IS, not just what it wants to be perceived as.

To my admittedly simple mind, anyone seeking to do a little branding needs to ask four basic questions:

1)  What does our company do well?  And be painfully honest.  Your prospects will.

2)  How is that different from what our competitors do?   Again, be honest.  It may not be different at all, and that can be ok.

3)  Does what our company does well fulfill a need in our market, and does our market know that it has such a need?  If it doesn’t, all the marketing in the world won’t help you.

4)  Do we perform what we do well at all levels touching our prospects and customers?

The last one is critical.  Your glitzy ad campaign will crumble into dust if it is rendered inauthentic by a ham-handed customer service rep, sales executive or wayward corporate action.  And then you will be left with something worse than anonymity:  negative branding.

 Branding, then, is effectively telling the right people about what your company really does well at all levels.  Not what you think they want to hear.  Not spin.  And as some larger corporations have learned painfully, it’s much more about walking the walk than talking the talk.