Friday, 5 October 2012

brand ambassadors as marketing stategy


community of brand ambassadors
  Brand Ambassadors are used  as marketing strategy for brands. most of the time in public relations brand ambassadors are seen when an organisation wants to promote their brands through the following :
  • SCI programme they are involved in.
  • Upcoming events.
  • A launch of a new product or service.
You may ask what is a brand ambassador?  Let me briefly explain what a brand ambassador is, this is a person who represents a particular brand in every direct way. Many companies use celebrities as their brand ambassadors because they know that celebrities are very influential and many people who like them will love their brand becausetheir favouite celebrity uses or like that brand.
Brand promotion through brand ambassadors can be more effective through the use of social netwoks  such as facebook and tweeter to name but a few. 
tweeter
 But let us focus focus on tweeter and look at the Do's and Don't with regards to promoting your brand through a brand ambassador: 
  • Don'ts
  • Don't s be a show off  by linking your latest press relaese,tweeter is a user friendly platform.
  • Don't use poor gramma and spelling.
  • Don't use confussing abriviations or too many of them just keep it short and simple.
  • Don't auto tweet.
  • Don't leave air between your conversations try and reply immediately.
  • Do's
  • Do momiter your keywords and compatitors.
  • Do make an informative profile.
  • Make a shout out to followers who mention your brand favourably.

Friday, 28 September 2012

Brand and Corporate Social Investment

Corporate Social Investment
Corporate Social Investment(CSI) is one of the trends in Public Relations it is therefore important for brands to know how to incorporate CSI . With regards to making your brand relevant and credible, these are one of the ways you can partake in so as to improve or sustain your brand perception to your stakeholders. Your brand value will be determined by your integrated approach where CSI is concerned through the measures of inter brand management. However corporate action is subject to the brand meaning a brand can be able to communicate the CSI programme through various forms of communication and to a wide set of stakeholders so as to manage your brand perception.
Branding can be seen as a cornerstone that represents marketing, ethically about business conducts are intangible therefore a brand becomes a guarantee for communicated social values to boost brand perception.
 
Sony brand image

Let us briefly look at Sony South Africa on how you  use CSI in your brand.their CSI programme was mainly focused on the upliftment of communities  though a number of projects. By mainly focusing on the  impact they have  on communities  and the environment thus they have decided to contribute positively to the global citizen. It is always important for a brand to be eager to offer a helping hand, so activate your brand by keeping up with these trends and give back to the communities.
www.sony.co.za>home>Corporate
 

 

Friday, 21 September 2012

Intangible brands as an asset

 A picture of a brand logo

Branding that does not involve  physical, tangible, concrete tangible attributes or benefits are known as brand intangibles. Corporate intellectual property for example copy rights and business methodologies, goodwill and brand recognition are all common intangible assets in today's market place. An intangible asset can be classified as definite or indefinite depending on the specifics of that asset. Brand intangibles are a common means by which marketers differentiate  their brands with consumers and transcend physical products, Intangibles covers a whole range of different types of brand associations such as actual or aspirational user imaginary, consumption imaginary,history,heritage and experience.

 The above companies communicate intangible and they are part of a generation where intangible assets have become the key factor in building their brand for instance companies such as Microsoft are using the intangible assets in their brands and it is believed that they bring real value in the company and also plays a vital role in the building of their brand includes:
 
  • Patents
  • Distribution rights
  • Consumer data basis
  • Brands and sub-brands
  • The equality  of their workforce and management
  • Intellectual prosperity rights
  • Trade marks
  • Trade names and Design which protect these intangibles and help make a brand to be a valuable asset for your company. So think about introducing this asset in the building of your companies brand.
www.wordpress.com/brand equity

Friday, 14 September 2012

Make your brand stand out from the rest

a picture of a blackberry phone

The trick to branding is uniqueness. Branding is one of the latest trends that many companies use so as claim their own identity.  In Public Relations brand awareness is vital and it gives your company a step ahead of its competitions. Everyone uses a smart phone in this modern day. Choosing the one that is appealing to you and  satisfy your needs our stakeholders always base their choice on what will make their lives more easier.
Let us look at the blackberry brand, their approach was pretty simple they filled the gap that people had which was access to the Internet at their fingertips at an affordable rate through the BIS application where their stakeholders just recharge or activate it every 30 days at a low cost of R60 and that allow them to a have unlimited access to the Internet.  So make your brand rise above the rest through the following ways:
By satisfying our consumers needs
By bringing something fresh and new
By being more creative and innovative
Always look for new ways to improve your brand.  Wouldn't you like your brand to be set apart from the rest? So go and make your own mark  and stay a step ahead of your competitors then your brand will be the best.

Friday, 24 August 2012

Know your brands global trends

 
a picture of  the globe with arrow's
As a Public Relations practitioner it is always important for you and your organisation to be proactive and keep up with the latest trends with regards to your brand, so that your organisation can innovate your brand for it to be current and relevant to your target market. We are down to the new age in human development and progress new ideas and innovations are compounding daily in our society, country and even in the world. It is therefore important for organisations to to stay alert and always keep up with the latest trends that may positively or negatively affect their brands be it economically and even globally.

Here are the issues that an organisation need to look at  in order to evaluate and innovate their brands:
  • Analyse the response of your Target market with regards to your brand, service or product and use that information to influence the organisations decision making process.
  • Analyse the societal changes that may influence your brand and how it can impact their buying decision.
  • Analyse the changing TV and mobile landscape.
  • Analyse  the the subcultures that play a vital role in influencing your target market perception about your brand.
  • Analyse the global communities that may influence the lifestyle,habits and attitudes of your target market and how that can influence or affect your brand
www.latest trend&brands.co.za

A human touch for your organisations brand is vital,the innovation in technology will do your organisation so much good through the use of blogs, social networks such as facebook ,tweeter etc, this could be an easy way of involving your target market and giving them the platform to voice out their perception about your brand and what they expect from you as an organisation.  Brand management evolving as the economy changes requires new approaches and other ways of thinking. So take that first step and help your organisation to innovate their brands and always keep in touch with the latest trends. This is always helpful in staying a step ahead of your competitors.


Friday, 17 August 2012

Time to communicate your brand




 A picture of a bullhorn
To keep your brand alive it must be placed in the right location,it must be nurtured and looked after.Your brand can be communicated through many platform which will be identified later on in this blog.At all times your brand as a organisation must appeal to your target markets intellect.

Note that a brand can be communicated through  a brand strategy that follows:
  1. By making sure that your consumers are always exposed to your brand through the organisations logo and colours.
  2. By making sure that  every time your consumer meets your organisations brand it builds on the brand.
  3. Your organisations brand must be aimed at  impacting your consumer to wanting to be involved.
  4. Your organisations brand must always affect your consumer in a positive way and also work in their favour.
A brand can be built on a multiple of platforms such as:
  • Social media
  • Observations
  • Sponsorship
  • Promotion
  • Advertising
  • Word of mouth
  • Logo design
  • Product /service experience
  • Editorial comments
  • Endorsements
It is therefore up to your organisation to choose a platform that will best suit your brand and its location.How ever it is important to note that when you as an organisation choose the wrong platform for your brand it will affect how your consumer receives it.
a picture of a communication bubbles
 Your brand value can be communicated through:
  1. Brand: Product communication plan must work together as part of a cohesive a whole.
  2. Research: Your communication  activity must not lose your consumer always insure that your tone is right and the language you use to communicate is proper.
  3. Control:Maintain your brand discipline across the market.
  4. Flexibility:Be flexible as an organisation by understanding rel event channels to use in order to cater for your consumers needs.
  5. Engagement:Involve and communicate with your consumers at all times through blogs,twitter and facebook.
www.themarketer.co.uk>trends>alltipsarticle

Friday, 10 August 2012

Be a brand for you and your organisation

A picture that shows what branding mean

Brands are like special relationships because they are real and they make a difference, this is due to the fact that most of the greatest business brands succeed through authenticity therefore your personal brand must reflect the following: a sense of purpose,value and vision that truly represents the real you. Since Public Relations is about building and maintaining relationships with your stakeholders, media etc. This is how personal branding can identify or link you and your organisation.

Creating a genuine self - understanding and a strong picture of the person you are and want to become so as to build/create a suitable image for yourself. A strong personal brand is paramount for effective leadership. Being your own brand is a powerful and practical guide for building deep and meaningful relationships. Thus being your own brand as applied within a business or organisation, has the power to accelerate the pace of the organisational brand development tremendously hence being your own brand does not only benefit you but your organisation as well. So be your own brand and benefit your organisation! Being your own brand can also give you an experience of deep self introspection and discovery which will surely ignite personal and professional growth. So wouldn't you like  to grow professionally and personally by just being your own brand?
Manage your brand so that it could be strong, relevent and consistant for your benefit  and your organisation through the followin techniques:
  • By understanding how to build a brand in any context.
  • By always striving to learn how to create /build and manage relationships in your life and organisation as well.
  • By aligning your personal brand values with your employers brand values thus that will make your brand building a successful tool for you and your organisation.
  • By always try to keep up with the latest trends and improve your brand at all times that will show that you are proactive in your own brand and your organisations brand that will therefore give your brand credibility. www.fcg.gov/documents/be-your-own-brand .