Adventures in Advertising and the Affect on the Brand Name

Studying various target-marketing techniques and here is a thought. We have been reviewing companies who cross over into many sectors to identify with their potential customers. We have watched as they attempt to understand their customers buying behavior and how they try to create a desire to purchase. Few companies do this very well, few advertising agencies understand the dynamics of multiple markets. I have seen many advertising agencies squander their client's money. In my company, our team has nominated a few companies for their understanding of their customers, we have only considered those companies who cross ethnic barriers, and market to multiple sectors and customers in many industries. My choice was Rolex and Nike. Others members of our team felt comfortable with were GM, Dell, In and Out Hamburgers, Starbucks, E-Trade, MFS, Coca Cola, FEDEX, Washington Mutual, Mastercard, Wal-Mart (new series of ads), GE and Southwest Airlines.

With consumer spending decreasing in the future due to maxed out credit card limits and the next downward business cycles companies will have to decrease their P and L contributions column for advertising expenditure. Who will emerge the winners of tomorrow's markets? Those with significant standing brand names have the best chances. Who will avoid the drying up of the lake and continue to expand and develop new market niches and open more stores? I believe that the most customer driven companies will emerge as the great strategic planners that they are. In times of tough markets the companies who deserve the winners circle will shine bright and above the crowd. To be able to write great ads and to keep the customers happy, first you must understand the customers wants and needs, then you write the ads to fulfill these desires, then the tough part to deliver on that promise. Creating a new customer in a tough market is tough and it is a necessity. Without the new life-blood you cannot open more units and expand market share.

As other companies close stores rather than getting tough with the market, it shows the observers that they are out of touch with the needs and wants of the customers. Others will consolidate to keep up the numbers to impress shareholders and maintain stock price. This is a time when BS walks. A time when the strong survive, many will fail and pendants will ask: What happen to those business goals? What is being taught in Americas Business Universities? If a company cannot work together as a team in the heat of battle when the going gets tough then they will be defeated by those who can. The customer will choose the best value for them, they will vote with their desires. Advertising is important, but so is the follow-thru, without it all the advertising in the World will not build a customer following. Bringing in a new customer who is under-whelmed will simply turn into a one time purchase and adverse word of mouth.

I salute the winners in the market who understand the desires of the clients and continue to deliver on their promise. I salute the advertising agencies who help these firms by bringing in those customers. It is important to realize that we do not openly give praise easily or often. When we pass a judgment in the market place we do so for the benefit of all.

Those who go the distance and stay the course and Keep on Keeping on, will emerge and do so by carefully advertising to their core target markets without confusing their clientele even when they have branched into additional market segments, while keeping careful tabs on their core businesses. They are the ones who will find themselves respected by the others who got rained on too and made it thru. The innovators, the winners and the strong should be celebrated for they are the ones who refused to give up and to go the distance against all adversity, and against all odds.

"Lance Winslow" - If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs

---

Branded Email: Email Branding is the Next Generation of Email

All You Need is Branded Email Or Always Branded Email There to Remind MeFor the past 75 years, almost every form of popular communication has transformed from black and white to color. Newspapers,... Read More

How A Crazy Branding Stunt Can Bring Results For Years

As a beginner, you would be forgiven for thinking that marketing is simply advertising your product or service, how wrong you are.Marketing is the art of allowing people to know that your business... Read More

Mascots ? The Killer Promotional Concept

Mascots are the unique dolls or puppets that help identify a sports team or a company. These carry the unique property of "Stickiness". Your great customer support and product quality sticks only so... Read More

The Art of Successful Branding

Branding: it's a term that carries great weight in the world of advertising. Successful branding is best illustrated by the world's most prominent corporations, but it's no less important to the small business... Read More

Standing Under the Umbrella And Still Getting Wet

Make More Money Making a Name for YourselfCalling all realtors, financial planners, insurance brokers, multi-level & network marketers, and anyone else who works in the precarious and often misunderstood position of operating under... Read More

Brand Building 201: Finding The Ideal Way

The strongest and longest lasting brands branch off of an existing category. Branching takes patience and time. There are two speeds for launching a brand, each one with its own pros and cons.Speed... Read More

Blonds Have More Fun!

In the book, The Blond Knight of Germany, American authors Toliver and Constable detail the life of the greatest fighter pilot to ever fly, Germany's Erich Hartmann. During WWII, Hartmann recorded 352 confirmed... Read More

Your Business Logo and Color Scheme

My business logo and color scheme started one lovely spring day in my office, after two years of working with words and images. I purchased some rubber stamps and played with them. A... Read More

Living Your Brand on the Web - Part 1

OK, so you took the plunge and purchased your internet domain. Good for you! Now what? According to Google.com there are about 8,058,044,651 current web pages. That's billion with a "B"! So how... Read More

Branding: All My Exs Live In...

...my senses. I know, you were thinking 'Texas'. Well, if they do live in Texas, then it's a good thing that I live in Virginia (dodged that bullet - swish!). In fact, most... Read More

Branding Mistakes - Brand Identity Guru

1. It "sells itself." I don't need to market.Okay, you might have a solid product or service. You might even routinely satisfy your customers. They might even send their friends and family to... Read More

How a Great Tagline can Help your Business

"Just do it." "We try harder." "The Ultimate Driving Machine." "Be all that you can be." Taglines are one of the best ways of branding a product, service, company, or organization for years.... Read More

Image is EVERYTHING

The absolute foundation of your small business is your image. The way potential clients and/or customers perceive your business sets the stage for the way your product or service is recognized and ultimately... Read More

Is Your Logo Helping or Hurting Your Business?

The quality of your logo can mean the difference between success or failure. It can be that simple!Trademarks and Logos make up the most international language in the world. An excellent logo can... Read More

How to Work with Your Graphic Designer

As a graphic designer, I can tell you something right here, right now, right off the bat without blinking?.the graphic design process is a pain in the butt. From the graphic designer point... Read More

Do What Works

"Can you hear me now?"You'd be hard pressed to find someone in the US who doesn't know the company behind that question.So why do big companies, like Verizon, hammer us with the same... Read More

9 Keys to an Effective Logo

The right logo, with the right characteristics, will boost your visibility, credibility and memorablity ? which means more business for you!These characteristics include:Consistency in use of your logo, tagline, materials. Repetition of similar... Read More

Acquire, Then Rebrand

Acquiring another corporation usually means that the acquiring company's name will be the name of the newly merged entity. There is one factor that can change that -- one that is stronger than... Read More

Revealing the Roots: The Process of Building Brand

How is branding different than marketing?Branding is not so much different from marketing as it is an element of marketing. We think of marketing as a tree; the brand is the roots, holding... Read More

Branding Your Business To Make More Money

Branding your comapny should be the first thing a company does. You have to convince potential customers to buy from you. Very few people have a monopoly like Microsoft or Ebay, Everyone else... Read More

Which Of These Words Attract Your Clients

Whether it's your business card, tagline, article title, web site title and description or ad, just the difference of a few words can either pull in prospects and clients or push them away.... Read More

Brand to Sell Well

Branding is an application of appropriate marketing techniques in the right proportion to a product. Brand management is to manage the forces in a market suitably to win favors for the product.Branding essentially... Read More

Don?t Get Caught In the Trap: The BIG Difference Between Personal and Business Branding

When you're all alone in the privacy of your home office, surrounded by your computer, your phone and your business idea, have you ever asked yourself, "Where's the line between me in my... Read More

Branding Your Products Is Important

I was chatting with a couple of friends, all of us are either copy writers or graphic designers?or both?.in the advertising industry, so, naturally, our conversations leaned towards the topic. This one particular... Read More

Your Identity Speaks Loudly...What Are You Saying?

Your corporate identity is a graphic expression of who you are as an organization. It plays a major role in what sells your company and its products. Everything that identifies your business, including... Read More

New Uniforms Could be the Gold Charm for the Golden Arches

New designer uniforms could be the gold charm McDonald's needs to connect their new hip marketing campaign to their fast-food restaurants. This possible gold charm for the fast-food chain has the ability to... Read More

Brand Components

Your brand is the culmination of everything about you and your business. It is how people come to know you. It is your business name, logo design or other symbol that identifies your... Read More

Brand Value Plan - Brand Identity Guru

Developing brand value is critical to every organization and when professionally executed, delivers a clear and measurable competitive advantage to your firm. It does so by helping you establish a positive connection and... Read More

Hiring the Right Graphic Designer for Your Small Business

Every small business needs it, but not many have it. I am not talking about cash flow, clients or even your product or services to sell. Yes, all of these things are absolutely... Read More