Best Practices – Simren Deogun

The Brand Charter (& A Basic Guide to Branding)

August 2, 2011 By Simren Deogun Leave a Comment

Ever typed “branding” into Google? Did you run away in tears after seeing the results and the varying array of opinions?

It can be daunting. Maybe you’re an entrepreneur, small business owner, marketer, or non-profit. Or maybe you’re just an individual. In any incarnation, you are either the brand itself or helping to build and cultivate it over time.

I always like to discuss marketing as the heart of a truly successful organization. The best of the best in the world (call them Fortune 500 or just call them smart) understand this intrinsically. They know marketing must not be accommodated but built from, through and around.

Part of marketing is the brand. And even deeper are all the components, nuts, and bolts that bring a brand to life.

I came across the term Brand Charter in an Inc. article about maintaining brand consistency across product lines (highly intelligent read). It was a term I hadn’t heard of before, but I instantly gravitated to the idea of a charter that wholly integrates all aspects of the brand.

Components of a Brand

Brand / Brand Identity — the name, logo, sign, slogan and/or design that relates the key differentiating components of a product or service

Brand Personality — the differentiating factors as related through relevance, esteem, value and humanization of the brand (often highly debated term)

Brand Message — the communication of the brand via creative and consistent messaging across all media channels

Brand Promise — the proposition of what the brand intends to deliver to the target audience

Brand Recognition — the awareness of the brand in the marketplace

Brand Perception — how the target audience understands and relates to the brand, whether positive or negative; it defines the brand’s reputation in the marketplace

Brand Loyalty — the target’s allegiance or commitment to the brand as demonstrated by willingness to repurchase and advocate for the brand

Brand Equity — the value added to a product or service via association with a well-known brand

The Brand Charter

There are a variety of subtleties in the terms I’ve outlined above. This is where things get muddy and confusing and complicated. But what you should be taking away from this is that these components must work together and feed the same purpose.

They encompass the Brand Charter which is, in essence, the overarching strategy, purpose and objective of the brand. It is why it exists, what it exists to achieve and how it communicates that to the target audience.

It is vital to note that a brand is not just a logo or a slogan or a name (these embody the visualization of the brand) — a well thought-out brand is clear, relevant, consistent, and engaging across all points of contact.

What the Brand Charter is for me is the ideal place to start. It is where a brand can germinate and be born. You start at the base, build the strategy, and then give the brand a voice, an image and a message.

You put it down in writing. Those words will breathe life into the brand and, like any charter, constitute the founding principles and function of the entity being defined. The Brand Charter is meant for definition, future reference and ongoing brand evolution.

Don’t shy away, embrace the brand. And make the branding process a core part of your marketing.

Filed Under: Best Practices, Strategy Tagged With: Brand, Brand Charter, Brand Identity, Brand Message, Brand Personality, Brand Promise

Stop Telling Me To Write Great Content!

February 20, 2011 By Simren Deogun 2 Comments

I’ve done it. You’ve probably done it, and if you haven’t, then I know you’ve read it. We keep reading and re-reading the same rules of thumb, same best practices, same tips on how to be good, nay great, marketers online.

But how many times can we read the same lists before we get frustrated? Before we tune them out completely?

And yes I do know the counter argument — not everyone is up to speed; in digital marketing we do not yet operate on a level playing field. But, in the same vein, I think we’re being so repetitive because we don’t know what else to say.

We can’t legitimately predict where the world of digital will take us. The beauty of its attraction lies within its unpredictability and its constant advancement.

And to that I say that there are no best practices, no rules of thumb — that there is something to be said about trying something new and not being afraid to do so.

There is a lot data can tell us, like when to send an email, where to put your call-to-action button, how to create a search engine optimized webpage, but in the end there are always going to be those thought-leaders that will disprove these ‘best practices’.

They will be the ones who try something new and by doing so create a new trend, which in turn impacts the course of all future data. Whether they send that email at midnight or turn that button into a video, they will find a way to transform our benchmark of success.

So my tip to you is to walk into work tomorrow, grab a piece of scrap paper and write a list of 3 benchmarks you’d like to break. Three benchmarks that have governed how you market online and made you fall into complacent obedience. Write that list and stick it up on your cubical or office wall. And remind yourself of it everyday, remind yourself that you are making the choice to be different, that you are choosing to set your own benchmark!

Filed Under: Best Practices, Digital

Removing ‘Can’t’ And ‘Won’t’ From Your Vocabulary

March 24, 2010 By Simren Deogun Leave a Comment

Negativity brings us down and takes us out. It paints a portrait of impossibility — making what could be into what can’t be.

As marketers, it is our responsibility to change what is now into what has never been. Meaning, it is about challenging yourself / your department / your cohorts into thinking differently. But the inherent caveat of thinking differently is fear. Fear that any novel, innovative idea you ponder will actually turn out to be unrealistic or too risky or too ‘impossible’!

If you find yourself constantly saying that you can’t or won’t do something, then you might as well let them take your marketing license away! Guess what, you can’t practice this specialty anymore.

Extending the possibilities and limiting and extinguishing the fear of risk and failure is the epitome of marketing well. Why? Because you refuse to be boxed in by the restrictions of the negative.

Equally as detrimental is thinking that your customers also can’t or won’t. How do you know? Have you tried? Are you basing this on your own previous experience or those of others? And does any of that really matter? Because, and here’s the genius, your job as a marketer is to be as smart as possible to dictate what your customers can and will do.

Your voice, power and influence. Their voice, power and influence. Find the balance, take the risk, and forget the ‘n’ts’.

Filed Under: Best Practices, Thoughts Tagged With: Can't, Marketing, Negativity, Positivity, Won't

What If They Don’t Want To Make It Better?

January 7, 2010 By Simren Deogun Leave a Comment

Change is feared. We fight it as individuals and as organizations. As employees and as employers.

But why do we feel the need to be so undeniably afraid of the very thing that will bring us progress, growth and success? Because it can also bring more work, decline and failure.

If all you do is remain within the bounds that are set to you within a work environment, then you should expect nothing more or less than what has already been accomplished.

To be brave and take the risk of being an agent of change — that is the true mark of a leader. But, unfortunately, too often are those agents shunned aside, devalued and undercut.

We make the conscious choice of being afraid when we can instead make the choice to foster change and nurture success.

I mean did the Three Little Pigs give in when the Big Bad Wolf was trying to tell them what to do? Didn’t think so. So are you really going to let the pigs outdo you?

Filed Under: Best Practices Tagged With: Agent of Change, Change, Fear, Risk

Everyone Is In A Rush

December 25, 2009 By Simren Deogun Leave a Comment

Head down to your local train station, mall, or highway and you’ll encounter the same thing: everyone rushing, running, honking in a hectic frenzy. The same is true online, only difference is the average visitor can’t physically see those around them.

In the midst of every person’s journey from point A to point B, marketers are trying to talk to them. But how do we find the best way to communicate and cut through the clutter?

Multiple touch points. Building brand awareness, recognizability, consistency and engagement through a variety of media that exists where your market exists.

Think about how many times a day you encounter some of your favourite brands. Those brands are already on your radar by virtue of your affinity to them, but the most important part of that communication is that the brand continues to engage you so that you don’t forget.

Again, multiple touch points. Advertisements, magazines, emails, search, display and all the rest, a successful consumer brand finds a way to be memorable without being annoying.

A successful enterprise brand can use the same methodology just with a different strategy — think about trading traditional for interactive marketing and leveraging your internal knowledge bank.

Here’s Wishing You a Happy Holiday Season to You and Yours!

Filed Under: Best Practices Tagged With: Brand, Brand Awareness, Communication, Touch Points

Why Listening Is So Important

December 9, 2009 By Simren Deogun Leave a Comment

I listen because I wish to be listened to.

As a customer, a user, a prospect, a person. I take the time to hear because I want the same courtesy to be returned. And it is a courtesy. A conscious effort to demonstrate equity in a relationship.

If you don’t listen to your customers, what do you stand to gain?

If you don’t offer the opportunity for your customers to speak, what do you stand to gain?

Instead of being enlightened by the masses that make our livelihood possible we opt for blind content and ignorance.

I opt for open forums, discussions, interactions, back-and-forth, learning, trying, succeeding.

You tell me what it is that you want and I will do my best to mould you an offering. Web 2.0 is the perfect example, it demands this 2-way interaction. Web 3.0 will transform that interaction and make it immediate.

So, are you listening yet?

Filed Under: Best Practices, Digital Tagged With: e-marketing, listening, web 2.0, web 3.0

Are you taking the passive approach?

November 22, 2009 By Simren Deogun Leave a Comment

So much of how we work is governed by the absorption of information and then acting upon it. Instead of being proactive — acting before we see and learn what others are doing — we opt for passivity. This can all also be summed up as ‘risk aversion’.

Those who are afraid to lead and afraid to take risks often assume a passive approach because it is seemingly safer.

With the availability of information becoming more and more immediate, would you rather be the one consuming it or providing it? The latter should be your ultimate goal. The reality is that you will be providing first and consuming second.

Don’t just react. Don’t be afraid to be a leader. Don’t opt out from being the ‘first mover’.

Filed Under: Best Practices, Business Tagged With: Passive vs. Proactive

Attention to Detail

August 23, 2009 By Simren Deogun 2 Comments

Taking the time to be detail-oriented encompasses the difference between acting quickly and acting intelligently.

How you can be more detail-oriented:

   — Listen before you respond — Equivalent to “think before you act.” Listen to your peers, colleagues, superiors AND competition in order to better understand a situation.
   — Review, and then review again — Time consuming but valuable. Each time work is completed force yourself to review it from a different perspective. Textually. Graphically. As a customer. As a competitor. Etc.
   — Take notice of insignificant details — Whatever it is that you deem insignificant now — from word choice to colour to tone — inflate it with importance and take notice.
   — Understand that you can be your own worst enemy — Trying too hard, overanalyzing, and not understanding your own strengths and weaknesses will lead to your demise. Therefore, paying attention to yourself is equally as important as paying attention to what surrounds you and the work you produce.
   — Criticize — Consciously criticize your work. Push yourself to improve (even when you think it’s perfect), understand your capabilities, and incite growth. The ultimate result is you’ll have taught yourself how to pay attention to details by breaking down your work into its many multi-faceted pieces and reassembling it leaving no area unscathed to harsh criticism.

Great marketing is in the details. It is those details that make gargantuan, flashy campaigns industry successes. It is those same details that can render size and resources insignificant. It’s simply your job as a marketer to pay attention.

Filed Under: Best Practices, Thoughts Tagged With: detail-oriented, Marketing, skills

I’m Not Reading That, I Don’t Have Time

June 29, 2009 By Simren Deogun Leave a Comment

Quality over Quantity.

Ever come across a blog, article or piece of marketing collateral (e.g. Case Study or Whitepaper) that simply leaves you, well, not wanting more?

Quantity. In this case, length of a given document and/or the number of said documents, I believe is a key deciding factor on whether or not a prospective customer will give up time in his/her extremely busy schedule.

Quantity certainly has its place, especially when it comes to technical or legal documents, and perhaps once in a while with the odd Marketing handout. But, three 10 page documents plus a host of case studies and whatever else you can muster does not provide me with everything I’m looking for as a prospect, it gives me too much.

Maybe I’ll skim one of the collateral pieces, but even if I am seriously interested I will not read them all. Why? Because it is easier, faster and probably more beneficial for me to pick up the phone and talk to someone — salesperson or otherwise. I get the information now and can source out exactly what I’m looking for.

Think Quality instead. Make an impact with your collateral.

Is it necessary to hand out all of these documents all the time? No, you should be catering to your audience.

Can you say the same in 300 words that you previously said in 3000? Yes, if you think it impossible then hire a writer or editor who knows how to streamline.

I’m the prospect. I want you to pull me in, not show me that you have more things than your competitor? Do not make me question if those things are better, prove it.

Quality over quantity.

Filed Under: Best Practices Tagged With: Case Studies, Collateral, Marketing, Marketing Materials, Quality, Whitepapers

Do You Work On the Fly?

May 27, 2009 By Simren Deogun Leave a Comment

The last job interview I did (a couple of months ago before being hired as a Marketing Coordinator at that same company) I was asked: “Do you work on the fly or do you require a more scheduled approach?”

I always love these types of questions because, ultimately, the employer is looking for balance. If you choose one over the other, you may delineate a weakness unknowingly. Ideally, you can work in any environment, under any circumstance with any given level of pressure. Now, if only unicorns did exist!

In Marketing (as I imagine is true in all other fields of work), being able to balance both is crucial. You want to be able to plan ahead — consider product launches, rebranding, events, tours etc.

But, you also want to be able to respond quickly — think competitor attacks, industry updates, internal and external crises and achievements. The ability to be nimble as an organization is invaluable. To be nimble in Marketing is gold in the bank.

Nimble can mean flexible which means quick which in turn means powerful. The trick is staying effective and efficient all the while.

Always a challenge, I know. But if you cannot react now — to that competitor’s ad campaign or to your website crashing or to a spectacular event your company just returned from — it won’t matter if you react later.

Filed Under: Best Practices Tagged With: learning, Marketing, responsiveness, strategy, work ethic

A Fan of the Strategy Session

March 21, 2009 By Simren Deogun Leave a Comment

You can call it a ‘strategy session’ or a ‘brainstorming session’ but the core concept is the same. It’s not exactly about sitting in a circle, holding hands and singing Kumbaya — though that might make the ‘decision-making sessions’ a touch easier — it’s more so a titillating conversation concerning the question, “what should we do next?”

It can be cohesive. Inspiring. Creative. Intelligent. And Progressive.

It can be argumentative. Disconcerting. Frustrating. Unhelpful. And, well, anti-progressive.

Obviously, if you can find a way to reside happily between scenario A and B what you may have is marketing gold.

What I’m getting at is the opportunity (that all organizations should employ) to gather their marketing departments for a good ol’ brainstorming session — on a regular basis. Yes, it’s exceedingly simple and harkens back to grade school homework but I ensure that it will force you to think differently.

Why?

Because it means working as part of a team, listening to the “other members of that team, critiquing the good and bad, developing ideas and generating something novel.

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