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Business large and small should consider hiring a professional branding company. A branding company brings a lot to the table. First and foremost they bring a third party objective point of view that a business is unable to obtain. The old saying holds true, you can not see the forest through the trees. But how do you choose the right branding company? Ask yourself these questions.

How do they promote themselves? Are they calling themselves an advertising agency that also does branding? If so, they are not a true branding agency. An advertising agency has a hidden agenda, to sell advertising. A branding company does not favor one tactic over another so they should not and would not promote advertising unless it is the right direction to go in. Be careful of these ad agencies that say they do branding. It is much easier to use a buzz word like branding then to actual know how to brand properly.

Are they a web design company that says they do branding? These are the absolute worst offenders of not being a branding company. Ask them simple branding questions like what is positioning or explain the difference between brand identity and brand image. Most will not even know the answer. Then you can ask them a trick question like define brand equity (currently there is no definitive answer). Web design companies are well, web designers. They are not strategic branding experts by any stretch of the imagination.

Are they a marketing company that says the do branding? Be very careful of marketing companies as they are the sneakiest offenders of all. They will talk strategy and integration but they know little about internal branding. They typically promote external branding tactics like direct marketing, logo design, advertising etc. Marketing companies do marketing not branding.

Are they a direct marketing company that says they do branding? Boy oh boy, these companies are so far from true branding they wouldn’t know it if it hit them in the noggin. Direct marketing can be a great tactic but branding it is not. True branding companies only promote direct marketing when the return on investments warrants it. The average return on investment with a direct mail piece is a half to a full percent. Personally I think that is a small return for the investment required which is why direct marketing is typically used as image building with branding companies.

Are they a search engine optimization or internet company that says they do branding? Internet marketing is one of the most effective returns on investment in the business today. Search engine optimization is probably the best single tactic for building brand awareness and sales and is the reason we hired a staff of SEO gurus. But when it comes to branding they will fall very short in planning, strategy, creative and many other areas.

Are they are branding company that really does branding? Unfortunately we have seen a lot of companies call themselves branding agencies but in all reality they are not. So how do you know how to choose the right branding company?

Ask them the following:

What types of services or programs do they have established for internal branding? Internal branding is often overlooked by every other type of company out there. It is a great indicator that you are not really dealing with a true branding company. Sure external branding is exciting and fun but if employees do not buy into it or unaware of it you are going to find yourself in big trouble as well as having wasted tens of thousands of dollars on your external campaign. Look inside yourself and make sure you have set up the right policies and procedures that best leverage your brand identity and positioning. For instance, Volvo the automobile is clearly the safety car company. Their employees should eat breath and sleep safety, safety features, safety technology etc. They should know their brand promise and how it relates to their customers. This is why even though Volvo is probably not the safest car on the road they are perceived to be. Ask ten people what’s the first thing they think of when it comes to Volvo and the answer will be safety.

Once you have confirmed that the branding company does instill internal branding practices then you can move forward with them on strategic direction and planning. Look for companies that only recommend tactics that will obtain the best return on investment and not canned specific tactics like advertising or direct marketing. You want open objective strategies and tactics to move your brand forward which is why choosing the right branding company is so critical.



By: Scott White

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It might be almost blasphemous to talk about letting go of old brand equity and laying an old brand to rest, but there are times when change is needed. Reformulating and re-designing, or even overhauling an old brand can be a wise decision. If sales are flat and show no sign of growth, you’d better stop kidding yourself and hire a branding consultant.

Brands are an extremely vital element in your product and corporate value proposition. With communications so pervasive today, corporate branding and product

branding are becoming fused as one. Corporate brands are increasingly powering product brands and product sales and that poses some substantial risk as those sub brands can’t be as easily re-positioned when they falter.

Brand Culture

As time passes, culture changes, new technologies and new competing brands appear and they change the perception of value that is available in a marketplace. Old sales propositions won’t fly in the face of 20 or more other competitors offering the same benefits and features. With cultural, economic, technology changes, and corporate changes, your aging brand image and brand equity may end up doing more harm than good. Your former branding successes could leave your brand and company stuck in the past.

A good example of age related branding problem is in the realm of computer products. I recently bought a new laptop computer because my old one just couldn’t keep up with my multitasking and other work needs. At the retail store, there were computers with Intel or AMD microprocessors to choose from. The key matter wasn’t really microprocessor speed or capability. In the past, the Intel logo would have compelled me to buy only computers with their processors regardless of what other features were available in the computer. The Intel brand was clearly in a class by itself. Not this time. This AMD powered computer was low priced and had the memory I required along with other features such as a 100 Gb hard drive, high resolution screen, numerous ports and adapters and a long lasting battery. It only weighs a couple of pounds and the AMD logo seemed to look better too. It says: AMD Turion 64 Mobile Technology. 64 bits and mobile compatibility. Why doesn’t Intel mention that on the computer they have their products in?

Laptops are hot and prices are falling. My 15 year old nephew just bought his first laptop on eBay, since they are cheaper and more accessible. So the whole “culture” of shopping and purchasing computers has changed.

Everyone is buying high resolution screens and I was eager to ease my eye strain from long hours of viewing everyday. The huge hard drive was great and the laptop looks good too. The old Intel brand just didn’t have the effect it once did, and their competitor, AMD, just sold one of their processors. The laptop is working great and now Intel processors don’t dictate which computer I’ll buy.

To me, the Intel logo and brand brings back memories of old Pentium computers. This is worsened by the fact that today’s processors have changed and they are running at lower speeds. This confuses the speed benefit that Intel had its brand positioned around. The technology change in viewing screens, memory, and processor use in the computer has moved the market away from where Intel was positioned. The Intel corporate brand powers sales of their new processors, but they can call those new products anything they want and it won’t effective my decision.

What Intel needs to do now, is to associate its processors with the features and benefits that consumers and B2B buyers make decisions upon. Computer branding is not all about the processors anymore and the old Intel brand image is deeply tied to old technology. Even the brand name Pentium is associated with the computer culture of the 90′s.

Here’s the issue: the old Intel brand was so successful in 90′s that it’s trapped Intel in a time warp. Intel needs new branding that ties it to the future, not the past. To get there, they are probably going to have to jettison the past.

Google is a good example of modern branding and a brand that is not tied solely to web search engines. The brand is now diversified strategically to associate it with everything people are doing on the web. Google is omnipresent, and its brand image is solely in its relevance to the current Internet culture. Google won’t let its common search engine role diminish its branding power.

Hanging onto to Old Branding Concepts

There’s a lot of reason why brand managers, CEOs, and marketing managers resist rethinking their branding and redeveloping their brands. Most often, they don’t want to leave their comfort zone and risk a short term blip in profit. Some don’t want to make an investment in hiring a branding consultant to look at the options. Branding experts examine a brand to discover its current problems, the culture of the marketplace, and to determine if a new brand identity or brand positioning would be fruitful. Some old brands are doomed, but most are just stale and not in tune with the target market. A branding consultant can provide crucial insight into market perception, brand value building, brand loyalty development, and to discover the brand value proposition that could breathe new life into your brands.

From product branding, to corporate branding all the way to extending brand reach on the Internet, Brand Identity Guru provides corporate clients with brand audits, new brand designs, corporate communications strategies, brand boosting web design, and even powerful search engine marketing services. BIG has the complete branding solution for modern e-enterprises. Reach plus relevance. That’s a hard combination to beat.



By: Scott White

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Think about any great brand. Disney, Johnson & Johnson, Levi Strauss, Starbucks and Apple are just a few examples. Great brands do not happen by accident; rather they are the result of careful and creative brand planning and the timely execution of innovative marketing strategies.

Renowned brand expert, marketing professor and author Kevin Lane Keller has distilled strategic brand planning into three complementary models that grow in scale and scope as they progress. These models help in developing brand strategies and business marketing ideas.

Keller’s extensive research into the understanding of consumer behaviour has improved the way many companies apply their marketing strategies and the way they build, measure and manage brand equity.

Like a set of Russian nesting dolls – the three models are interlinked and build on each other. The first is a component of the second and the second of the third. Keller sets out his three interconnected models for strategic brand planning to establish a unique brand positioning, create intense and actively loyal relationships with your customers and to allow you to better understand the financial impact of marketing expenditure and investment in an eBook entitled Brand Planning.

Brand Positioning Model

The first model is the brand positioning model. Positioning is defining your offering and image so that it occupies a distinctive placement in the minds of the target market.

Within the positioning model there are four distinct components which should be considered to create superior competitive positioning for your brand. These can be summarised as follows:



Competitive frame of reference. This defines which other brands your brand is competing against. It’s important to know which these are so that you may focus your analysis.

Points-of-difference. These are the attributes that set one brand apart from another. In essence, these are benefits that customers strongly associate with a brand, and believe they could not find with a competing brand.

Points-of-parity. The opposite of points of difference, points of parity are associations that are not unique to a brand and may be shared with other brands.

A brand mantra. This is designed to give more focus to the brand’s intended positioning. A brand mantra should articulate the “core brand promise” in three to five words. This should not be the same as the ‘slogan’ used in advertising and is for internal use.



Brand Resonance Model

The second model is about creating loyal relationships with your customers. This model builds on the brand positioning model, and also includes four steps which should be followed in sequence. Brand resonance refers to the relationship and extent to which your customers feel that they connect and have a relationship with your brand.

Think about the following steps carefully and how you would build on each sequentially to build a strong brand resonance with your customers.



Brand Identity – Who are you?

Brand Meaning – What are you?

Brand Responses – What about you? What do your customers think or feel about you?

Brand Relationships – What about you and me? How much of a connection, and what kind of association do your customers want to have with you?



These are the stages of brand development – and the objectives at each stage are different starting with deep and broad brand awareness ending with intense, active and loyal relationships.

Brand Value Chain Model

The third and final model is the brand value chain model that describes how to trace the value creation process in order to better understand the financial impact of marketing costs and investments.

At its core this model assumes that the value of a brand lies with its customers. Based on this, brand value creation starts with a company investing in marketing to real or potential customers. This marketing activity in turn affects the customer’s mindset with regard to the brand, when this mindset is multiplied across a group of customers this results in certain outcomes for the brand in terms of its performance.  In this way – the investment in marketing can be assessed.

Naturally this model also assumes that there a number of linking factors between each of the stages. These links determine the extent to which the value created at a preceding stage is transferred (or multiplied) to the next stage.

When these three models are combined, they provide crucial micro and macro perspectives that are required for brand building. This enables marketers to create brand strategies that maximise profits and long-term brand equity, while being able to track their progress as they implement these strategies.



By: Jonathan Andrews

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