Many times branding and strategy are discussed at the beginning of an initiative and how the content will be created is a functional afterthought. Savvy marketers are paying close attention to content marketing http://www.junta42.com/resources/what-is-content-marketing.aspx and how it directly correlates brands and messaging to the consumer or client base.
As a company builds its brand identity and develops strategy, content will come into play. The discussion about content should happen simultaneously as the strategy is being developed.
A strong strategy will determine the types of content that might be used and will clarify some of the following:
· Who is your target audience?
· What types of content will you need to create?
· How will your content be delivered?
· What are the metrics to determine success in reaching the audiences?
The importance of answering these questions enables re-use of collateral, which saves time and reduces costs by creating multiple pieces of content (video, articles and a social media campaign). This approach allows a content group or marketing department to save time on researching and creating content on similar topics with a different spin.
Content marketing encompasses all of the marketing initiatives that involve creative content generation. It is important to understand when writing for the Web vs. writing for print or ad campaigns that there will be different content needs and different outcomes. http://s2eo.blogspot.com/2010_04_01_archive.html
If writing for the Web, make sure you have someone who understands how to build a taxonomy (utilizing keywords and meta-data from your Web gurus), how to create strong quality content to match brands and then test the theory. Put the content out there and see what the response is. The measuring and tweaking takes time but allows for the content to mature along with the brand.
Not sure if content marketing is a MUST for your brand? http://s2eo.blogspot.com/2010/03/content-marketing-why-content-matters.html When determining strategy, most marketers want to direct traffic to the company site, convert a visit to a sale or a lead and engage visitors so they begin to trust and stay on the site for a longer time period. If a site has a high abandon rate, isn’t bringing in the sales or having much lead generation, then content marketing and building a site with quality content is a must.
If your site is looking merely for quantity, you can utilize free online articles or very inexpensive content to fill your site. An increasingly-savvy audience will get the message--your company is not dedicated to quality. In social conversations you can figure out how individuals feel about messaging and content. They will quickly reveal who has it right and who doesn’t. Of course, their buying decisions will be a tangible sign and ultimately, sales will reflect this as well.
5.21.2010
Brand Olympics 2009: Where Does Your Brand Stand?
We all love lists. Dave’s Top 10, the Guinness Book of World Records, the best-selling albums, the most influential people—there is no end to our passion for lists and list-making.
Marketers are no different. And to feed that passion, the folks at Interbrand Inc. compile an annual assessment of the top 100 global brands in several different categories. Before we actually take a look at who’s on top (focusing on the top 20—you can check the rest for yourself at http://ow.ly/1Obcu), let’s consider what benchmarks and measurements are used to determine the winners.
According to the company, “The Interbrand method for valuing brands…examines [them] through the lens of financial strength, the importance of the brand in driving consumer selection, and the likelihood of ongoing revenue generated by the brand.”
Here are the specific criteria:
1. There must be substantial, publicly-available financial data.
2. One-third of the brand’s revenues must come from outside its country of origin.
3. The brand must be positioned to play a significant role in the consumers’ purchase decision.
4. The Economic Value Added (EVA) must be positive, showing that there is revenue above the company’s operating and financing costs.
5. The brand must have a broad public profile and awareness.
In the words of Patrizio di Marco, CEO of Gucci (whose brand ranks at #41), “The most successful and enduring brands are those built over the long term, where a consistent and cohesive set of values is established in the minds of your customers. From that moment onwards you should never compromise on these values for short-term gain.”
While the financial data is certainly significant in determining the top brands, the other side suggests less tangible criteria are equally important. Those who study such things indicate that one of the primary keys to becoming and remaining a top brand is relevance, and the underlying basis of relevance is authenticity and meaningfulness.
An article by Joe Cecere, Vice President and Creative Director, Little & Company, http://www.littleco.com/pdf/PERSPECTIVES_Brandrelevance.pdf offers the insight that the brands that endure, the brands that consistently rise to the top year after year, do so by understanding trends, recognizing shifts in the marketplace and taking actions to defend their brand within the volatile environment of global change.
So we have to ask the question—the same one BrandSmart 2010 poses: In a world that’s constantly changing, how do you maintain brand relevance? According to Cecere, the answer is found in one word: adaptation.
“Adaptability can take many forms. These brands have not only remained relevant, but have thrived because of their ability to meet changing consumer needs, new competitive challenges, even shifting internal trends.
“Change is a key ingredient in brand longevity. If brand watching teaches us anything, it’s that if you want to remain relevant, you can never stand still, no matter how established your laurels.” This goes back to di Marco’s position of building a brand “over the long term with a consistent and cohesive set of values.” Yet the established brand must be flexible, adaptable and responsive in order to remain relevant.
The effect of all this volatility and change results in a loss of customer trust overall. And as customers trust less, stable brands matter more. A successful brand needs to stand for something that actually matters. (http://www.klminc.com/branding/brand-relevance.html)
Brands must build a “foundation of messaging that is flexible, adaptable and nimble to take best advantage of emerging opportunities, while mitigating unforeseen obstacles. As the business world continues to shift beneath your feet, a message platform (and the story that guides it) can be the roadmap for remaining relevant to every stakeholder in every situation.” http://briancreath.wordpress.com/category/brand-relevance/
So which brands have successfully created that foundation of messaging to survive, thrive and flourish as relevant and meaningful from both a financial and qualitative standpoint? Here are the top 20 brands for 2009 (2008 rank in parentheses) identified by both Interbrand and Business Week http://ow.ly/1ObiR
1. Coca-Cola (1)
2. IBM (2)
3. Microsoft (3)
4. GE (4)
5. Nokia (5)
6. McDonald’s (8)
7. Google (10)
8. Toyota (6)
9. Intel (7)
10. Disney (9)
11. Hewlett-Packard (12)
12. Mercedes-Benz (11)
13. Gillette (14)
14. Cisco (17)
15. BMW (13)*
16. Louis Vuitton (16)
17. Marlboro (18)
18. Honda (20)
19. Samsung (21)*
20. Apple (24)
*American Express fell from 15 in 2008 to 22 in 2009; Citi had been ranked 19 in 2008, 36 in 2009.
After you check out the rankings at these sites, let us know if you agree or question the validity of the rankings. Did your brand make the cut? Should another brand have been named to the top 10 or 20 leading global brands? What factors do you believe are most important in determining a successful global brand, and does success equal relevance? Share your thoughts here and take a stand for your brand.
Marketers are no different. And to feed that passion, the folks at Interbrand Inc. compile an annual assessment of the top 100 global brands in several different categories. Before we actually take a look at who’s on top (focusing on the top 20—you can check the rest for yourself at http://ow.ly/1Obcu), let’s consider what benchmarks and measurements are used to determine the winners.
According to the company, “The Interbrand method for valuing brands…examines [them] through the lens of financial strength, the importance of the brand in driving consumer selection, and the likelihood of ongoing revenue generated by the brand.”
Here are the specific criteria:
1. There must be substantial, publicly-available financial data.
2. One-third of the brand’s revenues must come from outside its country of origin.
3. The brand must be positioned to play a significant role in the consumers’ purchase decision.
4. The Economic Value Added (EVA) must be positive, showing that there is revenue above the company’s operating and financing costs.
5. The brand must have a broad public profile and awareness.
In the words of Patrizio di Marco, CEO of Gucci (whose brand ranks at #41), “The most successful and enduring brands are those built over the long term, where a consistent and cohesive set of values is established in the minds of your customers. From that moment onwards you should never compromise on these values for short-term gain.”
While the financial data is certainly significant in determining the top brands, the other side suggests less tangible criteria are equally important. Those who study such things indicate that one of the primary keys to becoming and remaining a top brand is relevance, and the underlying basis of relevance is authenticity and meaningfulness.
An article by Joe Cecere, Vice President and Creative Director, Little & Company, http://www.littleco.com/pdf/PERSPECTIVES_Brandrelevance.pdf offers the insight that the brands that endure, the brands that consistently rise to the top year after year, do so by understanding trends, recognizing shifts in the marketplace and taking actions to defend their brand within the volatile environment of global change.
So we have to ask the question—the same one BrandSmart 2010 poses: In a world that’s constantly changing, how do you maintain brand relevance? According to Cecere, the answer is found in one word: adaptation.
“Adaptability can take many forms. These brands have not only remained relevant, but have thrived because of their ability to meet changing consumer needs, new competitive challenges, even shifting internal trends.
“Change is a key ingredient in brand longevity. If brand watching teaches us anything, it’s that if you want to remain relevant, you can never stand still, no matter how established your laurels.” This goes back to di Marco’s position of building a brand “over the long term with a consistent and cohesive set of values.” Yet the established brand must be flexible, adaptable and responsive in order to remain relevant.
The effect of all this volatility and change results in a loss of customer trust overall. And as customers trust less, stable brands matter more. A successful brand needs to stand for something that actually matters. (http://www.klminc.com/branding/brand-relevance.html)
Brands must build a “foundation of messaging that is flexible, adaptable and nimble to take best advantage of emerging opportunities, while mitigating unforeseen obstacles. As the business world continues to shift beneath your feet, a message platform (and the story that guides it) can be the roadmap for remaining relevant to every stakeholder in every situation.” http://briancreath.wordpress.com/category/brand-relevance/
So which brands have successfully created that foundation of messaging to survive, thrive and flourish as relevant and meaningful from both a financial and qualitative standpoint? Here are the top 20 brands for 2009 (2008 rank in parentheses) identified by both Interbrand and Business Week http://ow.ly/1ObiR
1. Coca-Cola (1)
2. IBM (2)
3. Microsoft (3)
4. GE (4)
5. Nokia (5)
6. McDonald’s (8)
7. Google (10)
8. Toyota (6)
9. Intel (7)
10. Disney (9)
11. Hewlett-Packard (12)
12. Mercedes-Benz (11)
13. Gillette (14)
14. Cisco (17)
15. BMW (13)*
16. Louis Vuitton (16)
17. Marlboro (18)
18. Honda (20)
19. Samsung (21)*
20. Apple (24)
*American Express fell from 15 in 2008 to 22 in 2009; Citi had been ranked 19 in 2008, 36 in 2009.
After you check out the rankings at these sites, let us know if you agree or question the validity of the rankings. Did your brand make the cut? Should another brand have been named to the top 10 or 20 leading global brands? What factors do you believe are most important in determining a successful global brand, and does success equal relevance? Share your thoughts here and take a stand for your brand.
5.17.2010
What Makes a Top Brand?: I want people to buy my toilet
“I’d buy a toilet if they made it,” said a man waiting in line outside of an Apple Store recently waiting to purchase his new iPad.
Apple has a strong brand mindshare. We know it because of comments like these and because we can measure the lines outside of their stores during a new product launch. It’s not always so clear for the rest of us.
“What makes a top brand?” Type that phrase into Google and just over 88 million results are returned. It’s a common question for consumers and marketers alike. So before that question is discussed, let’s take a step back and ask – what are the standard metrics to assess brand mindshare?
Measuring brand mindshare, or popularity, is critical for brand marketers because we want to know if our products are part of the evoked set, otherwise known as the “short list,” of products being considered. It is one of a brand marketer’s main objectives.
There seems to be no definitive list of metrics currently used to assess mindshare. That said, we offer the list of metrics below to consider when assessing brands. This list is a compilation distilled from industry experts and authors with additional resources for further insight.
Web site and Web search traffic: How frequently is your brand being searched for on sites like Google and Bing? Is your Web traffic working for you?(Check out: Working Toward the Solutions for Online Brand Measurement)(Check out: How to Measure Online Brand Popularity)
- Social media: How active are participants in your social media communities and networks?(Check out: 5 Ways to Track Your Brand/Website on Twitter)(Check out: 10 Social Media Benchmarks, What are Your Plans for 2010?)
- Focus groups and surveys: Is your brand one of the top products that come to mind when participants are asked to name brands in your category?(Check out: It All Begins with Mind Share)
- Stock value and other financial indicators: What is the market saying about your brand? What is your balance sheet saying about your brand?(Check out: It’s Time to Put Brand Value on the Balance Sheet)
Applying these measurement tools consistently can help keep your brand strong and healthy. For example, assessing mindshare and taking appropriate action may have helped California Pizza Kitchen. Or, it can assist you track recovery following a “brand disaster” (e.g., BP, Tiger Woods, Toyota).
We’d like you to share your thoughts and suggestions. Do you agree with this list? What metrics do you use to determine if your brand is tops?
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