by Miriam Hara | Apr 26, 2012 | Branding, Business Success
It use to be that Brand referred to product, but in today’s world, the use of brand has taken on new applications. I see a lot of reference to Personal branding and Inward branding. In fact I just recently read an interesting article on Forbes.com about Donald Trump, and the concept of the human brand. Have these terms been renamed to speak to the times and establish a sexier term for initiatives that were always around but never deemed as important as Product branding?
This post concentrates on Personal Brand. I will expand on Inward Branding in a separate post.
Whatever industry you play in… or work in, Personal Brand and Branding are increasingly important for you to achieve business success…but what does Personal Brand really mean anyway?
Personal: it’s you. It’s your personality. To bring up The Donald again, he IS his brand. In the world of social media and constant communication, it is increasingly important to brand yourself. You don’t have to be a public speaker, or a blogger, looking for a job or a celebrity, and still you need to brand yourself. Branding yourself personally provides you with a point of differentiation from others in the business arena.. so when you will need it, you can draw upon it. You need to build awareness of you. In short, you are the product. It’s your game face!
I believe marketers not only always knew this but they knew how to work their own style to create a personal brand. However business and sales managers and executive, although very business focused may not have been so personal brand savvy.
In today’s communication era the need to have a defined personal brand is no longer a nice to have… but a need to have. In order to stand apart, to get ahead, it is no longer okay to just have a name with a good solid handshake! Just like a product Brand….you have to have a persona, a way to make sure that you do not blend into the background.
Are you among those that are mystified by this new brand adjective? As I browse the my LinkedIn network, I find a lot of discussions about “personal brand”… What is it? How to own it? How to achieve it? It’s really not that hard, (says the marketer!). Think of yourself as a brand… Lululemon, Nike, Channel or whatever Brand gets you excited. Now take that excitement and turn it onto yourself. Ask these following questions: What makes me different (what talents do I have?) What do I want others to remember about me? How do I make myself stand apart?
Here’s a 3-step approach to creating your, yes, very own, personal brand:
1. It’s all about the first impression…. at first.
The informality of business has allowed for a multitude of possibilities to set you apart. Maybe it’s a certain style of clothing, or like me, wearing a distinct colour. Yes, I wear purple every time I see a client. Initially I started doing that to assist in branding my firm. I accomplished that but it has also become synonymous with me! Be careful not to go too overboard. Always be cognizant of whom you are meeting, what their style is like and what the “acceptable tone” of the company is. Standing apart doesn’t mean making a spectacle of yourself, it means you have to be assertive in your statement, without overpowering your statement with props and fanfare.
2. Leave something behind…with that first impression…
Top the incredible first impression with a business card to leave behind. This business card has your coordinates and a positioning statement that succinctly states what you can deliver on… on what sets you apart in the business arena. This is probably going to be a lot harder than deciding what clothes you have to wear! It’s difficult to describe yourself, your abilities and what you do in one sentence. Start by asking what makes you different from others? What experience can you state (professional and personal) that provides you with an edge? Reach out to your colleagues and business associates and ask what they see as your biggest strength.
3. As with product brands… you have to deliver the goods….
Each one of us has bought into a brand promise, whether it’s a service or a product, and have been disappointed. You know what I mean? The brand just didn’t live up to to its sizzle (brand promise). So be sure that doesn’t happen to you. In other words, you could look great, exude all the energy that sets you apart from others and make that first impression count. Top that fabulous first impression with an equally fabulous designed business card with that concise positioning statement and you have it made…. Or almost. You have to live up to your promise and to your uniqueness. You have to deliver on the sizzle and maintain the reputation that your Personal Brand is based on. And that’s the most important step in developing and establishing a Personal Brand and ensuring your business success.
Keep posted on the second part of this series about Inward Branding. I invite you to join in the conversation! If you got here via a link from a friend, or LinkedIn, I invite you to join the conversation on marketing, branding and design… sign up on 3H hoopla! here.
by Miriam Hara | Apr 20, 2012 | Branding, Business Success, Creative
We’ve all said it before… but I’ll say it again. Brand is so much more than a logo, than a positioning statement. These establish the brand premise and the foundation to build the brand culture. A true brand must be bold, must stand apart every time it speaks to the consumer. It must always be authentic to its premise. It must reinforce its uniqueness and authenticity with every piece of communication… whether it’s an e-initiative, an ad, outdoor campaign, digital campaign, website, customer letter, greeting card and, yes, even a sign on the wall.
It has always been my belief that every detail that is viewed by the target market is an integral piece of the brand building process. I have always correlated building brand to building a house. The logo and the positioning statement are the foundation of the brand. Then the framework, dry walls, windows all have to be added…. to support and build the “total vision” of the house.
This “building strategy” recognizes the need of investing a little more in say, a business card or a leave behind , and is as integral as a full scale advertising campaign. Okay, I hear you asking the question… what do I mean by “investing a little more?” This is what I mean: look at every communication piece and ask the number one question… “How do I make my brand the sole owner of this piece?” Is it only colour? Is it simply by stating the brand’s offering? Does the initiative I am working on speak to my Brand and communicate my Brand solely… only and truly? Is it moving beyond the mundane, true and tried initiatives that have been done… offering no intrinsic value, no additional wow effect to my target audience? Does it assist in making my brand stand apart…even before they read it…as soon as they see it?
How to evaluate a marketing piece and increase the brand ROI of that piece. Here’s a simple way that will help you in answering the question.
If a competitor can replace your logo with theirs, change the colour and the words and use everything else that you’ve developed than you haven’t created a unique brand piece. This question works whether you are evaluating an ad, a flyer, a billboard, a sales aid, a leave behind, brochure, etc…
So how do you create a brand piece that no one can “take” from you. The answer is easy:
Create it so that it reflects your Brand Offering and USP… and I don’t just mean plopping a logo, and making everything in your brand colours (although that is must!). The initiative has to speak to the Brand Culture, position in personality, in format, in copy style. This is the only way that competitors can’t mimics your brand or “take ” your initiative and make it their own… because they can’t deliver on the promise or on your brand’s USP… only your brand can.
In short: creating brand ROI is the first step in achieving business success.It is obvious that Brand must provide ROI. But what should be the expectation of delivering on brand ROI? Is it reasonable to expect brand ROI immediately? Is it reasonable because you have a website and a logo to expect that your brand initiatives are done and all other initiatives just need to follow through? Today, more than ever, halfway measures and “me too look alikes” will damage the performance of you brand and believe me, that will definitely effect the brand ROI.
I look forward to your comments and discussing your point of view. I invite you to join in the conversation! If you got here via a link from a friend, or Linkedin, I invite you to join the conversation on marketing, branding and design… sign up on 3H hoopla! here.
by Madi Secareanu | Mar 29, 2012 | Advertising, Branding, Business Success, Social Media
Pinterest is the new and exciting kid on the social media block – and everyone wants to get to know it better. “What is it?” and “how do I use it?” has quickly become “I’m always on Pinterest!” so it’s no surprise that brands should be, and are, starting to pay attention in order to stay ahead of the social media game. Pinterest, for brands, has become the new place to be, so what should brands be aware of before capitalizing on Pinterest?
How Pinterest works….
The social networking site allows users to share, curate, and discover new things by “pinning” images or videos to their own or others’ pinboards. Users use pinboards, which are collections of images or videos, to organize, plan and inspire everything from tonight’s dinner to grand events. Users are encouraged to pin their own content, uploaded or found online, or “repin” and “like” other users’ pins.
Who uses Pinterest…
If your planning a marketing campaign on Pinterest it’s important to know your audience. According to Mashable.com and January 2012 data from Google’s Doubleclick Ad Planner, 87% of users are female and 80% of users are between the ages of 25-54, however Pinterest’s user-base is still growing.
If Pinterest is right for your brand…
- Decide if your brand and Pinterest are a match. Pinterest is very visual; will this approach fit with your brand strategy? According to the their best practices, Pinterest recommends that brands create several pinboards with visuals that cover a broad range of interests and pin from various sites, not just a specific one.
- Think about your followers, their interests and how, through Pinterest, you can create more of an experience around your brand.
- Do some competitive research. See what other brands are doing on Pinterest and what makes their Pinterest campaigns so successful.
What kind of visual content to share Pinterest….
Think about sharing product shots, infographics, brand inspirations, how-to graphics, and maybe even images of your customers engaging with your brand. You can even share eBooks. Recently, 3H launched our “Marketing Understood: 33 Biz-isms you need for success” eBook. Over the next few weeks, we will be sharing visuals from our eBook on our Pinterest profile.
You can also allow followers to pin images to your boards and encourage them to share stories about their experiences with your brand. You could also run fun contests on Pinterest to keep your followers engaged.
Promotion…
Make sure you let people know that your brand is on Pinterest. Add a button to your website and link your Pinterest account to your brand’s Facebook and Twitter as well.
What’s working and what’s not…
When pinning, leverage your traditional analytics tools to identify the content that really gets your followers excited about your brand and drives traffic to your sites. You can also gage interest levels by the amount of “Likes” and “Repins” you’ve received.
What do you think? As more and more brands get on board, will it change the way brands approach their social media marketing campaigns?
Follow 3H on Pinterest!
by Madi Secareanu | Mar 20, 2012 | Advertising, Business Success, Miriamisms
You may not always be aware that you’re practicing them, but they become ingrained in the way you do things day to day. “Isms” for some, are an overarching, common sense way of doing things – approaches to keep in mind. These “isms” can apply to your everyday life or your career. In business and at 3H Communications, we like to use the term “biz-ism” as it is defined by our very own Canadian marketing veteran Miriam Hara.
So, what is a biz-ism and how does it apply to marketing? We’ve laid it all out for you in our first eBook “Marketing Understood 33 Biz-isms You Need for Success”. The first in a series of powerful eBooks, Marketing Understood will benefit anyone in business and marketing management today by giving you a collection of key marketing practices and philosophies to power marketing efforts. Whether you’re marketing a service, a product, a brand or whether you’re an entrepreneur, this eBook will give you a wealth of practical information presented in a very concise, no-nonsense way. It’s an easy, quick reference point on how to market and power marketing. Who doesn’t like the sound of that?
Among the 33 excellent biz-isms included in the eBook, the “Don’t be Surprised: Use Research” biz-ism caught my attention. I thought, well that seems like a no brainer, right? Although research is essential when making a good marketing decision, sometimes this crucial step in the marketing process doesn’t get the credit it deserves. Strong research helps identify, among other things, a target market and competitive approaches to make your campaign stand out above the rest. While researching, you might also find that you can take different routes and choose from several different options to effectively marketing your service or product.
The “Don’t be Surprised: Use Research” biz-ism, along with the 32 other great biz-isms in the Marketing Understood eBook, is a simple but important thing to keep in mind and add to your marketing mix.
You can download our “Marketing Understood: 33 Biz-isms You Need for Success” here to get more expert, seasoned insight on how to market powerfully and effectively.
Do you use any marketing biz-isms to effectively market your business? Leave a comment below – I’d love to hear what they are!
by Christine Marr | Feb 10, 2012 | Advertising, Business Success, Social Media
We live in a fast-paced market…but when is good enough not good enough? With the new way of communication, technology has starting re-writing our language and the way we communicate, especially in professional communications. That is totally acceptable, as language too must evolve with the needs of the society it serves. It wouldn’t be the first time that the English language has changed. Today, we communicate so fast when we text message, tweet, post Facebook updates… this need for speed makes us just want to get the message out to our audience, regardless of spelling, grammar, punctuation.
Maybe I am showing my age… however, I believe that there is increasingly a blur between our personal communications and our professional communications… and really that shouldn’t be. Business is business, and if you start your first impression with a typo or poor grammar because it’s an e-zine or digital media, it doesn’t make it all right.
Is misspeling and poor grammar accepaible in bisiness? Okay, I jest. I know that this is really an extreme, but believe me when I say, even one misspelled word sends out the same message as a whole bunch misspelled words, poor grammar and even poorly written copy.
Below is an e-blast message as an example. Shouldn’t brilliant ideas also include great execution? Does having no rules imply that anything goes… and with it your brand and business? When I received this I was shocked.What is proper etiquette here; do you gently tell the sender/author that they have a typo?Recently I caught the same saw the same sort of issue on a Linkedin profile and and I sent a private message. Isn’t Linkedin a professional environment where the first impression counts
Bad spelling, poor punctuation and grammar can say many things about your business…it’s not talking about you… and it says that you do business carelessly. When we communicate on the internet, 99% of the time it is done by the written word. Spelling errors in business will make you appear unprofessional. Avoiding common misspellings and grammatical errors ensures that your writing is clear, precise, and comprehensible, making a positive impression on readers, which is particularly important in business communications. What’s the issue and how hard can it be? It couldn’t be any easier to check spell and re-edit your grammar with all the tools like spell check found in most and all software… It’s not 100%, but at least it’s a start.
The need for speed and cutting costs have made businesses accept good enough and I don’t believe that’s a good strategy. Think about the investment that businesses make about building their brands/business only to have it undermined by the need to communicate to their potential customers/clients quickly. At the end of the day that’s a high price to pay.
Am I starting to show my age? Am I not going with the flow? I’d like you to share your comments about this.
