Comments on: 3 Things You Should Know About Your Brand Before Doing Anything Else

By: Promotional Products

Promotional Products — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 05:06:03 +0000

These are some great tips. Building a brand especially with a small business can be a difficult undertaking and all the supplemental information that I can read is helpful.

By: links for 2009-07-09 - the sweetview blog

links for 2009-07-09 - the sweetview blog — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 21:03:00 +0000

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By: Matt Cheuvront

Matt Cheuvront — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 12:22:31 +0000

Good wisdom Dave (sorry I’m a little behind the curve in sharing my thoughts). One of the most important aspects in my mind is KNOWING your customers – and you do that through interacting and communicating with them. Getting ‘down in the trenches’ and finding out what they like, don’t like, what’s working and what isn’t working. The importance of customer feedback is often overlooked. Taking time to connect with your buyers (whether it’s with social media tools or through other methods) adds to the perceived value of your brand and provides you with invaluable feedback to remain one step ahead of the competition.

By: David

David — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 20:09:04 +0000

I couldn’t agree more. Consistency in areas like mission, values, brand, etc. is incredibly important. Having a single-minded focus on your core brand attributes, features, and benefits also helps consumers remember the most important things about your brand or product. Don’t muddy the waters!

By: David

David — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 20:06:24 +0000

Very key to know your product’s weaknesses and anticipate any shortcomings it may bring. Thanks for adding that!

By: Kasey Skala

Kasey Skala — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 19:57:13 +0000

I think a key piece you need to understand is why customers prefer your brand. Why do they desire it? What seperates your product from Product B? Knowing the when, where and how doesn’t do any good if you don’t understand the why.

@kmskala

By: Jason Sprenger

Jason Sprenger — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 18:52:46 +0000

Nice post. I’d add one rather obvious yet often overlooked component: the corporate mission and values statements. It’s one thing to develop communications strategies for a product or a brand, but they need to be put through a larger corporate filter. Do they align with who the company is and/or wants to be? Will the company’s advocates (internal and external) be able to support and/or rally behind them? Will they be able to uphold the mission and values over time? Branding reflects corporate identity…if a tactic or strategy passes these tests, it likely will advance the brand.

@JasonSprenger

By: Stuart Foster

Stuart Foster — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 15:54:59 +0000

Agree with Tamsen on the “know your weaknesses/strengths” point. If you aren’t prepared to counter or provide examples of what makes you a great product you won’t be able to maneuver effectively.

Really just comes down to knowing the product inside and out though.

By: Tamsen McMahon (@tamadear)

Tamsen McMahon (@tamadear) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 15:09:49 +0000

I’d add: Know thyself, warts and all.

You need to be the expert on your product’s and brand’s weaknesses, because nothing will expose them faster than a well executed branding / marketing / advertising / PR strategy. (What’s the old saw? Nothing killed a bad product like good advertising?)

You can have established everything else on your list, but if you don’t know where the vulnerabilities are–and have a plan for how to answer to or address them–even the best strategy will fail.

By: Twitted by tyronevh

Twitted by tyronevh — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 13:56:57 +0000

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