7 Brand Management Tips for Folks in Professional Services
Hey!
I’m doing a special webinar on Thursday, June 15 at 1 PM Eastern focused on helping folks in professional services do a better job with their brands.
This is coming off the back of the one I did on June 1 for AudienceView that was focused on people in the world of tickets.
As a preview, I wanted to share some of the ideas that you’ll pick up in next week’s FREE webinar.
1. Start with your own definition of “brand”: Mine is that your brand is the accumulation of all of the contact you have with your target market, good or bad, over time.
Keep in mind, the good stuff adds up slowly and the bad stuff can take you out very quickly.
2. Brand Management comes down to 3 questions:
Who is your target?
What is your position?
How are you going to communicate this to the market?
3. Brand Codes matter, even in professional services: Brand Codes are the colors, sounds, shapes, images, etc. that are synonymous with your brand in your market’s mind.
Need some examples?
Isn’t Tiffany Blue unique?
Doesn’t the shape of the Sydney Opera House stand out as a symbol of Australia? Sydney?
When you see the Rolling Stone’s tongue aren’t you aware of exactly what you are looking at?
The shape of a Coca-Cola bottle?
You need to know how you are going to communicate with your market.
Look at www.DaveWakeman.com or my LinkedIn profile: “Focused! Effective! Profitable!”
4. Your brand supports your price: Brand power drives price integrity.
What does this mean in practical terms?
You don’t have to discount.
Discounts are for dummies.
You can also raise your prices more easily because you are the name brand, you have the advantage.
5. Research and Insight drive good branding: You need to know what your market likes, wants, values, and needs to build a good brand.
You do this with research and insight.
Remember, all good branding and marketing begins with the customer and you find out about the customer by doing research.
6. The 4 Ps are how you deliver on your brand strategy: The 4 Ps are a great framework that have stood the test of time.
You don’t need other bogus Ps or some other framework.
Product. Price. Place. Promotion. That’s the framework that helps you deliver on the promise of your brand.
All of the other stuff that people try to shove down your throat?
If it doesn’t fit into the 4 Ps, it is likely BS.
7. Consistency is the key: You have to be consistent. Brands aren’t built overnight.
BTW, this webinar series is going to be a monthly thing for the next few months…minimum.
So if you have some ideas or questions on strategy, brands, and marketing that you want to learn more about, send me a note and I will put them in the mix.
Also, check out the Dave shop. I’ve got 3 products in the shop now, but there will be more in the future so you can work with me anywhere and in many ways.
See you next week.
Dave