Download
1 / 31
411 likes | 1.84k Views
The Essentials of Effective Communication To understand branding, we’ll first need to review the essential components that make for effective communicating. Communication is anything that imparts a message of any kind in any way.
E N D
The Essentials of Effective Communication • To understand branding, we’ll first need to review the essential components that make for effective communicating. • Communication is anything that imparts a message of any kind in any way. • In terms of branding everything you are and do as individuals, in your community and as a business are media imparting your brand to others.
Communication Essentials • Emotional triggers: • People recall those messages that impact on them emotionally. We call them emotional triggers. • Emotional triggers cause a feeling of “good” or “need” in a targeted public. • An emotional trigger can be the way in which you are perceived as being competent business people. • In communicating, our goal is to have people feel something good rather than think something good.
Communication Essentials • Precise targeting: • Precise targeting delivers your brand to customers, media and markets that will have an interest in your company and its products. • Precise targeting will take your brand to where it will do you the most good at the least cost. • Other publics are irrelevant.
Communication Essentials • Consistency & Continuity: • Consistency and continuity are essential to establishing brand recognition. • This applies to all communication in all media. • Experimentation is not a option. • The major reason for failed brand recognition, marketing, advertising and public relations campaigns is; a business either doesn’t have an integrated strategic plan, or if they do, they don’t stick to it.
What is Branding? • Branding is often confused with "corporate identity" or "corporate image." • Corporate identity refers to a company's name, logo, tagline or slogan - its visual expression or its "look.” • Image is the public's perception of a company, whether that perception is intended or not.
What is Branding? • A strategic process: • Corporate branding is a business process that is planned, strategically-focused and integrated throughout the organization. • Branding establishes the direction, leadership, clarity of purpose, inspiration and energy for a company's most important asset, its corporate brand. • Brands are not simply products or services. Brands are the sum total of all the impressions, people can have in their minds, and can experience emotionally, about a particular company or product.
Control: Branding is all about controlling what it is you want the public to know about your company! What is Branding?
• Vision • Mission • Guiding principles • Customer relations • Products • Experience • Management practices • Marketing practices • Corporate culture What is Branding? A successful brand triggers a deep emotional response when communicated to a customer or other stakeholder.
Creating Your Brand • Research: • Research will make sure your messaging clearly separates you from your competition ensuring brand uniqueness. • Research can identify market opportunities.
Creating Your Brand • A team approach: • The involvement of your management team and at times your staff is imperative to achieving a successful outcome. • Staff participation results in emotional buy in to both the process and to your corporate objectives. • Develop a strategic branding plan that is reasonable and achievable. • Ensure brand consistency and continuity from start to finish. • Above all keep it simple.
Creating Your Brand • Reviewing your existing brand: • Review your existing brand to learn where your strengths and vulnerabilities are. • You’ll need to be realistic about every aspect of your business. • Bring in professionals who will be objective and supportive.
Creating Your Brand • Guiding principals: • Guiding principals define in clear and simple terms your core beliefs about how you conduct business. • • We keep to our commitments. • • We are accountable for our actions. • • We are businesslike in our management practices.
Creating Your Brand • Vision & Mission statements: • Do your vision and mission statements represent a clear vision of what your company is and where you plan to take it? • Use a professional to objectively guide you through the process of creating new statements. • Involve your management team and staff.
Creating Your Brand • Brand essentials: • Determine exactly what is it you want your brand • to achieve. • Establish the essential ingredients that will define your brand, separate your company from your competitors and sell your product. • Identify emotional triggers.
Creating Your Brand • Target markets: • The success of your brand depends on who it’s targeted to. • In order of their importance to the success of your business clearly identify your target markets.
Creating Your Brand • Brand media: • Establish your primary brand delivery systems. • • Web • • Print • • Sales force • • Combinations of above • • Other
Creating your corporate identity • Visual image – Logo and mark: • Create a visual identity that accurately captures the essence of your brand. • When seen, it will engender the desired attitude and feelings towards your company.
Creating your corporate identity • Corporate Identity & Marketing Materials: • • Business cards• Letterhead• Signage• Brochures• Corporate Literature • Packaging• Tradeshow Displays & Booths• Other Graphic Applications
Creating your corporate identity • Slogan: • Craft a memorable slogan which captures in one to six words the essence of your brand. • Copy: • Write copy ensuring consistency and continuity of brand message in all of your marketing materials. • Create a unique voice and tone that is yours - that cannot be confused with other brands.
Creating your corporate identity • Photography and Imagery: • Create an appropriate and unique treatment of images to support your brand. • Using illustration, photography and graphics implant emotional triggers and key messages into your corporate image.
Creating your corporate identity • Web development: • Increasingly, Websites are becoming a frontline marketing tool for many organizations. • In our experience your Website must offer more than information. It’s imperative that it demonstrate product. • It must be in keeping with the image you wish to portray to the world. • Companies marketing high/tech products should be aware, that for them particularly, keeping it simple is essential.
Developing and implementing a strategic communications plan • Develop a strategic communications plan to promote your brand. • Precisely target the publics identified in your branding plan.
Developing and implementing a strategic communications plan • Public Relations: • Create and manage publicity campaigns that reach people effectively and inspire them to action.
Developing and implementing a strategic communications plan • Media relations and communication training: • You’ll only get results when media know that your story is relevant, timely, and of real interest to a particular audience. • Hire a professional to train you in media relations skills so that you can deliver key messages with comfort, authority and conviction.
Developing and implementing a strategic communications plan • Key messages: • Key messages are what you want people to remember most about your organization. • By defining your brand in clear memorable sound bites, key messages are an important step in creating top-of-mind awareness, and the first line of offence in crisis and issues management.
Developing and implementing a strategic communications plan • Advertising & paid media planning and buying: • Create fully coordinated public relations and advertising campaigns strategically designed to sell your brand. • Hire an experienced media planner and buyer to ensure your advertising dollars are targeted correctly for maximum results on investment.
A few last words • In the branding business we call ourselves “simplifiers”. • Remember, your brand is the sum total of everything • you are and do. • “The branders job is to take the complexity of your organization; refine it into simple understandable feelings, thoughts and images, and then, to help • you sell it.” • Ian Macaulay
The Wisdom of ExperienceThe Power of Media • The Macaulay Communications Group was created in 1994 by Ian Macaulay who brought together a group of skilled, talented and experienced communication specialists from 1994 Victoria Commonwealth Games. • Today, the Macaulay Group works with clients and associate companies across Canada and our campaigns reach targeted audiences around the world. • Ian Macaulay is the Group's founder, senior partner and an acknowledged specialist in the creation, management, and implementation of public relations and corporate branding campaigns. • With over 30 years experience, Ian brings our clients a wealth of broad based media and communication experience. He's been an award-winning columnist, news director, editor, network correspondent and television news anchor. • Ian is the creator of SoundBites for Success™ and Working With Media™ techniques for media relations & issues management now in use by political parties, business and non government organizations. He also helps individuals to communicate with authority, comfort and conviction. • The Macaulay Group’s reputation has been built on the guiding principal of respect for consumers, our clients, and ourselves.
To contact us The Macaulay Communications Group Ltd. 4895 Lochside Drive, Victoria BC Canada, V8Y 2E6 Tel - 250.658.5332 Mobile - 250.744.7931 Fax - 250.658.5375 email - ian@macaulaygroup.com Web - www.macaulaygroup.com This presentation is the property of the Macaulay Communications Group Ltd. Reproduction in whole or in part is prohibited.
