What's an employer brand?
How is a brand strategy different from a marketing strategy?
Who oversees branding in an organization?
What is a brand personality?
We aren't currently doing branding. How do we get started?
Should the brand focus be on the product or the company?
What's a BrandBooster DNA Session?
What's the most important thing about direct mail?
What's the best way to get people to our website?
How can we critique work delivered without making our agency defensive?

What's an employer brand?
Employees are an audience every bit as important as customers. The image that employees have of the company is the employer brand. Failure to develop, understand and nurture the employer brand can seriously derail delivery of the marketplace brand. Some people distinguish between the two audiences by referring to workplace versus marketplace branding as internal and external branding. Both are critical.

How is a brand strategy different from a marketing strategy?
A brand strategy is a long range plan for the brand i.e. what the company stands for, how it's different as a company, what the corporate culture reflects, what it will and won't do. If the company were a person, this would be the description of the person who may evolve over time, but has certain core traits that remain.

A marketing strategy is about how to sell the products, what to charge, who to sell them to and how to reach those people and communicate the product benefits to them.

Who oversees branding in an organization?
The brand initiative must be championed from the top, the CEO level. It can be managed by the Director of Marketing but it is NOT solely a marketing function. It is a company-wide imperative and everyone from human resources to top management must be on the brand team. If the company perceives branding to be something in marketing, it will never take hold.

What is a brand personality?
Like people, brands have personalities. Your company has one right now, even if it isn't articulated. It is this personality that makes the brand human and that makes customers committed and loyal to it. It's one of the most important attributes of the brand.

We aren't currently doing branding. How do we get started?
First of all, you ARE currently doing branding. Every time any part of your company interacts with the public, you're creating a brand impression, you just don't know what it is and you just aren't managing it. To get started, you have to look at where the brand stands now. Research is usually the best way to do that. We like to talk to customers and employees. That usually gives a good overview of the current brand situation. Once you know where things stand at the present, then you can move forward to see what should be emphasized and what should be worked on to change.

Should the brand focus be on the product or the company?
The company. Your product will change, or be copied by competitors if it hasn't been already. The one thing no one can ever copy is your brand. which is the total experience your company delivers. There are lots of coffee shops, but only one Starbucks. There are lots of airlines, but only one Virgin. There are lots of sport shoes, but only one Nike. Your brand will outlast your product if you're smart.

What's a BrandBooster DNA Session?
This is a facilitated session held in our offices. Each session has 10-12 participants, employees of the client company, who represent a cross section of responsibilities. We usually do 3 or 4 sessions per company. Owners, presidents, and CEOs are not present to give participants the freedom to express themselves. We use a variety of unconventional, interactive techniques to encourage everyone to articulate feelings about the core values, strengths and character of the company, although these questions aren't directly asked. We ask attending people to trust the process and, even when things don't seem to make sense, go with the flow of things. We always learn a lot. When those present see the results, they are surprised because they didn't think they knew what was expressed, although they agree that it describes their company perfectly.

What's the most important thing about direct mail?
There are three things: the quality of the list, the value of the offer and the way it is presented. In other words, the presentation must be compelling enough to be opened and read, not tossed in the nearest wastebasket. When it is read, the offer must be valuable and quickly and clearly presented. And, of course, it must arrive in the hands of the right people.

What's the best way to get people to our website?
The best way is lots of ways, both on line and off. We generally try to interact with potential visitors at sites they already visit as well as with traditional print via magazines, newsletter, mailings and trade shows. Everyone likes to receive information differently and it's important to give potential clients choices about how they receive information from you as well as how they communicate information back to you.

How can we critique work delivered without making our agency defensive?
Professionals don't get defensive about work because they know it isn't a personal attack. However, in order to get better work every time, keep these things in mind. Tell the agency what bothers you but don't try to fix it and don't expect them to remedy it on the spot. Just state the problem, not the solution. And, since most things are subjective in creative development, try to think big picture and be specific i.e. don't say, "We don't like the navy blue", say, "the colors are too dark for our brand. We'd like to stay with lighter colors." That way, the next time, the agency won't come back with black, but will know your parameters for all future work. Also, the agency should be familiar with all of your past marcomm pieces and understand how what they're working on will integrate with what you have. We always have the client fill out an input sheet and get thorough upfront input so that our first attempt is on target. Mainly, try to keep subjectivity out of the process and remember to think like your audience.