SOCICAL MEDIA AND BRANDING: WHY DO BRANDS NEED AN IDENTITY TO CREATE BRANDING

There is a four step formula in creating positioning.

There is a four step formula in creating positioning. Positioning is created by asking four questions. Who is the brand FOR…this defines the TARGET. You then say “Brand X is…(define the frame of reference and subjective category). If you asked this question about the two singers mentioned earlier you would say Brand X is an R&B dance singer. This would define for the market which brands are in play in this category.  You then would ask, “Which gives the most…(promise or consumer benefit). If you like videos, your selection for an R & B brand would be the singer that makes the best videos. The last question is “because of…”. “ I want an R&B brand that gives me a visual experience “.  Because I want a visual experience, I will chose the singer that makes the most stylish videos.

SOCIAL MEDIA AND BRANDING: WHAT ARE THE 8 FUNCTIONS OF A BRAND

          IDENTIFICATION.  A brand  makes a product clearly seen. It helps a consumer make sense of an offer. Simply, the brand will identify a product for a consumer. A brand will act as a lighthouse for a consumer, shining a beacon in their eyes, in order that they will know what products to select in a flooded marketplace.

          PRACTICALITY.  To allow  savings of time and energy. People know that this is the product they want at this time.

          GUARANTEE.  To be sure of  buying  the best product in its category, the best performer for its category.

          BADGE. To create an image for the marketplace that clearly identifies this product in relation to others.

          CONTINUITY.  Brands create a sense  of satisfaction and trust. They create friendship with customers in the social media age. This creates a relationship. It is relationships that motivate a customer to buy.

          HEDONISTIC.  This relationship and friendship creates enchantment and attractiveness of the product that develops loyalty. To create this enchantment, logos, theme songs, and phrases are created that communicate the experiential rewards.

          ETHICAL. The satisfaction that the product brings is linked to responsible behavior. This responsibility solidifies the relationship between the product and consumer and creates the long term relationship that leads to brand. 

          Some brands have succeeded in proving with their slogans that they know and understand what their fundamental task is: to transform the product category.  A brand not only acts on the market. It organizes the market, drives a vision, creates a calling, and develops a clear idea of what the category is all about. Too many brands wish only to identify with the product category.   In social media, products and consumers create a two way friendship.

Dean Hambleton

dnhambleton@gmail.com

SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY AND BRANDING; WHAT ARE THE SIX STRATEGIES FOR CREATING A WORLD CLASS BRAND

• PRODUCT BRAND
• LINE BRAND
• RANGE BRAND
• UMBRELLA BRAND
• SOURCE BRAND  (or PARENT BRAND)
• ENDORSING BRAND

           PRODUCT BRAND.  A brand is a symbol, a word, object, or a concept---all at once and one at the same time. The purpose of a product-brand is to assign an exclusive name to a product.  This is the strategy that Proctor and Gamble employees.  Tide is P &G’s laundry detergent.  The product is so well marketed that when consumers hear the name, Tide,  the first thing they thing they think of is washing clothes.

            RANGE BRAND.   A group of products all under one name and one promise. This is how television networks brand their shows. During promotional breaks, a network will advertise several shows at once. The networks goal is for a consumer to think of several shows when they hear the name of the network  

           LINE BRAND. A group of products that have complementary products.  Cosmetic products are branded in this way.  In many lines there is a shampoo, a shaving cream, an after shave, and a deodorant, all under one roof. The advantages to this strategy is that it raises the selling power of the brand and creates a strong image of consistency. It creates an easy movement to line extensions and it reduces line costs.

            UMBRELLA--BRAND.  This method is used when a group of very different products are  marketed under one brand. A brand of motorcycles  also brands pianos and guitars. Yamaha brands like this.

            SOURCE BRAND.  This is like Umbrella except under source branding, the products are now directly named. A consumer brand might name its products Dairy Crunch, Nescafe, Nesquick.

            ENDORSING BRAND. . Car companies brand in the same way.  Pontiac,  Buick, Oldsmobile, and Chevrolet in the United States and  Opel and Vauxhall in Europe are endorsed by General Motors. The advantage to this type of branding is that it adds more touch points.  Each particular name evokes a forceful image of the product in one’s mind.  In the case of a car brand, there are many individual products. Using the endorsing mechanism allows a company to save a great deal of expense and it simplifies the branding in the consumer’s mind.

SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY AND BRANDING: WHY AFRICA HAS AN EXPLODING MARKET FOR SOCIAL MEDIA

American markets have matured. Companies have to find new sources of revenue. Those sources are the emerging markets. Africa's demographics show that it is an expanding market for social media.

SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY AND BRANDING: HOW HONESTY CREATES STRONG DIFFERENTATION

Differentiation is the defining your product in the mind of a consumer.

Differentiation is not tangible. Differentiation is something that is placed in the mind of the consumer.

Differentiation is a creative strategy. You differentiate with what is at your disposal. Two quotes express what a marketer must do in developing differentiation strategy. The quotes come from Texas football.  Don Meredith  once said, “You dance with the girl you come with”. Tom Landry once said, “You take what they give you”.

One of the great differentiation campaigns of all time was based on honesty. Hertz is the industry leader in the car rental space. Avis positioned itself against Hertz by emphasizing customer service. They differentiated themselves with this line, “Rent from Avis. This line at the counter is shorter”.  Avis’ differentiation strategy was brilliant. Avis took what Hertz gave them. They took Hertz’ strength and made it a weakness. How could Hertz refute this statement? Because Avis was no. 2 and had fewer customers, naturally there line was shorter.

            This placed in customer minds’ this idea. " If I rent from Avis, I can be dwelt with quicker".  For a business traveler this a key issue in the ultimate buying possession.  Through a deft differentiation strategy Avis was able to place this key issue in the minds of the business traveler customer.

SOCIAL MEDIA ST ST STRATEGY AND BRANDING: A SIMPLE WAY TO REMEMBER POSTIONING

In New Media, because there are so many products, positioning is critical. With so many products in the market place, a consumer must clearly have YOUR brand in the consumer’s mind when the consumer makes their purchasing decisions.

To keep positioning simple, brands are positioned in 6 ways.

·        Attribute

·        Price

·        Use

·        Product-User

·        Product-class

·        Competitor

Attribute.  Kelly Rowland sings dance music.   Toni Braxton sings love ballads. Crest  known as a cavity fighter. The BMW car is positioned as the quality car   “…the ultimate driving machine.

Price. Nordstrom positions itself as the quality leader by having the highest price. Burlington Coat Factory positions itself as having nice, stylish clothes, that are “affordable”. They don’t carry the most exclusive brands.

Use. Radio station WEEI in Boston, and all sports talk radio station, positions itself against National Public Radio, an all news station.

Product-User.   Nike designed a shoe just to be used for basketball, and signed Michael Jordan as its spokesperson to position against the sneaker walking and running sneakers.

Competitor. You position yourself directly against a competitor. Hertz had the top ranking.Avis decided to position themselves by service. Their tag line was, “…we’re no. 2, we try harder”.

            After this is done there is a second step in positioning. A marketer asks a second set of questions:

1.     Identify the competitors

2.     Understand how the competitors are perceived and evaluated

3.     Understand the competitors positioning against  you

4.     Analyze the customers

5.     Decide on how you will position yourself against your competitors. You decide what are your strengths and what are your weaknesses. A singer under stood that she couldn’t position herself against her competition, so she positioned herself by making very stylish videos.

6.     Monitor the analytics. This is a strength of social media platforms. You know who came to your sight. You know how long they stayed. You know if your campaign is working by knowing how many visitors came to your site. If someone wrote a comment to you. Another important metric are the likes and you’re dislikes.

SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY AND BRANDING: WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN POSITIONING AND DIFFERENTATION

Successful marketing in the social marketing era, demands traditional marketing skill. Positioning a product in the market place is a tangible thing. In comparison, the differentiation of a product is a perceptual concept.

Positioning and differentiating is a one-two punch. Positioning is an explanation of what the product does. Differentiation is when a product is defined in a consumer’s mind.

Tide is postioned as a the best whitner. It is differentiated with a neo orange bottle. Kelly Rowland postions herself in R &B music with dance music. She differentiates herself with dancers with well developed six pacs.