Brands Pull & Marketing Push

Branding is what your persona says about your company. It may be the look and feel of your product and your company, or it could be the performance of your product. It could also be your visuals, your story, your voice, and the impression people get when they experience your company. The reason I say "experience" is that the way your employees treat your customers reflects your brand. How your employees dress and perform also reflects your brand. How does each salesperson greet every customer?

In each case, as you build and extend your brand, your brand can elevate your company to different levels or categories that are relative to your target audience.

For example, when you are creating a brand extension, you already have a basic, successful business targeting a younger, mid-range audience, and you want more market share; hence, you extend your brand toward a higher income bracket. You may still keep your existing brand and create a different look and feel under the "same umbrella" for a higher income market.

The idea of PULL, yes, a brand pulls your customers toward you. They are attracted to the product, the company, the service, the performance, or the price. When the buying experience is good, your customers will be brand loyal to your company and its products/services. Some will become your advocates or be compelled to write about you, and some will recommend more business to you. Those are the results of having a good brand with positive experiences.

Some examples of tangible brand identity are your website, your logo, your stationery, marketing collateral, your location/interior, your storefront, your employees, your business card, and your products. Intangible branding is the persona of your company; it is also the voice, how the content is communicated consistently, what your employees say about you, your culture, and, in some cases, even the smell.

A great example is Singapore Airlines. When you approach the counter, there is a certain scent, and when you enter and leave the plane, the same scented fragrance lingers in the air, reminding you of Singapore Airlines. No airline has that detailed branded touch.

Marketing, however, is indeed a PUSH, pushing your products and services out to the marketplace to attract more customers to notice your company and products. There are many different ways to market your product, and you have to consider what resources you have within your budget to manage the promotions. There is no one-size-fits-all method for marketing.

Promotions involve social media marketing, trade shows, email marketing, campaigns, brochures/mailers, cross-sells, e-commerce sites, landing pages, white papers, magazines, radio ads, TV commercials, billboard ads, and more.

Make sure you have a good brand to start with, and then those will be the tools for you to market your company aggressively. The more targeted people who know about who you are, the greater the return on investment will be. Do not waste time on people who do not need your product. It is all about the right target and focus.