We've all seen numerous definitions of a brand. Essentially a brand where a product or service "fits" in the consumer's mind. That fit is all about a basketful of attributes made up of two key components: performance (what are you going to do for me today) and emotional rewards (how are you going to make me feel today). Successful marketers have and continue to recognize those important components, with emotional rewards becoming more and more important given the sea of sameness in product and service offerings available today. To better understand brands and branding, read UNDERSTANDING BRANDS BY10 PEOPLE WHO DO, edited by Don Cowley. It's available on Amazon.com.
Consumers spend an extraordinary amount of time on the web, working, playing, searching, checking and more. According to Matt Greene of Blue Ribbon Consulting, to survive these days, marketers need to place significantly more of their marketing and media dollars on digital channels in order to win, or maybe even survive, in one of the most challenging environments marketers have ever faced. Read more: http://www.blueribbondigital.com/blog/
Teamwork is very difficult to teach when it comes to decision-making. Practice helps. Exercises help. Often though some essential guidelines are not used to make decisions through consensus. Read what Bob Frisch offers as tactics "which are designed to fix the decision-making process...and have far greater success in achieving real alignment." (http://harvardbusinessonline.hbsp.harvard.edu/hbsp/hbr/articles/article.jsp?articleID=R0811J&ml_action=get-article&print=true&ml_issueid=BR0811)
There are tons of articles and journal articles that help us define brands. One simple truth is that to succeed in the sea of sameness world of branding, connecting with customers at their emotional level is essential. That is not to say that rational connections are not important. Read what some British experts have to say at http://www.hdm-stuttgart.de/~britsch/nmdesdev/downloads/article/branding_4.pdf.
More and more companies are instituting web grass roots efforts to build their brands. According to Umar Hague, a London economist and Havas Media Lab director, "By choosing to invest in consumers over advertising, Google is a living example of a deeper truth: The future of communications as advantage lies in talking less and listening more." Read more, about brands like Zappos and Craigslist at http://www.adweek.com/aw/content_display/esearch/e3i5e732e045deaaba3ecab1948a0858e5b/
808 Inc. Campaign Selected to Promote Houston’s Advertising, Marketing and Communications Industry - Campaign will be produced with local resources and launch in coming months -
Mark your calendars for the 18th annual Houston Media Classic. It will be held at the Cypresswood Golf Club on Thursday November 13, 2008. The Houston Media Classic will host over 150 media professionals this year. They work in television and radio, newspaper, magazines and billboard, and they come to Houston from all over Texas to entertain their clients and have a "hole" lot of fun! What makes the HMC so unique is our hole sponsors. On every hole there is something going on - contests, giveaways, food, drink - you never know what's coming next! It is simply the best time you will ever have on a golf course! During the last 18 years, the HMC has donated over $250,000 to the Houston Food Bank, The Dream Fund and the HMC Advertising Educational Fund. More information will be published …