Do a Quick Brand Check

Drew McLellan Written by Drew McLellan
on September 18th, 2007 / 10 Comments / Print this

Consumers are exposed to over 3,000 marketing messages a day. TV spots, radio ads, billboards, logos on t-shirts, packaging labels, coupons in the mail, pop up ads on the internet, kids selling cookies at the door – they are everywhere.

And yet you think the consumers you want to talk to are going to filter through over 3,000 messages a day – just to find yours. And because this task alone is not daunting enough, most businesses decide to make it harder by hiding their messages. If you are not consistent in ALL your marketing materials, you are wasting thousands of dollars and losing potential customers every day.

Here are some questions you should ask yourself to check your brand’s consistency.

  •   Are you using just one logo? Is it always in the same color?
  •  Are you consistent with paper stock – color, texture and weight?
  •  Is the tone of all your communications pieces the same – is it in one voice?
  •  Does that one voice match the personality and soul of your company?
  •  Do your sales, recruiting, internal documents, and other communications match your marketing materials?
  •  Do your ads reflect the same look, feel and voice?
  •  When you do your radio/TV ads – do you use the same talent for the voice of your company? Is he/she also on your answering system?

Two final thoughts. These are the basics. You can’t spend time and money on more sophisticated methods until you have these nailed.

But the good news for your business is that most of your competitors are not even getting these right. You can claim a significant advantage even if you just do these simple things. There’s a huge opportunity. Are you going to seize it?

About Drew McLellan

Drew McLellan

Drew McLellan gets branding and marketing and he desperately wants you to get it too.

So he tells stories, asks questions, and milks sacred cows. All to help clients discover their brand so they can create authentic love affairs with their customers.

Drew has not only survived 20 years in the advertising and marketing arena, he’s thrived in it. After working for several other agencies, including Young and Rubicam’s CMF&Z, Drew created McLellan Marketing Group in 1995.

Considered a national branding expert, Drew is a highly sought after speaker and has given about a zillion presentations at national conferences, key note addresses, training for his peers in the profession, college students and even his daughter’s eighth grade class.

Over the years, Drew has lent his expertise to clients like Nabisco, IAMS pet foods, Kraft Foods, Meredith Publishing, John Deere, Iowa Health System, Make-A-Wish, University of Central Florida, SkiDoo and a wide array of others.

When he’s not out preaching the good word of marketing & branding at work and on his blog Drew’s Marketing Minute, Drew spends time with his family and pondering why the Dodgers can’t seem to get back to the World Series.

Drew has a Master’s Degree from the University of Minnesota but alas, he cannot remember their fight song.

Shoot Drew an e-mail.

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10 Comments to “Do a Quick Brand Check”

  • Jim Symcox
    September 19th, 2007
    6:30 pm

    Hi Drew,

    Interesting statistic about the 3,000 messages we get each day. I remember Chet Holmes telling me that about 3 years ago.

    Surely we must be bombarded by so many more, 3 years later?

    Just look at all the adverts everyone shows on their blogs and web sites. You’ve got at least 43 on this page alone.

    jim

  • Robert Kingston
    September 19th, 2007
    9:25 pm

    3000 might be considered “conservative” but I’ve seen figures ranging from 1500 all the way up to 6000 per day.

    I guess it’s subjective, depending on where you go.

  • Chris
    September 19th, 2007
    11:47 pm

    I agree. Every element of the brand must be integrated in order to project a unified message. If this is not achieved the consumer can be confussed and develop a distorted perception of the brand.

    Chris
    http://www.threerooms.com

  • Drew McLellan
    September 20th, 2007
    9:03 am

    Jim,

    Thanks for jumping into the conversation. Whether it is really 3,000 or 10,000 — the main point is the same. You have to fight for your audience’s attention.

    Smart branding will help you break through all that clutter and get noticed.

    So you might well be right. Which just makes the case for branding even more critical!

    Drew

  • Drew McLellan
    September 20th, 2007
    9:05 am

    Rob,

    Sure…subjective and probably pinpoint accuracy isn’t needed for this conversation. Suffice it to say, consumers are absolutely buried with marketing messages.

    A small business’ only hope for breaking through is to be relentless in communicating and protecting their brand.

    Drew

  • Drew McLellan
    September 20th, 2007
    9:06 am

    Chris,

    When we are not purposeful in designing every element of how we communicate our brand, we do exactly what you suggest — we confuse the consumer.

    When we send mixed messages, they will choose the one most favorable to them. Which may not be how you want to present yourself.

    Consistency is one of the foundational pieces of brand building.

    Drew

  • Steve Woodruff
    September 20th, 2007
    9:22 pm

    Drew,
    Just after my most recent post went up on this site, about the fragmented image United Airlines, I read your post. Good mutual reinforcement!

  • Drew McLellan
    September 23rd, 2007
    2:51 pm

    Steve,

    As usual, we’re thinking along the same lines! Ironically, I just wrote about United this weekend over at Drew’s Marketing Minute!

    Drew

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