Help yourself to brand analysis!

I have been developing a do-it-yourself version of my branding process. It was a daunting task as my process was initially developed with the assistance of a group of branding professionals and it's effectiveness is due in part to my style of facilitating and my ability to create solutions. Because of my creative background, I tend to think fast and draw out interactions from everyone on the team. My biggest challenge in developing this new DIY process is how do I inspire the user without myself actually being there to assist? There are naturally some compromises in favor of simplification. It can never be an out-right replacement for the mother-ship. But I think I have captured in a nice workable package - a tool any entrepreneur can use to come to some inspiring conclusions and to build a competitive strategy that they can build on. Currently I am having a small manufacturer beta test it. I am interested in it's value both in terms of usefulness and retail price.

In the course of developing it, I read the book, The Long Tail by Chris Anderson, the editor for Wired magazine. This got me thinking of how I should price this package and try and go for the tail of the web market. I'm leaning more in this direction. The success I have had in blogging in such a short period of time (3months), inspires me to consider the Long Tail opportunity as a viable option. It is entirely a digital product. The main body of the DIY Process is an executable file with support materials accessible over the web, making it easily downloaded.

I'm hoping to be able to begin marketing it by early summer. I'll be using the blogs as one of my channels of promotion. What has your experience been in using the web to develop products which may have previously been developed, promoted and sold traditionally?

Where do you stand on sales training?

You have decided that you are willing to investigate sales training - which method did you find more effective? Some friends are saying that one-on-one sales coaching is very beneficial. Then another prefers a sales process to keep them on track. I am assuming it has a lot to do with your personal focus. I am going to try sales coaching. I think I just need some tweeking to my approach. I'm curious about what the rest of the world is doing?

Are you up to re-branding?

You're starting to hear it more and more in the business community, "We need to re-brand ourselves!" If this sounds like your current battle cry, ask yourself this question:

Am I really prepared to do what it takes to actually re-brand ourselves?

And with this question, let make sure that you actually understand what you are taking on.

If your intention is to re-brand yourself, then it is a forgone conclusion that you are not happy with your existing brand. Something has triggered you to want to re-invent yourself. Perhaps your brand has been left behind in a competitive environment where technology has passed you by and now you are left without the necessary tools to compete effectively. It could be a plethora of market conditions that leave many companies floundering, searching for anything to help keep them from imploding. Re-branding is a worthy goal but it is also a risky venture if taken lightly. To launch a new logo and catchy slogan is NOT re-branding yourselves - if it was only that easy. Putting a new face on the brand will not make the issues go away - they never go away.

From the out-set, let me say that you must be prepared to make fundamental changes to the way you currently do business.
You must tackle the issues head-on. And by issues we don't mean just poor sales, but anything that affects your brand, ie: environmental problems, labour issues, integrity - anything that potentially has the power to tarnish your reputation (whether true or not).

If in preliminary investigations you discover that your brand results in a very unattractive personality profile then you've got problems at the core of your brand. Are you now prepared to devout the necessary effort to change your current brand reality? Are you prepared to allocate the time necessary to see the changes through? Take for instance the question I have posted on several blogs concerning my city, Windsor. The results coming back show a very unflattering brand. As much as the information collected is unscientific in nature it does provide an interesting glimse of how we may be viewed from distances greater than a day-trip. If our city fathers truly want to re-brand ourselves to change these perceptions and move forward in bold new direction, they must take steps to change the negatives that persist in dragging down our brand. Not an easy or short-term task.

The simple fact that you are out here among the branding blogs shows that you are an optimist. You are looking for solutions to do more business. Re-branding your company will feel like starting over and breathing new life into your vision.
Give your brand the opportunity to be great and work it to keep it there. Build your brand strategy first and then strengthen it visually based on that strategy. It is a winning combination. If you have questions, there are a lot of us out here who are more than willing to help you through a tough spot. That is why our blogs exist.

A new brand for Detroit!

The Detroit area has just released the results of a branding effort whose challenge was to brand Detroit AND surrounding areas. Crain's Detroit Business has a good article on their efforts.

I think that they have done a good job and the brand logo shown here embodies Detroit nicely. I see automotive and sports culture in the image and this goes right to the soul of the motor city. Now it will be interesting to see how it is integrated in its overall marketing. The suggestion being put forth, is that Detroit is "Where cool comes from".

GO DETROIT!

Does it matter if you're real?

This past week, I had lunch on two separate occasions with friends who are embarking on business ventures involving direct selling, (multi-level marketing, pyramid etc). One was trying to sell me, one was just updating me on his progress. What struck me was there was a "little" deception going on with each.

From the selling friend I experienced this...

Like many MLM situations, there must be a 'product' to sell. That's a given. You need to open that door and your good looks won't cut it. But, once that door is open there isn't much conversation about the product anymore. It turns quickly to money. If you don't bring it up, they will - it's the crack of their business. The product was Identity Theft protection coupled with pre-paid legal. Nice fit.

I asked the question- do you make more cash selling the product or by recuiting? BINGO, I could tell this question had been asked before as the facilitiator scribbled out the chart backwards. (this told me he's done this example before). He quickly hopped into how lucrative the scenario could be. Everybody up the ladder benefits. Old story, same ending.

With the selling friend I left the meeting feeling that he's drop a notch or two with regards to my respect for him. I was lured to the meeting through the premise of learning more on ID theft. The 2 young guys on either side of me who were half my age sucked it up like Pepsi through a straw. I was impressed by their presentation, my friend played the straight man to the facilitator. Why are good people drawn to situations where there has to be some initial deception to get you to listen?

I've been in business for about 25 years now, and I always believe you should be as honest as possible and deliver value. I am currently beta-testing a DIY version of my branding process and the number one thing that I asked of one of the companies that is trying out my product is: "Can this help deliver a genuine solution?" My brand - corporate and personal is key for me. I sometimes do business on a handshake because my word is my bond. I don't want to use deception to get a meeting with you, I want you to meet with me because there is a genuine interest in what I may have to offer. I don't want to talk to anyone who may not want to talk to me.

You will do better business, with stronger lasting relationships if you initiate it honestly. Care about the customers success and strive to offer additional value every step of the way. I have no problem with direct selling businesses so long as it is balanced. Good product, great service and superb follow-up. You also benefit with a selling network with the same high values. All I heard at the meeting was a focus on recruting your way to riches and any customer issues are handled by the system in place. You don't have to care. You focus on recruiting - the money.

To me being real, means having integrity and delivering value for what you have a passion doing OR am I naive?

Can my blog help you?

My request for information regarding Windsor, gave me an idea: if there is a question you would like to post to my readers, let me know and I will post it for you. Thanks.

Have you ever heard of Windsor, Ontario, Canada?

This is an open question to all who visit my blog: Can you tell me what you know if anything about my city, Windsor, Ontario, Canada? All I ask is that in your response you tell me which city you hail from.

We here at the Branding Experts anticipate being a part of a tender to brand our fair city and I would like to build some un-scientific data on the city's brand as it exists. I feel that with the international character of blogging, I should be able to get some good feed-back to this request. It is relevant if you have never heard of Windsor also, so if you could let me know that fact as well it would be much appreciated.

This request is one of the incredible things about blogging - assistance on many levels with what we love to do.

Thank you,

Ed