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Other Added - Strategic Planning - Understanding the Competitive Value of your Brand
The first difference between these two is that line or middle management is mainly about operational and to a lesser extent about tactical management. Operational management is about managing daily activities. Tactical management is the “layer” between operational and strategic management; “How do we get there,” is one of the questions the tactical manager is dealing with.In that sense, the project manager of program manager for who manages various projects, is the tactical manager. He or she is concerned with the issue of transforming the organization to its future form.The operational manager addresses most of its energy to directing people. Motivating, delegating, controlling, etc. in order to perform activities and gain results. On the short term the other resource categories are fixed.The project of program manager is concerned with planning. How to prepare for the near future and reserve resources for doing this.One important issue that is just rising between these two (operational and tactical) management areas; "should we close the shop during this period?" and "What will the client notice?" The dilemma is that in order to serve future clients you need to invest and focus on the long term that might impact the current performance. Clients will notice this...<
How to evaluate your brand
Objectively evaluating your brand is difficult, especially if you want to put an exact dollar number on it. Fortunately, this is usually not required for good strategic decision making. Still, it's a good idea to have at least a general concept of the value of your brand when you are considering strategic options.
The most objective way to evaluate your brand is to measure the outcomes that occur with and without the use of your brand. Sometimes this is simple, because the way you market may well lend itself to testing different hypothesis about your brand. For example, a seminar company might test mailing brochures that feature (or don't feature) specific brands, to find out the extent to which one of those brands is pulling in attendees at the seminars. Likewise, if you have the wherewithal, you might go so far as to test selling a "generic" version of your product in the marketplace to see if it can carry the same price as your current brand - at accep
All successful marketers know the sale comes from the words or the copy. While the traditional definition of copy is salesmanship in print I actually take a broader approach. Copy is used in ALL your promotional sales and marketing material. That means any place there are words about your business there is copy. So it’s EVERYWHERE. Some people will drop loads of cash on website design or graphics, but balk at learning the one skill that’s a veritable silver bullet when it comes to boosting income fast – tweaking the copy. Don’t make that mistake. Your business is too important.Here are 5 targeted hot spots any entrepreneur can tweak copy to start raking in the green.Home Page Website CopyYour home page or index page is the most important one on your site for two reasons. First, it's your welcome mat. It explains what the visitor is going to find on your site. Hopefully there's enough information to entice him to stick around and check out other pages on your site. Second, the home page carries the most weight with the search engines. Good copy can attract search engines while strategically sprinkling keywords and keyword phrases around that get your message across.Things to tweak:Headline Opt in form for ezine, etc. <
One of the most commonly overlooked sources of competitive advantage is brand. Branding is not just advertising, nor is it simply a catchy name for a company or product. The most important value in a brand is the value that it holds for actual customers. This value is very difficult and expensive to build - and fragile and easy to destroy. The difficulty of building and maintaining a brand is one reason why managers the world over tend to avoid spending much time or money on branding - especially in smaller companies. This is a shame, because a well-managed brand is so powerful that it can overcome almost any other competitive advantage. This one fact is the reason why larger companies with lots of managerial horsepower tend to spend a lot of time and money on branding.
What makes a brand valuable?
Brands are valuable simply because they cause customers to be inclined to purchase your product rather than someone else's. In a way, a brand is shorthand for the things the customer can expect from your product. In products that hold little meaning for the customer, this might be worth less, but in markets where the customer invests his or her ego in the purchase of a particular brand, that meaning can be priceless. Let's look at some examples to see where branding may or may not be important.
First of all, let's look at some examples of brands with tremendous pull. These brands will sell well just about anywhere they show up, because the customer associates the brand with qualities they prefer. Examples include:
Disney Nintendo Sony Harley Davidson Apple
Interestingly, none of these brands has universal appeal, in that not every possible customer will prefer the attributes of the brand over their alternatives. For example, the Disney brand is applied to many products:
Theme Parks Movies Licensed products such as clothing and toys Computer games Time shares Cruise line Broadway shows Television programming
In each of these very different product areas, the Disney brand means something a little different. For example, in theme parks, Disney means clean, family-oriented, creatively designed, expensive and (to many) crowded. The negative elements of the Disney branding in their theme park business are inevitable - you always have to accept the negative with the positive. But the positive elements are so compelling that millions of people from around the world spend a significant portion of their income to travel to a Disney theme park.
The Apple brand has a similar story. Apple carries a number of meanings, including well designed, easy to use, less popular and expensive. As with any great brand, this brand has a lot of ego invested in it for some people. This aspect of branding is more visible in computers because it is significantly more difficult and time consuming to use a computer operating system that isn't the most popular (in other words, Microsoft). Despite this difficulty, Apple has a hard core of fans who wouldn't think of using another brand, given a choice. Clearly, this doesn't translate into top market share for Apple, but it is a significant advantage that has clearly kept the Apple name alive when others have fallen by the wayside. Apple's newer products - notable the iPod - have drawn upon the positive elements of the Apple brand. The negative elements of the Apple brand have been far less problematic for the iPod because it is competing in a new product area where niche status has not been seen as a drawback. This is an excellent example of using a brand to grow beyond the core product line.
Why branding is important in the global marketplace
In an increasingly global market, branding can serve two distinct functions that may be useful to you: first, a "local" brand gives you and entrenched customer base that is more difficult (and expensive) to displace, and second, a "global" brand can give you a foot in the door when seeking to enter new geographic areas. Be forewarned: building a "global" brand is expensive, and often a "local" brand can be just as costly. Even so, the brand can be a useful offensive tool and defensive tool when you are competing with non-local companies.
There is one reason why "local" brands can be more cost-effective, and a good tool for defending your home turf from foreign competition: brand success is built upon three critical factors: 1. Understanding the key values in the mind of your customer 2. Knowing how to put the customer's values into your product or service 3. Effectively associating your brand with those values
Two of these factors, understanding your customer and associating your brand with values, are very much defined by culture. Thus, someone from outside your culture - and this could even be someone who speaks the same language from a different region - will find it much more difficult to get an accurate read on what your customer's key values are, and how to convince the customer that his product or service embodies those values. This is not saying that a foreign competitor cannot do this - just that it's a lot more expensive and difficult.
How to evaluate your brand
Objectively evaluating your brand is difficult, especially if you want to put an exact dollar number on it. Fortunately, this is usually not required for good strategic decision making. Still, it's a good idea to have at least a general concept of the value of your brand when you are considering strategic options.
The most objective way to evaluate your brand is to measure the outcomes that occur with and without the use of your brand. Sometimes this is simple, because the way you market may well lend itself to testing different hypothesis about your brand. For example, a seminar company might test mailing brochures that feature (or don't feature) specific brands, to find out the extent to which one of those brands is pulling in attendees at the seminars. Likewise, if you have the wherewithal, you might go so far as to test selling a "generic" version of your product in the marketplace to see if it can carry the same price as your current brand - at accept
A fun fundraiser for the holiday season is doing a Jingle Bell Walk for your favorite cause. It can be a great fundraising event for a school, church group, medical research, or any other nonprofit group.The basic premise is very simple. You gather a group of people who will walk a certain distance or route and you raise funds for charity through sponsorship donations.The fun thing about this event is it's holiday theme and festive air. Every walker ties jingle bells to their shoelaces and as they walk, the happy noise brings smiles to the faces of everyone involved, event spectators, and even passerby.Raising funds You raise funds with your Jingle Bell Walk for a chartable cause by seeking both corporate and individual sponsorship donations. Companies like being involved with a family-oriented event with a festive air, a holiday theme, and a good cause.Contact companies well ahead of time with a fundraising donation request letter. Explain why you are raising funds, ask for their help, offer different levels of sponsorship, and highlight your fundraising walkathon's holiday theme. Be sure to include a donation form with suggested amounts and a pre-addressed envelope.Individual sponsorship donations are another excellent way to raise funds. Each walker in your Jin
First of all, let's look at some examples of brands with tremendous pull. These brands will sell well just about anywhere they show up, because the customer associates the brand with qualities they prefer. Examples include:
Disney Nintendo Sony Harley Davidson Apple
Interestingly, none of these brands has universal appeal, in that not every possible customer will prefer the attributes of the brand over their alternatives. For example, the Disney brand is applied to many products:
Theme Parks Movies Licensed products such as clothing and toys Computer games Time shares Cruise line Broadway shows Television programming
In each of these very different product areas, the Disney brand means something a little different. For example, in theme parks, Disney means clean, family-oriented, creatively designed, expensive and (to many) crowded. The negative elements of the Disney branding in their theme park business are inevitable - you always have to accept the negative with the positive. But the positive elements are so compelling that millions of people from around the world spend a significant portion of their income to travel to a Disney theme park.
The Apple brand has a similar story. Apple carries a number of meanings, including well designed, easy to use, less popular and expensive. As with any great brand, this brand has a lot of ego invested in it for some people. This aspect of branding is more visible in computers because it is significantly more difficult and time consuming to use a computer operating system that isn't the most popular (in other words, Microsoft). Despite this difficulty, Apple has a hard core of fans who wouldn't think of using another brand, given a choice. Clearly, this doesn't translate into top market share for Apple, but it is a significant advantage that has clearly kept the Apple name alive when others have fallen by the wayside. Apple's newer products - notable the iPod - have drawn upon the positive elements of the Apple brand. The negative elements of the Apple brand have been far less problematic for the iPod because it is competing in a new product area where niche status has not been seen as a drawback. This is an excellent example of using a brand to grow beyond the core product line.
Why branding is important in the global marketplace
In an increasingly global market, branding can serve two distinct functions that may be useful to you: first, a "local" brand gives you and entrenched customer base that is more difficult (and expensive) to displace, and second, a "global" brand can give you a foot in the door when seeking to enter new geographic areas. Be forewarned: building a "global" brand is expensive, and often a "local" brand can be just as costly. Even so, the brand can be a useful offensive tool and defensive tool when you are competing with non-local companies.
There is one reason why "local" brands can be more cost-effective, and a good tool for defending your home turf from foreign competition: brand success is built upon three critical factors: 1. Understanding the key values in the mind of your customer 2. Knowing how to put the customer's values into your product or service 3. Effectively associating your brand with those values
Two of these factors, understanding your customer and associating your brand with values, are very much defined by culture. Thus, someone from outside your culture - and this could even be someone who speaks the same language from a different region - will find it much more difficult to get an accurate read on what your customer's key values are, and how to convince the customer that his product or service embodies those values. This is not saying that a foreign competitor cannot do this - just that it's a lot more expensive and difficult.
How to evaluate your brand
Objectively evaluating your brand is difficult, especially if you want to put an exact dollar number on it. Fortunately, this is usually not required for good strategic decision making. Still, it's a good idea to have at least a general concept of the value of your brand when you are considering strategic options.
The most objective way to evaluate your brand is to measure the outcomes that occur with and without the use of your brand. Sometimes this is simple, because the way you market may well lend itself to testing different hypothesis about your brand. For example, a seminar company might test mailing brochures that feature (or don't feature) specific brands, to find out the extent to which one of those brands is pulling in attendees at the seminars. Likewise, if you have the wherewithal, you might go so far as to test selling a "generic" version of your product in the marketplace to see if it can carry the same price as your current brand - at accep
Professional salesmanship is critical to both growing sales and optimizing gross margin. So salespeople -- especially those new to the sales profession -- that take the time to read sales books, attend sales seminars and listen to sales albums will almost invariably out perform those that take a more casual approach to learning their profession.A few months ago, I was conducting a sales training session for a Florida client. As we were working on how to open conversation with a prospect, an attendee raised his hand. When I recognized him, he said to me, “That kind of crap won’t work in this market. All my customers and prospects want from me is the lowest price. When I’m successful at beating my competitors’ prices, I get the order. When I fail, I lose the order. It’s that simple.”Thinking to myself…no wonder this business has gross margin problems, I asked him, “How do you open conversation with a prospect?”“I walk up to the prospect, introduce myself, shake his hand, and ask him if he will let me quote him on a few key products. Since most all prospects will let me quote them, I selectively quote a few prices that I know are below the market.”“Do you find that approach to be effective?”“Not always, but I’ve never found anything that worked any better.”d a significant portion of their income to travel to a Disney theme park.
The Apple brand has a similar story. Apple carries a number of meanings, including well designed, easy to use, less popular and expensive. As with any great brand, this brand has a lot of ego invested in it for some people. This aspect of branding is more visible in computers because it is significantly more difficult and time consuming to use a computer operating system that isn't the most popular (in other words, Microsoft). Despite this difficulty, Apple has a hard core of fans who wouldn't think of using another brand, given a choice. Clearly, this doesn't translate into top market share for Apple, but it is a significant advantage that has clearly kept the Apple name alive when others have fallen by the wayside. Apple's newer products - notable the iPod - have drawn upon the positive elements of the Apple brand. The negative elements of the Apple brand have been far less problematic for the iPod because it is competing in a new product area where niche status has not been seen as a drawback. This is an excellent example of using a brand to grow beyond the core product line.
Why branding is important in the global marketplace
In an increasingly global market, branding can serve two distinct functions that may be useful to you: first, a "local" brand gives you and entrenched customer base that is more difficult (and expensive) to displace, and second, a "global" brand can give you a foot in the door when seeking to enter new geographic areas. Be forewarned: building a "global" brand is expensive, and often a "local" brand can be just as costly. Even so, the brand can be a useful offensive tool and defensive tool when you are competing with non-local companies.
There is one reason why "local" brands can be more cost-effective, and a good tool for defending your home turf from foreign competition: brand success is built upon three critical factors: 1. Understanding the key values in the mind of your customer 2. Knowing how to put the customer's values into your product or service 3. Effectively associating your brand with those values
Two of these factors, understanding your customer and associating your brand with values, are very much defined by culture. Thus, someone from outside your culture - and this could even be someone who speaks the same language from a different region - will find it much more difficult to get an accurate read on what your customer's key values are, and how to convince the customer that his product or service embodies those values. This is not saying that a foreign competitor cannot do this - just that it's a lot more expensive and difficult.
How to evaluate your brand
Objectively evaluating your brand is difficult, especially if you want to put an exact dollar number on it. Fortunately, this is usually not required for good strategic decision making. Still, it's a good idea to have at least a general concept of the value of your brand when you are considering strategic options.
The most objective way to evaluate your brand is to measure the outcomes that occur with and without the use of your brand. Sometimes this is simple, because the way you market may well lend itself to testing different hypothesis about your brand. For example, a seminar company might test mailing brochures that feature (or don't feature) specific brands, to find out the extent to which one of those brands is pulling in attendees at the seminars. Likewise, if you have the wherewithal, you might go so far as to test selling a "generic" version of your product in the marketplace to see if it can carry the same price as your current brand - at accep
If you think you can't get funding for your business, think again. Many small businesses need only small sums of money to get moving or continue operation for things like meeting payroll, upgrading a website or much needed technology.Having a line of credit would be a perfect solution for these challenges. But very often when it comes to asking for help, small business owners count themselves out of the game before they even try. A line of credit could put you on the road to fluid cash and success sooner than you think.What Is A Line Of Credit?Small business credit line financing, also called an operating loan, provides a business with money to cover day-to-day expenses. As funds are used, the established credit line is reduced. Once approved, you can access your revolving line of credit with a quick phone call or provided checks.Where To Find OneDid you know you could qualify for an SBA Express Loan line of credit through your local bank? The Small Business Administration (SBA) offers promising businesses that might not otherwise qualify for business loans the chance to get the money they need to make their business continue to succeed. The loans are obtained with no collateral and minimal paperwork. Within 36 hours, you will know if you qualify.Real R
There is one reason why "local" brands can be more cost-effective, and a good tool for defending your home turf from foreign competition: brand success is built upon three critical factors: 1. Understanding the key values in the mind of your customer 2. Knowing how to put the customer's values into your product or service 3. Effectively associating your brand with those values
Two of these factors, understanding your customer and associating your brand with values, are very much defined by culture. Thus, someone from outside your culture - and this could even be someone who speaks the same language from a different region - will find it much more difficult to get an accurate read on what your customer's key values are, and how to convince the customer that his product or service embodies those values. This is not saying that a foreign competitor cannot do this - just that it's a lot more expensive and difficult.
How to evaluate your brand
Objectively evaluating your brand is difficult, especially if you want to put an exact dollar number on it. Fortunately, this is usually not required for good strategic decision making. Still, it's a good idea to have at least a general concept of the value of your brand when you are considering strategic options.
The most objective way to evaluate your brand is to measure the outcomes that occur with and without the use of your brand. Sometimes this is simple, because the way you market may well lend itself to testing different hypothesis about your brand. For example, a seminar company might test mailing brochures that feature (or don't feature) specific brands, to find out the extent to which one of those brands is pulling in attendees at the seminars. Likewise, if you have the wherewithal, you might go so far as to test selling a "generic" version of your product in the marketplace to see if it can carry the same price as your current brand - at accep
Would you go to a dentist if the only tools she used are a chainsaw and a stick? Would you take your car to be serviced by a mechanic whose only tools were a chocolate bar and hairspray? Would you want to your child to go to an elementary school that only taught from a set of 1964 encyclopedias?Do you see the connection?It is simple- really. Every industry has tools that can be specific to that industry. The dentist would never use a chainsaw (even though it may feel like it). They use tools that are designed and that are necessary for the successful completion of their task- to assist with proper dental hygiene. The same holds true for ever other profession and industry. At the same time, to take tools that may not be useful to an industry can slow down the process.So here comes the question. Why is it that those that skip trace do not utilize the tools that are available to our profession or we try to use the tools of other professions to do our job?What are the tools available to the skip trace industry? You’ve heard me talk about some of them. Databases, each other and our minds. But, what are some other tools available to us? Below is a list. I’m not calling it a complete list, because we think out side of the box and have incredible imaginations, so the list will ne
How to evaluate your brand
Objectively evaluating your brand is difficult, especially if you want to put an exact dollar number on it. Fortunately, this is usually not required for good strategic decision making. Still, it's a good idea to have at least a general concept of the value of your brand when you are considering strategic options.
The most objective way to evaluate your brand is to measure the outcomes that occur with and without the use of your brand. Sometimes this is simple, because the way you market may well lend itself to testing different hypothesis about your brand. For example, a seminar company might test mailing brochures that feature (or don't feature) specific brands, to find out the extent to which one of those brands is pulling in attendees at the seminars. Likewise, if you have the wherewithal, you might go so far as to test selling a "generic" version of your product in the marketplace to see if it can carry the same price as your current brand - at acceptable volumes. This is a little more difficult with retail products, as some retailers will insist on only stocking brand name products on their shelves. In addition, retail stores - especially large chains - typically demand some kind of compensation for the use of their shelf space, which makes retail brand testing quite expensive.
If testing is out of the question, you can also approximate brand value by looking at the popularity and price of competing brands with little or no brand power. If you don't have an absolutely generic "no-name" competitor, it can be difficult to be objective about this - after all, how do you decide which competitor has the least brand power? Also, there may be some confusion about value because there are several components to the success of a brand:
Brand Sales = (Cost + Margin) * Volume
If you were to attempt a calculation of brand value, you would be faced with extracting non-brand factors which affect these three numbers. For example, cost can go up or down depending on operation skills, management, underlying cost structure, and purchasing skills. Margin may be driven by brand power, pricing skill, and power in the distribution/retail channels. And volume can be affected by both cost and margin, brand power, and distribution network, as well as underlying demand for the products or services being offered.
Even so, at the end of the day your brand gets you one of two measurable outcomes: margin or volume. Comparing your margins to the competition is one way to assess the value of your brand, if you take heed of the caveat about other factors which may change margin. Comparing volume is less likely to yield a good estimate of brand value, because you can - in many markets - drive higher volumes with no brand value at all by charging lower prices. This, by the way, is a terrible strategy to be following if you are concerned about cheaper foreign competition, because there are significant costs that you simply will not be able to beat your foreign competitors on.
So your brand isn't that valuable - is there hope?
In some cases, companies run into a "brick wall" when they objectively evaluate their own brand. This can be caused by a number of factors, but the outcome is the same: some brands just don't mean anything to the customer, and so do not carry any premium in the marketplace. Naturally, such brands offer little defense against inexpensive foreign competition, and companies that rely too heavily on brand power that doesn't really exist inevitably get into hot water as foreign competition uses its compelling power - the lower price - to erode the market share of domestic competitors.
Is there a "crash course" way to build brand? Yes - but it's inherently risky and not for the faint of heart. This is because branding is driven by the brains of our customers, not our desires. In order to build a strong, positive awareness of your brand in a hurry, you will have to do something that stands out. By "stands out" we don't mean "is a bit better" - we mean something that is truly remarkable, or, in other words "worthy of remark". Customers don't make remarks about brands that are a little better - they remark on differences that they find really interesting.
An excellent example of something remarkable is the Honda Element. This is a truly distinctive design in the overcrowded sport utility vehicle market. The design is, in fact, so unusual that it almost never made it into production. Marketing people at Honda were extremely uncomfortable that the design was so different from any other brand in the SUV market that they wanted to scrap it. The designers won the fight to manufacture a small number of Elements as a "niche" product, along with a more mainstream design. By the end of the first year of production, the Element was outselling the "safe" design by five to one!
The lesson here is clear: if you are behind some savvy competitors, you should be prepared to seriously consider strategic options that make you uncomfortable. We wouldn't recommend betting the farm on outlandish new brands - in most cases - but we would suggest that having one or two every couple of years might just push your brand into the lead by giving you a reputation for having edgy, innovative products.
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