Why business silos are death to brands

Shopping is a primary activity for people who are on vacation, so I think we could argue that many retail brands should really be about entertainment.  With that in mind ever wonder why you might see a great print or TV ad – clever, witty, entertaining, and maybe even bold - and then when you go to the retail store or website to purchase the environment is nothing like the ad campaign that was created to get you there. The culprit? Brands are organized by function and don’t communicate with one another.

Many retail brands still do not get Brand 360 where the store or website is the greatest consumer touch point.   Sure stores can succeed with good customer service (efficient, helpful) but what about the way the store/website looks and feels?  Why not link your brand marketing to the store?  Even a few bold graphics could make a tie in.  My belief is that business silos may be an efficient way for a business to organize but silos don’t care at all about the customer and are “death” to a fully actualized brand experience.

Social Media on a Shoestring

In order to not become a marketing dinosaur I decided to develop a thoughtful social media strategy for my B2B clients.  This is not an easy task as the benefits are not as readily apparent as in consumer marketing.   In B2B the key decision-maker is likely to be an executive in their company (sometimes the CEO) often in their 40s or 50s.  It is hard to imagine this type of person taking the time to read tweets or Facebook in order to decide what partner they will select to work with in their business. 

And then you have the cost.  Initially my reserach indicated that you would need at least one full-time person to devote to social media to keep up with the inbound and outbound side of things.  I began to discover that you can "try" social media with less of an investment if you have a willing team of participants. First priority is to develop a blog.  This is very important in the ability to move your company up in organic search. But here is where the team comes in.  You need at least 4-6 people who are willing to post once a month.  There is nothing like frequency in blogging.  This will take some time on the part of the team members so sign up people who are willing to commit one hour per month to the project -- and, of course, people who have something interesting to say.  Then find a young staff member who is already participating in social media and have them as the point person on the other vehicles like Twitter and Facebook.

And try to put some "social" in social media.  If you have fun with it people will be more engaged in helping out for the long haul.   

Four Ways to Improve Your Brand Strategy

You might remember the classic 1979 movie Being There with Peter Sellers and Shirley MacLaine.  When working on brand strategies I like to focus on four ways of "being there" --  Befing different, Being seen, Being where customers are, Being where competitors are not. 

Being different requires a unique point of view and differentiation from competitors. Being seen includes public relations, an on-line presence, social media strategies and traditional media like advertising and promotions. Being where customers aremeans knowing where, when and how to reach customers.  If your clients or customers use Facebook and Twitter, be there.  If not, don’t follow a fad.  Being where competitors are not.This may include expansion into new markets, developing new products or services or simply finding unique avenues to reach customers and developing ideas that can be ownable.

Blogging for fame and fortune

I was doing some research on blogging for a technology client recently and discovered that although most companies understand the concept of how Blogs can help create "fame" few truly get the "fortune" part of blogging.

My secondary research found that people who read corporate blogs tend to skew towards first-time visitors (think prospects.)  Prospects will start with a search to help solve a problem they are having. Relevant blog content will often rank highest on the organic side of searches and people like Blogs.  They think Blogs are more honest and less hard sell.

So, as in most thingsmarketing related, in turns out that relevance is the most important aspect of blogging for fortune.  And strategic keywords that support the brand strategy are the key ingredient.

Berlin needs a new brand strategy

I am heading off for a week in Berlin.  As I have shared my vacations plans with friends and colleagues the first question that is always asked is "Why Berlin?"  I actually have a reason.  I attended a Retail Congress a few years ago and happened to sit next to a young reporter who had spent a year in Berlin.  He told me that the former East Berlin is still very cheap to live in and so Berlin has once again become the mecca for struggling artists.  It is attracting quality and talent as it did in its former glory days during the 20s and 30s.  I also watched how areas of burgeoning creativity can quickly turn commercial (can you say SOHO?) so I thought I had better get over there pronto.  But clearly Berlin needs a better marketing strategy.  Young people know its cheap and tour books say it is a must-do if you are going to Germany but that doesn't sound like much of a differentiator to me.  Upon my return I will have more to add to "Why Berlin?"