Multi-Platform Branding is Essential to Your Business Success

Creating, and maintaining, a brand across platforms can be a challenge, particularly if the idea of cross-channel marketing and multiple platforms leave you scratching your head. In fact, what do those terms even mean, and where do you start?

Branding is about so much more than a logo or recognizable imagery these days; it’s about engaging customers at every turn, establishing relationships, and encouraging loyalty. In short, branding is everything. The way you approach cross-channel marketing, and interact with each platform available defines your brand and determines the successes and failures of your business.

Branding is more than advertising; it’s used to express your company’s voice and relay its message, and to create an identity by which you’ll forever be associated. A strong brand will carry your company well above its nearest competitors, reach out to customers, and attract their loyalty. More than that, branding is essential for personal identity. In understanding, creating, and maintaining your brand you ensure that all employees, no matter their job description, comprehend where the company has come from, what its main goals are, and where it’s hell-bent on going.

The evolution of branding

While branding once revolved around a company’s image, color schemes, and logos, print and television advertising, these days there are multiple platforms on which customers can be engaged.

Cross-channel marketing, or multi-platform branding, encompasses a variety of mediums. Rather than relying upon a single method of marketing, such as print media, multi-platform branding can be adapted to embrace all kinds of platforms, including targeted pop-up adverts, social media pages, viral videos, mobile apps, and websites and e-commerce. It is essential that you realize your brand identity is just that; the ‘face’ that customers will recognize instantly, and engage with.

Rather than waiting for customers to come to you, or stumbling across your marketing material by accident, multi-platform branding allows your company to step out of its comfort zone and engage with potential customers like never before; Social media and SEO (search engine optimization) are vital when it comes to cross-channel marketing; these days it’s all about being seen.

Ensuring branding success

Understand your customers: Before you begin the task of creating a brand it is essential to get to know your customers, their spending habits, and how they’ll access your marketing material. How do they use and interact with technology? Where are they most likely to come across your brand? The age and web habits of your clients will say so much about where your brand needs to go.

Define and create: First thing’s first; while understanding the platforms you’ll be accessing is essential, it’s also important that you stay true to your brand. Don’t plan a campaign around the media, but allow it to work for you. Have an idea of what you’d like your brand to stand for, and achieve, and create something that defines your business’s story; who are you, what do you stand for, and where are you going? Your brand should be fluent, and recognizable across any platform.

Voice and communication: The tone of voice your brand uses is vital; it must be unique and specific, able to stand the test of time and the domination of the crowd. Be sure to communicate your brand clearly and honestly, making sure that it is reflective of the products and services on offer. A brand isn’t a smokescreen to trick customers in, but a means of introducing the service you deliver.

Consistency: Perhaps most important when it comes to branding is consistency; try to avoid repetition, but ensure the image that you’re delivering is the same across all platforms. It must be recognizable, regardless of how customers are choosing to engage with you. Remain focused on your brand and its message, use tools and resources wisely, and don’t waste a second of exposure. Finally, use your brand to inspire customers to feel a certain way about your business; ensure they know who you are, and what you’re able to offer.

When it comes to branding across multiple platforms there are three ‘C’s that you must remember, without which many marketing attempts prove futile. They are courage, commitment, and communication. It takes great courage to think outside of the box and to push your business further than ever before, commitment to ensure that your brand remains consistent and accessible, and communication to convey that message in the first place.

It’s also important to remember that these platforms will continue to evolve. Already we have seen so many changes to the ways in which companies market themselves and engage with customers. As a business you must be prepared to accept your growing brand as an ongoing concern, and to develop it as the times change. How you move with those times will depend entirely upon you, but be sure to listen to your customers, as they’ll be your biggest fans, or critics.

Branding. Marketing. Selling. Oh My!

Sales. Marketing. Branding. If these words all sound the same to you, you’re not alone. A lack of familiarity with the particulars of each, combined with the fact that, frankly, they are all closely related, means many companies, small businesses and individuals view the terms as interchangeable.

What’s wrong with that? Well for starters, if you don’t know where one ends, and the next one starts, you’ll struggle to determine what is (and can) driving your results, and what is just costing you money and resources without improving your bottom line.

First comes the branding.  If you don’t know who you are or what you’re selling, others won’t either. In order to be an effective salesperson or savvy marketer, you must understand the value of personal branding and how to make it a part of your work.

Things to keep in mind about branding:

» Regardless of what you sell, everything is easier when you have a great personal brand.

» If you have a widely recognized and highly respected personal brand, your voicemails and emails are more likely to be returned.

» All sales professionals should seek to become celebrities in their own spheres of interest.

» Excellence is not enough. In a competitive marketplace, talent and hard work are simply expected.

» You are not just a human being. You are an entity, a business of one, a business unto yourself.

» You are in a lifelong series of “campaigns” trying to be “elected” to whatever matters to you. Think like a politician (I said THINK, not ACT).

» Live actively and focus externally. In order to become a celebrity in your sphere of interest, you need to be seemingly “everywhere.”

» Develop an area of self-marketing expertise, something related to what you do but is fascinating to people who do not do what you do. This is what you talk about when you network.

» Don’t network just for the sake of networking. Focus on results.

» Put on a show. Don’t be someone you are not, but play up your strengths and put forth your best image possible.

» While you are portraying yourself in a positive light, keep it real. Your prospects can sense authenticity as well as a lack of it.

» Never go back on any promise made to any prospective client during a networking or potential business encounter.

If you are unclear of your personal or company brand, we can help!  Don’t start your marketing or selling strategy until you understand your brand! www.stonekingconsulting.com.  

To Brand or ReBrand, That is the Question...

Companies are always looking for ways to increase sales and enhance market awareness. Sometimes this involves rebranding, which can make sense – companies that are willing to adapt tend to remain relevant within the market. But sometimes, rebranding can fail to meet expectations or may even do damage.

BP: Controversy Over the Logo

Many companies do not wish to rebrand but do so to combat modern day issues or crisis they face. The rise of issues such as green energy, expansion into other markets and recycling has had an effect on numerous brands. In 2000, in light of numerous PR disasters and a rise in the awareness of green energy, BP rebranded their logo of more than 70 years to the “Helios” logo.  The logo, representing the Greek word for the sun, was to symbolize and represent the company’s green growth strategy. 

However, there is nothing clean or green about drilling oil, and it appeared that BP was trying to provide connotations of something they weren’t. Shortly after the rebrand, the company caused global outrage with the Deepwater Horizon oil spill – the largest marine oil spill in the history of the industry. Green Peace challenged BPs logo and insisted that they change it to one that did not imply renewable or clean energy. They were unsuccessful in their campaign with the environmentally friendly logo.

Some Branding Tips: What is Needed to Successfully Rebrand

When rebranding, it is important to know what you are and what your company does and represents. Like the BP example, there is no point in trying to paint a picture of something that you aren’t. Changing brand personality can be rash and confusing, and although it can grab headlines, it can prove to be detrimental. If you must change something, know why you are doing it and justify it to your audience. Finally, change is not appreciated by a lot of people, but if you believe your company must rebrand and the rebranding is appropriate for you, have the courage and commitment to see it through.

Knowing when and if to Rebrand

Whether you are developing a brand or a rebrand, the process is very similar.  In order to be successful, all stakeholders need to be on board.  It’s important to remember that consumers drive market.  Their input is, most times, more important than the business owners’ desires.

                                           

1. Be Ready for the Change.

Change is very important to the future success of your business. As markets and attitudes change (very quickly), your customers’ needs and expectations also change. So it's vital to keep your communications relevant and appealing.

2. Understand your Brand.

Re-branding your business involves understanding your current strengths and weaknesses and identifying what and why you think things need to change. What are the problems and opportunities of your current brand? 

3. Know What your Brand Communicates.

How is your brand experienced by potential consumers through your current communications and how do you feel these should be developed or improved? It can be useful to ask customers and other stake holders their views and opinions. 

4. Know your Customers.

Who are your customers and what do they need? Do you want to attract new consumers, as well as retain existing ones? In what ways do you think your brand needs to adapt to address these goals? Understanding exactly who your consumers are and what they want is key in determining what you need to communicate to them.

5. Brand Distinction.

With ever-increasing competition and a proliferation of communication technologies, it's difficult to stand out from competitors. Does your brand have unique characteristics that sets it apart?

6. Know your Competitors.

It's important to understand how your competitors behave and present themselves, so that you can deliberately create the differences that will set you apart and give a competitive edge.

The decision to rebrand your company can have a profound effect on your existing customer base. Newer startups that make their pivot early on likely don't have much of a "legacy" to hold on to, but for an established company with a strong following, changing a key element of your brand may come as a shock to your core audience.

Therefore, it's critical to consider the way your past and current customers will react to such a shift when changing something as big as your product offerings, logo or name. Failure to do so could lead to a drop in your brand's recognition, reputation and trust among the people who know and love your company.

If you or your business needs help branding or rebranding, contact us!