Brand Quarterly Nov 2012

Brand

™

Volume 2 | Issue 1

November 2012

Quarterly

Building Your Business From The Brand Up™

More Than Hocus Pocus Dispelling 5 Branding Myths

The Power Of Words Fifteen Million Hits On YouTube

Protecting Your Brand Your IP Toolkit

Franchising Minefield Or Goldmine?

Brand Quarterly™

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In This Issue 8

2

Think Ink! Real Print Management

10

Protecting Your Brand

14

Breaking The News

16

Augmented Reality

18

“Inside Man”

22

Design 101

24

Personalisation:

28

The Power Of Words

30

More Than Hocus Pocus

34

Your Social Media Infrastructure

36

Speak Up!

Your IP Toolkit

How To Communicate With Journalists

A Bridge Between The Real And Virtual Worlds

Get Your Employees “On Brand”

Designer’s Lingo

For Me, Myself & I

Fifteen Million Hits On YouTube

Dispelling 5 Branding Myths

Is It Delivering You Value?

Beat Your Public Speaking Fears Building Your Business From The Brand Up™

38

Franchising

42

The Future Is Now

44

‘Tis The Season

46

All Together Now!

Minefield Or Goldmine?

It’s Time To Create The Future CMO Today

Holiday Party Networking Opportunities

Collaboration - Your Key To Success

From The Editor Blowing Out The Candles...

Thanks for joining us in celebrating Brand Quarterly’s 1st birthday!

What a year it’s been. We’ve enjoyed exciting growth, as you (our loyal subscribers) have been actively ‘Spreading The Word’ to others you know.

Our gratitude for your support has been a motivating force. We’re powering ahead with plans to take Brand Quarterly to the next level (watch this space) - bringing you even more value. As always, we love hearing your feedback and ideas, so please feel free to share these with us.

Fiona Vesey Vesey Creative

This issues’ global contributors are sharing their expertise with you from: America, England, Scotland, Wales, New Zealand and Australia. Along with your returning favourites, we’re pleased to be featuring a number of new contributors with topics ranging from franchising, IP law, viral marketing and the modern CMO position.

Congratulations to L Williams the winner of our ‘Request A Cover Story’ promotion. Your Kindle E-Reader is making it’s way to you as I type.

Also, before signing off I’ll take this opportunity to welcome our many new subscribers. I’m sure you’ll grow to love this publication as our regulars do. And please remember: “If you love it - share it”.

Enjoy Fiona

Volume 2 | Issue 1 | November 2012 Brand Quarterly magazine www.brandquarterly.com Publisher/Design: Vesey Creative Ltd studio@veseycreative.com

As the publishers of Brand Quarterly, we take every care in the production of each issue. We are however, not liable for any editorial error, omission, mistake or typographical error.

The views expressed by all contributors are not necessarily those of the publisher.

Brand Quarterly™

Copyright: This magazine and the content published within are subject to copyright held by the publisher, with individual articles remaining copyright to the named contributor.

Express written permission of the publisher and contributor must be acquired for reproduction.

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Featured Contributors Darrell Kofkin Darrell is the co-founder and Chief Executive of Global Marketing Network, the global accreditation body for marketing professionals.

Leading its global development and expansion, Darrell works extensively with leading marketing academics and thought-leaders, Deans of international business schools, consultancies and global publishers. With over twenty years experience in marketing Darrell divides his time between the worlds of practice and academia and is a member of the visiting faculty for several UK universities, teaching the next generation of marketing professionals. He is currently writing his first book ‘The Marketer’s Global Survival Guide’, due for publication in 2014.

Andrea Gardner Andrea Gardner is an author, marketer and copywriter, who started her career writing for newspapers and magazines.

Her company Purplefeather specializes in authentic communication, bringing brands to life through the power of story, and has opened the hearts and minds of people and organizations throughout the world with its viral video ‘The Power of Words’.

Dr. Ivan Misner Dr. Ivan Misner is the Founder and Chairman of BNI, the Senior Partner for the Referral Institute, an international referral training company, as well as a New York Times best-selling author.

Called the “Father of Modern Networking,” by CNN, Dr. Misner is one of the world’s leading experts in business networking and referral marketing. As well as Brand Quarterly, Dr Misner also contributes monthly articles to Entrepreneur.com as the online magazine’s networking expert, and he is a featured blogger on BusinessNetworking.com.

Ken Vesey Ken Vesey styles himself as a ‘QA Specialist, People Management Specialist, Facilitator, Implementer, and Technical Writer of policy and procedures’. His passion is towards the small business owner, whether in business or in education.

Over the past 27 years, Ken has compiled a wealth of management knowledge whilst holding the positions of NZQA Panelist & Moderator, Learning Manager at the Employers and Manufacturers Association, and Regional Director of Training for the Order of St John Auckland.

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Building Your Business From The Brand Up™

Andrew Vesey As a co-founder of the boutique Graphic Design and Branding agency Vesey Creative, Andrew lives his passion everyday – helping people and companies grow and be successful.

He is a strong believer in continually upskilling, learning and staying relevant in business. It was this ‘education brings growth’ mentality that originally lead him to create Brand Quarterly magazine.

Andrew brings to the table 15+ years of training and industry experience in Marketing, Advertising, Branding and Graphic Design.

Rachael Parman Rachael is head of the IP litigation and Retail teams at Manches. She is a leading light on branding issues faced by the retail sector and acts for clients such as Jimmy Choo, Chloé, Alexander McQueen and IKEA. She is quoted in the Legal 500 directory as “the best IP litigator in the marketplace.” Rachael focuses mainly on design right and trade mark matters and also has extensive experience in dealing with copyright and passing off issues. As such, she frequently advises on all areas of IP protection and enforcement, from interim injunctions to damages inquiries, through to representing her clients at complex multi-party mediations or managing their anti-counterfeiting policy.

Lesley McLuskey Lesley is the founder and Managing Director of Billmar Consulting specialising in; Franchise Development, Business Planning and Performance Improvement.

She is passionate about working with her clients offering practical, jargon free, “no nonsense” hands on support enabling them to develop and grow their franchise business. Lesley brings to the table 30-plus years business and industry experience in Operations, Business Planning, Performance Improvement and Franchising.

Graeme Golden Graeme has been in the communications industry for over 25 years.

Starting in IT, he had a long career with Royal Mail where he held a number of senior positions including board member for sales and marketing at Royal Mail Electronic Services.

Since then Graeme has worked in IT, software, manufacturing and print services. He is a strong advocate of cross media and multi- channel communications.

Graeme started QR Code Scotland so he could provide clients with exciting QR Code designs and successful QR Code marketing solutions.

Brand Quarterly™

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Featured Contributors Fiona Vesey As a multi-award winning professional photographer, Fiona has a great eye for detail, which she brings to her role as editor at Brand Quarterly.

Fiona is a co-founder of Vesey Creative, a Graphic Design and Branding agency which has recently expanded from New Zealand into the United Kingdom.

She thrives in partnering with people and companies wanting more than just ascetically pleasing design. Her natural ability to build relationships, communicate and truly understand clients businesses is essential in to the process of creating result generating, people focused design.

Allan Blair Beaton Allan Blair Beaton is a social media scientist, born on the west coast of Scotland, but with an international client base that includes Elite Athletes, Government Organisations, and SMEs of all descriptions.

His passion for social networking and all things web enables him to provide his clients with the most up-to-date access and engagement on the social web.

Allan is currently Managing Director of Social B2B Ltd. He is also an UK Ambassador for HootSuite and will be assisting with their Community teams across the UK and Europe.

Cath Vincent Cath is so passionate about creating lasting positive change for her clients that she is a keynote speaker on the subject.

She has researched disciplines such as neurolinguistic programming and hypnotherapy, which may be considered somewhat left-field, to find every tool and technique to help business people make permanent changes Now she combines 10 years of conventional business consultancy experience with some dramatically effective coaching techniques to help clients reach their full potential.

Farrukh Mirza Connector of people, brands and ideas, Farrukh is a sales and marketing professional with an MBA and over 12 years’ real world experience working with FMCG, Retail, Corporate and Fashion-Luxury brands.

He is also the founder of Tynderbox: Igniting Your Innovation – a global initiative to drive innovation through schools and universities and bring products or services to the market within 12 months.

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Building Your Business From The Brand Up™

From The Web “ Tell me a fact and I’ll learn, tell me a truth and I’ll believe.

But tell me a story and it will live in my heart forever.”

Steve Sabol 1942-2012

Keeping It “Real” Ford’s latest brand content initiative is a meta web series About brand content.

Click the image to read via Fast Company.

Where Businesses Spend Their Time (And Money) On Social Media A new survey shows that more small business owners are not only using social media but they are willing to pay for help.

Click the image to read via Inc.

Horses For Courses How Apple, Samsung, And Google Take Different Approaches To Innovation Click the image to view via Business Insider.

Brand Quarterly™

7

Think Ink! Real Print Management When I say ‘Print Management’ to you, what comes to mind?

Most likely, it’s shopping around to get a good price when you have a print job, or making sure you don’t run out of business cards and letterhead.

If you’re looking to maximise your returns and build a strong brand, then there is a lot more you need to know when it comes to print management.

Plan Your Print Like with all areas of management, failing to plan is planing to fail.

It’s useful and I believe extremely important, to plan your business’ print requirements.

In order to do so effectively, follow these simple rules.

Review - Past, Present, Future Pull out your records of print ordering and spending over the past few years - I recommend 3 years as a good sample. If you can’t do this easily, then that should be a sure sign that you need to set up or improve your tracking and reporting system.

Look for trends and patterns in your records. These will give you useful insights when it comes to the planning stage.

Then look at your current situation and any future projects or events that may cause repetition in the patterns you have found or will cause them to become obsolete.

Remove, Replace, Repurpose Look at everything you print.

Do you actually need to?

While a number of items will be vital to your business operations and/or brand development, you may find some items which you are only using out of habit.

You may find that two other pieces of marketing collateral cover a third piece which means you can remove it completely, saving on print costs. It may be more effective for you to deliver certain pieces in a digital format, which may cut down on our print requirements or remove them completely.

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Forecast As other business plans, forecasting accurately is the goal. Once you know what you will need and in what quantities, you have bargaining power (see ‘Buy In Bulk’).

Another often overlooked aspect of this print forecast is the question of ‘When’. Know your marketing plan requirements and collateral stock usage. This will allow you to not only reduce last minute stresses and potential missed opportunities it will also allow you to potentially negotiate better print rates as you can order early and your supplier can use it to fill downtime on the presses when they are short on work.

Building Your Business From The Brand Up™

Buy In Bulk - Sort Of One of the keys to getting good pricing in most industries is bulk buying. When it comes to printing, there are a few ways to do this. These methods and the extent of each really does depend on your print supplier’s capabilities and business model.

True Bulk Buying - You know how much you need and how much you can store yourself. The more you can order at once, the better your rates will be.

Stock On Hand - Certain suppliers have storage capabilities and, under agreement that you will use all the stored materials, can print in bulk and allow you to order and pay for smaller amounts when needed.

Use Of Shells And Blanks - You can bulk print all your fancy colour work and store these ‘shells’ for overprinting with specific simple details. Great for coupons and flyers that only ever change their expiry dates or marketing collateral for multiple store locations.

Preferred/Dedicated Supplier Agreements - If you can prove the value of your long term requirements, it can be possible to negotiate better overall rates.

Knowing they are guaranteed £50,000 over the year will net you a better per unit price than if you were only doing a single poster run.

Keep Control Of Your Brand This is a big one that is so often missed.

If you were printing in-house, you would make sure the staff responsible were well trained and delivered to the required standard. It should be no different with outsourced printing. Make sure their quality, service and turnaround times are inline with your brand requirements.

Quality Vs Price Once again, out of habit, you may be using a certain print method, paper stock or print supplier.

It’s time to review all of these. Some papers go up in price while others come down. Make sure you get the best quality you can for your money. If it’s about cost, you may be able to get something the same quality for cheaper. If it’s more about quality, then find out what else you can get for the same price you currently pay - You’ll be surprised.

The other area in the quality vs price debate is in-house printing. How much are you printing inhouse? Is the quality up to the standard you want?

How much does it really cost? Not just the printer’s per page cost, but adding in the paper and staff costs. At what point does it become more time, cost and quality efficient to outsource that printing?

You may also have other people in charge of your print, be they franchisees or satellite offices. You need to make sure these people have a foolproof plan to keep your brand presentation in check. Brand manuals outlining design and print requirements are handy for this, as are web based print management systems, especially when you utilise the full power of their Andrew Vesey reporting functions to monitor Vesey Creative and continue forecasting.

Get a print plan in place and start really getting the most out of your print management.

If you can get the same or better quality, whilst saving money and man-hours which you can invest into more grow - Why wouldn’t you?

Brand Quarterly™

9

Protecting Your Brand Your IP Toolkit

Rachael Parman Manches

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Your brand is more than your name – it could be a colour, a fabric pattern or the distinctive shape of a chair. Protecting your brand throughout the world can be relatively straightforward, through creating and maintaining an IP strategy. A successful strategy should enable you to receive reward for your investment of time, ingenuity, effort and money. Hard-earned brand value can be corroded and diluted if your brand and its associated IP rights are not carefully managed.

Building Your Business From The Brand Up™

What Are Intellectual Property Rights?

The main IP tools that most businesses use are trade marks, designs and copyright.

Taking each one in turn:

1.

Trade Marks

This is the “classic” element of your brand. It can be your name, your logo, the shape of a product or even a colour. For example, IKEA has its famous blue and yellow colour combination registered as a trade mark.

It is sensible to register your trade mark wherever you manufacture or sell your products or services.

Trade marks work on a territorial basis, so you cannot apply for a worldwide trade mark. It is therefore important to focus on your key markets and protect your brand in these territories as soon as possible. It does not need to be expensive or time consuming, but registering a trade mark will prevent others from using your name/logo and thus prevent customer confusion.

There are some excellent costs saving mechanisms in place if you trade in a number of countries.

For example, there is the possibility of having a Community Trade Mark – this covers all territories in the EU in one application. It can therefore be much cheaper to apply for a Community mark than national marks in each territory.

If your business is further afield, you may wish to consider applying for an International mark. These are often called Madrid Protocol marks – you designate which countries you want protection in and make a central application. This application is then sent to the relevant countries who will decide whether your brand is registerable. If you choose this system, the official filing fees are often much lower than applying on a country by country basis.

Once you have registered your brand, it can last forever, as long as you use it as registered and pay small renewal fees every few years. As such, it is one of the most valuable IP assets you can own.

Additionally, registration has a deterrent effect, as it gives potential infringers formal notice of your brand’s trade mark rights and entitles you to use the ® symbol alongside your registered brands (if you do not have a registered mark, you can still usually use the “TM” symbol, to put the world on notice that you are using the brand name as a trade mark). Competitors and potential infringers are consequently deterred from using conflicting brands and are made aware of your proactive approach to brand protection thus significantly reducing the chances of a dispute arising in the first place.

Brand Quarterly™

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2.

Design Rights

Brand protection strategies go beyond trade mark registration and enforcement policies. If you make a product, then design rights (or their global equivalent) may well be a crucial IP right for you to focus on to maximise the value in your brand.

At a European level, a design right protects elements of novelty in a design, for example the heel of a shoe or a uniquely designed chair. Whilst no single element of your design may be particularly new, the combination of features you have created may be, which will give you design right protection.

In Europe, a registered design can last for 25 years, as long as you pay small renewal fees every 5 years. However, you will automatically have an unregistered design right too, which lasts for 3 years.

This does not need to be recorded anywhere, so it is a useful tool if your products have a short shelf life – for example, the fashion industry largely relies on unregistered design rights, as designs are rarely in circulation for more than three years. However, automotive companies may well prefer to rely on registration of rights, as it will give them much longer protection.

Registration of a European design right is very quick and easy; it can be completed in a matter of weeks for a few hundred pounds.

Whether you register your design or not, if someone copies the appearance of your product, you may be able to stop them from selling the copy by relying on design rights. This can force the copycat to remove their product from sale, thus protecting your brand and ultimately, your customer base.

Design right rules vary across the world, and there is no global registration system. It is therefore important, as with trade marks, to look at the countries where you manufacture and sell the products. It is sensible to focus on your key territories and seek some level of protection if possible.

Unfortunately, the ease of the European system is not mirrored throughout the world, so protection in countries like the US may be much more time consuming and expensive.

3.

Copyright

At a very simple level, if design rights protect your 3D products, copyright is available to protect your 2D creations. It may well be that your brand is heavily reliant on artwork, photos, paintings, software or scripts, in which case, turning to copyright protection is likely to be your most valued IP tool.

In the UK, copyright arises automatically – you do not need to register it to own it or protect it. It can last for as long as 70 years after the death of the creator, making it one of the longest IP rights available. In some countries (e.g. China), you may 12

have to register your copyright to gain protection, but this is often a relatively speedy process.

As with the other IP rights mentioned above, if you believe that your copyright work has been copied by a competitor, you can rely on your copyright ownership to stop them from selling their version of your work.

What Happens If My Brand Is Copied?

If you find that your brand has been copied, whether it is your trade mark, design or copyright work, you should ask the infringer to stop immediately. It is often the case that some sort of negotiated settlement can be reached. If you fail to notify the copycat of your rights, you could be causing long term damage to your business, in that you may lose customers as a result.

In the unlikely event that you cannot reach an amicable settlement, then the Courts of the relevant country should be available to help. A Court can issue an injunction to stop the copycat from infringing your rights. In addition, it may award you some damages and some of the legal costs you have incurred as a result of having to go to Court.

One of the most powerful sanctions the European Courts can order is to make the wrongdoer to publicise the Court judgment at its own expense…a sure fire way to cause damage to a brand!

Top Tips Registering your brands in your key territories is an important investment that generates significant practical, commercial and legal benefits. Of course, you will have to balance the cost and effort of filing registrations in many individual countries with the benefit of the protection received.

To assist in the enforcement of the rights in your brand, you should: 1. Prioritise the registration of rights in territories where you have sales, manufacture, or goods are transited and a risk of counterfeiting exists.

2. Seek legal advice quickly if an infringement of your brand is suspected.

3. Keep full, detailed records of product creation, development and manufacture, including the dates of design and when it was first shown outside your organisation.

4. Maintain contact details of designers and obtain assignments of their rights before they leave the business or the country – if you use freelance designers, they may own the IP rights 5. Make effective use of trading standards and customs authorities who have powers to prevent counterfeit goods from getting into circulation.

Building Your Business From The Brand Up™

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Breaking The News How To Communicate With Journalists So you’ve written your killer news release – what next? It can feel daunting to pick up the telephone and contact a journalist direct and you may be wondering how best to communicate with them. So, here are my top tips for developing harmonious and productive relationships with journalists.

Be Concise Journalists work to tight deadlines, sometimes several at once, and are often under pressure from the news editor to write stories at short notice (I once had to find and write the front page story for a newspaper I was working on within half an hour – stressful to say the least). Bear this in mind when you speak to journalists and keep things concise.

They do not have the time to listen to a lengthy explanation of why you are contacting them and are likely to cut the conversation short if you don’t get to the point quickly. If it helps, take notes on what you want to say and have these in front of you. Try and encapsulate the story you want them to write about in a short sentence or two (effectively this will be the first paragraph of your news release), and listen carefully to their questions - if you don’t know the answers, find out immediately. And remember that all information provided should be current, interesting and contain an original ‘human interest’ news angle. Journalists are trained to dig deep and present all sides of the story and you can help them do this by providing as much relevant information as possible.

It’s All In The Detail Accurate details within a story are vital to any journalist. On my journalism course we were taught to double check the spelling of names and places – and then check them again. Correct spelling and grammar is paramount, and you can help the journalist by ensuring that everything you provide is 100% accurate. Few things annoys journalists more than having to check the spelling of something in a news release as this should already have been taken care of. Provide the required information on time. Don’t forget to give your contact details.

Ensure that everyone quoted in the news release is available for interview on the day you send out your news release. Avoid calling journalists when their daily news meeting is taking place (usually around 10am but it will differ for each media so check this) or when a big news story has just broken. Taking care of all these details will save the journalist time and ultimately cement your relationship with them as they gradually learn to trust you as a reliable source.

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Stay Friendly Journalists have their own news agenda so do not appreciate being told what they should be writing about – indeed this can have the opposite effect.

So instead, be friendly and focus on the news angle of your story. ‘I think this will be of interest to your readers because’ will get you much further than ‘you should be writing about this’ - for obvious reasons. If your story is sufficiently newsworthy the journalist will pick up on this very quickly; and if it isn’t, have the good grace to accept their feedback. Remember that you are looking to develop positive and honest long-term relationships with journalists (and they are obviously more likely to read your email or take your call if they know who you are) so it is in your interests to keep it friendly at all times.

Don’t Be Nervous There has been some debate about this but ultimately journalists need PR managers and vice versa; journalists need stories and PR managers need media coverage for their clients, and it is this symbiotic relationship that keeps the media world turning. Despite my journalism experience, when I first started working in PR I was sometimes nervous about contacting journalists – particularly those on national newspapers – but I soon realised they are simply doing their best to get on with their jobs in what can often be highly stressful environments.

Remember this when you are speaking to journalists.

You may feel that your story is not significant enough to bother them with but let them be the judges of that. Basically, don’t be nervous or afraid of them!

Lose Control Every media has its own editorial policy and guidelines which will affect the final structure of the article – you have no control over this. The subeditor will also sometimes write the headline, and the journalist has little control over this. Bear this in mind because, although you may be expecting the resulting article to look a certain way, the reality may be quite different. If you’re talking to a journalist on the telephone or face to face the likelihood is they will be taking notes on what you are saying and everything you say can therefore be included in the article, whether you want it to or not.

The only way to avoid this is to never give ‘off the record’ or unofficial statements, and only talk about things which you are happy to see in print. The bottom line is that if you don’t want to be quoted on something, don’t say it.

Building Your Business From The Brand Up™

Branch Out There are other ways to communicate with journalists other than the traditional ‘selling in’ of a story. Newspaper surveys show that the letters page is one of the most read sections of a newspaper and it is also the page that policy-makers look to as a barometer of public opinion. They will receive many letters though so remember there is no guarantee yours will be printed; and keep it timely and brief (150 – 200 words). You can also connect with journalists on social media but be selective; don’t connect with every journalist you find, just the ones you have dealt with in the past. And if you find a

journalist you don’t know but would like to connect with, message them explaining why you would be a useful contact for them (take a look at their LinkedIn profile to get to know them better first). Follow a publication on facebook and twitter as this will give you a better understanding of their interests. And be an active member of LinkedIn groups you notice journalists are part of – they are then more Samantha likely to recognise you when you McKay-Challen contact them.

Good luck!

Keep Calm Journalists are people too.

Brand Quarterly™

Word Angel

15

Augmented Reality A Bridge Between The Real And Virtual Worlds What if your printed advert could speak? Or if a printed image of your widget could come alive and start spinning and flashing. And all in 3D! Would that make potential customers sit up and take notice? Would that make your product stand out from the rest? I think it would but how do you make print come alive? Vivid colours are good but…

Well try adding some “virtual world” content to your “real world” printed advert with the latest mobile enabled Augmented Reality technology.

Augmented Reality, or AR, is an enhanced view of the real world through the addition of computer generated content such as graphics, sound and video. Mobile AR uses the functionality, processing power and connectivity of smart mobile devices, like tablets and smartphones, to augment real objects seen through the device’s camera lens.

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The real world objects can be a printed image in a book, magazine, brochure or any marketing material. It could even be a physical object like a landmark, statue, painting or a building.

It works by downloading an app (which is normally free) that uses the mobile’s camera to scan the printed image or object. Then as if by magic – but really by matching the printed image against a library of trigger images – digital content and graphics appear on the camera screen at the same time as you are viewing the “real” object.

AR can also use a smartphone’s GPS, accelerometer and other features to recognize the surrounding area and display local and targeted interactive AR content.

So when you scan a printed advert for the new Spiderman movie, not only do you get the screening times you can actually watch Spiderman swinging between buildings as you do it. Scan the product

Building Your Business From The Brand Up™

images in the new 2013 IKEA catalogue and you can see storage units coming alive, rotating around the catalogue page with their drawers opening and closing.

You can also add buttons for web links and social media “Likes” and “Follows”. In this way AR turns flat print into an interactive experience; using visual and audio digital content to entertain and capture user interest and then continuing the experience through on-line customer engagement.

The potential for enhancing printed marketing material is limited only by your imagination and your budget. Integrating digital graphics and on-line content with a printed advert offers a new customer experience that can really add that special wow factor.

People often compare mobile AR solutions to QR Codes. QR Codes being a special barcode that when scanned by smartphones and tablets can

Graeme Golden trigger on-line connections and QR Code Scotland actions. They are similar in as much they can both act as a paper hyperlink connecting printed content to online content. But AR takes the user experience to a different level and engages with customers in a unique way.

With the use of mobiles growing ever larger, Augmented Reality is a great marketing bridge between real and virtual worlds - especially if you want to cross that bridge in some style.

Brand Quarterly™

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“Inside Man” Get Your Employees “On Brand” Your employees are your Brand ambassadors. Here’s a test. Ask each employee one-on-one, “What does our company do and what does it stand for?” If you receive a myriad of answers, then you have work to do! Your employees are your brand ambassadors whether at work or during their free time.

Why? Because what we do in life and our careers are very important to our network and those with whom we interact. Often, the first question someone will ask is “What do you do for a living?”

This is an opportunity for you and your employees to promote the brand.

In most service businesses customers’ perceptions of a brand depend highly on the Ken Vesey behaviour of frontline staff.

Approachable Service firms face the challenge Consultancy of having employees, in particular those with customer contact, build and strengthen the organisation’s image in customers’ minds (i.e., show brand-building behaviour). But what can managers actually do to get customer contact personnel to act as ambassadors for their firm?

the first 24 hours of employment, new employees feel welcome, confident and engaged in their induction process.

Any induction programme must address the brand. Programmes need to have a goal that is clear with consistent messaging for the general public. The programme needs to reinforce the marketing strategy, so that people know what your company does and what it stands for. Here are three key ideas to get you started.

1. Keep it simple – No one is going to memorise a long elevator speech 2. Make it positive – Stress the features and benefits of what your company does for clients and end-users 3. Everyone needs to be on the same page – You don’t want different answers to the same question!

In the crucial early stages of employment, a new employee will form important first impressions about their role, their co-workers and the company. An effective employee induction program helps to set a positive tone and reduces the time needed to settle into a new role, adjust to the team and become a productive member of the business.

The most important thing to remember about your company brand is that it may mean different things to different people, so a company strategy meeting may be in order to refine these ideas. Once you have a few core ideas of what the company does and stands for, you can make the final decision. Your company brand does not have to remain static, but can change as the business evolves, as long as everyone at the company is on the same page.

Induction and on-going training are important to help new employees to understand their job and to perform well in your workplace. Both set the expectations for the employment relationship.

Employees make natural brand ambassadors because they’re already informed on the ins and outs of your company

G Alarcon’s. (2008) article on People Management: why inductions should start long before the employees first day suggests poor employee induction efforts not only impact on the present but also on future recruitment opportunities. Evidence suggests that up to 90% of new staff members decide whether to leave an organisation within their first six months of employment, so first impressions of the company are vitally important.

I am constantly amazed at how companies waste huge amounts of money on branding. The reason is they spend most of their branding dollars on external branding. They or their advertising agencies develop catchy visual images with catchy slogans and catchy brand promises.

C Hacker’s (2004) article on New Employee Orientation, make it pay dividends for years to come suggests word travels fast and all the promises made to a employee can be quickly overshadowed by an ineffective introduction to the organisation, skewed work expectations or problems fitting into the new team environment. It is critical that, especially within 18

Companies aim to turn the public on to their brands so that customers beat down a path to their doors.

The problem is that many companies are very successful in getting people to deal with them… and then fall down on delivery. In short, the brand experience – the interaction between the customer and customer service personnel does not match the brand promise. The result is disappointed customers and erosion of the brand.

Building Your Business From The Brand Up™

Get employees “On Brand” and they will do more than just ‘clock in and out’ every day

As I have said many times before, your brand is more than your logo. It’s more than your graphic identity. And it’s more than your slogan or the brand promise that you make. Branding is about your reputation. It’s about creating an emotional bond between your company and consumers. It’s about creating a brand experience that delivers on your brand promise. If you sell pens, then the brand experience is not that critical. However, in the service business, the brand experience is critical.

Recently I was in Wellington staying at my favourite hotel. It is not premium brand but it is the sort hotel you feel comfortable in.

As usual, I was greeted warmly at reception by the three employees who were waiting for someone just like me to walk in! The employees engaged me in conversation, asking how I had been since my last visit. I had never met these particular staff employees before on my trips, but they knew I belonged to the loyalty programme!

The restaurant staff were warm, friendly and always attentive to my needs. In short, the staff here knew that the Hotel brand experience is to make people feel special and well looked after. They are trained to deliver on the Hotel brand experience. As a customer, I felt the brand. It wasn’t the decor, it was

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the people. And, of course, I do just what the Hotel wants me to do – recommend them to others.

However, a month earlier I was booked into a different hotel. This Hotel did not necessarily deliver a bad experience. Rather, they delivered a bland experience. I was attending a two day workshop at the hotel and staying overnight night. There was no one to greet me as I arrived at reception. The staff engaged in the act of checking me in, but they forgot to engage with me as a person. Unlike my favourite Hotel, I wasn’t greeted by staff as I passed by them. There was nothing wrong with the staff. In fact, they had probably been on standard customer service training courses, but they didn’t deliver an experience that represented the hotel’s brand. If someone asked me about this hotel, I would say, “It’s okay…but you can do better.”

In short, if your company is in the service business, and if you want to build your brand, then you need to excite and turn your employees on to the delivery of your unique brand experience. The challenge is to get them emotionally involved so that they understand and identify the brand experience that your company wants to deliver.

Provide education whether you’re launching a new brand or hiring employees to sell your existing one.

Good employees need to know about much more than their job duties. They ought to know your brand story and your company’s goals, so they feel a part of something. If you own a sushi bar, teach your waiters about sushi. Help them with the Japanese pronunciations. Explain the difference between the three types of tuna on your sashimi menu. Get them excited about what they serve. If they feel knowledgeable, they’ll be excited to share that knowledge with customers. In turn, customers will feel better connected and will share the joy these brand ambassadors exude.

Empower your employees to make decisions and give them the freedom and resources they need to provide outstanding service. If employees are properly educated about what’s important to the organisation, they will be able to make good decisions that are consistent with your brand strategy.

Ask your employees what they need to be better brand ambassadors. Maybe your receptionist needs a headset so they can call up names in the database quicker without cradling the handset between their ear and shoulder. Or maybe they need an extra phone by the copy machine, so they can answer it faster while running administrative errands. Perhaps your grocery store employee will recommend a service initiative to assist handicapped shoppers.

Build excitement. Many employees will go above and beyond for their employer no matter what, but 20

the majority benefit from a little encouragement.

When you see employees acting as brand ambassadors, show your appreciation. Employees don’t want to feel like the only thing their employer values is the bottom line. Develop unique ways to make your employees feel valued at their jobs, increasing worker loyalty and helping to bolster the image of your business. Take a little extra time and effort to treat your employees the way they’d want to be treated and it’ll go a long way in retaining quality workers who’ll actively spread positive vibes about your brand.

Whether your company is building a brand from the ground up or protecting hard earned brand equity, you tend to think about reaching millions of people only through traditional media. You may be missing a massive opportunity. Here are something to consider: If 100 company employees come into contact with 5 consumers each day – that adds up to 500 people connecting with your brand each day – a total of 120,000 consumers impacted by your brand representatives each year!

The sooner you begin leveraging the power of your people, the closer you are to improved brand immersion. By following four simple, yet proven, tactics you can protect and build your brand while increasing employee satisfaction.

1. Create alignment between the emotional centre of your brand and the emotions of your workforce. Engage all employees as brand advocates and instil a sense of pride and ownership in them as they take an active role in something bigger than their day-to-day tasks.

2. Appreciate your employees and offer reward and praise. An employee who feels appreciated will have pride in their company and will send a positive message about the company brand.

3. Craft your message and integrate it across your organisation. What it stands for and how it’s positioned determines whether it thrives or struggles for visibility.

4. Recognise that everything is wrapped in your brand. When something does not accurately reflect your brand, it should be acknowledged as such and not ignored. Embrace it and bring it into alignment for true brand identity, consistency, integrity, and long-term employee satisfaction.

I will leave you with the former CEO of General Electric, who said it best, “Employee satisfaction gets you productivity, quality, pride, and creativity.”

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Experience Vesey Creative.

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Bleed

Design 101 Designer’s Lingo

A printed image that extends beyond one or more of the finished page margins and is later trimmed so that the image “bleeds” off the edge.

Designers may seem to come from another planet sometimes, but the language they speak isn’t actually of the alien variety.

Camera-Ready

To help you understand what they’re going on about, here’s a selection of the more common terms you will come across:

To-be-printed artwork that requires no additional layout, positioning, redrawing, or typesetting.

Clip Art Ready made artwork sold or distributed for cutting and pasting into publications.

CMYK Abbreviation for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Key (black). The four process colours.

Colour Separation A means of dividing a full-colour design into separate components, corresponding to the four process colours: see CMYK Keri Sandford Vesey Creative

Copy Any text content that is to be typeset.

Crop Marks When you’re creating and maintaining a brand, you’re working with designers.

Lines drawn or printed on a design to indicate the proper cropping of the image.

Whether they are in-house or an external team, designers and branding are never far away from each other.

Cropping

Design 101 is a series aimed at bridging the gap between you and the design world. Helping you to better communicate your vision with your designer and get an understanding of ‘how they tick’.

Diecutting

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Cutting off an undesired portion of a printed piece.

Using sharp steel blades to cut a substrate into a specific shape.

Building Your Business From The Brand Up™

DPI

Registration

(Dots per inch) is a unit of measurement used to describe the resolution of printed output.

The extent to which successively printed colours are positioned on the final print, with respect to each other.

Four-Colour Process Printing by means of colour separations of the four process colours: see CMYK.

Kiss Cut To die cut the top layer but not the backing of selfadhesive paper.

Line Art Any illustration material that contains no halftone, continuous tone, or tinted images. Pen-and-ink drawings are line art.

Pantone A brand-name for a popular color matching system.

PMS An abbreviation for the Pantone Matching System.

RGB Abbreviation for Red, Green, Blue. In computer graphics, the three basic components of visible light.

Soft Copy Any page, document, publication, or other data that exists on a computer, rather than as a printout, or hard copy.

Spread In page layout and printing, any two facing pages of a book, magazine, newspaper, or other publication.

Spot UV Liquid applied to a printed sheet, then bonded and cured with ultraviolet light.

Vector Graphic

Prepress Camera work, colour separating, stripping, platemaking, and other functions performed by the printer prior to the actual printing.

Also referred to as object-oriented, as elements within an image can be grouped together and considered by the software as individual “objects”.

The detail of the image remains the same whether small in size or scaled larger.

Proof Any early copy of the design produced as a means of checking for typos or other similar errors, as well as positional errors, layout problems, and colour aspects.

White Space The total amount of non-image areas on a page, particularly gutters and margins.

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Personalisation: For Me, Myself & I As a marketing student turned professional turned business owner, I have learnt to apply the Marketing Mix behind every product or service to extract the core business strategy. Often referred to as the 4Ps of Marketing – Product, Place, Price and Promotion, this is a supply side strategic model which is easy to understand and apply even by non-marketers.

Over the years, changing environments and technologies meant that additional 3Ps were added namely, People (also referred as Personnel); Packaging (or Physical Evidence) and Process (also termed Programming). The latter being the recognition of internet and communications and their impact in reshaping the business landscape within a decade.

My focus on this article is on the 8th P which is Personalisation – and in my view perhaps the strongest element which has changed the way we live, consumer and behave today.

Many have credited the success of Apple to the singular perfectionist approach to product design which was at the core of every product ever launched. Whilst this is true, in my opinion this is not the whole truth.

Behind the global domination of Apple is the vision of Steve Jobs to create a product that is truly personalised to every individual user. By adding a letter ‘i’ to every product, Apple has personalised the brand even to identify with the needs, wants and expectations of every single Apple product user.

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Who would have thought that by looking after a single customer you can grow your business into a multi billion turnover empire?

Apple continues to apply this methodology today through iCloud where you can have access to iTunes which is nothing less than an online catalogue of music and videos tailored for every individual taste and likes synced to their own ipod, iphone and ipad.

Product Personalisation is the degree to which the consumer can exercise control over the product.

Implementing product personalisation requires that consumers operate as co-designers of their own personalised product.

One of the best and earliest examples of Personalisation is the mass customisation service of Nike.

Nike ID enables consumers to design their own pair of personalised shoes by allowing consumers to specify the colours for the various shoe parts (see image below) resulting in a unique pair of Nike shoes that matches the personal preferences of an individual with respect to taste. Self-expression in turn has a positive effect on the degree of attachment to a product.

For designers who wish to extend a product’s lifespan, it is thus a good strategy to incorporate the possibility of product personalisation.

Building Your Business From The Brand Up™

Farrukh Mirza Tynderbox

Although personalisation options with higher degrees of consumers’ effort can result in stronger attachments, these options also have a downside. Consumers may not have the knowhow, experience, and practical skills to personalise their products. Furthermore, consumers may become confused with the great number of options available.

It is the designer’s task to create a context in which a balance is found between creating design opportunities and guaranteeing adequate product quality. Accordingly, designers could create a toolkit to support the consumers in their choice, while they still may take credit for the product design.

In comparison to most mass customisation services, the input of the consumer is enhanced, while restricting the risks.

Today, we can see personalisation being applied knowingly or even unknowingly to almost every product and service. From the cool funky smartphone cover that you bought to your custommade suit made to your exact fit to even your car in which you have selected the grain of leather and the stitch to reflect your refined taste. It comes at a price but today’s consumer is more than willing to pay the difference.

An example of a company that offers a toolkit with a satisfactory balance between risks and benefits of product personalisation is Freitag (see attached image). Freitag sells personalised bags made of recycled printed canvas from truck tarpaulins.

On the website, customers can create their own bag by ‘reserving’ individual pieces of canvas and positioning them in a specific place on their bag.

During the ‘design process’, the consumer can see which pieces of the tarpaulins are still available and which are already used for other bags.

Because each part of each tarpaulin can only be used for one bag, every bag is different.

Moreover, the bag becomes irreplaceable, because only this particular specimen resulted from the person’s involvement and it is impossible to create an identical product again.

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The Power Of Words Fifteen Million Hits On YouTube What do you do when the world shows up on your doorstep? When your video goes viral you have the potential to broadcast your message to millions of people you’ve never met. Your unique brand becomes an overnight celebrity and suddenly everyone has an opinion of your work which is intoxicating and terrifying all at the same time.

In 2010, my husband Seth and I created a promotional video for my company Purplefeather, called The Power of Words. It’s the story of a blind man begging on the streets using a sign saying ‘I’m blind, please help.’ He’s not having a great deal of success until a thoughtful businesswoman comes along and decides the best way she can help is to give his sign more universal appeal. She changes the words to read ‘It’s a beautiful day and I can’t see it’ which elicits a rush of donations from passersby. When the businesswoman comes back later to check how he’s doing, the blind man asks what she did to his sign. Her response: ‘I wrote the same but in different words’. The video closes on the message ‘Change Your Words, Change Your World.’

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How Does It Affect Your Business?

Our video sat on YouTube for almost a year and received a couple of hundred views. It was only when we decided to ‘seed’ it on social media channels that things went a little crazy. Good Friday 2011 certainly lived up to its name. That was the day we sent The Power of Words to some influential bloggers, posted it out to our networks on Facebook and Twitter and promptly forgot about it. Three days later when we were travelling back from an internetfree break in deepest Bavaria, I spoke to our puzzled web developer. There was something odd going on with our website – it was receiving 48,000 hits a day and was about to bust its bandwidth. We came home to the news that the video had received 1 million views over the weekend…and there were 3,500 emails in my inbox!

Over the course of the next 18 months the video transformed our business and has become affectionately known as our 24-hour salesperson.

Views have reached 15 million and we have received business opportunities from around the

Building Your Business From The Brand Up™

Andrea Gardner Purple Feather

What’s The Secret Of Creating A Viral Video?

If anyone ever gives you a guarantee that your video will ‘go viral’ watch to see how long their nose grows! All sorts of factors will conspire with or against you on the global stage to determine how popular your content will be – worldwide events, weather patterns…even singing cats. Though you have limited control over the timeliness of the message, there are 5 steps you can take to increase the likelihood of your video being shared:1. Keep it brief We’re all busy people. If you can keep it under two minutes your audience is much more likely to stay with you til the end.

Click image to view

world. The video played a part in the Arab Spring, gave hope and inspiration to soldiers in Libya and was even picked up by Canadian politicians who were keen to align themselves with the message.

It recently won an award from the North Atlantic Film Council of America and was shortlisted for the inaugural Lovie Awards alongside contenders such as U2 and The Huffington Post.

We have been asked to spearhead several campaigns – a world peace movement, international students’ rights campaign and Canadian cultural festival - and have been approached by businesses large and small, from a monumental aerospace company in Florida to a man making doormats from lobster trap rope! My favourite emails came from children who’d been shown it at school, or people who’d seen it as part of a training programme and been caused to think differently.

‘Change Your Words, Change Your World’ has become our company motto and the title of my first published book and there is a global waiting list for our ‘Change Your World’ seminars and workshops.

2. Make an emotional connection Universal themes and emotions such as humour and pathos seem to have the strongest effect.

3. Tell a story Everyone loves a story. If people can identify with one of your characters and notice a distinct turning point they are much more likely to remember your message.

4. Keep language to a minimum Non-verbal communication is universally recognised and enhances rather than detracts from an understanding of the story.

5. Use emotive sounds and music Try watching a horror movie with the sound switched off – much less impact. Original soundtracks and effects can give you a distinct advantage on YouTube. And if you don’t use original music, expect copyright claims!

The Importance Of Brand Vitality The most potent insight we’ve drawn from our viral experience has been the importance of brand vitality. People are attracted to brands on an emotional level and, rather than feel they are being sold something, prefer to connect through a narrative. If you can inject your brand with personality and deliver an authentic message, your online community will build itself and your business will have the potential to unlock millions of hearts.

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Branding Success Crystal Ball Optional 30

Building Your Business From The Brand Up™

More Than Hocus Pocus Dispelling 5 Branding Myths A dash of values, a drop of systems, a pinch of design, eye of newt...

Wait a minute. Let’s start that again - in the real world.

For many people, a brand is just as mystical and bemusing as a witch’s spell or gypsy magic from a fairy tale story. So let’s clear away the smoke and mirrors, to give you a clearer understanding of what branding actually is.

Andrew Vesey Vesey Creative

Myth 1: Our Business Doesn’t Use/Sell Brands.

Dispelling The Smoke: Saying your business doesn’t use brands is like saying your water isn’t wet while everyone else’s is. At a very basic level, every single business uses or sells at least one brand - their own.

Looking deeper into it, there are actually two brands for the business. The external brand that the customer experiences, plus the often less thought about internal brand (commonly known as company culture). You need your customers to buy into your external brand, whilst your staff buy into the company culture.

Having one working without the other is a recipe for stagnation or worse.

On top of these company brands, any staff member who is in contact with a customer or supplier also utilises their own personal brand. This is why it is so important to hire the right staff that fit with your brand values.

Myth 2: I Have A Logo, So My Brand Is Complete Right?

Turning On The Lights: It’s not all about pretty pictures. Sure, your visual identity is important as it’s often the first point of contact people with have with your brand, but it is only a part of the bigger picture.

Your brand starts off with your core values and beliefs, flows through to what you promise to your customers based on those beliefs and then on to how you will deliver on those promises. Your logo and the rest of your visual identity needs to represent these values, beliefs and promises.

A business can be successful without a great logo, but try doing it without having clear core values or delivering on your promises and you’ll be in trouble.

Myth 3: The Market Is Changing, So I Need To Change My Brand.

Behind The Mirrors: Because your brand starts right at your core values and beliefs, you shouldn’t be changing it every time the market makes a shift. Let’s face it - the market is changing every day.

A persons values and beliefs don’t change every day, it’s their needs and wants that do (normally their wants). Your brand needs to connect with people at a values level.

Monitor your brand values in relation to your marketing message. Then, find new products or services that fill wants and needs, in line with your current values. This is how you adapt to meet the changing marketplace. Keeping a handle on these markets’ wants and needs will help you to adjust how you present your brand values through your marketing messages and or product/service offering.

Advertising is part of the marketing mix, in the same way as social media, direct mailing, trade shows, etc. The advertising is designed (graphic design) to follow the brand guidelines but is not branding itself - It may be targeted towards brand awareness, or sales but it is still advertising, just using a brand message or a sales message.

Customers respond to your marketing campaign and require fulfillment - Your sales team or sales process do what they have been designed to do, according to your brand values and delivering on your marketing messages. This will normally entail the use of some sort of online or printed materials that have been designed to match the brand guidelines.

The process will continue with more steps after this but for simplicity’s sake we’ll stop there.

Each of these are different parts of the whole. They are not the same thing, they are in fact each very individual tools that you will need to use closely together for ensured success.

Myth 5: It’s Exactly What We Want - Success Here We Come!

Keeping It Real:

Myth 4: Branding, Marketing, Sales, Graphic Design, Advertising - It’s All The Same Thing, Right?

Pulling Back The Curtain: While we don’t want to get into a big philosophical debate over the blurred lines in the marketing, sales, advertising, branding kaleidoscope, I would like to offer the following example for some clarification.

You create your brand based on your core values Branding only at this stage.

You then create a plan to present your brand to the market place - Graphic design is used to decide how your brand is represented visually and marketing to plan how to describe and deliver the message of your brand. Knowledge of how you will complete the sale will also greatly influence both the design and marketing plan.

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Whether you are talking about your brand values, visual identity, marketing messages or sales process, one thing is for certain. It doesn’t matter how wonderful you think it is if you’re not in the target market.

Get advice. Talk to experts and your target market.

You may find that your values don’t resonate at all - then maybe you need to change your target market, or find a way to focus on certain values which do make a connection and market those considerably more.

No magic... No hocus pocus...

Branding is simply a vital part of the larger picture.

An important tool/requirement in the success of the other puzzle pieces.

Now that you’ve seen behind the smoke and mirrors, how does your brand measure up?

Building Your Business From The Brand Up™

YOUR

BRAND OUR

TEAM

Coming Soon To A Brand Near You

VESEY CREATIVE LIMITED presents in association with BRAND QUARTERLY a VESEY CREATIVE production ‘THE BIG REVEAL’ starring YOUR BRAND and OUR TEAM offering BRAND ESTABLISHMENT, BRAND REVIEW, BRAND MANAGEMENT, BRAND IMPLEMENTATION and BRAND DEVELOPMENT based on YOUR COMPANY VISION supported by a VISUAL IDENTITY MANUAL plus Graphic DESIGN, PRINT MANAGEMENT, WEB DEVELOPMENT and MARKETINg consultancy in conjunction with Strategy, tRADE SHOW DEVELOPMENT, SOCIAL MEDIA, PHOTOGRAPHY and COPY WRITING produced by FIONA VESEY directed by ANDREW VESEY

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Your Social Media Infrastructure Is It Delivering You Value?

A recent report shows that 40% of businesses plan to use social media in the coming year. Of the 60% of businesses who don’t plan on using social media, 41% are doing so because they don’t see the value to their business.

For me, this report highlights a huge gap in understanding. The social web has value for between 80-90% of businesses. The problem is that only 40% see that value.

In a large percentage of the cases I come across, this gap is caused by companies failing to define ‘value’, and how to achieve it using social channels.

Mostly, those companies who see limited results do so because of a lack of social media infrastructure.

No Infrastructure = Disaster!

So many companies approach social media with a ‘let’s see what happens’ attitude. Do you approach other elements of your marketing like that?

I hope not.

In order for a social strategy to deliver value, you need to have a pre-planned infrastructure which fortifies the success of your campaign.

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The key components of a successful social strategy are curation, monitoring and measurement.

Let’s look at each of them in more detail:

Curation Businesses, and individuals, often mistake ‘sharing’ for ‘curation’. The process of curating content requires the application of expertise. Just because you’ve shared something on Twitter or Google+ doesn’t make you a curator.

Successful curation involves the thoughtful and intelligent selection and organisation of content into a resource which provides genuine value.

To do this you not only need to have an in depth understanding of your own industry, but also of your community.

There are many ways to curate content on the web.

When you are choosing your curation methods make sure you prioritise quality over quantity. In many ways, you will be judged by what you share.

Make sure it represents your business in the best possible way.

Building Your Business From The Brand Up™

Another important consideration is relevance.

Ask yourself, ‘is this content relevant to my whole community?’ If not; target it.

Social media dashboards have some great functions which allow you to target content based on language or geographical location. By ensuring that your content is always useful, relevant and engaging you will earn trust, loyalty and influence.

Monitoring Social media monitoring is crucial if you hope to derive any value from your social campaigns.

Again, social media dashboards allow businesses to monitor keywords, phrases and hashtags in real time. The added ability to monitor mentions of these terms using geo-location also gives you the ability to become a fly on the wall anywhere on the social web. The value which can come from successfully utilising these tools is phenomenal – but without the infrastructure you will miss it completely.

Measurement Most businesses realise the importance of measuring the effectiveness of their social campaigns. The

problem is, most are measuring the wrong things. Sure, the size of your community is an important factor, but is it as important as your true reach, relevance or your CTR (Click Through Rate)? Effective measurement is all about you understanding what constitutes ‘value’ for your business. Once you know that, use measurement tools to measure the KPIs which most accurately reflect this value.

Allan Blair Beaton Social B2B Hootsuite UK

Have you been using the social web with limited success?

Or perhaps you are about to start a new campaign for your business?

Before you do anything, make sure you have the social media infrastructure in place to successfully implement these three, value driven processes.

Without these you won’t get any value from the social web. By making sure you have them in place BEFORE you begin your campaign, you can almost guarantee success.

Brand Quarterly ™

Curation, Monitoring, Measurement - The keys to Social Media success.

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Speak Up! Beat Your Public Speaking Fears All these fears revolve around things “I might” and things “they might”. So it boils downs to concerns about “me” as the presenter and concerns about “them” as the audience – noticing of course that NONE of this has happened yet. It’s simply a projection of possibility on the future from your IMAGINATION. Now imagine instead, that you are an inspiring speaker and every person in the audience is hanging on your every word. Isn’t that a more useful projection of possibility?

How do you think your results might differ if you LEARNED to Cath Vincent think this way?

1. I Don’t Know How To Structure My Presentation Simplicity is the key. Most people try to cram too much in and that creates 2 problems – it makes it complicated for you to think your way though and complicated for the audience to process. A good guideline is 3 key points that you can easily talk about with a simple link between each.

Structure your presentation into 3 key points.

2. I Might Forget My Words You’re not supposed to remember your words.

If you are memorizing your material it will sound stiff and lifeless. Aim to deliver your material more conversationally, as though you were telling it to a friend over a drink. Have you ever described a holiday to a friend – you were energetically describing something that interested you… you didn’t worry about forgetting your words, right? And anyway, even if you do forget something, no-one (except you) knew what you were going to say.

Don’t learn it, love it.

Stop hiding behind excuses 36

Building Your Business From The Brand Up™

3. I’m Afraid I Will Look Foolish It’s ok to make a mistake. No one is sitting there thinking “I hope she stuffs up” or “won’t it be great if he makes a fool of himself”. In fact, quite often the quirky things that happen accidentally make the audience laugh and create a lighter atmosphere.

A simple way to look confident is to focus on an upright stance with your feet shoulder width apart so you stand firm – this helps to avoid nervous fidgeting.

Consider everyone in the audience to be your friend and greet attendees as they take their seats if possible.

4. I’m Worried I Don’t Know Enough You do. You might think you don’t know enough about your field, jour job or your career – and indeed you may have a lot to learn. But you do know enough to give a short presentation that you can structure, write and practice in advance...

Your whole career in not on trial, your task is simply to present some part of your knowledge in a way that is easy to listen to. The actual information is a very small part of it – how you say it has much more bearing that the words you actually use...

Focus ONLY on the presentation in which you, the author, are the specialist.

5. They Might Not Listen The actual words you use have a very small bearing on the impact of your presentation – only around 7%. Much more important is your tone of voice (38%) and your body language (55%). If you want to command the attention of every person in the audience, focus more on your tonality and physiology. Another way to engage the audience is by telling a story to illustrate your point – much easier to listen to than a string of facts and figures!

Tell a story to illustrate your point.

6. I Feel Nervous Until I Get Into It You should feel great from the opening line as the first few seconds create a lasting impression. Learn a short sharp opening that is compelling or intriguing and extremely simple for you to remember – in that way, there will be no hesitation when you open your mouth. It’s worth doing that for your concluding words too so you create a confident close.

7. I Might Say ‘Um’ A Lot And/Or Start Gabbling Pauses are a valuable part of every speech – they give the audience time to process what you are saying and can give great emphasis to the point you just made. Being comfortable in a pause also shows that you are confident and in control.

Pause more throughout your speech

8. I Might Have A Technical Issue (Eg My Slides Won’t Work) Get really comfortable with your technology so you know how to work the equipment. If something does go wrong, you should be comfortable enough with your material that you can deliver it without technology.

Have a back-up plan such as hand/outs and or visuals that can be stuck on the walls in case all else fails

9. They Might Ask A Question I Can’t Answer You don’t have to know everything. You simply have to give an engaging presentation that meets the objectives you set (you did set some didn’t you?) It’s perfectly reasonable to state that you don’t know an answer off the top of your head and that you can come answer it later (be sure you do though!)

Greet every question enthusiastically and choose to answer questions on your own terms

10. I Might Get Negative Feedback Yes you might, and at some point it’s realistic to expect that you will. Remember though that you’re only responsible for your 50% of the communication.

Everyone in the audience will apply their own interpretation to what you said, based on the view of their world – or even their view of that day.

Feedback is simply a way to improve and develop – seek out feedback at every opportunity, evaluate as objectively as possible then use or discard it.

Seek feedback and embrace it!

A Final Word: The ONLY way to get really good at this is to get comfortable and there is no substitute for practice.

Craft your first and final words so you feel confident about delivering them

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Franchising Minefield Or Goldmine?

Franchising can be a great way to grow your business using other people’s resources and capital.

It would be fair to say that most businesses could be franchised. If your business is proven, profitable and portable (can be taught and replicated) then you have ticked the first box. However it is essential that you make sure franchising is right for you and your business. It is a growth strategy, not a get rich quick scheme. Done properly it can provide an excellent platform to grow your business nationally and internationally.

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What Is Franchising?

Franchising is essentially a “partnership model” between a “franchisor” (the business owner) and a “franchisee” – typically an individual who wants to have their own business supported by a larger business with a proven and successful business model, systems and processes.

The Franchisee pays you an initial investment for the licensed rights to operate under your brand. They receive training and ongoing support from you to help them launch, develop and grow their business.

Building Your Business From The Brand Up™

A land of promise or hidden dangers?

They would also expect to pay you a management services fee/royalty payment. This would normally be a percentage of their turnover but could also be a fixed monthly payment. In addition to this you may receive a monthly marketing levy which you would use to market and develop your brand nationally. Their business will be a “mini- me” version of yours and will typically operate within a defined and usually exclusive territory. The partnership is governed by a Franchise Agreement which protects your brand and provides all parties with clarity as to what is expected of them along with the rules for operating and selling the business.

Brand Quarterly™

Lesley McKluskey Bilmar Consulting

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Why Franchise?

There are a number of benefits to franchising your business. Although not exhaustive the following will give you some idea as to the benefits available; Growth quicker and cheaper than “organic growth” - When you franchise your business you grow using the capital and resources of your franchisees. This enables you to grow without the capital burden required to take on multiple properties or employ staff.

Motivated people - There is nothing more motivating than knowing if you don’t make a success of your business you won’t earn any money. As Owner Managers your franchisees are more likely to go that extra mile, open that little bit longer and try that little bit harder that employed staff.

Brand development and consistency - A network of franchisees will help develop brand recognition throughout the UK or even internationally. Having a robust business model underpinned by detailed documented systems (known as your blueprint) supported by a professionally drawn up Franchise Agreement will ensure your franchisees deliver brand consistency throughout your network.

Less hassle - You are responsible for supporting and mentoring your franchisees. However they are responsible for their staff and the day to day business operations. This means that all the challenges that come with having staff are down to the franchisees to deal with and not you.

Increased buying power – As your business grows so does your need for materials/ supplies. This can give you greater buying power, drive down the cost of production and/or increase your profit margin.

The benefits of franchising are clear however.

However franchising is not for everyone and not all businesses can be franchised successfully. It is a business journey that cannot be rushed. To execute this form of growth strategy takes time.

Top 10 Things To Consider Before Starting The Journey 1. Why am I doing this? – Ensure your motivation is business growth and not fixing a “sick” business.

Be honest with yourself. Do you truly want to grow your business and are you prepared for the good the bad and the ugly that comes with it!

2. How long do I want to be in my business? – If you want out within the next couple of years franchising may not be the right way to go as it takes time to build your franchise network.

3. Is my business proven, profitable and sustainable? – Franchisees are looking to reduce the risk of start up. They are looking for a business 40

that has learnt from its mistakes and is making money year on year. Franchisees are in it to make money and no-one wants to invest in a failing business.

4. Is there enough money in your business for you and your franchisees? – You make money from your franchisee paying you a monthly management/royalty payment. While you will also make money from franchise fees the model must be sustainable after all the territories have been sold and should not rely on franchisee fee income. There must be sufficient margin in your business for your franchisees to make a good income after he has paid you.

5. Investment in time and money - Franchising your business does mean a commitment in both time and capital. Even if you work with a franchise consultant who can remove a significant amount of the time burden you must still be sure that you have a clear understanding of what will be involved and have the capacity and resources available.

6. What is my hook – After the honeymoon period is over i.e. your franchisee has been trained, launched their business and is trading successfully will they still see the value in the monthly payment they are making to you?

Consider what support and franchise package you could offer – would you buy it?

7. Can my business be taught – The most successful franchises are ones that have an excellent training and support program underpinned by clearly documented processes.

8. Is there a market nationally/internationally for my product/services? – Successful franchises are able to sell their products/services irrespective of geographies.

9. Do I want to change my business /role and do I enjoy helping people – Franchisees are buying your expertise and help. It can be very rewarding but you need to enjoy helping people or have the funds available to bring in the skills to make it happen.

10. Is my business in good shape – You may have heard sellers say that their house has never looked better than on the day they put it on the market. Franchising your business is similar. Before you ask people to invest in your business and replicate your systems it is essential that it is in the best possible shape.

In summary Franchising your business doesn’t have to be a minefield and there is opportunity for the goldmine – but do it right or don’t do it at all.

Building Your Business From The Brand Up™

Without a well defined brand message, it’s like the blind leading the blind.

Brand Quarterly™

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The Future Is Now It’s Time To Create The Future CMO Today It used to be that a company could rise to the top of its industry and deliver superior shareholder returns by doing one thing well. Not anymore. Coupled to this, businesses around the world, both large and small, cannot ignore the impact that the global economy is having on their performance.

As a result, more and more organisations around the world are choosing to adopt a marketing-led philosophy to win market share and capture and retain the hearts and minds of prospective and existing customers.

In the face of growing customer choice and market transparency, and the rise in the empowered consumer and digital and social media, the shift in marketing in recent years has been profound. Firstly in the era of mass marketing, the primary source of value for most companies was their products or brands; today, value is moving to the customer interface.

So undoubtedly the Marketing Professional is becoming more important as organisations around the world strive to develop products and services that appeal to their customers and aim to differentiate their offerings in the increasinglycrowded global marketplace.

Perhaps not surprisingly therefore, marketing is being embraced increasingly in board rooms across the world. The position of the ‘chief marketing officer’ (CMO) is gaining currency. In recognition of this last year IBM released first-ever Global CMO Study and is putting the CMO at the heart of its business strategy.

The marketer would therefore seemingly be well positioned to be at the heart of driving forward the business agenda. But as always, with added responsibilities become added challenges. The truth is that today’s marketers are having a hard time keeping up.

In recent years there have been countless calls from business leaders over many years for the Marketing Profession to raise its standards and become more professional.

As Distinguished Professor Philip Kotler – widely regarded as the father of modern marketing – has stated, “It is no secret that marketing organizations are under pressure. Chief executive officers are growing impatient with marketing…they feel that they get accountability for their investments in finance, production, information technology, even purchasing, but don’t know what their marketing spending is achieving.”

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And so it is an increasing concern – that whilst companies recognise they need good marketing, many simply do not trust those they have hired to do the job. The sad fact is that - to paraphrase the prophetic words of John Quelch - many CMO’s focus on the issues that do not keep their CEOs awake at night!

The perils facing the modern CMO have also been well-documented in recent publications such as Bloomberg BusinessWeek, McKinsey Quarterly, Fast Company, and others. Many have complained about CEO underutilisation of the CMO perspective in making important business-level decisions, charging that CEOs do not realise that the absence of a CMO perspective can negatively impact longterm organisational performance success.

Most recently MaryLee Sachs, Global Marketing Network’s CMO ‘Czar’ and author of ‘The Changing MO of the CMO’ wrote that “the role of the CMO is probably one of the least understood. Marketing is often seen as a “black box” confused with sales, and which is sometimes viewed as a financial drain on an organization, funding expensive advertising campaigns, sponsorships and other untold extravagant items.“ And it is this confusion that is causing immense frustration over the role and performance of marketing which is permeating down through the marketing function and the people operating within it.

Given this degree of uncertainty there is a clear need to educate and inform the business community about the role of Marketing, to recognise and distinguish those Marketing Professionals who are committed to their continuing professional development and to equip the Marketing Leaders of today and tomorrow with the capabilities required to survive and thrive in today’s challenging business environment.

So, what of the CMO of today? How do we ensure that senior marketers are not left behind in controlling the future of the marketing agenda and are able to continue to rise through their career and be a critical player in the Boardroom?

MaryLee Sachs argues that the key steps to CMO success depends on four key issues:

Building Your Business From The Brand Up™

1. Assessing marketing capabilities across the organization 2. Structuring the marketing functions to be more holistic and inclusive of new disciplines 3. Unlocking the business potential associated with engagement and participation to drive brand advocacy 4. Harnessing the power of creating internal marketing champions

In addition CMOs require new capabilities in strategic management and leadership, a deeper understanding of the empowered consumer and how to reach them through digital marketing and social media, an ability to create more profitable customers, a clearer evaluation of how to develop global marketing strategies and a better grip on the finances are all requirements for the CMO in today’s challenging 21st century business environment.

Balancing the requisite short-term wins with the longer-term aims and demonstrating a return on marketing investment also becomes more of a challenge than ever before.

The good news is that according to Spencer Stuart, the average tenure for a CMO was up from just under 35 months in 2009 to 42 months in 2010. But

beware of the average – it masks significant differences in tenure across industry sectors. For example, the life expectancy of CMOs in the highly competitive communications and media sector is just 22 months, and in the restaurant business just 25 months.

Darrell Kofkin

In their recent article “The CMO Global Marketing Network and the Future of Marketing” Professor George Day and Professor Robert Malcolm describe those CMOs who will rise to the intensifying challenge, and earn a “seat at the table” as “whole-brain” Marketing leaders – those who “ground their decisions in analytic realities, while painting a realistic vision for the company that bridges today and the future.”

So, with an estimated 20 million people worldwide working in a definable marketing role, the increasing need for business to take a marketing-led approach, along with widespread acceptance of the need for senior marketers to become more professional, there has never been a better time for Marketing Professionals to seize the initiative and make the difference.

It’s time for a change in our Profession. And that time is now. Are you ready?

Marketers: Welcome to the future ... ... and the boardroom

Brand Quarterly™

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Building Your Business From The Brand Up™

‘Tis The Season Holiday Party Networking Opportunities The holiday party is a great time to meet people but… you should have a plan!

Everybody goes to parties, and the holiday season is full of them. It’s also a business slowdown season for many of us who are not in retail. The holiday parties are NOT just a place for free food and drinks.

Holiday parties and other social mixers bring new opportunities to network, even more than the rest of the year. The holidays are times when we are more likely to see people in a social setting, and this setting definitely lends itself to building relationships.

But holiday parties, including professional and industry social events where you can network with people outside your business, can be an even better time to introduce yourself to a new contact or share a friendly conversation with someone you already Most people think of networking only in traditional networking venues, such as the Chamber of Commerce, strong-contact referral groups like BNI, and other business-oriented gatherings. But that’s not using the power of networking to its fullest.

In order to make the most of “holiday party networking,” here’s a few things to keep in mind:

Honour The Event This is really important! Make sure when networking at a holiday party – or any non-traditional networking event – that networking is supplementary to the reason people are there, so don’t treat it like a business mixer. Be aware of the primary focus.

Don’t act as if you’re in the boardroom giving a presentation, keep it natural and leave them intrigued. The real emphasis must be on ‘finesse’ at a holiday party. Yes, it is a great networking opportunity – but, if you overtly sell, you may turn people off! After all, it is a holiday.

Be Prepared!

If you’re going to hobnob, try to know whom you are talking to, what business they are with and what they’ve done this year with the organization. Use this info as a way to start a conversation. If you know some of the people who will be in attendance, do a Google search on them. Do some homework.

Ask Questions Some suggestions: How did you start the business?

How did you grow the business? How did you market the business? What were some of the challenges with…? Have you read any good books lately? (My favorite is: How can I help you?)

Have A “Teaser” Topic Ready Approaching the end of the year, every business wants their company to increase profits and performance in the New Year. Have an idea ready that describes how you can improve your sector in the coming year. (Word to the wise: Don’t give away the goose; set up a meeting to discuss the details.)

Use This Introduction As A Segue For A Future Meeting As mentioned above, you don’t want to “end” the conversation at the party. The end game here is to open the door for follow-up. You want to be able to connect with the person after the party, one-to-one. Let some of the people you meet at these parties know that you’d like to learn more about their business and that you’d like to meet them next year to learn more.

Don’t Have More Than A Couple Drinks It’s a party, but it’s not YOUR party. You don’t want to be stinking of liquor when you approach the people you want to connect with. Impressions count. Make the right one.

Be Confident Of Your Value Introducing yourself to an executive can be an intimidating experience, so give yourself an informed pep talk. Before the event, make a list of the things you have done over the past year and understand how what you do may integrate into discussions. Once you’ve got this down, there’s no reason you shouldn’t feel good about yourself. Consider how what you’ve done can integrate with their interests.

You can network anywhere, anytime, and anyplace – including events where it might not at first occur to you to try it—and, paradoxically, it’s at these non-traditional networking settings where you’ll often get the most bang for your buck. Remember to honor the event and focus on making valuable connections – not short term transactions.

Brand Quarterly™

Dr. Ivan Misner BNI The Referral Institute

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All Together Now! Collaboration - Your Key To Success When it comes to making a splash in the marketplace, it can be daunting if you’re a little fish in a big ocean - and let’s face it, the ocean is a big place even to a whale.

and share similar core brand values as you.

Corresponding brand values is vital. Teaming up with the wrong partners can ruin all the hard work you have put into building your brand image.

So, how do we as ‘little fish’ survive and prosper?

We team up with others.

2. The Entrepreneurs Within

Collaboration can be key.

How many staff do you have?

Here are 5 areas you can look to, in finding collaborative branding and marketing opportunities:

Encourage ideas and entrepreneurialism. Give rewards for great work and pro-activeness. Find out who they know, what groups, clubs and associations they belong to and have sway with.

1. Find Strategic Partners There are plenty of businesses who are after the same customers as you. The thing is, most of them sell something different to you. Often this other product or service may even be complimentary to yours.

Profile your ‘perfect customer’, then find other companies who target the same type of people 46

If anyone shows a desire to start their own enterprise, find out what, why, when and how. Could it benefit you to help them get started?

3. Look ‘Up The Line’ The average business has many different suppliers they deal with on a regular basis. If their profits and

Building Your Business From The Brand Up™

easier again will it be, if you are actively helping to grow their business and creating increased need for your products or services.

You’ll not only be able to sell them new or different products and services, you will actually be able to sell them more of exactly what they are already ordering.

Fiona Vesey Vesey Creative

5. Join Your Competition As the old saying goes “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” - and believe it or not, this actually may be what you want to do.

While it does require a lot of trust and complete transparency (as all collaborations should), there can be huge potential in working with your competition. business success are linked to their clients making more money, then why wouldn’t they want to help?

You will of course, as with all collaborations, have to deal with privacy issues. With this supplier scenario, you will also have to consider that they may have 50 more clients who compete directly with you. Will working with you upset their other clients? Would the other clients know it was happening? Would the returns be worth it?

4. Work ‘Down The Line’

Would their success and increased revenues trickle up to you? Would they order more of your stock or require more services?

In steps your new partner - your resources double and your work triples. Split it down the middle and you each get one and a half times the amount of work as before. Not bad for no extra outlay on your behalf.

You could work on a dual branding basis, or as some businesses do, create a new umbrella brand that both parties work under.

Following the same train of thought above - You yourself have clients.

They say it is much easier and cost effective to market and sell to current clients. So how much

Think about it. Your current resources net you a certain amount of business. You know that if you doubled those resources, your business would probably at least triple. But you don’t have the money or man-hours to get it done (you need the work before you can have money to spend).

You may not have considered it yet, but in your ‘ocean’ you already have access to many third party assets and collaborative opportunities.

So what are you waiting for?

Brand Quarterly™

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TM

www.veseycreative.com