Marketing Bytes: ArticleBlaster Create Your Brand Identity Package

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Create Your Brand Identity Package

Article Description:
====================

Branding isn't new. It's been around forever... ever since
there was more than one sandal maker for gladiators to choose
from. Building your business (brand) used to have more to do with
your reputation. Then, as more and more products and services
began vying for the same customers, it became critical not only
to offer a superior product or service, but also to differentiate
yourself from your competition.

Additional Article Information:
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1079 Words; formatted to 65 Characters per Line
Distribution Date and Time: 2006-08-24 15:36:00

Written By: Pam Walters
Copyright: 2006
Contact Email: mailto:pam@pamwalters.com

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Create Your Brand Identity Package
Copyright � 2006 Pam Walters
Professional Coach And Marketing Consultant
http://www.pamwalters.com

Brand identity is the three-dimensional image of your product or
service that reminds consumers of who you are and what you stand
for. It's your silent salesperson representing you out there. It
performs via words, pictures, logos, color scheme, font style...
even font size. Do you think I'm kidding about font size? If
you're over 45, what goes through your mind when someone hands
you a business card that's printed in mouse type? Better yet,
what do you assume when you see a business card with big,
easy-to-read print?

Here's a brief overview to help you create a brand identity for
you, if you're an individual or independent professional, or for
your business, if you're a small business owner or manager of a
company.

1. HOW TO THINK LIKE A COPYWRITER
The Tagline/Theme/Slogan/Promise

There's a saying that the pun is the lowest form of humor.
Unfortunately, it's a huge part of our culture's style of
communicating. Puns, double entendre, plays on words... they're
all basically the same thing.

The trick is to have it be relevant to your story. The double
entendre should say something positive about you or your product.
And you want it to tap into a concept or experience that people
can readily identify with and visualize.

* Nothing Runs Like A Deere
* AT&T Because It's Your Business On The Line
* Flintstone Vitamins: 10,000 Strong... and Growing

For this next part of the process, it will help if you're
right-brained.

Here's an example of how differently people think: When I
say, "commercial office cleaning," a left-brain, reality-based
thinker will come up with aspects like: hours, price, cleaning
products, neighborhoods, bonded workers.

A right-brain thinker will come up with images of Cinderella
sweeping the attic, Vampires who only come out at night, Oscar
from the Odd Couple, obsessive-compulsives, Mr. Clean, etc.

Try to think of all the objects, tools, experiences, fears, joys,
folklore, results, disasters, etc. that have to do with what you
do or offer. And if you're having a tough time with this part,
grab a creative person and have an ideation session.

Example: Let's say you're an Administrative Assistant.

To cut through the clutter and stand apart from your competition,
say it simply. Don't hide behind a bunch of technical, generic,
sterile terms. Are you extremely organized? Great at creating
systems? A problem solver? A multi-multi-tasker?

GOAL: Admin with Type "A" personality
seeks a challenging position within
a marketing, PR or advertising agency.

What if you're a sports/fitness trainer, and you're brand new.
How about coming up with an angle where you offer different
packages. Two months, lose 10 inches. Or one month of boot camp
training. Or pay in advance, and get a discount.

Todd Reynolds, Fitness Trainer
"I stretch you... and your dollar."

2. HOW TO THINK LIKE AN ART DIRECTOR
The Design/Look/Logo/Icon

Effective brand identity packages create a good impression with
clients and customers... without saying a word. And that requires
finding a graphics person who can create a concept using design
elements.

In big, brand advertising agencies, art directors are teamed up
with copywriters. For projects, they are given a briefing that
includes:

* the strategy (Acme sells vitamin supplies)
* the target audience (to athletes)
* a list of some key selling points (affordable and available at
drugstores and vitamin shops everywhere)

And when the copywriter and art director sit together, sometimes
the art director takes the copywriter's lead and sometimes it
works the other way. If the art director has an idea for a strong
visual to demonstrate an aspect of the product, then the
copywriter writes to underscore or enhance the visual concept.

Here are some examples of how art direction can play a key role
in a static tag line or corporate theme line:

* Visine... Gets the red out.
* The Sprint logo incorporating the "pin drop."
* Cingular "bars" campaign.

In the old days, advertising relied heavily on icons and
spokespeople: The Jolly Green Giant, Little Sprout, Pillsbury
Doughboy, Tony the Tiger, Mr. Whipple, The Loneliest Repairman,
etc.

Those were/are fairly flat-footed (and corny) ways to create an
emotional connection with your target audience. But they still
work. Think of the Geico gecko.

Today, most identity packages are more sophisticated, and less
emotional. But there are many ways a visual element can portray a
company's personality and help anchor that logo or picture in a
customer's mind.

If you're that Sports Trainer, you could incorporate a dumbbell
or big balance ball into the letters.

SpOrts Trainer

Hang a pair of running shoes, tied together at the laces, over
the top of the T in Trainer. Or have a tiny figure doing chin-ups
on the T. Just take your category and think up as many word or
symbol associations as you can. Then see how you can implement
them into the name of your company, or your slogan, or
packaging.

THE BOTTOM LINE (Literally and Figurately)

Even if you can afford to have a brand marketing team come in and
do the project for you, you'll have a better end product if you
think through some of the above steps.

Hopefully, this article has given you some insight into how to
put together a brand identity package. But this is the fun part.
There's much thought and hard decisions that need to be made
before you get to the creative part:

* Who are you and what do you actually have/want to offer?
* What's your Unique Selling Proposition?
* Who's your target and what will they pay?
* Who's your competition and what do they charge?
* What's your marketing budget?
* How are you going to promote yourself or your product?

For these and many more questions and answers, contact me. If
you'd just like a professional opinion of what you've come up
with creatively before you commit to Web designers and printers,
contact me. Perhaps all you need is a couple hours of my time.
I'm not cheap, but I work fast. Contact me.

(What do you think my "most wanted response" is in writing this
piece? If you haven't figured it out by now, contact me.)

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PAM WALTERS
831-625-1560
pam@pamwalters.com
http://www.pamwalters.com

Pam Walters is a professional coach and marketing consultant who
helps people launch new ventures. She has 15 years of experience
in traditional brand advertising and 10 years of experience in
direct response. Contact Pam at http://www.pamwalters.com

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Marketing Bytes

Thursday, August 24, 2006

ArticleBlaster Create Your Brand Identity Package

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