Branding For Dummies

384 Pages·2014·7.36 MB·english

by  Bill Chiaravalle

Branding
2nd Edition
by
Bill Chiaravalle and
Barbara Findlay Schenck
Branding For Dummies®, 2nd Edition
Published by: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774, www.wiley.com
Copyright © 2015 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey
Published simultaneously in Canada
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2014945062
ISBN 978-1-118-95808-7 (pbk); ISBN 978-1-118-95809-4 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-95810-0 (ebk)
Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents at a Glance
Introduction ................................................................ 1
Part I: Getting Started with Branding ........................... 5
Chapter 1: Putting Brands and Branding in Perspective ..............................................7
Chapter 2: Why, What, How, and When to Brand ........................................................23
Chapter 3: Gearing Up to Brand or Build a Better Brand ...........................................43
Chapter 4: Powering Up Your Personal and One-Person Business Brands .............59
Part II: Building a Brand, Step by Step ....................... 73
Chapter 5: Profiling and Positioning Your Brand ........................................................75
Chapter 6: Putting Your Brand into Words ..................................................................99
Chapter 7: Naming Your Brand ....................................................................................111
Chapter 8: Designing Your Logo and Tagline .............................................................131
Part III: Winning Brand Fans and Followers............... 151
Chapter 9: Countdown to Takeoff: Launching or Relaunching Your Brand ...........153
Chapter 10: Branding in the Digital Age ......................................................................171
Chapter 11: Engaging Your Brand Audience Online with Social Media ..................189
Chapter 12: Advertising, Promoting, and Publicizing Your Brand ..........................209
Part IV: Caring for Your Brand .................................. 233
Chapter 13: Perfecting Your Brand Experience .........................................................235
Chapter 14: Winning Brand Loyalty ............................................................................251
Chapter 15: Valuing and Leveraging Your Brand ......................................................265
Chapter 16: Revitalizing Your Brand with a Full or Partial Makeover ....................289
Part V: Protecting Your Brand .................................. 305
Chapter 17: Defending Your Brand Legally and through Careful Usage .................307
Chapter 18: Taking Action When Bad Things Happen to Good Brands..................319
Part VI: The Part of Tens .......................................... 335
Chapter 19: Ten Signs that Your Personal Brand Needs Attention .........................337
Chapter 20: Ten Branding Mistakes and How to Avoid Them .................................343
Chapter 21: Ten Branding Truths to Remember .......................................................349
Index ...................................................................... 355

Table of Contents
Introduction ................................................................. 1
About This Book ..............................................................................................1
Foolish Assumptions .......................................................................................2
Icons Used in This Book .................................................................................3
Beyond the Book .............................................................................................3
Where to Go from Here ...................................................................................4
Part I: Getting Started with Branding ............................ 5
Chapter 1: Putting Brands and Branding in Perspective . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Wake-Up Call: You Probably Have a Brand, Whether
You Know It or Not ......................................................................................8
What Are Brands, Anyway? ............................................................................8
What brands do ......................................................................................9
Why brands are a big deal ..................................................................11
Gaining Your Branding Bearings .................................................................12
Deciphering branding lingo ................................................................12
Branding’s essential ingredient..........................................................13
Branding’s altered environment ........................................................14
The never-ending branding process..................................................15
Assembling your branding team ........................................................17
Gulp! How much does it cost? ............................................................19
Pop Quiz: Are You Ready to Brand? ............................................................20
Chapter 2: Why, What, How, and When to Brand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Why Bother with Branding? .........................................................................24
Branding to avoid the budget-busting commodity trap .................24
Branding to cast your vision ..............................................................25
Branding to win trust and increased value ......................................26
So, What Do You Want to Brand? ................................................................26
Product brands ....................................................................................27
Service brands ......................................................................................27
Business or corporate brands ............................................................28
Branding individuals (namely, yourself) ...........................................29
Branding: A Bird’s-Eye View .........................................................................29
The path from brand essence to esteem ..........................................30
The branding process at a glance ......................................................35
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Branding For Dummies, 2nd Edition
Brand Architecture 101 .................................................................................36
Master brand/parent-driven architecture: A branded house ........36
Multiple brand/product-driven architecture: A house of brands ........37
When to Rev Up Your Branding Efforts ......................................................38
Launching a business ..........................................................................38
Introducing a product .........................................................................38
Turning your gig, consulting, or freelancing into a business .........39
Announcing or fundraising for a nonprofit .......................................40
Taking a business public.....................................................................40
Opening markets or going global .......................................................41
Raising capital ......................................................................................41
Merging with another business ..........................................................42
Chapter 3: Gearing Up to Brand or Build a Better Brand . . . . . . . . . . . 43
You Are Here: Marking Your Brand-Development Starting Point ...........44
Getting real about your brand identity .............................................44
Knowing and protecting brand assets ..............................................46
In your dreams! Defining what you want out of branding ..............48
Prioritizing Your Branding Goals .................................................................48
Build awareness ...................................................................................49
Create an emotional connection ........................................................50
Differentiate your product ..................................................................51
Create credibility and trust ................................................................52
Achieve preference and motivate selection .....................................53
Crunching Numbers: Budgeting Realities ...................................................53
Committing to the Branding Process ..........................................................55
Aligning your mission, vision, and brand identity ...........................55
Including branding in your business plan ........................................56
Who’s on First? Suiting Up Your Branding Team ......................................57
Chapter 4: Powering Up Your Personal and One-Person
Business Brands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Taking Ownership of Your Personal Brand ................................................60
Benefits of a strong personal brand ..................................................61
Launching the personal-branding process .......................................63
Growing into a personality brand ......................................................65
Branding Your Freelance or Consulting Services ......................................66
Benefits of a one-person business brand ..........................................66
One-person brand-building steps to follow ......................................67
Balancing Personal and Business Brands ..................................................68
Keeping your personal and business brands in balance ................68
Keeping your personal and business brands in check ...................69
Cross-promoting your two brands ....................................................70
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Table of Contents
Part II: Building a Brand, Step by Step ........................ 73
Chapter 5: Profiling and Positioning Your Brand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
The Marketing Muscle of Positioning .........................................................76
Successful positioning approaches ...................................................76
Major positioning strategies ...............................................................79
Positioning around marketplace opportunities ...............................80
Finding Your Position: The Birthplace of Your Brand ..............................80
Zeroing in on the strengths of your brand .......................................81
Defining your point of difference .......................................................81
Dealing with brand misperceptions ..................................................83
Mapping your brand’s position ..........................................................84
Aligning Your Brand’s Position with Customer
Wants, Needs, and Desires .......................................................................85
What do your customers care about? ...............................................87
What sets your ideal customers apart? ............................................88
Why do customers buy from you? .....................................................88
Digging Up the Info You Need ......................................................................89
Putting your brand through a self-exam ...........................................89
Tuning in to customer insights ..........................................................90
Conducting customer research..........................................................92
Knowing when to get research help ..................................................93
Where else to turn for facts and figures ...........................................94
Putting Research in Perspective ..................................................................95
Defining and Testing Your Position ............................................................96
Chapter 6: Putting Your Brand into Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Building Your Brand on the Strong Back of Your
Business Mission and Vision ....................................................................99
Focusing your vision .........................................................................100
Defining your mission........................................................................102
Describing Your Brand and Its Style .........................................................103
Polishing Your Business Promise ..............................................................104
Considering the Character of Your Brand ................................................106
Mission Possible: Defining Your Brand ....................................................107
What to incorporate ..........................................................................108
The anatomy of a brand statement .................................................108
Grading your statement ....................................................................108
Putting your brand statement to the test .......................................109
Chapter 7: Naming Your Brand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
What’s in a Name? .......................................................................................111
What the right name does ................................................................112
When naming happens ......................................................................116
Types of names ..................................................................................116
Fitting your name to your brand architecture ...............................118
Naming advice to follow ....................................................................119
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Branding For Dummies, 2nd Edition
Picking (or Inventing) Your Brand Name .................................................120
Rounding up good ideas ...................................................................121
The hard part: Narrowing your list to the best options ...............123
Putting your top contenders through a preliminary test .............124
Building consensus around your top-choice name .......................125
Checking for domain name availability ...........................................125
Catch It If You Can: Claiming Your Name .................................................127
Conducting a name-availability search ...........................................127
Treading the trademark ropes .........................................................129
Changing Your Name, If You Must ............................................................130
Chapter 8: Designing Your Logo and Tagline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Planning Your Logo: The Face of Your Brand ..........................................131
What your logo is and isn’t ...............................................................132
Matching your logo to your brand image .......................................133
Choosing your logo approach ..........................................................133
Logo Design Resources ...............................................................................137
Developing Your Logo Design ....................................................................138
Design ingredients .............................................................................138
Preparing your logo artwork ............................................................142
Putting Your Logo to Work .........................................................................142
Saving Face: Giving an Existing Logo a Makeover ...................................144
Making evolutionary logo changes ..................................................144
Making revolutionary logo changes ................................................145
Managing Your Logo ...................................................................................146
Creating standards and usage rules ................................................146
Naming a brand cop ..........................................................................147
Creating a Tagline ........................................................................................147
Discovering what makes a great tagline .........................................148
Deciding whether you need a tagline ..............................................148
Tag(line), you’re it! Coming up with your slogan ..........................149
Part III: Winning Brand Fans and Followers ............... 151
Chapter 9: Countdown to Takeoff: Launching or
Relaunching Your Brand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
Carpe Diem! Seizing the Opportunity to Put Your
New Brand in the Limelight ....................................................................153
Preparing for Your Brand Launch .............................................................154
Knowing your story, chapter and verse .........................................154
Putting your brand launch into context .........................................155
Producing introductory brand prototypes ....................................157
Checking your internal readiness ....................................................158
Previewing your brand with priority audiences ............................159