This is all about taking on the role of Brand Agent/Provocateur to turn your business around, and take off! Click here to see the extraordinary line up of business thought leaders and creative visionaries — all speakers at the Online Brand Reinvention Summit held Oct 1-2. 2009.
http://blahtozingsummit.com
Is your brand doing what you want (and need) it to do?
Let’s face it. Right now is the time to step into your brand, and it’s only going to get more important in the future. Every whip-smart Brand Agent/Provocateur out there is working right now on leveraging, reinforcing and amplifying their brands. What about you?
The good news? I gathered together an inspiring group of business leaders, creative storytellers, innovative strategists and trend spotters and invited each one to speak to this hot topic of ‘brand reinvention.’ They offered insights and insider strategies re how to:
• Tap into WHY you do what you do. It’s the first step to creating an authentic and charismatic brand
• Create a brand that’s going to do what you want it to do and give you the kind of visibility, credibility, clients and profits you deserve
• Tap into your creativity and irresistible energy, and embed it across all aspects of your business
• Create a personality and passion-driven brand that’s fun (online and offline) and that will set you & your business apart (big time)
Want that? Great! To get your hands on the Summit’s All-Digital Interview
Package as well as sign up for one of the new special coaching programs
launched on the heels of the Summit, click on the link below!
http://www.blahtozingsummit.com/3options
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If you read the Sunday New York Times last week (05.31.09), and opened up the Week in Review Section, you’d have seen Bill Marsh’s piece in Ideas & Trends talking about a new breed of corporate logos. Marsh notes how Wal*Mart, Kraft, Stop&Shop, Sysco and Cheer and a few others have taken on more ‘non-threatening, reassuring, playful, even child-like logos and, rather than being emblems of distant behemoths, they’re faces of friends.”
There’s nothing quite like paying attention to your brand identity – its tone, attitude and mood – and, while it may not be at the top of your radar screen with the world economy in a downturn, you might pick up a few interesting insights from Bill Marsh.
Here’s what Marsh had to say re some recent redesigns in the corporate arena:
1. Bold, black and capital letters are out. Now, lower case letters are in (sometimes, all lower case) giving a less authoritative and stern voice. More like an informal chat. Letterforms are rounder and lighter, calmer and quieter.
2. Friendlier flourishes and whimsy are in. Marsh describes the logos from Kraft Foods, Amazon.com and Hasbro as ‘logos that smile’. What’s more, a dash of whimsy has been thrown into the mix. It lightens the corporate mood, so to speak.
3. Happier (and more joyful) colors are in. New colors for logos run in electric blue, school bus yellow, red, purple, orange and green.
So, when’s the last time you paid some attention to your logo?!!
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If you’re a start-up CEO with an entrepreneurial mindset and keen to reinvent your brand presence online, I’m going to bet you’re already wearing the hat of Brand Guardian every day, right!?
OK. This is for all you brand guardians. You know that taking the stance as Brand Guardian in your business is like being the captain of a ship. You’re responsible for steering your brand through all kinds of weather (stormy seas or not.) You’re taking the leadership position of your brand seriously. What’s more, you’re skilled in the art of navigation, especially in this particular downturn, right?!
Here are a couple of my favorite tips for All Good Brand Guardians, and particularly how to get your head around your brand before you even start thinking about the Brand ReInvention process:
1. Accept that you are your brand.
Look at your brand with a fresh set of eyes. Are you actually injecting all the following into your brand on a daily basis: – your personality, your true character, sense of humor and warmth, sense of self and that idiosyncratic energy of yours? If the answer is “no”, you might want to take a look at how much of your personality you’re actually embedding into your business brand. This is important stuff. No use trying to reinvent your brand if you’re not willing to be part of the process! YOU are THE critical component here.
2. Conduct a Brand Reality Check.
FACT: Your brand is ALREADY communicating something to your market. So do you know exactly what that is? Evaluate your current ‘branding’ messaging. Is it accurate, up to date, current? Is it actually aligned with who you are, what you do and what you offer? Is it easy and clear to understand? And does your positioning differentiate you in the market out there? If the answer is “no’, then this is the time to start paying more attention to your brand if you’re even thinking about Brand ReInvention. Make sure you’re excited about what you’re doing, what you’re communicating to your potential market out there. and why it’s meaningful to you. If you can’t tell me that (and have me believe it!), then it’s time to go back to the drawing board!
3. Be aware of your brand behavior
Your brand’s behavior is what defines you in the minds of your clients. (You better believe it!) So if your brand is ‘acting out’ – this is giving you real information, and it’s telling you something important here. Just like a badly-behaved puppy, brands need a lot of attention, discipline, control and consistency. So this is the time to be paying attention to your brand’s behavior and make sure it’s consistent, congruent and articulate and clear across all your platforms and mediums – design, marketing messaging, website, services, the way you answer your phone, the way your people dress, speak and behave, the way you deal with your customers, the lot – it’s all a part of your business brand behavior and needs constant attention (and nurturing).
4. Mind your Tone: It speaks Volumes
If you don’t what your voice sounds like, or you’re unaware of the tone of your voice when you talk business, ask a friend to interview you – and record you – and then, listen back to the tape. Then transcribe it. Why? There are many good clues in your choice of words and how you walk your talk. All good brands take advantage of their guardian’s kind of ’speak’, language, idioms and expressions. Try to intensify the vibrancy in your language, too. Whether it’s headlines, taglines, titles for your products, services, use your own distinctive language so people can feel the blood running through your veins! Desire is big here in branding!
So keep tuning in, listen to the tone of your voice. It conveys a huge amount of information. If you don’t like what you’re hearing, this is the time to ‘mind your tone’ before you start the Brand ReInvention process.
FOOTNOTE No.1º Raise the energy levels around your brand as you’re considering to reinvent your brand Why? It just happens to be magnetic, magical and contagious. Also, there’s something very attractive about people and brands that are passionate and energetic. No question about it.
FYI I’m putting together my first BRAND REINVENTION SUMMIT and it’s coming up sooner than later so keep watching this space! or if you like sign up on my site and I’ll keep you posted that way…
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