Category :Holistic Branding
I’m sure you’ve already noticed that Brand Iron recently launched a new website. But why???
Actually, I was asked a great question yesterday: “How do you know when it’s time to redo your website.”
There are many reasons to update your site: refresh graphics, add functionality, restructure navigation, add a call-to-action – but the main reason we updated our site was because the message didn’t accurately reflect the high level of support we provide our clients.
Our previous website didn’t communicate the true value we were delivering to our clients. Yes, we still do websites, we still do PR, we still do corporate IDs – but we do those things as a part of an integrated plan to help your business succeed. We have also developed new programs for developing brand champions, helping companies get acquired or go public, raising capital, etc.
We help our clients determine the activities that will make the biggest impact to their bottom lines. We take a holistic look at their brand and company – and help them forge the plan that will make them competitive in their market. Brand Iron works with our clients to drive short- and long-term revenue while identifying the activities that will make the biggest impact.
If your message has changed and you need to reposition yourself in the market, contact Brand Iron today. We’ll help you develop an integrated plan to drive short- and long-term revenue to your business.
Not many of you know, but Michael Doyle participates in various speaking engagements all around Colorado. As a brand strategist, Michael speaks on a variety of topics including: Building Brands that Drive Revenue, 10 Steps to Building an Effective Brand, How does your Brand Stack up? A Holistic Approach to Measuring a Brand and Maximizing your Brand through Social Media Marketing.
In an effort to get the word out, Brand Iron is excited to announce the launch of a new site promoting Michael’s excellent speaking capabilities. This new site gives us more opportunity to feature Michael and how he has been shaping successful brands on national, regional and local levels for more than 20 years. Go to www.michaeldoyletalks.com to see what Michael is about and what his speaking expertise can do for you or your brand.
To learn more about Michael Doyle, Brand Iron and scheduling him as a guest speaker, please visit www.BrandIron.net or give our team a call at 303.534.1901.
“Luck? I don’t know anything about luck. I’ve never banked on it, and I’m afraid of people who do. Luck to me is something else: Hard work — and realizing what is opportunity and what isn’t.”
-Lucile Ball
You can’t avoid that these economic times are putting a lot of companies out of business. Here at Brand Iron, we have been constantly reminded of that; in the past 9 months, we’ve seen two, very local marketing companies close their doors.
We are happy to report that through a lot of hard work, our clients are going strong and Brand Iron is going strong. Everyone at Brand Iron is very excited that we are a finalist for the DMCC’s Small Business of the Year Award.
We wanted to pass on a few things that have helped us confront and dampen the economic blow:
- Build you database – broaden your world of potential clients
- Go to where the money is – focus on your most profitable vertical markets or geographic areas
- Keep your brand message relevant to your target market – adapt to their pain points
- Increase your sales and marketing activity levels – it is vital to “touch” your prospects
At Brand Iron, we don’t believe in luck – we believe in hard work, targeted work and working intelligently on the aspects of your brand strategy that make the biggest impact. Our goal is to help you keep your doors open, AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, to keep new clients and customers coming through them.
Please contact us today to learn more about how Brand Iron can help you develop a holistic brand plan that addresses your sales, marketing and operations.
Written by Josh Barker
As gas prices hit over $4.00 nationally and the economy continues to fall, it is inevitable that people and companies are struggling. That said, it is even more vital to measure yourself against your competition, ensuring your current efforts are properly focused to set yourself and your company up for a strong second half of the year. Unfortunately, we are currently in an arduous game of survival of the fittest, and it is time to focus your marketing efforts.
While this conversation is a continuous topic internally, I was pleasantly surprised to find a new client that had the same ideas. I was in a planning session the other day and our client communicated that their industry was experiencing a slow-down given the economy and being that we are in the middle of the summer. They realized that it was the perfect time to position and brand themselves against their competition in order to separate themselves from the herd. This client wanted to take advantage of the current situation in which, a fair amount of companies are pulling back their spending. Our client wants to step it up and set themselves up for a strong fall and second half of the year, as well as prepare for 2009. Needless to say, I agreed with this client, and was refreshed at their goals and strategy to step up their game.
We are halfway through the year, an excellent time to review your yearly goals and objectives. See what is working, what’s not, and what needs to be adjusted in order for you to keep things going strong, maintain, or try to catch up. Going strong is the key phrase, while playing the game of catch up seems to be the reality for too many companies today.
A perfect example of the “catch up game,” was when American Airlines and United announced they were going to charge $15 and $25 respectively, for checking bags. While these airlines are trying to play catch-up, Southwest is focusing its efforts on marketing, sales and operations to boost sales and keep customers happy. They are responding directly to the competition and the consumer by announcing that they aren’t charging premiums for extra baggage and rising fuel costs.
The summer is a slower period and many people take time off, thus creating a great opportunity to not only look at your goals, but figure out how you can position yourself against the competition. Take advantage of the tough times and really separate your company from the herd by communicating your key differences and why you are a better choice than the competition.
Now is the time to evaluate, focus, and take advantage to be the fittest. If your company wants to be around when the economy turns around, call Brand Iron today.
written by Michael Doyle, President of Brand Iron
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Brand, Brand Strategy, Brand Strength, Branding, Clients, Consistant, Holistic, Holistic Branding, Marketing, Sales, SMO
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A popular theme song goes, “Sometimes you want to go, where everybody knows your name.” This is the precise recognition that all companies are trying to accomplish through their marketing and advertising efforts. Companies like Brand Iron are here to make sure those efforts are well-focused and drive results. I just got off the phone with a client who now understands the effort it took to get his brand over the “everyone-knows-our-name” hurdle. Every brand has a different hurdle to clear, but here are some simple ideas on what it might take to get your brand over the hurdle, and start producing tangible results:
1. Understand what really separates you from your competition. Figure out what space you own and make the message as simple to understand as possible. Package your message in a tangible fashion that is clear and concise.
2. Identify who the right targets are for your product or service and discuss the most effective ways to get your message out.
3. Take a look at your company and see what the “barriers to growth” may be. Be sure to look at your:
Marketing- Do you have enough contact points with your target audience for them to know who you are and will they be receptive when you call? Do they know who and what your brand is all about? Does your brand leave them with a positive feeling that will compel them to make that purchase?
Sales – Can your sales staff close the leads the marketing department is generating? Can they close the customers that walk through your doors?
Operations – Is your customer service approach and database up to snuff? Can your company deliver on the promises that your sales team is making?
4. Address your internal brand and make sure that your company’s brand is represented from the inside out. Look at everything from how you answer the phone to delivering your service, or even how you receive payment and send out a bill. These little things matter a great deal and will leave a lasting impression.
5. Develop a holistic branding plan that integrates your company’s marketing, sales and operations. Map out the tactical items necessary for you and your company to fill up your sales funnel.
6. Execute your branding plan flawlessly, ensuring that you are going to execute on a regular basis, no matter how busy you become. You want to do this to avoid the sales rollercoaster.
As a close friend says, “Go the extra mile; it’s the final 5%
that makes what you do either great or mediocre.”
7. Monitor how you are doing against your goals and objectives and modify those things that aren’t working. Once the failing areas are identified, determine how you can rectify the situation and do it quickly.
8. Execute and get your entire organization to commit to succeed.
Follow these steps, and someday you might walk into a place and realize that everybody knows your name.
