Become a Passion Brand By Bradly Montague President & CEO NOMAMONT, Inc.
Branding is all the rage; therefore, people are tempted to think that it is a new idea. A commonly used term in marketing, branding is often the subliminal process by which a business employs marketing strategies to guide people to easily remember their products and services over a competitor’s. Essentially, it's applied psychology. Branding is also a method to leverage success, expand market share, and fend off competition. The problem is, companies are turning to branding as a panacea and the cold, hard fact is branding will not create a spike in cash flow or market share. Therefore, it makes sense to understand that the purpose of branding is not to make your target market choose you over the competition, but rather to urge your prospects to see you as the only solution to their problem.
A strong brand is invaluable, as the battle for customers intensifies day by day. Brands of the future will be those able to surround their products and services with ardent advocates and loyalists: passion brands. All other brands will be left to compete in the price wars. It is important that the online and offline images of your business be harmonious and that time is invested in researching, defining, and building your brand. After all, your brand is your promise to your consumer. Your brand resides within the hearts and minds of customers, clients and prospects. It is the sum total of their experiences and perceptions regarding your company, some of which you can influence, and some that you cannot.
How do you connect with the consumer when they're calling all the shots? View your consumers as both customer and collaborator and employ game-changing thinking. In order to change the game, you need to audit how you think, comparing rational versus intuitive decision-making strategies and identifying common mistakes made by even the most experienced professionals. The process is based on the premise that the answers to your company's brand strategy reside in the heads of the CEO and the key management group. Your company’s brand strategy must be owned by every employee from the top down. Eleven key attributes necessary to become a passion brand include:
You must recognize that your brand is a key asset in delivering strategic targets at a level that is higher than the industry standard.
Do not consider the brand as merely a communications issue—your brand must be recognized as the key platform to link the company strategy with customers and employees.
Make sure your brand management processes are integrated seamlessly into the company’s processes—i.e., “branding” is not a separate activity.
Your senior management is accountable for the brand’s continued health—brand responsibility resides at C-level.
All of your employees need to share a belief in the brand as well as a common understanding of the brand. With this mindset in place, the power of the brand will act as an incentive to employees.
Ensure your employees’ activities are aligned with the brand values and contribute to the building and strengthening of the brand.
Your employees should be measured and rewarded by the success of these brand-guided activities.
Your marketing department must be able to talk in terms of expected return on their investments and marketers must be able to leverage customer insights to make the most effective marketing decisions. Future strategy should be built based on knowledge of the customer, product and practices.
All marketing activities should be closely aligned with the core brand values.
It is necessary to invest in sufficient IT capability to capture data on customers, segment customers in order to efficiently respond to their needs, and implement marketing techniques to deliver increased ROI.
You must identify your company’s brand equity (the financial value of your brand) by understanding the brand’s value drivers and the levers required to influence these drivers. This action leads to success.
China Plans $440B Stimulus Funding for Renewables SustainableBusiness.com News
China is planning to invest $440 billion (3 trillion yuan) in stimulus funding on renewable energy, according to an AFP report.
The report cites the Beijing Morning Post and a State Energy Administration official who said much of the investment will go towards wind power.
The timeframe for the stimulus spending was not reported.
China wants accelerate its plans for wind power, aiming for more than 100 gigawatts (GW) by 2020--more than triple the goal of 30 GW announced in 2007.
The report follows an announcement made last week by Zhou Xi'an, a director general at the State Energy Administration, stating that China wants 6% of its power to come from renewable energy by 2020 (excluding hydropower)--up from a current level of 1.5%.
China currently depends on coal for nearly 70% of its energy production.
Last November, China unveiled a $584 billion stimulus package supporting its auto industry, petrochemicals and eight other sectors.
In Related News...
The Philippines wants to attact $9-10 billion in investements in renewable energy projects over the next 10 years, and has created generous incentives that go into effect next month.
Read Reuters coverage at the link below.
Website: planetark.org/wen/53071
Sustainable Packaging To Be A Third of Market by 2014 SustainableBusiness.com News
Sustainable packaging is a fast-growing segment of the global packaging industry, and will grow to 32% of the total market by 2014, up from just 21% in 2009, according to a new report.
Plastic-based packaging, which represents 35% of all materials used, will be the fastest-growing sector of the sustainable packaging market over the next five years, according to cleantech analysts at Pike Research. Metal-based packaging, one of the easiest materials to recycle, will continue to be the sector with the highest percentage of sustainability--by 2014, more than 63% of metal-based packaging will be environmentally friendly.
Paper and paper-based packaging are the largest sectors with more than 40% of the global packaging market.
“The $429 billion global packaging industry is huge but extremely fragmented, with no clear market leaders,” Pike research managing director Clint Wheelock said. “As such, the move toward sustainable packaging represents a broad-based effort by manufacturers, retailers, industry groups, and governments to promote the design of minimal packaging that can be easily reclaimed. A tremendous amount of innovation is going into reducing energy requirements to manufacture packaging and using more recyclable and compostable materials, but there is still a long way to go.”
The report estimates the worldwide market for packaging is currently $429 billion and will surpass $500 billion within five years, an annual growth rate exceeding the total global increase in GDP.
Website: www.pikeresearch.com
Branding is also a method to leverage success, expand market share, and fend off competition. The problem is, companies are turning to branding as a panacea and the cold, hard fact is branding will not create a spike in cash flow or market share. Therefore, it makes sense to understand that the purpose of branding is not to make your target market choose you over the competition, but rather to urge your prospects to see you as the only solution to their problem.
A strong brand is invaluable, as the battle for customers intensifies day by day. Brands of the future will be those able to surround their products and services with ardent advocates and loyalists: passion brands. All other brands will be left to compete in the price wars. It is important that the online and offline images of your business be harmonious and that time is invested in researching, defining, and building your brand. After all, your brand is your promise to your consumer. Your brand resides within the hearts and minds of customers, clients and prospects. It is the sum total of their experiences and perceptions regarding your company, some of which you can influence, and some that you cannot.
How do you connect with the consumer when they're calling all the shots? View your consumers as both customer and collaborator and employ game-changing thinking. In order to change the game, you need to audit how you think, comparing rational versus intuitive decision-making strategies and identifying common mistakes made by even the most experienced professionals. The process is based on the premise that the answers to your company's brand strategy reside in the heads of the CEO and the key management group. Your company’s brand strategy must be owned by every employee from the top down. Eleven key attributes necessary to become a passion brand include:
