101 Branding Tips Book Signing Tomorrow!

Share this with any friends who are in business.

I have a 101 Branding Tips book signing TOMORROW - FRIDAY (Oct 26) University of Windsor Small Business Centre opening. The Centre is giving away a free book every half hour. This is the UofW's new engineering building.

The Centre is giving away a free book every half hour.

Date &Time:
Friday, October 26, 2012
2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Agenda:
2:00 p.m. Doors Open

2:30 p.m. Ed Roach book giveaway
3:45 p.m. Closing stages

Location:
WindsorEssex Small Business Centre
Boardroom, First Floor
700 California Avenue
Windsor, ON N9B 2Z2

How to Compete with FREE!

Over the past few weeks I've been observing a common situation that continues to get the blood boiling among Graphic Designers world-wide: Logos done fast 'n cheap!

A company I have an association with tried their hand at using those cheap logo factories on the web. You know the ones that promise a logo for a few dollars and a limitless number of versions until they get your approval. Well, the owner of this company wanted my opinion on some of the samples they submitted. Most were pathetic from a design perspective but a few were interesting. But the bottom line for me was none hit the mark because they just didn't get it. They were not designing to communicate a brand message they were just designing a compelling graphic.

Another case was a discussion on David Airey's logo blog LoveDesignLogo relating to pricing of logos and the feeling of many designers that cost reflected quality. It was a spirited discussion. But all of this boils down again to brand. If a lead views you as too expensive for them, then your brand has no value with them. That is not to say that your brand is bad, it is an unknown quantity to them. All they have left is commodity. You leave them no choice.

Graphic Designers will always have this disagreement because their individual and industry brands are weak. They have been reduced to a commodity. If they were to concentrate on their brands and develop a compelling positioning strategy, the discussion above would not rile them so.

For myself and logos, I compete with free and still come out on top. Many times I have seen companies use logos done for them by local publications or printers just to get their business. I still have customers who want to pay me substantially more to work on the brand image. Why - because I give them a compelling reason to do so. It always astonishes me how many start-ups, pay little regard for their brand images, opting for the cheapest possible solution. That's not to say that high price = high value.

It's been pointed out that Nike paid $35 for their swoosh and now look at them. This isn't a case where the company was a success because of the logo but the logo was a success because of the company. The point isn't your price really, it is your brand. I could design a logo that communicates a brand and charge nothing. That doesn't make that mark any less effective.

It's all about your brand. Are you an expert in your field? If so, and if your message is compelling you can rise above price. Customers will value the relationship and their ability to profit from it. You get to charge fairly. What price you charge is of course up to you. The goal is to have a customer respect your price because they value your brand and want what you can offer them.

It walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, but what does it do?

Recently I had the opportunity to talk to an Aflac sales person. They marveled how the Aflac duck has put them on the map. Before said duck, nobody had even heard of them. Now just mentioning the name of the company gets people within ear shot quacking away. That brand icon has been immensely successful in building brand awareness world-wide. Aflac's commercials endear people to the brand. They simply love that duck. I wonder if the Aflac Duck is even more popular than other famous ducks such as Daffy, Donald and Daisy.

(Now before you read on ask yourself: "What does Aflac do?" )

The most interesting thing in our discussion is after the awareness of Aflac is established, the first comment they generally hear is: "So, just what does Aflac do?" Now this person, (who is commission sales) must explain what Aflac does to make money. Isn't the job job of advertising to first get awareness and then tell them what they do? If Aflac could get that duck to spread a little wisdom, the sales person wouldn't have to spend valuable time explaining what they do, to a person who may not be a prospect. Knowing what they do, allows us the consumers the opportunity to make that initial connection based on our desire for more information on a need. The sales person would then have a warm lead and can spend their time more proactively selling their services, rather than educating. The sales person said that this problem has concerned them for some time. To a commission sales person time is definitely money.

Besides this situation, what does it do to Aflac's brand? I am not even suggesting that they haven't been successful financially with what they have done to date, I only suggest that they might want to consider broadening their focus to start actually telling the viewers what the duck does for a living. It would certainly increase revenues further if the sales teams have more time to actually sell. The sales person I spoke with thought that this would be true. They found many times after explaining what Aflac does the person turns out to not even be a potential customer. Problem.

How many times have you seen this scenario, fabulous brand awareness , lousy product knowledge. In the Detroit area many years ago there was a local car dealer who went by the name Mel Farr Superstar. People were amused by his schtick, but when pressed to identify which of the Big 3 he sold many got it wrong. The promotional balance was off - awareness over product. If your brand icon is doing you a world of good it is only human nature to go with the momentum. The only thing I would like to caution you on is to not ignore the products or services you sell. Balance the message and allow your sales people the opportunity to do what they do best which of course is sell. The more money they make, the wealthier you become.