Few tasks in business are fraught with as much undo anxiety and emotion as naming your company. Choosing a name that will live on as the business grows seems of utmost importance – not unlike naming a child.    Company naming success is truly a combination of left-brain (logic, process, discipline) and right-brain (creative, artistic, and linguistic) thinking.  I have created several product and brand names for small as well as large brands over the years.  Naming can be a lot of work, but it does not have to be too difficult if you follow a simple process

The Objective of a Company Name –  A strong clear name uniquely identifies your firm’s line of business while projecting personality, interest and professionalism.   Names which are confusing, similar to others in an industry, silly or overly identified with an owner, are poor choices for adding value to a business. 

The Structure of a Company Name  – Good names will follow a patterned structure, have a formal name, descriptor,  and optional slogan.  The formal name is unique and will be remembered.  The descriptor identifies the industry or category of service.  The slogan can help identity the core benefit:

For example – here is a naming architecture for a fictitious landscaping store:

Formal Name:  Blacksmith Stone

     Descriptor:  Home Landscaping Design and Paving Solutions  

            Slogan:  Top Designs and Product Selection in Bergen County

Practical Approach to Creating Company Name ideas

First, identify important categories for word-brainstorming.  These should be based on your business’s uniqueness and industry.  There are many categories but a good start would be the following:

1. Location words – town, county, streets, etc. (these are surprisingly effective for company names)
2. Ownership words – founders name
3. Aspirational words – vision, what the finished job helps create, beauty, direction, etc
4. Product or Service words – the product being offered, industry, or service area
5. Technical terms –  suggesting unique development tools, novel approaches, industry tech terms
6. Benefit words – price, customer service, reliability, honesty, etc.
7. Now, have fun filling in the grid with at least 5 ideas per box as follows:  

The reference to Industry Tendency is a guide only and you can build other categories as needed. 

Synthesize for Company Name Ideas –Once you have the grid filled in, now us the time to be creative. Creativity here is really synthesis.  Take words from the grid and combine and mix words.  Look for combinations that have not been used but will be memorable if tied to your brand or company.  This is fun but can be hard work.   Look for any word fragments, combinations and interesting spellings.  It is very important not to be critical at this point.  If you can pronounce it, write it down. 

Creativity versus Synthesis  – Avoid whimsical or confusing names like Nike, Google,  etc.  While these are unique, small and mid-size companies will need to spend enormous advertising to build a functional and emotional meaning to the name.  As an example, Richardson Wealth Management Group may create a more immediate impact while having long lasting value , versus trying to build a name like “Impedium”

Check for Availability of Company Name Ideas – this is the not-so-fun part.  Start with an on-line search of the name ideas to see which are taken in your industry only.  Be prepared to eliminate well over 60% of words you like due to competitive use in your industry alone. Remember to search various spellings of each word to catch anyone who is using the name.  The more common the word,  phrase or family name, the more likely it is to be taken.  Look for different combinations, different spelling.  Check for the availability of a user friendly URL availability for a website.   Don’t get discouraged at this stage.  You will learn a lot about your competition in this search and it will help you unlock new ideas for names.   Take breaks and come back to this exercise with fresh eyes.  

Evaluation of Company Name Ideas  – Results should be rated against the following:

1. Easy to pronounce and spell
2. Easy to remember
3. Conveys the product or service you provide
4. Clear of other firms in your market
5. You personally like the name (don’t hold too much weight to this as you will come to like most names over time)

Once you have selected a name be sure to consult a legal expert for final clearance and registration.  Logo design and development will be the next to bring the idea to life visually. 

Don’t over-think this and you will have success!

You cannot overstate its importance. A business must communicate something specific to their consumers for them to be interested in purchasing. Lacking a USP leads to a business seen as average in the market, without a genuine reason to be chosen among its competitors. It may excel at many things and even offer more than the competition. But without focus, the consumer will never know and will choose to purchase the competition.

The USP also focusses the energy of the organization in continuing to become better at this single, valuable offering, thus protecting it from others who will try to offer this benefit. Organizations without a well defined USP often chase many buyers with different needs and end working harder and having little payoff.

Let’s take apart the important parts of this definition.

Single feature – What makes the business different? What specific product feature or attribute does a product have that makes it appealing?

Single benefit – What important problem does the business solve better than others? How does the consumer feel after you have solved their problem?

Don’t confuse features and benefits. They are different. Several definitions of USP use these terms interchangeably. They are not the same.

For example Walmart had a slogan for years, “Always low Prices”. That is a feature of their offering. They changed their slogan to “Save money, Live Better”. Those are 2 benefits. They needed the change when their feature was no longer unique. Other retailers beat them at specific prices (e.g. dollar stores).

Benefits come in many forms. Most consumers are looking for a specific end benefit to them. Convenience, trust, dependability, affordability work well.

But in a crowded marketplace it is best to be as specific as possible.

A simple example for a sandwich shop with low prices:

• Feature – our sub shop is the home of the $4 foot long sub sandwich
• Benefit – you get the best value for your money.
• Tells people that the quality may suffer, but you can afford to get more for your family to eat,

However, if you have the best subs in town, consumers will be willing to at least consider paying a bit more than they should.  

• Feature Voted the best tasting sub sandwiches in the greater Philadelphia area.
• Benefit – uncompromising taste

Offering many features and benefits might feel good to the business owner, but it leads to confusion for your customers. For example, a pizza shop may say they have the best pizza in town, at the lowest cost, delivered to you fast. Who are they appealing to? The consumer will doubt they have the best pizza if it is the lowest price. Also, price conscious shoppers will doubt they have the lowest cost if you say you have the best product. Also, great tasting pizza freshly made, which takes time. Fastest pizza to your door suggest otherwise. These three features together end up not appealing to anyone very well.

Unique among your competitors

Don’t be generic and don’t offer what others already offer in the market. Ask whether the USP differs from others and solves a need. Stating features such as “fast and friendly service” are generic to most services, for example. Better to say “on time or it is on us”. Most services won’t and cannot be so specific. USP should state a benefit that your competitors do not perform well. Many businesses compete in markets with many competitors because there is already an established market with willing buyers.

In the market in which you compete

The market should be defined in a way that make sense for your business. Consider a geographical market. For example a local car dealership or restaurant are competing for a broad group of people in a limited area. However, an on-line service with a national or global potential consumers should define their market based on the consumer group they want to attract. In business to business selling, the market is specific buyers at prospective organizations.

One Good Example of a well built USP is Sweetwater Music

From personal experience, I will focus on a company called Sweetwater Music. (I have no vested interest in promoting them.). They compete in a crowded online space selling musical equipment and pro audio (speaker systems, recording equipment and software and stage equipment).

My hobby is playing guitar and singing in a small local rock band as well as at my church. I look for gear that will fit my need as an active guitar player in different performing situations. There are many ways to buy musical and pro audio gear. Everything from Amazon to giant retailers like Guitar Center and Sam Ash. All have similar prices, and massive selections of products and fast shipping. It’s the baseline of competing in that category. I have purchased something over the years from most of them.

There are differences among retailers based on exactly what I want. I am looking for the right gear tailored to my needs. I am unfamiliar with a lot of the most recent technology and find myself wanting to try new things for the situations where I play. I am afraid that I will buy the wrong equipment that doesn’t fit the playing situation or will be overly complicated to use.

The distinguishing feature of Sweetwater Music for me is the sales engineer. Once you’ve made a purchase, a sales engineer will call to see if the gear is working. No matter how big or small. I bought a small clip for my iPad that I mount on my microphone stand. A small $30 purchase. The day after it arrived, a sales engineer called to see how it was working and talk about what I was using it for. Another time, an engineer called to let me know the product I ordered was going to be delayed a few days and after some discussion, he informed me that there was a better and more inexpensive package available. This guy is on my phone now. But I buy only from Sweetwater Music. Will I pay more than other places, probably not since all retailers are offering items at similar prices, but its not the reason I buy from them.

Here is my take on their specific USP:

• Feature – Sales engineers with extensive knowledge and following up.
• Benefit – Purchase with confidence – I am not buying the wrong gear.

Here is the statement on their website which I think sums up their USP well:

“Since 1979, we’ve turned millions of music makers like you into friends by delivering uncommon service and unparalleled expertise. Our dedication has helped Sweetwater become the #1 online retailer of pro audio and music instruments in the United States.”

To build your USP, focus on answering:

1. Who is your target market – the person who you want to connect with?
2. Who is your competition – where do they excel?
3. What is the Consumer issue when shopping in this category? What makes it hard to purchase items in the category?
4. What is the single functional attribute you provide?
5. What is the emotional benefit of this single attribute you provide?

I wrote these reviews immediately on seeing these. i am even leaving my typos on purpose because rewriting / correcting would make me go back and evaluate further. Rating:  1 is Best, 5 is Worse. Then I sorted them to show the best first:

Overall the ads were fun. First impressions are important. What did you think?

A Little Background

Did you know you can make your own wine at home for a fraction of the cost of buying a regular bottle from the store? The wine is wonderful and at a cost of about $3 -$5/bottle would compare favorably with any $15 – $20 bottle at your local store. It is easy, and it takes only a moderate number of basic items that are easy to use. Also, you can purchase pre-made wine ingredient kits or grape juices from wineries around the world according to your taste. I have been making wines from kits and juices for years now. I made wine for my daughter’s wedding reception with custom labels. I felt proud, and the wine was very good. Winemaking takes time. Making a batch of wine takes four to eight weeks to make and then should age from between 3–12 months. 

Winemaking is a tradition that harkens to another era and other cultures. A home brew retailer owner explained that his sales for home winemaking (from grapes) are mostly first-generation Americans that grew up with this tradition. My mom explained to me that her father, raised in Italy and immigrated to the US, brought the tradition with him. They crushed the grapes, fermented, and aged the wine. It took many months, yielding a strong-tasting wine – more like brandy than wine. She never quite said it tasted good – but it was a tradition. 

Who are the Players?

It is hard to get statistics on the business of home winemaking. It does not account for a significant piece of the wine market. Outside of grapes and juices, wine kits are the most common branded product. Two of the popular kit makers are RJ Spagnols and Winexpert. Both produced in Canada, a country more accustomed to home winemaking than here in the US. I have made kits from both manufacturers and they are quite good. You can find them at any good Homebrew retailer. I also have made wine from juices. I like Keystone Homebrew Supply in the Philadelphia market for all my supplies, kits, and juices.

There are a few good retailers in every market that specialize in home-brewing and home winemaking. They have the equipment and access to ingredients. For the new and experienced, these retailers are your best friend. They have the knowledge and experience to teach how to make the perfect batch of wine. I like Keystone Homebrew Supply in the Philadelphia market for all my supplies, kits, and juices.

How Do You Make Wine?

There are three ways to make wines as a hobby: 

• Wine kits – are available and very easy to make with only a small initial investment in equipment (about $100 total). The kits themselves cost from $80 to $200 and make 6 gallons (about 30 bottles) of wine. They take 6-8 weeks from start to bottling. Aging can take 3-6months or longer. Excellent results are almost guaranteed. The concentrates are of a wide variety of grapes from various growing regions around the world. 
• Wine from juices–making fresh juice (you can also buy frozen) into wine. The juice is less expensive ($70 – $100) than a kit for 6 gallons. If buying fresh, availability is after harvest (September if from CA, WA, etc., May if from South America). Takes about 6 months to get into the bottle.  
• Wine made from grapes—this is a more complicated process that requires bigger equipment to squeeze and de-stem the grapes. It could also require some lab analysis to measure results along the way. Takes about 6 months to get into the bottle.  

One thing to remember- you cannot sell your wine (in most states). You can share and enjoy with friends but need a license to sell alcohol.

The Marketing Challenge

Let’s assume that the home winemaking from kits or from juice (both easy to make at home) target is people who enjoy drinking wine.

Answer four questions:

1. Consumer target. Identify a consumer targets—make it a rich description. What type of person (age, background, family status, profession, hobbies, favorite beverages)
2. White space. For each target, what is missing emotionally from their current wine purchase and consumption?
3. Cosnumer benefit. What is the personal benefit to making wine versus buying wine
4. Touchpoints. For each target—identify who they enjoy wine with, where do they enjoy wine? 

This might be a bit of work, but these answers provide a roadmap to build a very strong marketing message and tactical activation opportunities to make this project successful.

So, my dear marketers, you have a very high-level overview and, as most case studies do, I challenge you to think about the solve. What is the strategy, consumer message, the unique end benefit? How would you build awareness? What would an interesting message be for this industry? While I think this business is ripe with opportunity, until consumers get over preconceptions and are hooked, it will not reach its full potential. 

Have fun while you are sipping your favorite white or red wine. 

***********

Here are my personal insights on this marketing challenge:

Home winemaking should be a lot more popular, but it misses on two important consumer dynamics:  

Consumers gladly pay for instant gratification and convenience. This is the mother of all consumer dynamics. Why make something harder to do than it is to do now. The cost tradeoff of a great $3 – $5 dollar bottle that tastes as good as a $15 bottle, but it takes between 2-6 months to make a batch that yields about 30 bottles.  

If you ask consumers to take time and care making something from scratch, the experience and result should be worth the bragging rights. Beer fares better because you can customize recipes and it only takes a month before to complete. Wine, as they say, is made on the vine, and you are just trying to get it to its full potential during the winemaking process.  

Last, wine consumption in the US has been in decline for many years.  

I think there is a bigger business opportunity in homemade wine. So, I would challenge smart marketers, 

• Lack of awareness of home wine-making process. 
• Lack of brand awareness
• Lack of retailer awareness
• Lack of verifiable quality output—where would you taste this for the first time?
• Fear of failure
• Takes too long
• High initial investment in equipment (not true as it is less than $150)

Target:

Wine drinkers, male and female, age 35 and up. Do-it-yourself mentality. Likes wonderful wines and sharing accomplishments with small groups of friends.   

Unique selling proposition?

Wine making is easy, inexpensive, the results are excellent. You would be proud to share the result with your friends and have an abundance of interesting wines available once you get started. and will learn about varieties and winemaking. You can brag about making the wine—which most people are interested in if they have any passion for wine.  

What is the consumer insight? For a definition of consumer insight, see my blog on this topic.

Wine should be simple, delicious, and uncomplicated. I wish I knew more about it, so I would like what I pay is probably more about the brand and distribution than about what I am drinking. I like to experiment with things. I like to be an artisan and when I make something special; I feel a pride in ownership. But making wine sounds scary, and I don’t have any experience doing it. The result will probably be terrible. If it were easy, everyone would already be doing it since it is so much less expensive. The big wineries have all the experts and equipment which I will never have.  

End state desired

Pride of accomplishment and sharing with friends. Others will eventually taste my craft and be pleased. Maybe not right away. One person expressing happiness to what I have done will probably be enough for me. Until then, I will continue the journey to do my thing. It’s all a part of relying on myself rather that others.

Stories Help Marketers Communicate

Joseph Campbell’s 1949 book entitled “The Hero With A Thousand Faces” poses that a singular mythological hero story exists across every culture throughout history. One great human story that lives within us regardless of where or when we lived. The story architecture of this hero appears in all great movies, books, and personal stories.   Read Campbell if you have not already.

I incorporated a simple hero story to see the result in a presentation.    Midway through a keynote address at a seminar of marketing professionals, I diverged off the key slides to talk about a particular product pricing increase decision I was analyzing.  This pricing move would affect whether our customers would continue to carry the entire product line. The increase was overdue.  I shared our dilemma, the research, what our competitors would do, the conversations with our customers and the anxiety of the team.  You could hear a pin drop in the room as I told this story. The audience waited to know how it all ended.  Price increase decisions are NOT interesting subjects.  But relatable stories made this one interesting.

Stories Build Brands

By now you may be aware of the brand Bombas.  They make socks.  But they do it with a difference. For every pair they sell, they give a pair away to the homeless.  They care about helping people.  The founders, David Heath and Randy Goldberg, started the company in 2010 when they heard that socks are the number one clothing item requested at homeless shelters.     Early in the company’s life, they went on the popular TV show “Shark Tank” and received funding from Daymond John.  Bombas has become popular selling their high quality and colorful designs to consumers that can afford to shop more expensive brands and wants to help and feel good about themselves.  To date, they have also given away over 40 million items.  They do all sales on their own website and at only three premium retailers.

Bombas socks are not cheap.  You can go on Amazon and get a 4-pack of other name-brand high-quality socks priced at $19 – $30.  The everyday brands sell a 4-pack at about $12.    Bombas sells their socks at $45 – $70 for a 4-pack.   That must be a strong profit margin for them, even when you add the additional cost of making an extra pair to give away.    

Their story works, allowing them to sell a commodity product at a premium price in a crowded market.  We are as much inspired to help the homeless as to be a part of the hero entrepreneur story.  We identify with the winner who beat the establishment.

The Challenge for Marketers

Marketers are not strong storytellers, nor are we literature majors that have studied hero stories. We excel in bullet-pointed, fact-based Power Point presentations looking for white space in competitive markets and managing projects. We design our communication style to push timelines forward, relay information, or get approval on projects.  

Leading and persuading, whether to move a team along, or get funding for your startup requires investing others in a story.   Stories simplify complexity. Marketers need to tell them – to our customer, to our management, to our stakeholders. Next time you speak or write on a topic, try to tell a personal story. You will be more engaging, grabbing the listener’s attention and leaving them wanting to be a part of the story.

As a rider, I love my classic 2004 Road King with its loud 88 cubic inch V-twin engine and its customization and chrome.  It’s fun to just get lost for several hours on a weekend or take a trip with my wife on the back and some friends for a day.  My long commute is a lot more fun in the summer on the bike. 

Who is the New Consumer target for HD?

The consumer target that Harley Davidson wants is Millennials and Gen X.  Successful males and females who are adventurous and outgoing with friends and family that like to travel.  Wants to enjoy life to the fullest.  Motorcycles are a viable commuting or adventure product

The consumer target that Harley Davidson has cultivated and built its brand is the middle-aged Baby Boomer and older Gen X male.  They use the HD experience to get away from the world.  HD is a lifestyle badge and a statement of toughness and adventure.  Harley wants you to feel the community experience rather than just riding a motorcycle

Cost is also a consideration for the target they need to attract.  New Harley’s are expensive, so you are looking to attract upwardly mobile successful men and women to ride.  Imagine that you are successful and handsome millennial guy or gal who is socially active with a circle of friends.  You like to entertain and have fun.  Does the traditional “Harley” aging badass image make a shred of sense as the “look” you are going for?

What is a consumer insight, anyway?

A consumer insight is the lens through which we view a brand.  its a statement of how  a brand solves an emotional need for the consumer.  It is not a rational benefit or observed behavior of the consumer.  For more on that check out my blog post on the subject.

A good consumer insight states how a person sees and feels about themselves. It also must state how the brand uniquely solves a problem in their life. We usually write it in the first person.  An article in CNBC related Harley’s consumer observation that millennials ride motorcycles for transportation, whereas older riders enjoy the hobby and lifestyle.  But these are observations and functional benefits that only scratch at a consumer insight. 

Possible Unifying Consumer insight for HD

While we would need deeper consumer research among its riders and its potential target, lets take a guess for now as to a likely consumer insight. This insight, if true, would unite both new rider and older rider.

“Riding makes me feel a sense of adventurous freedom from my (conventional / monotonous / frustrating) world.   When I ride my Harley for commuting or for fun, I am part of a tribe of others who are friends because we share this love of living on the edge.   HD is a symbol of my authentic American identity.”

New target shares old target values.  But old target imagery is wrong.

Harley Davidson uses imagery to a great degree to convey its brand message.  There are images that are relevant and classic, and images that are outdated.  In HD’s case, I argue that there are also images destructive to the brand. 

Uniting imagery—mostly heavy user impressions

• Authentic Americana
• Freedom
• Outdoor adventure vacation
• Spending time with close friends, spouses  
• Rebellion from the everyday life
• Connection to a community
• Strength and consistency of product
• Range of exciting products for all riders

Out of date imagery – mostly non-user perceptions

• Emphasis on heavy touring bikes
• Skulls, crossbones
• Product style unchanged from the 1970s
• Leather vests, boots

Potentially destructive images and associations

• Elderly riders—white beards, loners, rebels
• Disheveled, socially marginal and unapproachable
• Part of a gang, tough-guy, somewhat dangerous 

Loyal HD riders get it too.  They know that the brand needs to change.  But they want to be part of the new brand.  They feel that they are being ignored or marginalized as the brand seeks younger, newer users to become part of the family and spend a lifetime trading up to newer and better bikes. 

The answer lies in the intersection of old and new.  The desired new target really shares the consumer insight – the emotional problem and emotional solutions  – that resonates with the brand and the older target.  Both targets are kindred spirits.  The problem is perception based on a lack of updating imagery.   And that is something that the marketer can change before it’s too late.

Here are the building blocks of crisis communication:

1.   Crisis communication plan — Every company should have a crisis communication plan; ideally, thoughtfully planned and written without a crisis on the horizon.  If you don’t have one, set some time aside to outline such a plan. 

2.   Crisis communication operational procedures — Identify, assign a decision-making task force.  This body should assemble, select a spokesperson, determine their decision-making process needed to react and respond to customers and consumer seeking information, and the frequency with which they should meet.  

3.   Monitor media outlets — Utilize a dedicated team and monitoring service to watch media channels (traditional and social).

4.   Action/Reaction time to address customer concerns —  Timing is critical.  Depending upon the nature of the crisis, be prepared should the need arise for official daily statements, while fielding and replying to individuals throughout the day. 

5.  Look for opportunities to build consumer trust —  Reinforce the company’s vision and purpose, especially as it relates to the immediate community. 

Keep it simple, authentic and focused on safety of consumers and employees while building on the mission of the company and its values.

Building awareness of a brand in the consumer’s mind is the first step in selling a product.  It is a discreet first step along the consumer’s path to purchase.   Marketers and sales professionals often overlook the step while focusing instead on the downstream step of converting potential users into a paying customer.  However, the conversion process is more difficult without creating initial awareness first and lowering the number of prospects that would even consider purchasing.  It is easy to measure that level of awareness among a target group and there are specific steps to improve that level.  This article shows why awareness is important and specific steps to improve it for your business.

Background

The purchasing decision process follows consistent steps.  The first step is always an awareness of a business or brand. This is true whether it is selling consumer products through brick and mortar stores, selling online or selling business to business through a personal selling process.

Think of any category of products or services.  Think of breakfast cereals, laptop computers, insurance companies, etc.   It’s easy to name the top brands in each of those segments.  While we each have a favorite brand in each category, we are “aware” of many others and may one day switch brands when looking for something new or better.  That switch will be to a brand we already know. 

Example

I like one example within the car insurance industry.  A growing car insurance business called GEICO, created an ad campaign and vaulted themselves to the number 3 car insurer in the country, behind State Farm and Allstate.  All without the traditional insurance agent network.  Offering low prices to a consumer target interested in low prices rather than the traditional (and likely more expensive) model

The brand was not a powerhouse advertiser.  It started as the Government Employees Insurance Company (GEICO) back in 1936. Berkshire Hathaway purchased GEICO in the 1990s and invested in high quality advertising.  The target market for car insurance includes all licensed drivers in the US so  national television, radio, billboards, and more digital placements are most efficient  

Geico satisfies customers by offering savings on insurance if you switch from the larger car insurance companies.  This benefit-based message appears in each ad along with a visual way to remind you of the brand name  – the gecko lizard.

How it Worked:

Awareness building activity is effective because the moment a driver decides they are not happy with their current car insurance premiums (most of us when our bill is due) the awareness of a lower cost alternative is in our mind.  The tagline is calls out what you need to do at that very moment with one easy call “15 minutes can save you hundreds on your car insurance” tagline.   The awareness is already there so there is no need to turn to Google to look up car insurance options.

The same approach with different tactics work for small and mid-sized business too.   It is difficult to know when the target customer starts looking for a new solution to their needs.

Start with a definition:

Awareness – knowing and remembering a brand name

Awareness level (metric) –   the percentage of the total potential target market that has heard of and remembers a brand’s name.

Simply stated, you can’t sell something to someone if they are unaware it exists.  Marketers often miss the opportunity to develop a broad base of potential customers that know of the brand and what it does.  Why miss building a broad base of people that know of your brand?  Converting potential customers to purchasers comes later. 

Consumers eventually seek new solutions.  The problem is knowing when and the answer is not in your control.  Maybe years or it can happen in a moment.   An “aware” consumer has the chance to choose your brand.

Brand Conversion Pyramid

Brand Conversion Pyramid shows the consumer path that leads from Awareness through Loyal consumer.  The pyramid illustrates 3 points.  First, consumers journey along a predictable path from awareness to loyalty.  Second, each step along the way is a smaller subset of the group before.  Third, each group’s size at every stage can be measured.  Once measured, marketing activities should focus on improving conversion problems.  For more information on this, click here.

Steps to building awareness

1. Define a target –
   • Who are the potential people most likely to need your service or product?  Look at age, family status, profession.
   • What do they struggle with in your product’s category and how would this make them interested in your product?
   • Where does the target live and work and what geographic location do you want to impact?
   • How many of them are there?
2. Establish a single, unique message
3. Find the place where the consumer is most likely to see this message
   • Use your agency to define.  If you don’t want to assign this task to an agency, you can have fun brainstorming by putting yourself in the shoes of your target.  What do they do, where do they go every day, who do thy work with, socialize with and where would you find them?  
4. Select the best place to reach the target and place your message there.  It could be through traditional media, online and social media.   Maybe a creative placement in the community where messages stand out. 
5. Whatever the placement, connect a single message to your brand and make the name memorable (the real reason for the gecko for GEICO).

 Measuring Awareness:

Use a reliable and project-able sample and design a simple questionnaire. Confirm that they use the category and match the demographics of the brand’s target customer. Use the following questions:

• Unaided awareness:  what brand come to mind when you think of XXX category.  List all you can remember.
• Aided awareness: Have you heard of the following brands:   (list all that apply including your brand).

With the results of the survey, calculate the number of aided awareness to the total survey of the target.  That is the percent aware of your brand.

Building awareness is a marketer’s first step along the consumer’s path to purchase.   Converting target consumers to respond to buying and become loyal is easier when specific activities designed only to build awareness of your brand.

I spoke recently at the Pennsylvania Marketing Summit with an audience made up of marketers from a mix of local,  global,  B2B and B2C organizations.  I took part on a panel discussing the building of great agency and client relations. Many of the agency sponsors were in the audience, so there was interest in how my company selected a full service advertising agency that could handle our regional business adeptly.

My process for finding them was admittedly old-school. I looked for local agencies with strong branding skills and a good client roster. I wrote up a one-page summary of our needs and another page of our history and culture.  I called a few companies in my business and asked for recommendations from their VPs of marketing. I got on the phones and started making calls to about 20 agencies that might fit the bill and kept discussion notes on a spreadsheet. We had great conversations and there was a lot of back and forth. I was open about our level of investment and the communications that had worked in the past. Through these discussions i learned that several would not be a good fit, a few declined because of budgets, and a few agreed to come in for a capabilities presentation complete with ideas on how we could position ourselves in the market (no creative was shared). We chose an agency that was the right fit. After selecting one, we assigned projects first with the assurance that we were not still shopping around and that, based on the work, this would become a longer term partnership.

This is not the process used by many marketers to find an agency.

Most companies use a more process-driven sourcing model. There is a detailed RFP (request for proposal) outlining all the needs of an internal decision committee. These can be pages long (I have heard that some are 30 pages). You ask the agency to send in questions for a predetermined window and then ask for a full capabilities presentation. Each agency that passes the initial screen is asked to “pitch” the business with a full creative presentation of positioning and brand campaign done for free.  There are two problems I see in relying only on this approach. Usually these documents are confusing and contradictory. The agency rarely gets a feel for chemistry and culture. They don’t know whether to be small and hungry, or come across as big and professional. The chances of getting the pitch all wrong are enormous. 

i really liked the idea of project work first.  The agency gets paid for their work, which makes them happy and we get to check out their level of expertise.   I think this is a good model and some are saying it is coming back. 

As a marketer, my goal is to develop a strong brand positioning and creative messaging. These come as an agency and marketing team working together to share and develop the story of the brand. It’s a lot of collaboration and its developed over time in an intense environment that requires trust. It’s not entirely different to the relationship of a marriage of sorts between teams. Marketers should think carefully before jumping into a highly analytical process as it might not lead to the right match.

I have had strong relationships with our agencies over the many brands i have worked on. Clear brand strategies, strong brand leaders and agency capabilities were large determinants of a strong relationship. However, I found that team dynamics were the key factor for success.

I was working at a large consumer products food company in the days of strong agency/client relationships where social media was still in its infancy and TV budgets still reigned supreme for new product launches and brand-building campaigns. While we had many brand teams, each of us knew each team’s relationship with their agency counterparts.  There was competition and pride in having a great team. A great team was often cited as a determinant of which brand managers got promoted.  

I will shamelessly say that I had a great team. And it helped me get promoted.

However, there was another team I envied and always thought executed very well. So I thought about that team and what made them tick and produce great creative and drive their business ahead. They were actually a junior team of just a new director and a couple of assistant managers but what they were getting done was amazing. Their brand insights, positioning and creative was better than all of us and the sales results showed. So what were they doing right? And what could we learn from them?

Here are my observations about how to build a great agency and brand team:

1. The brand director and the agency committed to an open and honest working relationship with strong camaraderie within the brand team and with the agency.
2. Ideas flowed up and down through the team, and credit was given to all on the team for great ideas. They had to build this supportive dynamic with team-building activities. Not talking about beers after work, although I won’t rule that out.  It was a commitment to training and development. So many teams are dysfunctional because a leader seeks personal credit and protects information and ideas. This alone, lead to an environment of blame on how things weren’t working well. The creative results were not strong, and over time, agency staff were yearning to get on another team or quit the agency.     
3. There were big projects taken on that gave the team vision. They avoided minutiae. Both the top of the brand team and the agency focused on a few key priorities needed to move the brand forward. There was a lot of work and a lot of extra hours spent defining and executing strategy.
4. There were clear metrics for the success of the team. Everyone on the team felt accountable for defined metrics around metrics for advertising awareness, trial, repeat, and sales results of their projects and felt charged up to win in the market. Competition was fierce and the game was fun.
5. The team leaders had an open and frank dialogue about what was working and what needed more fine tuning – strategically and tactically.
6. People felt valued on the agency team and the brand team. You had the support of the higher ups and they listened to your ideas.

On paper, executing a clear brand strategy with the agency seemed so obvious, yet so many brand teams seemed to struggle with the relationship with their agency partners. Bad teams always had tension and blame. There wasn’t a clear unique brand positioning and the creative usually was mediocre. The result of a poor agency partnership a loss of advertising funding

The relationship of the brand team and the agency is critical to sales growth. When a brand and agency team are working well, the result is great insights and creative that drive sales. Bad teams struggled. We could measure the difference in sales and profits in millions of dollars. This was an enormous deal.

In retrospect, it surprised me that our company viewed the brand/agency relationship as a “performance indicator” rather than a critical element of business success.

How is your team doing? What have you learned? Please share.