I admit it, it’s taken me a long time to REALLY understand how to brand and position a company and produce tangible marketing results. The best companies don’t just blast a message out without careful thought and consideration. First and foremost, they take a step back and look at things strategically.

One of my favorite sayings is the old, “ready, fire, aim” analogy, which I see all the time when it comes to branding and positioning. The best companies take the time to, “ready, aim and then fire” when approaching their branding, their position and their go-to-market strategy. They really understand the value they bring to the marketplace and how to effectively communicate it.

I can’t tell you how times I’ve heard, “we’re going to throw some stuff against the wall and see what sticks”. Bad idea. You will damage your brand by going straight to the market tactically without first figuring out strategically what you want your brand to be.

Why figuring things out strategically is so important:

1. Throwing things at the wall and coming off half-cocked makes you look like you are still trying to figure out what you want to be when your company grows up.
2. I would estimate 90 – 95% of companies say what they do but not why they do it or why their product is better then their competitors’ products.
3. Do you really want to be just like everyone else? Or do you want to be original, unique and stand out from the crowd?
4. Do you want to be a leader or a follower?
5. Can you clearly and concisely communicate your value proposition in a compelling 30-second elevator pitch?
6. Does your brand help position your company for where it wants to go in the future (i.e., acquiring funding, going public, selling the business, etc.)?
7. Have you figured out how your brand is going to become a reality with a company-wide, holistic launch? What’s your plan to launch your brand internally and externally?
8. Will your brand have legs and resonate for a period of time or is it just a one hit wonder?

If you are committed to getting your company to the next level, following these strategic guidelines will help you develop your company’s brand and position – and will greatly increase the chances of a successful implementation. Add that to a holistic, managed brand implementation while pro-actively getting your message out to your target audience – you have a winning recipe for success.

Written by Michael Doyle, President of Brand Iron

When in a service industry of any kind, the state of the economy can take a large toll on a company’s profitability. Lately, the economic downturn has forced many companies to cut budgets, freeze spending, initiate layoffs, or worse – close their doors. When speaking to many of our clients, partners and friends, it seems that many people are either suffering or prospering – there truly is a balance of good and bad right now.

However, it is difficult to ignore all of the negative media coverage regarding the current economic state. The media’s redundant message of “doom and gloom” eventually convinces us all that we must surrender and give in to the recession that is upon us.

Brand Iron disagrees.

As a company, we’re opting to not participate in the recession this year. Yes, you heard it here first. Brand Iron is not giving in to the “doom and gloom.” We challenge you to do the same.

Many companies are focusing on the positives and the new opportunities that this changing business landscape has opened up. For example, in an industry (luxury travel) where economic woes can take a gigantic toll on profitability Carnival Cruise Lines is saying “we will not go quietly into the night” and await the inevitable. Carnival continues to make strides towards out-of-the-box, interactive advertising.

I’m sure we have all seen the commercial with the large beach ball floating around downtown Dallas. That commercial was an extremely effective way for Carnival to catch the attention of the business-class professional on their lunch break. Throw a gigantic beach ball onto a bustling street full of unhappy professionals and see what happens – attention, positive feedback and enjoyment, that’s what.

Today, I came across an article about Carnival’s latest attempt at interactive advertising. They’ve managed to take advantage of the empty street-level office spaces in the Houston, Baltimore, Los Angeles, New York and D.C. areas by installing “virtual aquariums” for all to interact with.

Picture this, you’re walking down a cold city sidewalk on your lunch break when you look to your right – no longer is there an empty office space with a broker’s contact information in the window. No, you now see a 12-foot digital aquarium. Not only is this virtual aquarium engaging, it’s interactive. In five easy steps, you can use your cell phone to design a personalized fish to appear instantly in that very same window. This is an example of a company seeing an opportunity that may not have presented itself before the downturn in the economy. This is brand evolution and adaptation at its best. If there are three pearls of wisdom that we should all recognize after this economic downturn, they would be: never stay static, always engage new ways of marketing, and consistently separate yourselves from the competition.

Written by Nicole Salerno, Junior Brand Wrangler

I think we can all agree that after going through this past year, it is certainly time for a “New Start” for the New Year. We could all use a fresh start for the economy, housing, banking, government and business. As it applies to your business, if you aren’t prepared and proactive to the challenges that are certain to arise, you will be left behind.

I can’t tell you how many times I have heard recently from our partners, clients, prospects, leads, etc. that people are “just waiting to see what happens”. Unfortunately, most who take this “wait and see approach” end up losing time and results.

With things being tight and people and businesses being guarded with resources, it’s a more competitive landscape than ever before. People and companies are struggling and the weak are getting ravaged. Are you positioning yourself and your company to be as competitive as possible? Now is the time to take advantage of the current economic situation and propel yourself to be the leader in your field.

Since it is the beginning of the New Year, it is time to make a “New Start”.

Revenue
Let’s start the thing that most people and companies are in need of: Revenue. Have you evaluated your lead generation activities? Are you doing enough to fill your pipeline? Are you utilizing online marketing, networking, partnering, calling and mailings to get people to say “yes” to meetings or walking through the doors of your business?

Sales
Do you know what it is going to take to get prospects to convert to clients? Do you know what it is going to take to move them off the dime? Are you asking for the business?

Brand Positioning
Do you have the right message? …a strong call to action? … positioning that separates you from the competition? Do you understand not just why you are as good as the competition, but why you are better than the competition? Why should someone purchase you, your product or service over the competition?

Are you being pro-active and creating enough opportunities for you to reach your goals and objectives? Are you doing enough marketing and sales activities to make the numbers work in your favor?

If you can’t answer “yes” to all of these questions, it is probably time to get off the dime and make the New Year a “New Start” to reaching your goals and objectives. Brand Iron can help you develop proactive goals for 2009 and a roadmap of what it is going to take to get you there.

It’s time to get started and map out a plan to succeed in this New Year.

Written by Michael Doyle, Brand Iron President

McDonalds recently launched a new Quarter Pounder brand in Toyko. Thus far, it’s creating quite the stir in the branding world due to the fact the McDonald’s “Golden arches” are nowhere to be found.

According to Business Week (September 19, 2008), McDonalds ranks #8 on the Best 100 Global Brands lists. (Note: the only other restaurant brand that cracked the Top 100 was KFC at #64.)

With $37 billion in brand revenue – the big question is “Why would they deviate from their dominate brand?”
My only guess to why they would not use the brand they have spent decades and billions creating, is that they want to generate internet buzz around their new product offering. (Hey, it’s working right?)  I imagine this campaign will not rollout worldwide – but the new “no frills bundling” of this McDonald’s classic will be coming to a normally-branded McDonalds near you.

After the buzz has reached nearly every web-savy, fast-food consumer / pop culture junkie, I think they will ditch the black and red “no brand” and you will soon be able to walk into a McDonalds and order the no frills “Quarter Pounder” meal. No choices. No questions. No sizes to choose from. Actually, there is just one choice: single or double:

I think there are some things every business can learn from this.
• Creating buzz takes time, money and a great idea
• You can touch a lot of people thru the web
• Interesting and unique news travels fast
• Doing something controversial creates buzz

McDonalds has created a pseudo-brand and an entire network of stores in Toyko to drive web excitement around their new product. Most of us develop product sheets and an email blast to inform our customers and to drive excitement. Clearly, when you want BIG results, you need BIG ideas.

If you want to get to the next level, you need a unique idea that will set you apart from the competition and the gall to do it. Nice job McDonalds.

At Brand Iron, we’ll help you get outside the box when you want to create excitement around your brand. We’ll develop plans, creative ideas and tactics that will get noticed and will get your audience talking.

- Josh Barker, Brand Wrangler

A quick note: From time to time I will be writing about some brands I consider to be bold and who stand out for various reasons.

1] Southwest Airlines – Talk about being bold, unique and different. They have a strong business plan; they connect with their customers; have happy employees; are picking up market share, kicking their competitors’ butt and producing good results in a very tough market.

2] Mac – Here is another great example of a company that has clearly defined its own brand, [young, hip, easy to use, putting a young and friendly face with a computer] while going after and negatively defining its competitor, PC, [older, overweight, geeky, out of touch, unreliable, full of bugs and so on]. Talk about pro-actively defining and managing your brand.

3] Fox News – News has always been news. It was never right or wrong, left or right. As Sargent Friday, from the television series, Dragnet, used to say “just that facts ma’am”. Love them or hate them, Fox News came in seized the opportunity to redefine news as we know it. They must have felt that news had become one-sided and it was time for a new source of news that is “fair and balanced”. Fox has become the clear leader in cable news. Even in our office both parties are represented. We don’t ask which political representation they are affiliated with. We don’t have to, they just ask which news do you watch?

So today’s lesson: make your brand bold, effective and the results will follow.

Michael

I am guilty of being a sports junky since my early childhood. And in that time, I have noticed athletic teams, both college and professional, always changing their logos and uniforms.

Most likely, everyone’s first thought is: “they change their uniforms for the obvious reason—money.” But this is not the case. Major League Baseball teams do not directly make profit from jersey sales. The MLB as a whole has official licensing revenue sharing from official MLB merchandise sold. The New York Yankees lead the MLB in apparel sold, but they do not receive direct revenue from those sales. The NFL and NBA have similar revenue sharing models. This opens the question, “why do they change their logo or uniforms?”

The first reason teams re-brand themselves is that they are starting a new era. Many times it is a front office change in ownership. The new owner wants fans and its competition to know that not only will there be a change in its uniform, but also a change in how they will run their operations. We have seen this in many professional teams. For example, the Dallas Mavericks made a change in their look when Mark Cuban took ownership of the franchise. You can see here their old logo and uniforms changed to the new look after Cuban took ownership. Not only did the Mavericks change their uniform, they changed how they compete and how they were coached and run from the front office. The same can be said for the Cleveland Cavaliers, whose old uniforms went from black and blue to their new look. The new uniforms changed when Lebron James was drafted, but the logo changed when new owner Dan Gilbert took ownership of the team in 2005. More examples of ownership changing and the uniforms changing related to a team’s success is the New England Patriots. They went from the angry Pat the patriot to a more statuesque look. Here is a better view of the old Pat. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim went from a Disney owned uniform to a more traditional look, and after the change, won the World Series.

The second reason for a team to re-brand its uniform is a change in venue. Some teams change uniforms when they get a new stadium. An example was when the Buffalo Bills rebuilt Ralph Wilson Stadium in 2002. The Bills went from these old uniforms to their new look. The Cleveland Indians did the same when they left Municipal Stadium to Jacobs Field (now called Progressive Field) in 1994. They went from old block lettering that was even used in the movie Major League to this fresher look.

Another reason for change is an attempt to disconnect itself from a long history of losing. Some of these eras can be a few years but some have been a few decades. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a great example. The Bucs were on a decade-long losing season streak with these beauties and changed to these more modern looking uniforms. After the change, it took Tampa four years to make it to the NFC championship game and the following year, Tampa won the Super Bowl. The Los Angles Kings started the “silver and black” era when they acquired Wayne Gretzky from the Edmonton Oilers. The Kings went from a men’s league look to the more recognizable sweaters. The Cleveland Cavs had similar success after making a switch in uniforms. Once dead last in the league standings, the team made it to the NBA finals before losing to San Antonio. The Denver Nuggets made a change to their colors in 2003 when they drafted Carmelo Anthony out of Syracuse. They had a more traditional color scheme that was changed to a fresh and bright colored jersey.

Sometimes teams change the logo. The Seattle Seahawks once had this logo and moved to a fiercer looking hawk. The New York Football Giants made a change with this helmet logo to the current one. Sometimes a change brings good luck, the Denver Broncos went from these uniforms and logo to this new look. After the Broncos made the change, they won back-to-back Super Bowls in the 1998 and 1999 seasons. The Anaheim Ducks, formerly the Mighty Ducks, went from the Disney classic uniforms to today’s look and won the Stanley Cup two years after the change.

Not all changes have been for the better. Here are some that have gone wrong. This space look from the Dallas Mavericks only lasted one game. The MLB dabbled in this futuristic look shown by the Rockies and Seattle, which I deem horrendous. The one season NASL (National American Soccer League) team Caribous of Colorado may have the ugliest uniform in history of all uniforms which featured western style tassels. The University of Oregon football team has 384 different combinations of uniforms which range from unique to ugly. This is because Nike’s founders are former Ducks themselves and the world headquarters are located near the Eugene, Oregon Campus. The University of Colorado stole a play from the Oregon playbook with their new shoulder pattern design. When creating a logo or corporate image you might want to also make sure that it makes sense in that industry or within your company brand. In 1976 the Chicago White Sox had a double header against the Kansas City Royals and they ran onto the field wearing these interesting uniforms. Surprisingly the Sox only wore them for the first game of the double header. An opposing Royal, John Mayberry exclaimed, “You guys are the sweetest team we’ve seen yet.”

We can learn from the success and mistakes of sports uniform branding. You might want to consider creating a new logo when your company makes a change. If you change your mission statement or services you should consider doing a re-branding. The new logo or corporate identity created should be done simultaneously. You want to show this improvement in your approach and in all of your company’s materials. The change in your look should and will be reflected in the change you made internally within your company. This change in your brand must be calculated and well thought out to convey your message to your target audience and to the general public. At Brand Iron, we have made some great improvements in a company’s identity when they change their message or services. A great example of this is with our clients David, Hicks and Lampert and Caring Hands Chiropractic which can be see here.

For improvements in your brand or suggestions please call us at 303-534-1901.

For more information on the history of sports uniforms email Mike Slife: mslife@brandiron.net

I can’t tell you how many times I have heard companies say they want to revise and improve their company brand. Nine out of 10 times, what they really mean is that they want to come up with a new and improved logo, website or other visual presentations of their brand’s “look and feel.” A company’s logo/corporate identity, website and other visual elements are important in communicating a brand, but by no means are they the only things that represent your brand.

Your brand is a relationship you have with your customers, prospects, suspects, partners, vendors and the general business community. It’s hard for me to imagine how a logo, website or other visual elements solely convey what your brand represents. My personal feeling is that strong brands require much more thought than just a shinny logo or slick website.

I believe that strong brands, first and foremost, are strategically designed around what space you want to own and why your company is better than the competition. The company has to know just why it is better, and know how to effectively communicate that simple message clearly and concisely.

Great companies know how to effectively market and get their message out, not only through advertising, but through multiple mediums that reach their targets via the mediums that their targets interact with. You must accept and believe that these days it requires many mediums to be able to make a connection that is real and cuts through the clutter to drive results.

First, you have to know how to integrate this message into your company internally. Get the operations, sales and marketing all on the same page and understand what the brand stands for and how to deliver on the stated brand promise.

Great companies also understand that it takes more than looks. Your product or service has to fulfill the promise that it is cracked up to be. It has to be able to deliver the goods and make customers and clients true brand believers.

For a brand to be great these days you have to have strategy, substance, succinct message, and yes, a good logo and nice website. But you also must have the determination and commitment to succeed. A great brand requires a holistic and integrated approach, much more than just a snappy logo.

Written by Michael Doyle, President of Brand Iron