Words are Things...

It's been a while. We haven't posted here since April 25.

 

And today's "dropping by" is just to check in, and issue an update: We'll be away for a little longer. Yes, Lasting Impressions is still on hiatus for another month.

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There's a lot going on at Complit Communications. Yes, a lot of good writing is still happening. But to avoid spreading ourselves too thin, we are having to put some projects on the side for a while.

But here is a promise you can hold us to: We are coming back with fantastic marketing insights in July 2022.

In the meantime, here are three priceless reads that we recommend. Not only for marketing pundits, but for anyone who sells anything and wants to get better at it:

 

1. The Mirror Makers: A History of American Advertising and its Creators by Stephen Fox. Available here.

 

2. Advertising for Results by G. F. Brown. This eBook is available for free download online.

 

3. A Beautiful Constraint: How to Transform your Limitations into Advantages, and why it is Everyone's Business by Adam Morgan and Mark Barden. Available here.

Happy reading throughout June.

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Well, many of us may never have seen a diamond in the flesh and neither is this a time to pretend. But good writing takes a lot of reading and that's why we are taking some time off to research and read. And wallow in some good funk!

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Beyond Branding: Advertising and Promotion

We have in the past touched on the essentials of a brand, how brands are stored in the mind by way of impressions and how to build a remarkable brand. 

 

 

The book Tips and Traps for Marketing Your Business is a great way to advance the marketing process that revolves around the brand, and this is done by building awareness.

There are four ways to do this:

The first and most effective way to achieve this is through advertising and promotion. Advertising can best be seen as mediated persuasion. And since persuasion has always been done by salesmen, then advertising is akin to mass production of salesmen.

A second way is use of traditional media. Yes, television, newspapers, radio and television still have a role to play even in a connected, digital world. They are mass media but the trick to effectively use traditional media is by not advertising to everyone. Instead, it is advisable to identify a target audience and focus on it.

The third tool to build your business is publicity. This is the often misunderstood world of public relations. Worth noting, however, is these four misconceptions:

• public relations is not free
• public relations is not just press releases and news stories
• public relations is not always externally focused
• public relations is not one-way communication.
  

The purpose of public relations is to ensure that a company or business has a positive image with the audiences that are important to its success.

Finally, interactive marketing. This is where the Internet plays a pivotal role in real time, boundless interactions between brands, organizations and both prospective and existing customers. The web has the effect of leveling the playground thanks to its ubiquitous reach and easy access to almost every one.

Key tools in Internet marketing comprise web sites, Email, social media networks, over the top platforms such as online chats and bots. It also includes online forums, content creation and video sharing platforms and more online destinations where Internet users congregate based on specific interests.

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A business that is driven by passion can easily become your life. Overwhelmed by fears, as Mariah Carey sings, the owner can be tempted to hold it under grass... But a business thrives and evolves when that idea which adds value and helps customers solve problems or get to where they aspire to be, is let out to the world. And the real beauty is in watching it rise. Like a butterfly.

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From Remarkably Bland to Remarkable Brand

 As we have seen before, a brand is stored in the mind for the prospect and customer by way of impressions. Not as chunks of information or facts. A brand is an emotional experience that is predicated on, and driven by a promise made to a customer.

That makes branding the process of building a positive collection of perceptions in your customer's mind.

 

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But to have a prominent and preferred position in the customer's mind, a brand needs to stand out. For the most part, this is done by establishing a unique selling proposition (USP). In advertising, this is the characteristic of a product or service that differentiates it from its competitors.

For Marketing Monday this week, we share with you a very insightful presentation from Neutron LLC titled 'The Brand Gap: How to Bridge the Distance between Business Strategy and Design.'

The immediate take-aways from this lengthy presentation is that:

1. A brand is not a logo

2. A brand is not an identity

3. A brand is not a product.

It is a person's gut feeling about a product, service or organization.

So how do you build your brand from bland to remarkable? This is achieved by making your brand charismatic. This means a product, service or organization for which people believe there's no substitute.

To achieve this, there are five disciplines of brand building that one needs to master:

1. Differentiate

2. Collaborate

3. Innovate

4. Validate

5. Cultivate

There is much more insights not highlighted here. And there is also a Kindle edition of 'The Brand Gap: How to Bridge the Distance between Business Strategy and Creativity.'

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From The Brand Gap, we learn that the main purpose of branding is to get more people to buy more stuff for more years and at a higher price. 

Once you get the branding essentials right, we bet you'll be all smiles on your brand new computer and a bright future in sales...

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