| Managing a brand is similar to building a reputation. It | | | | issue and action them |
| grows slowly, gaining trust and loyalty from its | | | | 4. Constantly evaluate your landscape |
| followers until it becomes established. Brand recognition | | | | 5. Be present, consistent and communicate your |
| and consistency in the marketing message builds trust | | | | message persuasively |
| which in turn leads to increased sales. However, | | | | One thought leader that truly understands that |
| consumers are fickle and are easily distracted by | | | | consistency and communication are two of the key |
| bigger, bolder marketing messages and shinier | | | | ingredients for brand success and is able to express |
| packaging, and trust is easily broken. | | | | this message effortlessly is David Taylor, world |
| Like building a reputation, it is often much quicker to | | | | renowned expert in persuasive brand communication |
| lose that reputation compared to the time it took to | | | | strategies. |
| build the brand. It is therefore imperative that | | | | Taylor's guide to the essential steps of achieving |
| companies pay attention to their brand management | | | | persuasive brand communication can be summarised |
| and business reputation. | | | | as follows: |
| Building Brand Awareness Campaigns | | | | |
| Every brand is different. It takes a lot of understanding | | | | 1. Understanding the brand and setting objectives |
| to get the message across. By using creative brand | | | | 2. Getting the team right |
| communication strategies it is easy to gain the | | | | 3. Keeping the brief and briefing tight |
| attention of your consumer. | | | | 4. Getting the most from production |
| A great example of a company that has achieved this | | | | 5. Brilliant brand activation |
| is Johnnie Walker. They have built the brand based on | | | | 6. Developing and executing the campaign |
| an emotional campaign. A difficult task, and one that | | | | How then do we drive sales through brand |
| works best when it flows from and reinforces a | | | | management? |
| product truth. Their "Keep Walking" campaign | | | | Build Bridges between Marketing and Sales |
| produced good sales growth of 48% over eight years | | | | There are positive and synergistic roles in both |
| for what was an ailing whisky producer. | | | | marketing and sales, and if each side agrees to the |
| Here are four tips to build a campaign based on | | | | role embraced by their counterparts, the organization |
| emotion similar to the Johnnie Walker campaign: | | | | will thrive. Traditionally it was quite challenging to identify |
| | | | criteria for building the bridge between marketing and |
| 1. Tell a story - Bring to life the brand idea of "personal | | | | sales. |
| progress" that people want to aspire to. | | | | Traditionally a company would turn to the following five |
| 2. Make it hard to copy - In the case of Johnnie | | | | strategies: |
| Walker it is near impossible for another whisky brand | | | | |
| to copy this campaign as it is based on the brand icon | | | | 1. Take a fresh approach to prospect development |
| and name. | | | | 2. Determine the pipeline requirements |
| 3. Consistency is key - Use one message consistently. | | | | 3. Synchronize the marketing communications pipeline |
| In the case of Johnnie Walker the brand name is linked | | | | loading activities with the requirements of the sales |
| to the message and each advert ties back to the | | | | force |
| packaging or marketing material. | | | | 4. Feed the sales pipeline with precision |
| 4. Execution is everything - Quality and attention to | | | | 5. Practice aggressive marketing to build the |
| detail is noticed, from TV commercials to print | | | | relationship |
| advertising to website marketing. All material ties in with | | | | Marketing and sales were traditionally kept as two |
| the primary message and campaign. | | | | separate concepts whereby marketing paved the |
| Managing your Reputation | | | | way, while sales closed the deal. With the advent of |
| Once you have achieved brand recognition it is | | | | widespread computing the gap is being narrowed fast. |
| imperative to maintain your reputation. Reputation | | | | Social media is the key to this outcome in the online |
| management can be defined as the process of | | | | approach. |
| tracking an entity's actions and other entities' opinions | | | | With social media spaces becoming more popular, |
| about those actions; reporting on those actions and | | | | salespeople and entrepreneurs all over the world are |
| opinions; and reacting to that report creating a | | | | using LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and other social |
| feedback loop. | | | | media sites to discover new markets, meet prospects |
| Understanding this process and being part of it is the | | | | directly and forge profitable new business relationships. |
| bare minimum a company needs to pay attention to in | | | | No lead generation, branding or cold-calling required. In a |
| order to keep its reputation positive. Reputation | | | | sense, many salespeople are becoming their own |
| management has come into wide use with the advent | | | | marketers. |
| of widespread computing. | | | | The roles could be defined as follows: The sales role in |
| Five simple tips to manage your reputation include: | | | | social media networking is to initiate and develop key |
| | | | relationships. The marketing role in social media |
| 1. Conduct a reputation audit - identify all the issues that | | | | networking is to assist salespeople plan, execute and |
| could affect your company's reputation | | | | measure their efforts. |
| 2. Analyse the issues to ascertain the historic influence, | | | | Regardless of the approach, whether online or |
| current landscape and potential future state of that | | | | traditional effective brand communication remains key |
| issue | | | | to all strategies. |
| 3. Effect change strategy options to deal with each | | | | |