That’s the title of the 7-part marketing series I’m anchoring for the Beaverton Chamber of Commerce in the first quarter of 2009. The perception persists, particularly among small businesses, that brands are logos and fancy graphics and slick advertising, and that branding is only for large corporations. I’m comforted to see the brands-are-not-logos school, with Drew McLellan being one of the most vociferous voices I know, works diligently to dispel that deeply entrenched myth. The series aims to support this effort by showing how companies of all sizes can affordably and sustainably build brands, which stand out and support their business goals, by designing customer experiences.
I’ll bookend the series with a pair of presentations on the basics of small business branding.
“An introduction to branding for small businesses: Brands as experiences” will outline the concept of brand and branding, and walk the audience through the process of building a brand through customer experiences. We’ll focus on the importance of consistent execution and highlight the top three cost-effective techniques to build a small business brand.
People today are more savvy consumers than ever. Traditional marketing tactics like ads or direct mail no longer suffice to drive sales and support small business brands. People form expectations and impressions about companies from huge number of sources: their experiences, word-of mouth, online social networks, cause-marketing campaigns, media, Internet… More than ever, people require authenticity, emotional connection, and engagement, not just products or services that fix their problem.
“Experiential marketing: Managing brands through authentic experiences” will recap the many ways small businesses can build their brands through strategically integrating all customer experiences with their company into a coherent whole. Throughout, we’ll examine the power of personalized experience in building brands that are relevant to customers, and look at how interactive communication, rather than passive persuasion, contributes to creating lasting, emotional brand relationships with the most-devoted customers.
Joining me to present the series will be the following fine professionals and colleagues:
- Kelly Quashnie of Studio Que – Visual identity as the first brand impression
- Tanya Zumach of Metropolitan Group – Virtual experience design I: Online marketing
- David Hawkins of Umpqua Bank – Physical experience design in retail: The case of Umpqua Bank
- Kent Lewis of Anvil Media – Virtual experience design II: Social media strategy
- Matt Payne of Church! at Bethany – Virtual experience design III: Online social networking for business branding
Series schedule, session summaries, presenter bios.
Can’t make it out to Beaverton, Oregon? A video recording of each session and slideshows will be available on the Chamber’s and Semiosis Communications’ websites as well as here on the Sustainable Marketing Blog.
