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July 10, 2007 By

How to Develop and Leverage an Effective Press Release

A press release, when leveraged properly, can be a highly effective marketing tool for businesses of all sizes. Prior to the Internet, a press release was mailed out to editors and reporters at leading magazines, newspapers and broadcast stations, followed up by an aggressive PR person trying to gain coverage for some new product, service or event. Beyond this attempt to gain free publicity, a press release was not terribly effective at promoting a business or its brand.

Today, however, with the power and ubiquity of the Internet, a press release opens up a whole new world of branding/marketing opportunities to businesses of all sizes. Furthermore, if you know how to appropriately craft one yourself, it costs you nothing. In addition to the potential print and broadcast news value, a press release today (whether newsworthy or not) will likely wind up on national and international news distribution services sharing your news with media, investors, potential customers and the like, the world over. All you need to do is develop an effective press release and post it online at a number of free press release distribution sites (listed later).
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File under: Branding, Business, Employer Branding, Marketing, News, Personal Branding
July 6, 2007 By

What Every Sales and Marketing Arsenal Ought to Have

Your sales and marketing arsenal is to a successful business as good bait is to an accomplished fisherman. You just have to have it!

Without an effective sales and marketing machine your business will likely flounder in the wake of your competition. Like your primary competitors you must have certain tools at your disposal that enable you to stake claim in the marketplace, substantiate your declarations and entice prospects to buy from you.

These sales and marketing tools must be primed, up-to-date and differentiating at all times or you risk missing out on sales opportunities by simply not being effectively prepared.

From my experience with businesses of all sizes covering virtually every major industry, I can tell you that every business – large or small – should have all or at least most of the following weapons in its sales and marketing arsenal: (in no particular order)
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File under: Branding, Business, Employer Branding, Marketing
June 26, 2007 By

IS SHOCK AND AWE PUBLICITY A VIABLE BRANDING STRATEGY?

In the heyday of the Internet (late 90s) there was a company whose CEO did a web conference in his underwear. I don’t recall the specific company but I most certainly remember the instance. This “stunt” did effectively leverage the “shock and awe” buzz factor to garner media attention, but I can’t really say it likely did much for the company’s reputation long-term.

I equate this type of publicity to the multitude of whiz-bang sensory-overload commercials we see today that bombard us with sometimes-outrageous audio/visual stimulation but typically do little to truly sell us on the value of the company’s products or services. I mean just because a one-legged monkey with a Mohawk is riding a skateboard really well on a ramp and drinking a certain type of soda, doesn’t mean I want to purchase the same soft drink. I can’t tell you how many times I hear someone talking about a really neat commercial but can’t remember the name of the company behind it. Is this effective branding? I don’t think so.

There is most certainly something to be said for creating an ad or marketing piece that people will remember, but it is equally as important to make sure the viewer’s recollection is one of your brand’s value, not just how entertaining your communication was. In my branding and communications strategy for my business I utilize a formula to ensure I’m on the right track in terms of effectively communicating value to my clients and prospects. Here are the simple rules I follow diligently in all of my sales and marketing communication:
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File under: Branding, Business, Employer Branding, Marketing, Personal Branding
June 18, 2007 By

Your Branding Must Be Universal to Be Effective

With the ubiquity of the Internet today your brand must be universal and resonate across all geographic and cultural boundaries. It makes no sense to devalue your brand by pigeon-holing yourself with a country-specific look and feel and/or key messaging.

For example, if you live in Spain and have your own rare-coin buying/selling business and website, it would make little sense to call yourself something like Spanish Coin Company. Although this is a very elementary example, it does demonstrate the potential to inadvertently narrow the perceived focus of your brand. As a customer, would you likely visit a website called SpainCoinCompany.com if you were looking for rare French coins? You most likely would not. However, the owner of the company may in fact sell coins from around the world, but you might never learn this because the brand itself might deter you right off the bat.

A brand, when built and leveraged successfully, can communicate a business’s value to customers across the world, therefore opening the business up to international markets. Conversely, when crafted and utilized unsuccessfully, a brand can relegate a business to a very narrow scope and limit its potential significantly.

There are several critical areas to consider when building an effective universal brand:
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File under: Branding, Business, Marketing
June 11, 2007 By

The Art of the Key Messaging Platform

Every business – large or small – should have a differentiating “key messaging platform” consisting of the following:

A. Corporate positioning statement
B. Supporting key messages
C. Supporting proof points
D. Customer value propositions/statements

Together, these four components comprise a business’s key messaging platform. Personally, I never leave home without it. That is, I have a laminated business-card size cheat sheet that states my key messaging platform. If I ever add new employees to my business I will most certainly make a cheat sheet for them as well.

Let’s explore each component:
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File under: Branding, Business, Employer Branding, Marketing, Personal Branding
June 6, 2007 By

Bulletproof Your Brand With Claims You Can Substantiate

We all know that customer promises are a dime a dozen:

A. Buy this product and your hair is guaranteed to grow
B. Use this pill and you’re sure to lose weight
C. Our hamburgers use the highest quality meat
D. Our shoes help you run faster

Today’s educated consumer is growing more and more weary of these empty promises as many of us have tried these products and haven’t experienced what the brand promised. Don’t fall into this trap with your business. I’m not implying that you should not make quantifiable/bold brand promises. What I am saying is that if you do, make sure you can back them up!

One of the services I provide to clients is something I call a key messaging hierarchy. Following a comprehensive competitive analysis of my client and its key competitors’ positioning/messaging statements, I develop a set of bullet-proof messages that include statements that can be validated and also help the company differentiate itself from its competition. This key messaging hierarchy includes: a positioning statement, key messages, proof points and customer value propositions.

It is sometimes said that branding is all about two things: your product or service and your marketing. In my world, I too believe it comes down to two things:
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File under: Branding, Business, Employer Branding, Marketing, Personal Branding
May 23, 2007 By

A Little PR Can Go a Long Way Toward Branding Your Business

For those of you who don’t know much about PR, let me take a few minutes to share what I’ve learned over my 10-plus year career at four different PR agencies in NYC and Los Angeles. In short, PR CAN BE HUGE in terms of branding your business!!

From my experiences supporting dozens of B2B companies, I can tell you that PR should stand for “Publicity Received” since it is all about ink and airtime in the end. Virtually every function a true PR agency will provide is all about getting visibility for your business in print, online and broadcast media. Every press release, contributed article, media alert, pitch letter, “letter to the editor”, pitch call and conference call is all about leveraging media for FREE product/service/brand placement.

I am a tremendous believer in the power of Public Relations. Like oil and water, sometimes us PR professionals get into tiffs with advertising professionals. It always goes something like this:
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File under: Branding, Business, Employer Branding, Marketing, Personal Branding, Technology
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