Category Archives: networking

The 3 R's of Branding

By DavidSCohen | Published: February 25, 2008

The 3 R’s of Branding

Art Butcher of International Business Academies Limited (a.k.a. IBAL) asked me to write a post to share on the IBAL’s new website. While that project is coming together I thought I would share the post here as well:

Everyone has heard of the 3 R’s of education: “Reading, wRiting, and aRithmetic”, but have you heard of the 3 R’s of branding? They are Recognition, Reputation and Reaction.

Recognition: We want our products to be recognized. We want the hard work that goes into packaging our products and services, the money we spend on advertising, and all the planning we do in marketing, to benefit our brand, not the competition’s. This is why logos are important. This is why we craft tag lines and slogans. This is why Coke is so fussy about the exact shade and hue of red in their packaging. This is why McDonald’s is so aggressive about controlling the use of “Mc____” wherever it can.

Reputation: In the end your branding is a suggestion that your company makes about its relevance and meaning, and it is your customers, prospects and partners who get to decide what your brand truly means to them. You can be well recognized, but if your reputation is bad the recognition can hurt you. On the other hand, if your product is undistinguished from your competition, a well-recognized brand alone may not be helping you as much as you think. How often have you sneezed, asked for a Kleenex, and been handed a Puff? Did you notice the difference? Did you care? Recognition is naturally associated with reputation, but the reputation is strongest when it encompasses a unique value or serves the needs of a particular niche.

Reaction: This is where the money is made, or lost. You want your brand to provoke a positive reaction, to get people to choose your product over the competition’s. You want a reaction so positive and strong that it can beat a sale price on a similar item or have a customer choose your service over another solution. But a negative reaction can be brutal. Whether you are being ignored on the shelf, or actively boycotted, a negative reaction cycle can be ruinous to your business.
So how do you tune your branding to get the reaction you want? Well the magic won’t happen if the recognition and reputation aren’t right. You have to take Recognition beyond merely locating yourself in an industry or slapping a logo on your business card. You have to approach Reputation in a mindful way – don’t just let it happen, participate! Align your values with the expectation you set for your brand. Know the boundaries of your message and the expectations you are setting with your brand promises. Be prepared to walk your talk and fix it when you stumble. You are in the business of developing and maintaining trust.

Here a few more R’s for you: Repetition, Reinforcement and Rigor: Consistent and attentive behavior, clearly communicated value, and a track record of disciplined delivery will support the 3 R’s of Branding and will get you seeing the Reactions the matter!

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You Can, SoCon

By DavidSCohen | Published: January 11, 2008

Just wanted to throw in a plug for a great conference coming up here in Atlanta:  SoCon08 February 8 – 9, 2008.  I attended SoCon07 and thought it was an awesome opportunity to meet progressive and innovative people shaping the social media landscape.  The “unconference” format attracted a broad array of practitioners, pundits, purists, theorists, and beginners to dialog on blogging, vlogging, virtual worlds, podcasting, and design for a connected world.  This year I would anticipate that the conversations will also include Enterprise 2.0 – issues surrounding the impact of social media technologies and culture on the corporate landscape, as well as plenty of discussions of best practices, anecdotes and lots of smart, community-oriented people to discuss them with.  I hope to see you there, but hurry registration is filling up fast.

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"Don't be humble, you're not good enough."

By DavidSCohen | Published: October 29, 2007

No, I’m not picking on you, I’m quoting an old mentor of mine, Archie Rand. Archie is an artist and teacher and walking encyclopedia of art history (and music history for that matter). I don’t know if the line is his originally, but it is a gem I’ve hung on to for over 17 years, since I was a long-haired MFA candidate with more paint on my clothes than on my canvases. And no, Archie wasn’t picking on me either – he was giving me a gift, and in a way paying me a compliment. His point was that none of us is so good that we should just rest on our laurels or risk being passed over for the sake of mere modesty. Think about the most talented, successful people on the planet – what do they have in common? A publicist.

“Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door.” That’s a risky strategy when Inferior-Mousetraps-R-Us has a weekly newsletter, a larger sales force, better distribution, and a keynote at the next cheddar cheese conference. No matter how talented you are, no matter how top-notch your team, or how world-beating your business process is, a little self-promotion, a gentle reminder, even a bit of selective bragging can do you a world of good. Think first: think about who you are, how you want to be perceived, how you bring value and can genuinely benefit the customers you serve, but don’t think you’re doing anything wrong by telling people about your skills, experience and successes.

And if you find yourself the target of praise (lavish or otherwise) don’t be the one “who dost protest too much.” Instead, take the advice of another sage, my late grandmother: “Say thank you, and sit down.”

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Adjacencies

By DavidSCohen | Published: October 10, 2007

A random analogy for the serial networker:  are you considering your adjacencies?  When you go to a networking event, you dress up, you make sure you have your cards in your pocket, you practice that stadium pitch, but have you put any thought into merchandising yourself in the room?   Retailers put a tremendous amount of time and energy into tweaking and tuning the merchandising of their stores.  There is a conscious effort to setup product adjacencies that will encourage increased sales, complimentary product sets, and impulse buys.   Why not apply the concept to yourself at the next chamber of commerce luncheon?  You probably already know some of the folks in the room – think about what they offer and how your offering would look on the shelf next to them.  If you own a car wash, it might be good to follow the local mechanic when it comes time for everybody to make their pitch.  It’s an easy segue.  Or perhaps you can find a nice bit of contrast.  Do you have a competitor in the room?  An intelligent adjacency might give you the opportunity to point out the difference in your value proposition – it is always easier to see the difference between two things that are side by side rather than separated by space or time.

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You are the ambassador of your brand.

By DavidSCohen | Published: October 8, 2007

This one goes out to all the good folks who are up early in the morning, going to their local chamber of commerce, hitting that networking breakfast, and doing their part to keep the economy going through good old fashioned hustle.  You are the ambassador of your brand. 

When you swap cards at the chamber you are engaged in economic diplomacy and the stakes are high for you and your business.  When you stand up and give your 60, or 45, or 30 second speech at that networking lunch you are in the process of setting policy and expectations for inter-business relations.  Now here’s the rub: you are you AND you are the impression-setter for your company.  You are the window by which your friends, partners, customers, and prospects become acquainted with your brand.  If you are not projecting an image that is consistent with your brand you are creating a disconnect in the minds of the people you meet, yet you must also be authentic to yourself. Of course it is easier when you own the company and you are the one setting the tone for vision, mission and value for both yourself and your enterprise.  but even if you are working for someone else, you are shouldering the responsibility for framing the brand story for the people you interact with – if you are phony, it reflects on the brand, if you are impatient, it reflects on the brand, if you are overly what’s-in-it-for-me, that reflects on the brand.  A brand can be a lot of things, and a person is a whole lot more complex, but you have to find a harmony that fits, that gives people access to you, and through you, to all the great value your company can bring.

What’s your brand’s diplomatic policy?  Try writing down the 3 to 5 most important aspects you want your business contacts to recognize in your brand.  Then write down the 3 to 5 perceptions you want people to have of you. How well do they align?  Ask a trusted friend if this the image you are projecting.  Go over your elevator pitch, your handshake line, your stadium pitch, and see if it serves both you and your brand to meet the criteria you’ve written down.  Keep tweaking and tuning – you’ll know when you’ve found the right balance, because it will both feel good, and will get you the folks you want to connect with: the ones aligned with the value you offer and the working vibe that suits you best.  That’s the best kind of business diplomacy.

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