Having a unique branding message and being able to deliver it affectively, it key to having a successful business branding plan. To help business owners understand the importance of an effective business branding plan, I recently interviewed Ayesha Mathews-Wadhwa who is the owner of PixInk.info.

Below is the interview that I conducted with her via TwitInterviews.com recently. Once you have read over the interview, please feel free to leave your feedback and also contact Ayesha for more details on how she can help you develop a business branding plan.

Question 1: Welcome to your #TwitInterview. Please introduce yourself and the key areas of your expertise? How long have you been involved in this area?

Hi Kim! Thanks so much for having me here - this is such a great format  I’m Ayesha Mathews~Wadhwa, Principal & Creative Director at PixInk - A boutique design practice with expertise is Branding and Design - something I’ve loved doing for the last 10 years

Question 2: What are the top 3 tips on branding that a business owner should know and how should they implement them?

That’s a great question Kim. First, very simply I want to explain - What is Brand/Branding?

A brand is an idea about your product or service that lives in the heart & mind of your customer. All of you entrepreneurs I know have the start of a strong brand..but what do you do to differentiate/ make it truly yours? What you want to be is a charismatic brand… that’s one that people believe have NO substitute.

What’s Branding? Branding is the art and science of bringing a brand into the world and helping it thrive..its the sum total of your offering, your visual identity, your communication & packaging and your customer relationships. eg: Brands that gets branding right? Virgin. Apple. Oprah. Madonna and I’m going to add Savor the Success to this list 
So Top 3 things to remember while branding your company?

1. Have an AWESOME product that delivers high value.
2. Build on your CORE VALUES
3. Create and engaging branded EXPERIENCE for your customer

Question 3: When should a business start to think about “branding” their business services or products? Why is it important to “brand” your business?

It important to cultivate and nurture your brand as it grows and that’s why I say branding your business is like raising your kids.. you cannot start paying attention to them suddenly when they turn 20! Why is this important..because in today’s hyper saturated marketplace only those business who clearly identity their product offering and value and communicate this to the consumer in a consistent engaging way (brand language) will thrive - again the point is to be a charismatic brand - one that people believe has NO substitute.

Question 4: You are sharing great branding information. Please share specific examples of effective brands/brand strategies?

I love and follow brands that speak to the customer at every touch point - Engage them - right from the time you hand over your biz card or welcome someone at your website or on a shelf at retail: Virgin & Apple are great examples of this. In fact, I’ve never paid attn to the InFlight Safety Procedure Video till Virgin America came out with its version! And I want to make it clear that great branding campaigns don’t necessarliy have to come from Fortune 500 companies with Fortune 500 budgets. In today’s economy Small Biz and Start-Ups are poised to capitalize on the opportunity to grab market share - CD Baby and Savor the Success are both young companies in the midst of developing compelling brand language and value!

Question 5: How does Branding play a part in the social media landscape?

That’s a great topic .. one of the reasons the social media landscape is so powerful is because it the first time in history when brands are now shaped by the customer versus the “marketing department”..I love this because it forces brands to stay authentic and provide value. And ultimately a Brand is not what you (the marketing department) says it is…its what they (the customers) believe it is and what better way than social media to gauge the pulse of a brand? directly interacting with customers..getting reviews, feedback and testimonials from people you know and trust is an incredibly powerful ingredient in the brand spectrum..this landscape forces brands to be true to what they should really focus on - giving the customer/client great value.

Question 6: One final question. Please share how you work through your company, PixInk, to help company’s brand their services and products?

PixInk is passionate about nurturing brands and creating rich, insightful and emotionally resonant visual communication.

Our strategy and creative work has led to successful interactive and marketing implementations for clients ranging from Fortune 500s to start ups, including Apple, Oracle, Cat Footwear, Harley Davidson, Skin by Alison Raffaele, MTV Style (India) and Picaboo to name a few.

I’m especially committed to the next evolution in the branding spectrum - Rich Branding i.e the ability to get under the skin of a brand and extract all of the most evocative, engaging elements — and present those in a visually compelling manner, while speaking in an authentic brand voice consistently. I truly believe a great brand is like a great person - evolving elegantly through time and culture.

Question 7: Thank you for allowing me to interview you. Please share how you can be contacted.

Kim - thank you for having me and allowing PixInk to share some insights with your community here on Twitinterviews  I can be reached at: ayesha@pixink.info. Look forward to hearing from you!
To your continued success.
Ayesha

Those who are looking to build their brand and have a blog, then you have an opportunity to use your blog to build brand recognition. You can make your blog the tool that can help attract customers and industry associates to your business.

Building online marketing into your blog is another key factor to brand identity. You can integrate social media into blog so that your web visitor can interact with you as they become more familiar with your brand.

According to the article “Is Their Perception Your Reality?” which can be found on Entrepreneur.com and written by John Williams, states the following 6 important concerns that you should have regarding your brand identity.

• Contact customers you’ve gained within the past year and ask them why they chose your brand.
• Call current customers and ask them what differentiates you from your competition.
• Are you getting repeat business?
• Is your business growing by referrals or word-of-mouth?
• Follow up on lost sales.
• Can you recite your brand promise or mission statement off the top of your head?

Keep in mind that has your build your brand using online resources that you should also create a way to track your progress. The video below share specific tips about the success that Obama and his team experienced when they used online resources to build his brand.

Whether you choose to hire a PR firm or to do it yourself, creating your company’s brand identity is important. Brand identity is when specific attributes are associated with your company to help consumer easily recognize it. Whether you use a specific color like “Tiffany blue” or a graphic like the Nike Swoosh, brand identity can be seen as an essential key to growing your company’s brand.

Keep in mind that if you are not minding your brand that it can be hijacked such as the case of Exxon on Twitter. In 2008, someone posed as a representative from Exxon and began answering question Twitter. At first is seemed as though it really was a good thing for the company and then it turned into bad publicity when this person started sharing negative information about Exxon. Too late, the damage was done on Twitter and has become known as a key example of what can happen if you don’t manage your brand.

When you create your brand, there are specific things that you need to keep in mind such as the colors you use or the graphics that are included with your brand. Make sure that you do your research because you don’t want to create a brand identity that is…

• Closely associated with a competitor
• Similar to Fortune 500 companies and could be confusing
• Not easily translated to another language or negative connotations when translated to a different language (i.e., Chevy Nova translates to “it won’t go”)

Recently, I found a CBS show from 2006 where the Sunday morning Money show was asking its audience to help them determine their logo which would help brand their show. Even though this is an old show, the content shared in the video below is still relevant to creating a good brand identity.

The newest campaign for Dunkin Donuts (DD) include the message that they have a new “Wake-up Breakfast” with the promo message that “it’s breakfast not brokefast”. DD has decided to go with this message because they feel it’s their way of helping their customers who are financially challenged.

In branding the “Wake-up Breakfast” as the breakfast that you want to buy, they have decided to use video, TV commercials, print ads and press releases. This type of branding can help a business to singularly bring brand awareness to a particular product.

Another promotion that they are using to brand their business is DD Smart which has the as it’s center goal to communicate that “Better for you choices that keep you running’”. In running this campaign, DD hopes to educate their customers on the “smart choices” of buying the Smart breakfast items and how they can participate in a 5K running training program. To help encourage participation, DD shares the following message on their website:

Making smart choices about what you eat is one way to stay on track. Another is keeping active. Check out the DDSMART Zero to 5K Training Program for information on running your first 5K or tips on training for your next. It’s easier than you think . Just search for a race in your area,
then download our training program. Run for fun, your health, with friends or for charity.

Even though both of these branding campaigns are about breakfast items, they are unique with different emphasis. As a business owner, you can learn from their branding efforts how to successfully brand different products.

Living life as an Olsen twin and as Co-Presidents of the Olsen Twin empire can have twists and turns but can be very beneficial. As you look at how the Olsen twins, Mary-Kate and Ashley, have built their brand, one will see that it has been many years of hard work and smart moves to keep the brand image in the public eye. If you don’t know who the Olsen Twins are, then visit Hulu.com to checkout the video about them and their branding.

Since they were babies, Mary-Kate and Ashley have been building a brand that has lasted through the young years in Hollywood to the teen years which is a rarity. Many childhood stars have experienced problems when transitioning from being a childhood star to a teen star and then on to an adult star. Now that the Olsen twins are adults, they still have proven that their brand identity is very strong. Part of the ways they have branded themselves is by having recognizable products such as clothing line, DVD videos, accessories, and many more items.

When it comes to branding your business, how have you made your business standout from the rest? What lessons can you learn from their success in branding their business? Checkout the list below and feel free to share your own views about what lessons can be learned from the Olsen Twins branding machine.

• Continuously makeover your brand over time but keep a consistent central theme.
• Don’t stop growing your brand when you hit a roadblock.
• Understand all aspects of your business branding so that you will know what needs to be done to renew the brand occasionally.
• Take chances to grow your brand in new directions that may seem strange.
• Be prepared for growth when you rebrand.
• Don’t be afraid to protect your brand from competitors.
• Make sure that you manage your brand’s reputation online and offline.

There have been so many lessons that a business owner can learn from the Olsen Twins’ branding machince. Please feel free to share what you have learned from their branding success.

Image: ZumaPress.com

One of the common things that branding does is bring to mind a particular service or product that the owner wants you to purchase. To help branding become recognizable, many business owner choose to hire public relations (PR) companies to help develop their branding strategy. But for those business who can’t afford a PR firm, there are some simple things that you can do to grow your brand.

Some of the most recognizable brands are for companies like Domino’s (deliver in 30 minutes & logo is a domino) or even Walmart (smiley face dropping prices). What seems to be working for both of the brand strategies of these companies is the fact that they want to either save you time or money which are two important things to consumers.

To help you determine what you need to know to develop your company’s brand whether you do it by yourself or with a PR firm, ask yourself these questions:

• When developing your brand strategy, how have you built in the concept of either saving money or time for consumers?
• What are some of the things that should be included in your brand strategy that would help you determine your keep offerings?
• How should you communicate your brand strategy/identity to your consumers?
• What is the price point or time savings for your key services or products that could be included in your brand strategy (i.e. Domino’s delivering in 30 minutes or less is a time savings for consumers)?

Branding your business website is more than just cute graphics or a eye-catching color scheme. Although these are important things that help with your branding, there are other key areas that you need to also consider.

When developing a brand for your business website, you should look at your website’s layout as having four areas:

• Header: generally this area contains a header graphic that is strongly associated with your business branding efforts. Most of the time it’s used to display the name of the business.
• Sidebars (left or right or none at all): used for displaying links, website table of content, affiliate graphics or information about your business. You have the options of one sidebar either on the right or left, both sidebars or no sidebars.
• Body: this is the meat and potatoes of your website where the main content is located.
• Footer: used as another location on your website to continue branding your website. Some use it as though it is a third sidebar that just happens to be horizontal. It can display the same information shared in the sidebar.

Figure 1

In figure 1 above, you can see that I’ve placed the logo (upper left) and an action image (upper right) too as suggested placement. The placements help guide your web visitor to first see who you are (logo) and then give theme an action (action image) to complete which is usually logging in, signing up or purchasing a product.

This is not a perfect design but just a starting point for branding your business website. Please share additional idea regarding how you can brand your website. Looking forward to your feedback.

If you haven’t heard about the Oprah Branding Effect then let me share with you what it means. Just as the Midas touch means that whatever he touched would turn to gold, the same could be said about Oprah. Many businesses, books and organization have seen tremendous growth once she either mentions it or is seen using it.

Image: Newscom.com

Although Oprah is a unique person and brand, other businesses can have a similar effect but it may happen in smaller quantities. On May 28, 2009, CNBC released a show that discussed the Oprah Branding Effect and shared how many businesses had experienced growth because of it.

One of the people mentioned shared how she had planned on “Living Oprah” which mean she would do everything that Oprah suggested. She decided to do this for a year and she started on January 1, 2009 and will end on December 31, 2009. Through the whole experience, she shared that although somethings didn’t truly apply in her situation, she felt that a lot of positive things have happened in her life.

One of which is that she was offered a book deal so does this mean that she is experiencing the Oprah Branding Effect? I would say that she has definitely experience because she shared that after writing for many years, she didn’t receive a book deal until after she started her blog, “Living Oprah“.

To bring this to a level where other sized businesses can have a similar effect as Oprah, I thought it would be helpful to share suggestions:

• Decide that you will mentor a business owner who is a startup or smaller in size to your business.
• Create a mastermind group where similar minded business owners help each other reach their goals of increasing their business’ reach.
• Identity business owners that you feel have obtained a level of success that you feel you want to accomplish and then try to connect with them through a mentoring program. Follow their advice to grow your business.

Now let’s all get started seeing how we can join in on spreading the Oprah Effect to others. You can find out more about the Oprah Branding Effect by visiting these websites: Informational website & Watch full video.

by guest blogger Ehren Cheung

5 Reasons Why Branding and Experience are the Same

One of the first things we must understand when we talk about branding, is that branding and customer experience are essentially the same. We’re trained to step back and dissect the two apart; it’s actually quite easy – we do it all the time when we analyze our marketing strategies. The funny thing is that if we were to take a step forward – and look closely at how we respond or rather how customers respond to products, we realize that branding, marketing, and all that other mumble jumble is essentially the same as customer experience.

The greater challenge for businesses and organizations is to stop ourselves from overusing marketing terms or concepts and take that step forward to look at all these elements in a holistic and more humane perspective – the customer experience.

Photo courtesy of Robert Ewart

Think of your local public or mass transit system. What is your gut feeling? I’m going to use the Toronto Transit system as an example, what comes to mind when you think of the TTC? What is your first reaction?

1. It’s all about points of contact

Every time that your organization is in contact with the customer is also the time that you are effectively (or ineffectively) branding yourself. Whether this may be waiting for a subway train, stepping on to a bus or phoning in to ask a question in another language – this is all part of the customer experience. It’s important to identify how your customer interacts with you to really understand how they feel about you. Now we begin to realize that some points of contact aren’t even really “points” at all for you; but they are for the customer.

2. Customer Experience is everything. Just like branding.

Just to name a few: Buses either come in threes or none at all; Subways are crowded; TTC offers help in many languages for a cosmopolitan city like Toronto. We identify the brand based on our individual experiences with it. Newcomers may start off with a fresh point of view however those who are familiar with the logo, the bus system, transfering from one transit line to another – all regard the brand from their own experience, regardless of how much money the government keeps saying it’ll put into public transit.

3. Is your message conveying a point or a rationale?

Without diving into too much history, the TTC often uses the phrase “Ride the Rocket”. Alas, anyone who has travelled on the TTC would likely think otherwise. Not that the TTC isn’t effective at playing its role as the mass transit provider for the population of Toronto – it just happens to set itself up to be the joke of the city when mechanical failures and poor traffic flow continue to frustrate riders. Sure we could simply point fingers at all the different factors including politics and urban sprawl but there are always external factors to any business – that doesn’t mean you are exempt from a customer experience standpoint.

A more positive message that the TTC uses is “The Better Way”. Of course how much better is determined by the customer.

“I’m not suggesting the death of advertising; nor am I suggesting that companies avoid mission/vision statements or logos or color palettes. However, I am suggesting that all of those things are secondary. The primary job of any brand executive is to create an outstanding customer experience.” — Mark Hurst, Good Experience Columns

Tomorrow, we will continue with the rest of this two-part article, finishing up with Culture and Expectations, Perception and Design and Final Thoughts.

Ehren is an avid web worker. Currently working as the internet fundraising coordinator for the Heart and Stroke Foundation (formerly an online marketing specialist for the book industry), he spends his nights tinkering with online media. One can find his musings at www.onelittlecog.com and share in his joy of road trips at just.gettingsidetracked.com.

As of yesterday, two of the world’s largest beer brands became one…say hello to Anhauser-Busch InBev.

Image: Brand New

The takeover by Belgian brewer InBev, famous for Stella Artois and Beck’s, will see them taking ground in the US market thanks to Anhauser-Busch, most recognisable for college favourite Budweiser.

As you can see from the logo and name of the new corporation, the two companies have more or less decided to squish their identities together, hoping to form ‘The Best Beer Company in a Better World’. So, how’s this going to work?

Read more