The word is out! Social media is a key component to branding yourself online. Have you incorporated social media into your branding plan? Do you have an online reputation management plan in place to manage your branding online? These are some of the questions I will answer in this blog post.

Image: SXC.hu

According to Duct Tape Marketing, social media is defined as “… the use of technology combined with social interaction to create or co-create value” is important to growing your business online. There are many books and website sharing how you can successfully implement social media as part of your online planning. Just keep in mind that it is not an overnight success factor and that you do need to put in time and effort.

To include social media in your online business branding, you should include time spent researching what you need to do to brand your business. While researching what you need to do to brand your business online, keep the following things in mind:

• Determine who your competitors are and make note what they are doing to brand themselves. I’m not suggesting that you copy their efforts at all. Just make note and allow their efforts to stir up your creative juices.
• Be open to using different and creative ways of branding yourself. Such as when you see the golden arches; you know that there is a McDonald’s store nearby. Or when you see the Nike swoosh logo then you know that it is a Nike product. Make sure your logo and branding is uniquely yours.
• If you are new to social media, include in your branding plan time spent learning about the best ways to incorporate social media to your plan. Otherwise, try not to overwhelm yourself with trying to participate in every social media website. Research and see what’s best for your business branding and then create a plan on how your will participate in social media. If you need to hire a social media Virtual Assistant (VA) then it would be a good idea to do that. It will free up your time.
• Use your logo whenever possible so that people can get use to associating it with you when you participate in social media.

These are just some of the ways that you can incorporate social media into your branding.

How much does the country of origin of a product matter to you?

A lot, Starbucks are betting for Chinese coffee drinkers.

With the Lunar New Year coming up on Monday (Jan 26) the Asian branches of Starbucks will be offering a new brew which will incorporate Chinese coffee. Called ‘South of the Clouds’, it will be the first international coffee chain to use beans from China’s Yunnan province (previously well known for its tea).

The question is: Will Chinese customers react well to coffee from their own country?

Starbucks claims that they are experiencing consistent growth in China, although it was only a few years ago that coffee was practically synonymous with ‘Nescafe’. Gourmet coffee in a country which has traditionally consumed tea has been a big step - perhaps helped by Starbucks’ infiltration of popular culture overseas.

Chinese consumers have lapped up foreign brands, especially in the luxury market.

Will they really want to drink coffee from their own backyard?

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When the Whopper Sacrifice story broke last week, sites like Inside Facebook were applauding Burger King for creating advertising that goes beyond the banner ad.

But I think the success of the ad goes beyond its interactive nature and right into human behavior. In fact, they’ve done something which could change the way we look at virals…

If you haven’t already heard…

…it’s pretty simple. You add the Facebook application, then pick ten of your Facebook friends for sacrifice. Once those ten pictures go up in flames, you get a voucher for a free Whopper in the mail. (The ‘friends’ you just burned get a notification too.)

Why it works…

It makes you evaluate how much you want a Whopper. Everyone’s a sucker for a free burger. Hey, ten friends seems worth it, right?

Many people have commented on how good it felt to see people burn. No comment.

You can always add those friends back again, so no harm done.

It’s interactive, and so more memorable - unlike Facebook banners, which most marketers are realising don’t get looked at.

So what’s so revolutionary?

Traditionally virals involve spreading something interesting to your friends.

You might do this with the Whopper Sacrifice - sacrifice good friends whom you’ll add back later. But it’s more likely that these friends have a similar kind of network to you.

What the Whopper Sacrifice does is encourage you to spread the idea to people with very different networks - those you no longer talk to or dislike.

This way the idea moves faster, and it’s less likely anyone will hear about it enough to start ignoring it. The viral remains fresh and fast-moving.

Of course, it makes sacrifices to do so. But you could say they’re necessary for this campaign’s success.

For those starting up a business and wanting a refresher course on the basics, make sure you keep up with Shannon Cherry’s broadcasts on Start-up Spark.

This month she’s focussing on the essentials of a marketing plan, with additions every Monday.

You can find the first installment here.

What are you actually giving your customers?

Sounds like a simple question, and it’s one you should know the answer to.

But do THEY know?

This video by Simple shoes takes it back to basics. They’ve obviously spent a lot of time on R&D in pursuit of their brand values. Taking us through their product features in a straightforward, humourous way would make a huge impression on someone who is looking for an eco-friendly loafer.

Likewise, do you know the history of Asics? Onitsuka Tiger? Do you know how they test their products?

Origami In the Pursuit of Perfection from MABONA ORIGAMI on Vimeo.

(Thanks to the Marketing Fresh Peel for blogging that one.)

Presenting the history of the company with origami makes it engaging, while a thorough description of their development facilities makes the viewer re-evaluate what they know about their current pair of shoes.

When you have an interesting story, tell it.

With the end of the year looming, everyone’s joining in on speculations of the trends and players to watch for 2009.

One of the big issues which has been floating around is whether implementing Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policies and ‘going green’ will give companies better performance in uncertain economic times.

The newly-released Nielsen Consumer Insight predictions for 2009 are that consumers will be less willing to spend on ‘green’ products.

Idris at the Marketing & Strategy Innovation blog has also argued that profits are going to take precedence over CSR.

So why do I still think you should be looking at being green in 2009?

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It’s on for young and old: links providing marketing insight this week…

MobileYouth with a quick youth psych lesson - insight on how Gen Y thinks and a great demonstration of how important attention is

Will it Brand? on what older markets might be thinking - why protectionism could be a big trend in 2009

One of the groups of people with the most important perceptions of your brand are your employees. For this holiday season, consider the reactions to this Christmas message to staff and the impact it could have…

If you haven’t already started getting into social media, Faris Yakob has a few comments on how it will be integrating with more traditional media in 2009 and some of the benefits.

A great way to keep informed is the new social media newsletter by SmartBrief, which has Andy Sernovitz as a contributing editor amongst others.

However, it’s easy to get caught up with all of the hype - Brains on Fire reminds us that even if the internet is king, offline interactions are the queen controlling everything behind the scenes. (Sorry Spike, I paraphrased.)

With the Evan Carmichael Top 50 Marketing blogs just released, let’s have a look at who’s ranked top in the Branding section…

Top of the list? David Armano’s Logic + Emotion

This is the Critical Mass Experience Design VP’s personal blog. A recent post to make waves in the marketing blogosphere was the 4 C’s of Community. Those new to social media will find plenty of insight illustrated with his signature diagrams.

Next is Six Pixels of Separation

This blog is run by Mitch Joel, president of TwistImage and board member of the Canadian Marketing Association. His post on the issues with the way many organisations are approaching social media and ‘Marketing 2.0′ pretty much sums up the topic for me. Another useful blog when approaching new media.

Third out of the branding blogs is Brand Autopsy 

I have to admit that John Moore’s blog is a personal favorite for finding out about new marketing books/theories and getting an alternative perspective on branding ideas.

Last but not least is BrandDNA

The only Aussie blog to make it, Stan Lee of Wunderman Melbourne posts mostly on social media and marketing news - though you can also find him in Australia’s Marketing Magazine (articles also posted here).

The sum-up

All four blogs are great reads to get you started on social media and keep you updated on the latest in the marketing world. Next time, hopefully more design and brand experience blogs will make it to the list!

I’m very happy to be participating in a virtual book tour by publishing today’s guest post on Brandcurve written by Robin Jay the author of The Art of the Business Lunch, Building Relationships Between 12 and 2.  In her book, Robin teaches readers how to make the most of each business lunch and leverage the opportunities business lunches provide.  Without further ado, following is Robin’s story in her own words.

It was never my dream to build my brand as “The Queen of the Business Lunch,” but it came about as I wrote my first book and was looking for a way to distinguish myself as a business relationship expert in my marketing materials. My book is titled “The Art of the Business Lunch ~ Building Relationships Between 12 and 2” (Career Press), and it’s now in ten languages worldwide. In the book, I share tips and techniques for building profitable business relationships by introducing a social aspect into those relationships, as well as how to navigate networking luncheons and even how to ace a job interview luncheon. It’s the culmination of what I learned during nearly twenty years of taking clients to lunch and catering to them, making them feel special, and helping them to do their jobs more effectively. My clients started calling me the queen of the business lunch when they called me to book a lunch only to find that I was already booked three weeks out. Do we ever really get to choose our nicknames? Read more

Since my post yesterday was about the Seth Godin action figure, I thought it would be appropriate to follow up today with a post about a new book by David Vinjamuri, Accidental Branding, that Seth Godin endorsed by saying, “The central idea of this book is nothing short of brilliant.”

Accidental Branding, How Ordinary People Build Extraordinary Brands tells the story of seven average people who developed incredibly successful brands despite their lack of formal marketing training.  Instead, each person had a strong belief in his or her product and enough common sense and commitment to develop those products into powerful brands and businesses. Read more