Join us here for lively discussion and interaction about brand relevance. Find out what topics and issues will be highlighted at the conference and contribute to the conversation.
Small business owners of all ages are embracing social media networks and using them to empower their organization in today’s highly competitive marketplace. One in five small business owners is incorporating social media into their marketing plans according to a study done by the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business and the Small Business Success Index (SBSI).All types of small businesses doubled their adoption rate of social media usage from 12% to 24% in 2009.Naturally, this helped to spur on an increase in time spent on social media, +82% more time, or 5.5 hours per month in 2009.
Who are these small business owners?According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics,“More Americans Start Own Business” by Laura Petrecca, USA Today, the fastest growing sector of small businesses, +29% growth rate, is among those aged 65+ years old (10% of the total).That translates to some 213,000 senior citizens, or baby boomers, spurring on our economy with their ingenuity and experience.The next largest sector of growth is among those aged 20-24 years old, at 16% growth (3% of the total).However, the largest sector of small business owners, 26% of the total, is still the 45-54 year old boomers who experienced soft trends of -2% vs. 2008.It’s interesting that the very young professional or new graduate and the mid-career professional and the senior citizen professional are all playing a vital role in keeping the US small business sector healthy.
No matter how old you are, if you are a small business owner, you may want to know how other small businesses are utilizing social media, why others are using it and does it pay off? The Small Business Success Index™ (SBSI) reports the major social media trends:
75% have a company page on a social networking site
69% post updates/articles on LinkedIn and/or Facebook
58% feel that it met expectations, 12% feel it exceeded expectations and 25% feel it fell short of expectations
57% have built a network through a site like LinkedIn
54% monitor positive/negative feedback on social network sites
50% say it takes more time than expected
45% expect social media to be profitable in the next twelve months
39% have a blog on an area of expertise
36% Tweet about an area of expertise
17% express that social media give people a chance to criticize their business on the Internet, yet only 6% feel that social media use has hurt the image of the business more than it helped
73% claim that social media identifies and attracts new customers
56% say it develops a higher awareness of your organization within your target market
46% use it to stay engaged with their current customers
34% claim it allows them to collaborate more effectively externally, with suppliers, partners and colleagues
25% claim it allows them to collaborate more effectively internally.
One of the big issues today is whether or not social media efforts are worth it.Here is an article that speaks to the success of Twitter and blogging in effectively increasing lead generationfrom Hubspot in eMarketer’s online publication. Businesses are just now figuring out how to measure and calculate the effectiveness of social media, so watch out for more studies examining the ROI of social media in the future. In the meantime, the Small Business Index report indicates that 22% of small businesses have made a profit already while 53% feel that they will make a profit in the next 12 months and only 9% say they will lose money. With these preliminary numbers in mind, it is safe to say that social media networks do in fact work and empower a small business in staying competitive.
If you are not using social media networks or have no clear plan, here are just a few articles that may assist you in how to approach them and some simple steps on what to do.
The nuances of the unspoken etiquette and on participating with integrity from MarketingProfs.
How and why you should use the top three social medial networks, e.g. Linkedin, Facebook and Twitter, from MarketingProfs.
Social media marketing tips by type of social media from Mashable/Business.
For some examples of companies that are using social media networks, see below. You can learn from representative of these companies at the Brandsmart Conference 2010 in Chicago on June 24th.
Is your small business or company using social media more these days? Tell us how social media has changed the marketing landscape for your company or business.
Brands have evolved and changed throughout the decades. How can we predict what the future of brands will be? What trends should be aware of when considering our branding efforts?
Perhaps the future of brands is best summed up in this statement from Interbrand's The Future of Brands: "The future of brands is inextricably linked to the future of business. In fact, the future of brands is the future of business if it is to be about sustainable wealth creation. Further, because of the interaction of brands with society, and since so many socially influential brands are in the not-for-profit sector, the future of brands is also inextricably linked to the future of society."
If the future of brands is linked directly to the future (and success) of business and society, it's difficult to completely identify indicators about what is next with certainty. That said, there are recent trends that have been adopted by various brands that may give us clues.
Engage your audience. Successful brands can no longer deliver a one-way message. Competition is fierce in the market place. As a result, it has become more important for a brand to engage and relate directly to its consumers. Car makers have really stepped up to this trend. Think about Ford's "Swap Your Ride" and Toyota's Sienna minivan advertisements. Toyota makes driving a minivan cool. Ford reminds us why more people choose their cars over the competition.
Participate in partnerships and collaborations. Brands need to think above and beyond their bottom line and many are doing so by giving back to the community. This community kickback drives profits for the brand, but it also engages consumers beyond the scope of the product's use. Consumers feel good about giving back to the community and as a result feel good about the brand. Take a look at Dawn and its most recent campaign. For every bottle of Dawn soap purchased (up to $500,000) $1 will be donated to help save wildlife in the oil spill. Yoplait in its "Save Lids to Save Lives" is another brand that has partnered with a non-profit organization to raise money for breast cancer.How can your brand make a difference and still leave a lasting impression?
Provide a social experience. Create a community. What better way to develop a deeper connection with your consumers than to develop an online community for them to share, discuss and socialize with other consumers within the context of your brand.It is also a great way to learn more about your consumers. This has been an increasingly popular trend and many organizations are either developing their own platforms, such as Harley-Davidson with HarleyLot and Pepsi with their Pepsi Refresh Project. The future will certainly include many new online platforms. How will your brand stay relevant and ahead of the curve with its online outreach?
As new brand trends arise, adaptation will need to be made. The most important thing to recognize about the future of brands is that it is constantly changing. What does your company do to prepare for these changes? How far in advance to plan your brand's messaging and campaigns?
FutureBrand's Ten Trends for 2009+ gives great insight to the future of brands. Specifically with its #10 Trend: Fear of the Unknown. As stated, "The point of this trend is to push home the point that the future is ultimately unknowable. Yes you can see general patterns and make well-educated speculations about next week or next year based partly on past events and human behaviour. But if history teaches us anything, it is surely that totally unexpected ideas, inventions and events ... have a habit of ruining logical and well laid-out plans."
With 9.7% unemployment rate in the US, how do you land the right job offer, or any job offer?The average length of time someone is unemployed is 34.4 weeks or 8.5 months.What if it takes you longer?How long can you go without replacing your leaky roof? Frankly, the TV ad for The Ladders portrays the situation perfectly.You are one of a large pack of job hunters running frantically all over the tennis court after the same, dinky little tennis ball.People all around you are pushing and maneuvering around the same target.Deep down inside, you know you need a personal strategy to not only keep you in the game, but to differentiate yourself from the rest of the tennis pack.What choices should you make?Do you spend money and time perfecting your resume?Should you start your own website?Should you beef up your social media efforts? How do you juggle the myriad of choices at your fingertips?
The answer is easy but difficult to execute well.One must build and nurture a strong personal brand in order to stay in the game and win the match. Overtime, a personal brand that is honest, unique and relevant, will edge out your competitors and get you the job you need to survive, and the position you deserve.
To help you effectively manage your time and communicate your personal brand, listen to the inside recommendations from two marketing recruiters, Geri Kleeman from The Kleeman Group, Marilyn Vojta from Vojta & Associates and marketing consultant David Kissel, Partner at Zocalo Group and AMA Brandsmart Conference speaker, June 24th.Here’s how they collectively rated and evaluated the following key components most often used in building a strong personal brand.(Scores from 1-10, 1 Low Importance to 10 Most Important).
(Personal Brand Activity with respective rating and evaluation in order of priority)
1.Job Interview 10+
Of course, an interview is the most important factor in landing a job. There were three simple things our experts wanted to share:
Be consistent and portray your personal brand with 5-7 prepared stories that exemplify who you are, what you stand for and what your promise is.
Kleeman suggests you should avoid the trend of “panel interviews because they are a huge injustice to the person being interviewed.”Companies are justifying panel interviews because it saves time for the panel members.Regardless, it’s not an effective means to get to know the candidate.
Use behavioral techniques, like the STAR technique, to quantify and describe your main points.Make sure you provide clear examples of what you’ve done that can lead to how you can deliver results for this potential employer and be as specific as possible.
2.Resume9.3
This vehicle, to no surprise, is not going away. Kissel says “it is the common currency that documents oneself in the marketplace in a condensed format.”However, it’s vital that you have a well-written resume because recruiters see plenty poorly written resumes (believe it or not).This is the first opportunity for you to communicate and solidify your personal brand.“Make sure you take a stand and speak to who you are, what you stand for, and what your promise is” says Kissel. In order to uncover your personal branding qualities, he recommends that you “think about if people were talking about you, what would you want them to be saying?Somewhere in or around those words is where you should start in defining your personal brand.”Are you known to be passionate, a master with numbers, or someone who knows how to get things done?
3.Phone Interview/Conversation9.3
Both recruiters felt that the phone was key and pivotal throughout the entire process.Do not underestimate the fundamental power of a two-way, personal conversation.This vehicle can sway someone into either making you a job offer or even convincing them not to hire you.Here are a couple of ideas to help:
Whenever you can, get a conversation going and be persuasive about selling your personal brand.
Align your conversations or stories around your personal branding qualities and what the truth of your promise is.Always remember that your written key messages should be consistent with your verbal key messages.
4.Linkedin.com8.7
Eight-percent of employers seek new employees using Linkedin and recruiters rely heavily on this social media channel to seek out new candidates.Therefore, in order to be competitive, you must have a healthy presence on Linkedin.Here are some tips:
Quality of links are more believable and important than quantity, 50+ is OK
Make sure your personal brand shines through and matches your resume.
Take advantage of this channel because it is more dynamic than a resume, says Kissel.All three sources believed that you should join pertinent organizations and engage in conversations for the purposes of widening your network and building trusting relationships with individuals you don’t ever meet face to face.
Kissel also explains how Linkedin can be a short cut for trust when used well. For instance, enough of the right recommendations can portray trust.One way to get recommendations is to give them out to others unsolicited and you will automatically get them back in return.However, don’t forget that quality is more important than quantity, where thirty is definitely too many.Lastly, ensure that your recommendations align with your key personal brand messages.
5.Verbal References8.0
Recruiters use references in two very important ways, one way you may be aware of and the other may be a surprise.
Recruiters rely heavily on casual references.Unbeknownst to you, they are calling your former supervisor or someone else in their network that knows you for a quick chat.This is part of their regular due diligence so it’s in your best interest to never burn any bridges, even under the most trying of circumstances like a firing or a lay-off.
Once a company is ready to give out an offer, a recruiter calls your “official” references for a longer 15-20 minutes chat.Ensure that your references are aligned with your personal brand messaging because the recruiters are looking for continuity and fit.So, if you claim that you are passionate about your work and none of your references bring this quality up, this weakens your claim.
6.Professional Extracurricular Activities7.0
Do not be lazy or so busy that you fail to participate in professional associations. .Basically, involvement in organizations is evidence that you are still learning, well connected and on top of your game.These are qualities that are more desirable than someone who is stuck inside their own cocoon.
Vojta feels that “being a part of a professional organization shows that you are a global thinker”.
Kissel adds some good spin by suggesting you should take these activities and extend them, publicize them into the social media channels in order to extend the reach of your personal brand
Don’t become involved in so many organizations that it’s impossible for you to stay involved and keep up.
7.Organic Name Search on Yourself7.0
There is some variation on how much recruiters and employers search your name organically.Regardless, you should search yourself in case you need to correct anything misleading, differentiate yourself from someone with the same name or improve a lack of meaningful listings.Our sources share that:
*It is more appropriate to search a name for senior level positions.
*You may never get the phone interview if someone is not impressed with your listings or even a little curious.
8.Blogging for yourself or for your company5.3
According to our two recruiters, blogging for the purpose of expressing your personal brand is not monitored by those who are vetting you for a position.So, they do not advise blogging in order to to get found.However, there are other venerable reasons for blogging such as expressing your opinions as an expert on some subject, for the purpose of being heard, helping others, garnering advertisers and earning an income as a blogger and more .Here’s what the experts had to say:
According to Vojta, it’s possible that your opinions could be misconstrued or considered too strong and it could actually work against you.
Kissel had a pertinent warning that “if you can’t think and express a unique, meaningful point of view, don’t blog.It’s all about what makes you special, your point of view.”
Kleeman would not bother investigating anyone’s blog unless it was a part of the position they were applying for.
9.Facebook4.0
Presently, the majority of recruiters and most employers don’t seem to be checking Facebook profiles, walls or photos according to our three experts.Facebook has a strong personal social aspect to it and is not as professionally oriented as Linkedin.However, look out!
Although Kissel recognized Facebook’s personal utility, he realized that it could negatively impact your professional life.More than half of employers surveyed by Harris Interactive recently reported they did not hire candidates based on provocative photos or references to drugs or alcohol.Needless to say, that is not considered good personal branding.
One recruiter predicted that more and more companies may start reviewing Facebook for younger, new hires in order to discover things they cannot ask legally, e.g. gender, race etc. In addition, a company could also use a Facebook presence to judge your integrity and character. Regardless of age, it’s wise not to put anything on Facebook that could malign your professional character or negatively sway a potential employer.
10.Twitter3.7
Every one of the sources claimed that Twitter is not highly relevant in the job search today.Only one out of three sources Twitters diligently despite the fact that there are 110MM Twitterers.Overall, this new social media channel is still immature and crowded with noise, but, if executed regularly, efficiently and wisely, I believe there may be some opportunities waiting to happen.Some companies recruit directly on Twitter.What successes have you heard about?In the meantime, here are some comments from our sources.
Aptly stated by Kissel, “Twitter is a lot of talk and not a lot of meaning.”
Kleeman uses it as another channel to stay in touch with candidates and gets the word out with tips, advice and announcements of job openings for her followers.This alone may be good reason for a job hunter to follow recruiters and their Tweets.
11.Personal Branded Website 1.0
All three of our experts saw no value in developing a personal website.It may be a big waste of time and is not the most effective means to communicate your personal brand, especially since there are so many other vehicles that can do the same thing.
Take a deep look inside of yourself to uncover the truest attributes that make you special, differentiated and competitive in the workforce.Take time and effort to consistently communicate these qualities across all methods, verbal and written, and throughout numerous social media channels, in order to extend your brand into new territory.
Like Marilyn Vojta wisely reminded us, “if you can brand and market a widget, you can brand and market yourself”.What successes have you had in some of these channels?
$104 billion. An impressive value for just about any organization. A company with $104 billion in revenues would rank 16th in the Fortune 500, between General Motors and AIG.
But this $104 billion doesn’t represent a particular company’s revenues; it equals the difference between Procter & Gamble’s (P&G) market capitalization ($150 billion) and its book value ($46.6 billion). According to P&G’s 2009 annual report, “The difference is the value P&G shareholders place on the Company’s brands, the earnings and cash these brands generate today, and the confidence that these leading brands will continue to grow in the future.”
$89 billion is another impressive number. It represents the value of net goodwill and other intangible assets on P&G’s balance sheet. These facts raise questions for brand marketers: Why are there tens of billions of valued intangible assets on the balance sheet, and what does this mean?
London-based consulting firm Brand Finance teaches us that brand valuation and other “intangible assets” began to figure more prominently on balance sheets over 20 years ago when, “the corporate raiders and asset strippers of the 1980s who targeted brand rich companies and paid significantly more than their net asset value. This resulted in huge ‘goodwill’ values that had to be recognized.” All of a sudden, companies realized that they needed legitimate means to account for brands so that the true value of a company was recognized on the balance sheet.
CoreBrand is another company specializing in brand valuation; others include Interbrand and Millward Brown. CoreBrand defines an intangible asset representing, “the reputational portion of goodwill.” (CoreBrand published the CoreBrand 800 that tracks top brands. P&G ranked 50 in the Q4 2009 rankings. CocaCola ranked first. According to its 2009 annual report, CocaCola’s combined goodwill and intangible asset value was $6.6 billion.)
For P&G, its $89 billion net goodwill and other intangible asset value has been built over decades of investing in research to deliver innovative products, and well-executed, highly strategic marketing and branding initiatives. The company puts it pretty simply, “P&G’s billion-dollar brands are platforms for innovation. They are global leaders. Consumers want them in their homes. Retailers want them in their stores. They enable us to bring innovation to consumers around the world effectively, efficiently and profitably. They make consumers’ lives a little better, every day.”
Numbers like these clearly have the attention of company CEOs and CFOs, as evidenced by their appearance on balance sheets. However, brand values have further financial implications for annual reports. First, brand valuation plays a critical role when a parent company moves to sell or divest a brand. The purchase of Pabst Blue Ribbon at $250 million is a good example of brand valuation driving a sale. Second, brand strength is a key factor in stock price. We’ve already discussed the $104 billion gap between P&G’s market capitalization and its book value, but also take a look at this interesting story about company stock performance following appearances on this spring’s successful Undercover Boss. Each public company’s stock was higher since the episode aired.
$104 billion and $89 billion – these numbers are more than just a feeling, they are real numbers vital to a company’s financial health. How does your branding strategy fit into your company’s financial strategy? We welcome your thoughts.
Brand relevance and brand value are two sides of the same coin, both of which affect brand strength in the marketplace. Brand value is a key differentiator; it is more than just a collection of perceptions in consumers’ minds. Strong brands have real value when it comes to customers’ purchase decisions and deliver an economic impact that positively affects a company's bottom line.
When a brand has a strong presence in the marketplace, it reaps a number of economic benefits that include:
Premium pricing: Consumers pay more for branded items that they believe have higher value and lower risk than lesser-known alternatives. This preference is based largely on the trust that a given brand engenders. Think Grey Goose vs. Smirnoff or Tumi vs. American Tourister.
Lower cost of sales: Consumers of valued brands make more frequent and repeat purchases, which spread customer-acquisition costs over a long-term client relationship.
Lower cost of promotion: Consumers of valued brands become ambassadors who spread positive word-of-mouth at no cost to the brand.
Higher market share: Valued brands acquire loyal customers who recruit more customers to the brand, increasing the brand’s share of market while reducing customer-development costs and building immunity to competitive attacks.
Lower employee turnover: Great brands attract passionate employees who pass their enthusiasm to satisfied consumers, who in turn make employees’ jobs more enjoyable, reducing employee turnover as a result. The trust factor is significant among employees as well.
Higher stature: Valued brands enjoy a high level of awareness and esteem in the minds of consumers, industry leaders, community leaders, news editors, financial analysts and investors, which leads to yet higher brand preference and marketplace prominence.
In his well-known book, Strategic Brand Management, Kevin Lane Keller states, “the ability of a strong brand to simplify consumer decision-making, reduce risk and set expectations is…invaluable.”
The same is true for B2B brands. How can B2B companies truly differentiate their offering and be relevant to customers over the long-term? The answer: brands.
According to Kevin Randall, Director of Brand Strategy & Research at Movéo Integrated Branding, “A strong brand becomes the customer’s ‘shorthand’ for making good choices in a complex, risky, and confusing marketplace.”
In an article on BrandChannel, Randall posits that “brands produce economic value in the B2B marketplace. According to a [previous] Interbrand/BusinessWeek ‘Best Global Brands By Value’ ranking, IBM, GE, and Intel, largely B2B-focused brands targeting sophisticated enterprises and ‘technical buyers,’ are among the most valuable brands. Their intangible asset of ‘goodwill’ drives billions of dollars in value and market capitalization. IBM’s 2009 brand value is US$60,211, (GE $47,777 billion, Intel $30,636 billion). Their brands, not their products, are their differentiators that lead to competitive advantage.”
Randall identifies that the intangibles, or “trust factors,” are even more important than the tangibles in determining which buying decisions are made. He cites GE as making more money and achieving greater differentiation through its value-added intangibles in the form of its “branded” offering (services, assurance, solutions, people, etc.) than its “parity products,” such as aircraft engines and medical equipment.
Says Randall, “Today’s B2B customers may articulate their need for ROI, higher performance or a better mousetrap; yet, what they really want is to avoid doing business with ‘an Enron.’ They want a name or people they can trust; they want to buy from a ‘leader.’ Strong brands play to these important drivers.”
Malcolm Gladwell’s best-selling book, Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, reveals a well-known “secret” among neuroscientists and new wave market researchers that “the driver of their real feelings, thoughts and actions is their unconscious. Buyers make split-second decisions (“thin-slicing”) based on stored memories, images and feelings—which is what a brand is all about.”
Such research has spawned an entire industry and created the field of neuro-marketing. Find out how Campbell’s Soup launched a redesigned label using neuroscience research or check out Dan Ariely’s book, Predictably Irrational.
Do you agree that a strong brand equals a strong two-second impression, whether you’re buying potato chips or specifying microchips? Leave us a comment and add your voice and thoughts to the discussion.
It’s easy to get lost in the details of the daily news churn as it relates to today’s top internet brands like Google rated #1 brand globally and Facebook.
The top Internet brands*, according to a key ranking on unique visitors are:
Compete's Top 10 Sites Ranked By: Unique Visitors - April 2010
Each of the top Internet brands faces similar privacy and open content issues as they are challenged to grow. Here are some updates:
1. There is a constant barrage of invasion of privacy issues.
* Facebook has repeatedly been the target of privacy controversies. When Facebook started sharing personal data and online behavior with outside websites, an advocacy group filed a complaint on May 5 with the Federal Trade Commission about the misuse of personal information. Some 31,000 users, less than 1% of total Facebook users, banded together to create the Quit Facebook Day website. Although the site attracted attention, it did not make a dent in decreasing Facebook users.
2. Foreign countries are challenging the open content concept.
• Youtube and Facebook have had numerous incidents. Facebook is banned already in Syria, China, Iran and Vietnam.Just recently, both Facebook and Youtube were banned from Pakistan due to inappropriate Muslim content. They have since been allowed to be reinstated by censoring out content inappropriate to Muslims. Bangladesh followed Pakistan’s lead and banned Facebook as well.
• Italy is threatening Google’s open content premise and business model. Three Google executives were convicted of violating Italian privacy laws because the Italian Prime MinisterSilvio Berlusconi wants to control Internet content. He believes that the Google leadership is responsible for third-party text, photos and videos and if the conviction is upheld, Google’s business model of advertising and searching based on open access to all will be at peril.
As these top Internet brands continue to grow and attain more market share, power and revenues, you can expect to read more news regarding yet undiscovered privacy issues. Just remember that you can have a voice through collective groups online, through social media campaigns and our government and politicians if you want to speak your mind.
You can also expect additional foreign countries, be it Western Europe or third-world countries, to be questioning and censoring the Internet to suit their politics, policies or religions. The overall nature of the Internet may look very different from country to country in the future. Each of the Internet brands may look very different overseas vs. the US version of the same brand. It is not unusual for the global expansion of any US brand to face serious issues unique to each country. It will be necessary for the management to be in close touch with their foreign consumer insights and constituents in order to succeed. What are your thoughts?
What’s next for these top Internet brands? I guarantee there will be a lot of change, aligning of powers (Yahoo’s online search deal with Microsoft), some further company consolidations and product/service brand expansions.For instance, although Google started out as a pure search engine business, they have expanded into more software-like enterprises with Chrome OS, Docs and Android.Google is even entering the media industry with its “Internet TV” deal with Sony this fall. What do you think is on the horizon?
* Note that I am including only pure-play internet brands (but not for long) and not brands that have brick-and-mortar, multi-channel or manufacturing components.
Hosted by the Chicago American Marketing Association, this day-long conference on June 24 will equip you with branding best practices and application-packed insights.
For event details and registration:
http://brandsmart.chicagoama.org
