You could pay a marketing coach or ad agency or brand consultant BIG bucks to create (or recreate) your brand. A word of advice: DON'T!
You need a snappy name. Something sharp, clever, clear, and concise. Something you’d be proud to have your fans and customers display on a t-shirt, coffee mug or bumper sticker. You want to be the go-to resource – no – you want to be the rock star in your profession or industry. And you’re just one strong branding step away – you can almost TASTE it!!!
But you’re not smart enough to do it yourself.
Oops, wait a minute… yes you are.
Fact is, a lot of advertising agency types and “branding gurus” are simply overpriced hacks. Shocking, I know… you’re stunned that coming up with a cool name for your new services, programs, and products could be simple, straightforward, and easy.
Well, sit down with a nice hot cup of your favorite caffeinated beverage and strap in – ‘cuz you’re getting my secret stash of branding whoop-ass.
Take your topic or product or service (Leadership or Cookies or HVAC or Recruiting or Plastics) and add one or more of these brand building blocks. Some stand alone – some work in combination with others. Sometimes you’ll want to put the building block BEFORE your service/product and sometimes it will sound better AFTER. Play with these – they’re my gift to you.
Instant Branding Toolkit
Market
Exchange
Zip
Zap
Focus
Momentum
Fun
Power
Professional
Savvy
Smarts
Sense
Action
Pyramid
Dive
Redline
RPM
GPS
Roundtable
Summit
Slide
Swing
Sandbox
Playground
Monkey
Chimp
Rhino
Hippo
Gazelle
Tiger
Lion
Shark
Dolphin
Insights
Forum
Café
Center
Storm
Success
Life
Mojo
Club
Hub
Lounge
Launchpad
Library
Archive
Free ____ tips
Free ____ tools
Tips
Tools
Toolbox
Toolkit
Club
Network
Posse
Bakery
Mashup
Focus
Resource
Queen
King
Flyer
Circle
Gameplan
Blueprint
Treasure chest
Strategies
Tactics
Secrets
Profits
Revealed
Disco
Party
Pantry
Bakeshop
Factory
Foundry
Vortex
Nexus
Universe
Galaxy
World
Planet
Star
Done right
Made easy
Cocktail
Bar
Game
Advise
Monitor
Puppy
Daddy
Mama
Baby
Zoom
Boom
Direct
Show
Thunder
Undercover
After hours
After dark
Agent
Sauce
Juice
Jazz
Page
Letter
Book
Cruise
Action
Roadmap
Max
Navigator
Gps
Master
Accelerator
Advisor
Lightning
Bullseye
Profits
Revenues
Hang out
Shout
Scream
Bam
Mall
Feast
Meal
Lunch
Zone
Poop
Scoop
Machine
Force
Onramp
Route
Highway
Express
Check
Box
Square
Speed
Accelerate
Compass
University
U
College
Academy
Institute
First
Prime
One
I'm looking forward to buying from the following businesses in the very near future... maybe one of these will be yours:
- The Cookie Machine
- The Video Advisor
- CareerNavigator
- SalesGPS
- Coffee Hangout
- Guitars After Dark
- The Fitness Foundry
And if you end up using something you create with this list as your new brand, do me a favor – please make a generous donation to your favorite charity. Even a tiny fraction of what you would have paid the “ad agency” will make a BIG difference to the non-profit of your choice. If you don’t have any particular good cause in mind, here are three I recommend:
http://www.acumenfund.org
http://www.roomtoread.org
http://nsafoundation.org
Rock on, you do-it-yourself brander, you!!
Do you like this list? Want to Tweet it? Quote it? Add to it? Use the comments area below and let's hear what's in YOUR can of branding whoop-ass!!
A client of mine is launching a new professional services business venture. She has identified
Responsible Leadership as her expertise and distinction in the marketplace. She wants to name her company Responsible Leadership and build it out under the domain she already bought,
www.ResponsibleLeadership.com She asked me what I thought of that name.
I told her - we gotta be careful.
The name is not going to stand on its own - it's going to become your methodology, your approach, your brand, and the umbrella that spans all of your offerings.
Soooo.... make sure you love all of the following, too... (Go ahead and plug in YOUR brand or YOUR words that articulate your fabulousness below):
- Responsible Leadership Assessment
- Responsible Leadership Retreats
- Responsible Leadership Survey
- Responsible Leadership Seminar
- Responsible Leadership Training
- Responsible Leadership Coaching
- Responsible Leadership IQ
- Responsible Leadership Conference
- Responsible Leadership News
- Responsible Leadership Blog
- Responsible Leadership Ezine
- Responsible Leadership Summit
- Responsible Leadership Tools
- Responsible Leadership Certification
- Responsible Leadership - the book
- Responsible Leadership - the keynote
- Responsible Leadership - the MBA guest lecture
- Responsible Leadership - the podcast
- Responsible Leadership - the PBS Special
- Responsible Leadership - the video series
- Responsible Leadership - the E-learning course
- Responsible Leadership - the 6-month leadership development course
- ... and so on!
So naming your company is no joke. And I'm not just saying that because I'm a marketing speaker and marketing coach and do this work all day long for a living! It really is a BIG, far-reaching decision.
You want everything to line up under your brand so you get a self-reinforcing marketing system where all the pieces "fit and click" - or in sales-speak, so you have plenty of opportunities for cross-selling, up-selling, and cross-pollination.
You want to own the "thought leadership platform" around your name and your offerings.
Question: How does YOUR professional services empire stack up?
Please leave a comment below and let us know!!
Guest column by Tom Marin, Orlando Business Journal
Brand marketing is facing a power-shift in today's marketplace.
Customers want to be part of a brand's direction and development.
Listening to their expectations can determine your firm's level of success.
To take full advantage of today's market share, companies will need to "lose" control of their marketing strategy to ultimately gain it, by embracing this powerful dynamic of customer expectations.
Fifty years ago, there weren't the number of brands or media choices there are today. The market is filled with brands, sub-brands, cross-brands, and strategic-brand partnerships. Add to that list the ever-increasing media choices, including Internet marketing, and it's difficult to make a minor change to a brand that will affect top-line sales significantly.
Investing in cutting-edge, no-cost and low-cost promotional tools for branding ideas will allow you to market your company profitably.
Consider these suggestions for energizing your brand in today's marketplace:
• Create uniqueness.
Uniqueness is a brand's No. 1 asset. The greater the brand uniqueness, the higher its score in market share. And those brands that create a unique brand category usually become the leaders.
What comes to mind when you consider: theme park, soft drink or overnight delivery? Most likely it is Disney, Coke and FedEx. They are the recognized leaders, though there are other brands in their categories.
Your brand's uniqueness can be determined by completing this sentence: Our (brand name) is the only (product category) that (does what).
• Replace repetition with interactive promotions.
A common branding strategy is repetition of the brand message to build awareness. This strategy is not as effective as interactive promotions.
For example, a 30-day trial use, a sample pack, an on-premise presentation or a portion of the service you offer are all effective interactive strategies. They allow customers to discover the benefits of your brand and move closer to making a purchase decision than the repetitious sales pitch provides.
• Replace outbound marketing with inbound branding.
Traditional methods of outbound marketing include telemarketing, voicemail campaigns, e-mails and direct marketing. These standard marketing strategies have become less effective because people use spam-ware, caller ID, firewall devices and the "circular file" to eliminate them.
Internet searches have become a primary source for obtaining product information. Popular Web sites such as Google and Yahoo are tapping the exploding volume of today's online buyer.
To increase your potential customer base, consider using these methods:
1. Publish articles on Web sites that are relevant to your target audience.
2. Write book reviews on related topics for Web sites such as Amazon.com.
3. Publicize your brand on Web sites like prnewswire.com and prweb.com.
4. Increase your online identity with listings on LinkedIn, ZoomInfo, Ziggs, Naymz and others.
• Replace monolithic marketing with customer-centric branding.
Don't be a follower. If you're trying to overtake a brand leader, don't emulate their strategies. Create your own. And let your strategy strike at the heart of what your key customers want. Of course, knowing what they want will be paramount to your success, so ask them.
• Don't plan for overnight success.
If someone offered me $10 million to help them launch a successful brand tomorrow, I'd tell them instead to give me $1 million and five years to make their brand successful. Understanding this dynamic of time, I'll bring home the bacon based on what prospective customers want.
Accepting and using this branding power-shift between you and your customer will allow you to involve their needs in your strategy and, in time, will establish your brand successfully. Their involvement offers them new reasons for becoming a loyal customer.