Comments on: What Should Be Increasing in 2010: Branding

By: Job Search, Advertising, & Personal Branding | Career Management Alliance Blog

Fri, 09 Apr 2010 14:01:53 +0000

[...] “While advertising may be the flashy cog that looks good in media forms, what does it all mean? Your company [or you as a candidate] is much more than a singing fish, talking baby or another gimmick. Sure you can name what companies are associated with the previously mentioned gimmicks. The question is, do you know what these brands really stand for? Advertising can’t answer that question—only good brand building can ….” (Source: PRBreakfastClub) [...]

By: mikeschaffer

mikeschaffer — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 02:24:15 +0000

Great stuff from a super-team here!

At the end of the day, branding is the name of the game. Let people know 1) the name of your company/product 2) what it is/does and 3) the awesomeness of it above all other similar items.

A well-developed brand comes about because of a multitude of actions and reactions (PR, advertising, marketing, sponsorships, grassroots, social media, and more). The smart companies (read: successful) are ones that can utilize the entire toolbox to educate the public on what their brand is.

The mix of tactics may change over the days, weeks and years, but branding is a true long-term investment.

By: keithtrivitt

keithtrivitt — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 23:10:19 +0000

Hmmm … Teej may have gotten us on this one, Jeff. Haha!

Actually, I see both sides to this. TJ is right to point out that, yes, advertising does deserve a spot at the C-level table when marketing budgets are being drawn up each year, but take a look at the response I wrote above to Kyle's comment. When times get lean and budgets are being slashed, the best companies, historically, have aimed to build brand equity and retain what they already have, rather than try to go out and blitz with a big ad campaign, because they realize that is a short-term gain. And how you do that, IMO, is via branding and effective PR/communications work. Advertising is great, don't get me wrong, but when times get tough, PR and branding far too often get cut in favor of quick fixes via gimmicky ads.

By: keithtrivitt

keithtrivitt — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 23:06:40 +0000

Kyle – You hit the point of this post spot on, so kudos to you, my friend! You're exactly right: The companies that were looking toward the future when all was breaking loose throughout the world were the ones that were focusing on enhancing their brand equity and corporate reputation. And how do you accomplish that? By focusing on branding and PR, which, in my mind, have a more long-term value to them than PR, as those initiatives, while still fairly costly, will help to see your business through the lean times. Because if you're not doing that, both in good times and bad, and you drop advertising once the economy gets tough, what, then, are you doing to build your company in the public's and industry' eyes?

By: jeffespo

jeffespo — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 22:50:15 +0000

I bow to the master and will defer all future comments to Keith.

By: TJ Dietderich

TJ Dietderich — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 21:42:44 +0000

Well, first of all, who's gimmicky now with a CEO careening wildly down a crash test course? LOL, I get what you're saying, but it's still very funny to me. I think the problem you're identifying with Toyota is that their messaging is off, not their use of advertising. They said something. Just maybe not the right thing.

And as far as babies and eTrade goes, welp, online trading is very difficult to understand. But babies are very easy to understand. Everyone can spot a baby in a lineup. Does a baby have anything to do with online trading? Of course not, but advertising seems to me like the blitz play that sticks the name of a company in people's heads, while branding is more of a long game.

That's right. SPORTS METAPHOR. Up top!

By: jeffespo

jeffespo — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 21:17:16 +0000

Teej or should I say Beelzebub? I love you playing the role and you make some very valid points that I agree with.

I think that all three are very complimentary pieces that go along with one another, however there has to be a balance as you mentioned. I feel that the emphasis on advertising has had a lot of brands lose their identity to ad gimmicks. How does a baby tie into eTrade? I would also say a company throwing ads out to skirt around problems is just awful as there is no trust there.

Look if Toyota wanted to prove that they still have a strong brand, don't get hokey with plain folks thanking them for a great car, get the word out there on how the brakes have been fixed. Maybe the CEO in a crash-test course saying if we weren't safe, would I do this?

Just a thought.

By: TJ Dietderich

TJ Dietderich — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 19:06:50 +0000

Great thoughts as always, guys. I know I can always rely on y'all to get me thinking about the big picture. And I get why you have PR and branding's back on this one, I do, but I always feel the need to play a little devil's advocate and say that advertising gets a really bad rap from us flacks. Sure, at its worst advertising is an annoying, gimmicky, flash-in-the-pan that blows millions of dollars at a time, but at its best it is an equal partner in the Ad-PR-Branding Holy Trinity. Each branch supports the other in its own way, right? And maybe this sentiment that we should focus more on branding than advertising is a natural backlash against the emphasis that's been placed on it in the past. I do believe it's a balance among all three that we should be seeking. The strange thing is, once it's all balanced and working together smoothly, the distinctions between the three sort of–disappear.

By: Kyle R Sharick

Kyle R Sharick — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 18:55:44 +0000

Interesting. I too feel that when companies get allocated larger budgets for the fiscal year, the first thing they want to spend it on is more advertising. Everyone loss money over the last two years, but as you pointed out, there is an opportunity in every situation. The smart companies used this down time in sales to work on their self-actualization processes and how they can better connect with their publics. There seems to be an important underlying point in your post. No matter how much money you throw into advertising, if you don't maintain a strong product or brand, you won't last.

By: uberVU - social comments

uberVU - social comments — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 13:20:52 +0000

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