Abiah is an award winning brand strategy and full service marketing firm that helps mid-sized businesses uncover and leverage what makes them unique to become the recognized leader in their market segment. Find out more about them and take the Brand Alignment test at http://www.abiah.com or call them at 866-982-2424.
Now that you’re familiar with the differences between marketing and advertising, and you have some understanding of the basic factors we apply when putting together an advertisement or an advertising plan (see that issue again or sign up so you don’t miss an issue), it’s time to think about effectively leveraging your time, effort, and money. A website can help you do just that.
Through June our newsletter will help you look at the various components of an integrated marketing plan. In the last issue, we shared some thoughts on your visual identity -- how it involves more than just your logo and some different ways you can use the concept of visual identity to grow your brand. In this issue, we’ll share the basics of advertising and make some recommendations about things you should consider when making decisions about advertising.
Just as it takes a combination of all the right elements to make a beautiful garden grow, it takes more than a great logo, or a great ad to grow a successful business. How do the best businesses do it? They use an integrated approach to their marketing, combining a great visual identity with a compelling message that gets delivered through a variety of channels. People are bombarded with hundreds to thousands of messages a day. It’s just not reasonable to expect an ad that runs one time in one newspaper will be enough to get your prospects’ attention and rally them to action.
What was the recipe for success that global companies used to get where they are today? When you go and buy a product that is globally known, do you ever stop to think that the company was once a small business operated by someone looking to make a difference, like you?
Building a brand requires the same four questions necessary when planning a trip:
When do I want to go? What do I want to do? Where do I want to go? How will I get there? It’s always a great time to plan a vacation, and it’s always a great time to build your brand.