IMAGINE…

• being served an entrée that actually looks better than the menu photo.
• a clerk responding to you with ‘My pleasure!’ instead of ‘No worries’ or ‘No problem.’
• getting the same ‘WOW’ service EVERY TIME you deal with that vendor.
• a sales representative who is familiar with the coupon you present and details of marketing campaign and is excited you are taking advantage of their offer.
• the grocery store clerk saying ‘thank you for shopping with us’ BEFORE you, the customer, says ‘thank you’ to the vendor for checking you out.
• a store clerk ignoring the phone ringing behind the desk, and giving you 100% attention as you check out.
• getting a return phone call or email within 12 hours.
• a vendor you frequent knowing and calling you by name when you shop there, every time.

I know, I know, these imaginary thoughts seem pretty far fetched in this day and age, but I believe it can happen, really…. pinch me if you think I am still dreaming!

All of these ideal behaviors I dream about above don’t seem too difficult to attain, or do they? Why is it so rare for businesses to actually BE what their marketing messages tout;  consistently? I often wonder about the saying, “we are creatures of habit”, when consistency is the one thing lacking in most businesses, and is one of the primary causes of losing customers. It seems so easy, and yet only a select few brands actually practice this type of ongoing consciousness in their everyday business lives and have truly made a habit of doing so. Unfortunately, too many businesses make inconsistency the habit!

David Barrows, from The Design Agency, UK, once quoted “40% of marketing dollars are wasted, due to ill-informed, demotivated staff undermining the promotional promise.” For now, let’s assume that were true and then consider the amount of money American small businesses spend on advertising every year at around $30 billion. Now, based on this statistic, that’s $12 billion wasted dollars annually!

Case in point:  A friend of mine works in an inbound call center for a national satellite TV program provider. He told me the other day that he received several calls from customers who had visited the company web site and spotted a special Father’s Day offer. My friend and all the other call center employees were completely unaware of the offer and therefore presented the perception of ignorance to the customer. The customer is left frustrated and ‘lead on’ by the promotional offer. What did this lack of awareness do to the overall perception of the brand? One customer at a time…all evening long, calls were coming in and customers were left frustrated….hmmmm. It doesn’t have to be this way!

What would it have taken for the managers to brief the employees of the new offer? A five minute briefing before the shift started? What transformations in perception would the customer have had if the representatives said “Thanks for calling in for our Father’s Day promotional offer, let me explain how you can take advantage of this great special.” Again, very small gestures that have huge consequences!

Consider this amazing statistic, “94% of our customers WANT to be loyal” (Zamba Solutions, 2002). Unfortunately, businesses continue to give them reasons NOT to! We all know, as consumers, we’d like to find a hairdresser, an auto repair guy and a banking institution that we could ‘settle in with’ long-term because we believe we are cared for, receive high value consistently and are acknowledged regularly as valuable customers.

If you’ve been reading our articles regularly, then you know that EVERY business has a brand; good, bad, or indifferent. And as business owners, we have the power to control how our brand is defined, built, and experienced by our employees and customers. How many of you, reading this right now, have taken the critical time to actually define your brand’s DNA? It’s genetic code, your brand ‘blueprint?’

We believe that most businesses lack consistency because there is no truly defined and articulated brand. How can you create consistent systems and processes, and unique culture and leadership behaviors and actions when there is no foundation as to what the brand stands for? How can you market a brand authentically that has not yet been defined? How can you walk your brand talk? This is where so many businesses are missing the boat, but could very easily aboard the next one as soon as today

By making a decision and commitment to define your brand’s DNA, business owners and their employee teams open a whole world of opportunities to be highly brand congruent and CONSISTENT in your actions and behaviors. This will also lead to discovering your true differentiators and leverage them so that you can stand out beyond your competition and win customers for life.

In an annual survey on brands and branding by experts from top global brands, guess what was cited as the most critical aspect of successful branding? (The 2007 Brand Marketers Report by Interbrand).

1)      Marketing/Advertising                         .8%

2)      Consistency                                            36%

3)      Product                                                        3.5%

4)      Budget                                                         4.3%

5)      Innovation                                                  18%

Pay particular attention to the rating given to the aspect of Marketing/Advertising—less than 1%! This is exactly why we have a workshop and article entitled, ‘STOP MARKETING (for now), START BRANDING!’

The brand defining and building process is not difficult. And it is not an initiative meant solely for the owner of the business. Everyone in your business represents the brand and should have some sort of ownership in the development and/or implementation process. Yes, the process. Branding is the process of defining and living the message/promise/essence of the organization. Building a brand is not a marketing campaign, or a logo creation or refresh. Building the brand is conscious, strategic, and deliberate effort in defining the perception you want your employees and customers to have of you – then controlling that perception by creating actions and behaviors that consistently and distinctively affirm and reaffirm that perception. Read that sentence again. If you glean anything from this article that is probably the most important sentence we have to deliver to you.

Being a business owner/entrepreneur is one of the most exciting privileges and opportunities we have here in the U.S. It should be a creative, exciting, challenging, and inspiring experience. We all know the definition of INSANITY:  Doing the same thing expecting something different. Well, here is your chance to do SOMETHING DIFFERENT – and get different, amazing results! Commit to spending some time defining who you are as a brand and discover what stake your brand will put in the ground and claim.

Our ‘IGNITE YOUR BUSINESS BRAND DNA’ step-by-step, brand-defining methodology is now online, self-paced and available for those savvy business owners who are ready to do something different.

Now, imagine….

…that everyone one of your employees understand and can articulate your Brand Values.

…that everyone in your company finds ways every day to live and deliver your Brand Promise.

…that your brand’s differentiators reduce customer price sensitivity.

…that your customers become your ‘no-cost sales force’ as ambassadors of your brand and tell their friends.

…you and your employees are having fun inventing new ways to enhance your Brand Standards of Performance.

…that you and your employees recite your Brand Mantra daily to inspire and motivate ‘on-brand’ actions that represent your unique Brand DNA.

…that in any economic environment, your brand continues to thrive.

…that those vendors you patronize leave you with a ‘wow’ experience, every time.

On second thought, don’t pinch me yet, I want to keep dreaming.

Suzanne Tulien is Principal and Co-Founder of the Brand Ascension Group, LLC. She is a brand perception expert consultant, award-winning graphic designer, a certified trainer and certified in Accelerated Learning Methodologies. She is co-pioneer of the Brand DNA methodology, the first ever step-by-step brand defining online process designed specifically for small to medium sized businesses. She is author of The 6 Myths of Small Business Branding, and co-author of Brand DNA. She regularly writes blogs and articles on the process of branding and has been published in eHotelier, BrandChannel.com, among others. www.BrandAscension.com, 719.265.1707.

I’ve been holding off on this for a while, hoping that sooner or later leaders in the industry would actually catch on. But, to my dismay, yet another example has come to my attention to fuel my frustration about the ‘understanding of the term branding’.

I was on Twitter earlier today and came across a conference on branding, called Brand Manage Camp — being held in Las Vegas this October. Curious, I went to the web site hoping to see a plethora of skilled experts discussing the huge scope branding covers. Needless to say, once again, the primary (there is no secondary) focus is on the EXTERNAL side of ‘branding’ that should really be called ‘Marketing’.

Not one of their speakers is touted as being an expert an internal brand definition and development. And that really disappoints me because they are only educating the participants on half the picture! When companies focus their efforts entirely on marketing (external exposure) behaviors and have not yet clearly done the due diligence in clearly articulating who they are as a brand (their Brand DNA), then how can they create promise after promise in their marketing message and live up to that message??  They may be successful at getting customers in the door, but HOW DO THEY KEEP THEM? What is the promised experience? And where is the consistency?

What is the company’s brand style? What are their Values, true Differentiators? Standards of Performance? Without knowing these brand attributes, companywide, how do they deliver on them? How do they gain loyalty? How to they hire and retain employees?

A conference on Branding should cover all aspects of the process of branding both internal and external. When will this concept be embraced?

Our Brand defining process (IGNITE YOUR BUSINESS BRAND DNA) is a critical first-phase process of brand development, not dropping $10,000 into a marketing campaign or logo refresh. Long-term, sustainable, trusted brands are built from the INSIDE OUT.

If you are a small business our message to you is: STOP MARKETING, for now, and START BRANDING! Once your unique Brand DNA is defined and actioned internally, your marketing dollars will work smarter!

Check out our new small business, self-paced online Brand-defining course and discover how the process of brand definition can catapult your business growth. Work smarter, not harder — without spending $1 in marketing!  http://www.BrandAscension.com/dna_webinar_weblanding.html

Have you been wondering how Twitter®, a free social networking service (www.twitter.com), can help you build brand awareness for your company? I must admit, I was a bit skeptical at first, but after encouragement from a business associate, I decided to give it a whirl and a whirl it has been so far.  After just a few months of investigative use of the tool, I am now a firm believer that Twitter can definitely build tremendous awareness for any brand.

To date, no one really knows how many users are registered on Twitter. Some say as much as 5 million; others say as much as 10 million or more worldwide. When I heard these numbers, I thought, ‘Now that’s a huge opportunity for exponential brand exposure – with no hard costs!’

One thing we do know is that Twitter has grown in popularity at an extraordinary rate. So many people are using Twitter from all walks of life to expand their reach and express their brand—whether business or personal. This includes individuals, businesses, professionals, celebrities, and politicians—from all over the world.

What is Twitter?

1. Specifically, Twitter is a micro-blogging and instant messaging tool for your company. You can literally Tweet what you want all day long just so long as you stay within the 140 character or less limit per message.
2.  It’s a mass-communication tool to leverage your business message to the world. Some businesses are even dedicating staff to manage their Twitter accounts. And best of all it’s free to join – what a great brand awareness tool!

 What are Some Basics in Getting Started with Twitter?

1. When you register your account, create a complete profile on your business. Make sure you fill out all requested areas to include a graphic (visual) of your brand’s logo, your website URL, and a bio of your business. Your bio is very important as it is one of the first things people check out when they go to your Twitter page. They want to find out more about you. In your bio, be specific and to the point, as you are limited in the number of characters – 160. I am constantly referring to other’s bios to determine whether I want to follow the person/company or not as it’s important to connect with those who have a mutual interest in what The Brand Ascension Group does in the area of internal brand definition, creation, strategy and management.

Also, your website URL in your company profile is important. People who check you out see that  as well and they can click on it to get to your website. I check out everyone who has a website URL as that provides a lot more information on who they are and what they do and helps me determine if I want to follow them and their Tweets.

1. Create a custom background on your Twitter page that is highly appealing and has the same look and feel of your brand based on your unique Brand DNA. See http://www.brandascension.com/dna_webinar_weblanding.html for more information on defining your unique Brand DNA. This is extremely important. Your Twitter page should mirror the look and feel of your website, and emulate your distinctive brand attributes (Values, Style, Differentiators and Standards), which are the foundational elements of your Brand DNA. This creates consistency every time when others engage with you on Twitter, not to mention it’s essential to define and build your brand, and catapult your business growth. Notice how ours is highly relevant to our unique look and feel of our visual brand dress. Check out www.twitter.com/CarolChapman, www.twitter.com/SuzTulien, or www.twitter.com/brandascension (which we just set up).
2. Make your Tweets understandable, inviting, compelling and informative. You want to attract the right Tweeters as followers and you’ll want to follow those that have a common interest in what your business brand has to offer. So, make sure the information you Tweet is useful.

How Can I Build Brand Awareness on Twitter?

1. If you want to gain maximum exposure, keep yourself on the “public timeline” so everyone sees your tweets. To do so, leave the “Protect Your Updates” box in the Settings area unchecked.  If you check this, then your Tweet updates will become private and you’ll have to approve who you can follow you every time. It will also keep your updates out of search results within Twitter and you don’t want that to occur as this dramatically reduces the ability of others to find your company.
2. Use the ‘Find Other People’ or ‘Search’ tool on Twitter. Just type a name or particular concept such as branding, culture, marketing, etc.. This can be huge if you type in people in your industry and then find others that are following them. It opens up your reach significantly within your targeted industry or area of interest.
3. Post updates (messages) regularly (i.e., several times daily). Share your knowledge and resources, create mini-press releases (remember 140 characters or less) on something of interest about your company, notify others of your products and services, white papers, case studies, business events, etc. Don’t forget to provide any links to the information either on your website or other URLs.
4. Use Twitter to make connections, identify prospective customers and point others to your company’s website or other website with resources. This is a huge opportunity, as you build followership, to communicate information on what you are doing, your products and services, new product or service launches, or other resources you may want to point others to.
5. Create multiple accounts to exponentially expand your company’s exposure.
6. Leverage powerful tools to manage your accounts and the exposure of your brand. Go to http://adecon101.blogspot.com/2009/03/100-twitter-tools-to-help-you-achieve.html for 101 resources you can use. In the meantime, here’s three tools I’ve checked out recently and am using that you may want to consider:

•        TweetDeck.com –allows you to stay in touch with what’s happening at any given point in time, and connect you with your contacts on Twitter in a single concise view.
•        TweetSpinner.com or TweetLater.com– enables you to create and schedule Tweet messages in advance and manage these activities so as to increase your productivity.
•         TweetScan.com – allows you to find out information that is being Tweeted about your company and brand keeping up real-time with what is being said about you.

HAPPY TWITTERING! Feel free to respond to this article as it will be posted on our blog at http://feeds.feedburner.com/BusinessBrandingTips. We’d invite you to share your experiences in the use of Twitter with us and others who read our blog.

Don’t forget to check out and sign up for our brand-defining e-course “Ignite Your Business Brand DNA”  at http://www.brandascension.com/dna_webinar_weblanding.html before you get too far  using  Twitter—as it will only ensure consistency, relevance and distinctiveness with your brand in how you show up on Twitter.

And….stay tuned for future additions to this article as The Brand Ascension Group expands its knowledge, expertise and success in using Twitter and other social media tools to build brand awareness and grow our business.

I am writing this blog out of shear frustration. What is happening to our state of service in this economy? Phone calls not being returned, emails not being replied back to, over promising and under-deliverying (or not at all!) has been very apparent in all realms of service lately. I don’t know about you, but it is getting worse and worse. It is as if the FEAR has made a nice comfortable nest in this economy is creating a crazy reaction with business owner and employee INDIFFERENCE; e.g., how customers are being treated – no one has time to be nice, cordial, respectful, or professional — it is all about the bottom-line – survival of the fittest.

I see a huge opportunity for businesses to rise above the so called new ‘standard of performance’ and start OUT-BEHAVING your competition by simply looking your customers in the eyes, using their names in conversations, returning phone calls, following up on emails; all of which are low, or no-cost strategies to build customer loyalty and distinction. Sure, we are all busy, but when you become too busy to pay attention to your bread and butter, either you are in the wrong business, or you need a swift reminder to SLOW DOWN and APPRECIATE the customers, colleagues and friends you have now….or you won’t have to later!

It is good to keep top of mind — “Everything we do in our business contributes too or takes away from the value perception of the brand.” – Brand Ascension Group, LLC

At times, we all need to remember the basics of building distinction, consistency, and relevancy.  It all starts with building relationships that leverage memorable experiences, and basing those experiences on what your brand stands for – your brand’s DNA.

What are the three most dangerous words to the mind? …”I KNOW THAT!”  When you are ready to learn more and know what you don’t know, check out this e-course:  www.BrandAscension.com/dna_webinars_weblanding.html

If you are not GROWING, you are _______!

Have any of you experienced this frustration or am I in a black hole?

Just this morning, I was interviewed by David Wolf for his SmallBiz Brain Series to be aired on SBTV.com’s website (www.sbtv.com) in a few weeks. Our topic related to 8 key questions business owners should ask themselves about their unique Brand DNA and how imperative it is to answer them so as to not only survive but thrive in this troubled economy.

One of the questions we discussed was “What are the core values of your brand that guide your behaviors and business practices?” We talked about what values are—those ‘guiding principles’ that form the basis of what is important to you and give meaning to the intentions behind your brand and your business practices. We also talked about why living your core values is so important in today’s business environment.

Just before the interview, I thought about the issues that AIG is experiencing right now while under the scrutiny of the public and the government for paying out a $165 Million in bonus payments after a few months earlier receiving $182 Billion in bailout money. I was just curious to find out if they had a set of core values for the business. So, I got on their website and searched. I found a button on the menu of items for Vision and Values. As I clicked on it—I found the page showed it was temporarily down. No other page around this page on the website was down. I thought, “How odd.” I also said to myself that this couldn’t just be a coincidence.

I then proceeded to get on Google. I typed into the search section ‘AIG Values’ and found the link to the same webpage. When I clicked on it I got the same message about the webpage being down. So, I went back to Google’s link and lo and behold I found they had “cached” the page. When I clicked on it, there the page was with AIG’s values. The cached page was a snapshot of what the page looked like when it was last active and live—that date was March 13, 2009.

I checked the list of values on this webpage for AIG and found six of them, two of which I zeroed in on, ‘Performance’ and ‘Integrity’. They defined performance, “Be accountable. Manage risks. Deliver AIG’s strength.” They define integrity as, “Work honestly, Enhance AIG’s reputation.” It made me seriously question whether the company was truly accountable and enhancing AIG’s reputation.

Given the current situation, I think most people would say AIG has severely tarnished its image and most certainly negatively impacted their reputation with the payout of those bonuses given the current economic situation and the bailout money handed to them. In fact, not living their values goes far beyond just this one incident, but goes to the core of who they are as brand. As I dug deeper into their values statements, I found the terms to describe these two values as “superior performance, building and persevering the company’s financial strength…disciplined practices…to manage risk”. I found words like ‘integrity in action…integrity is the bedrock of AIG’s reputation..being honest, transparent, with acceptable business practices.” I was just floored when I read this.

The learning point here is that why haven’t they and other companies like them learned that if you don’t live your values, eventually it comes out and it can have devastating effects on your reputation as a brand. Consider the effects of Enron and Arthur Andersen a few years back. One of Enron’s values was integrity. They are no longer in business. That’s pretty devastating.

So, I ask you to ask yourself what are your brand’s core values? Are you living up to those values and consider your actions going-forward? All of us can learn from AIG’s situation. The price of misrepresenting your brand and what you stand for is just not worth it. It erodes your reputation and creates mistrust!

Occassionally we can expect our business growth to cycle as things slow down for us. It is a natural process of ebb and flow. A natural quietness that can actually be a gift for all business owners and their teams. It is often an overlooked opportunity to use this time to turn inward and begin revitalizing your internal brand roadmap. A time to rethink how your brand is being perceived, not only by your market, but by your employees. You see, every business has a brand; good, bad or indifferent. If you have employees, and if you have customers, then you have a brand. Whether you are conscious of designing that brand or not — a perception is formed whenever someone does business with you, or experiences you as an employee.

So, here is a challenge: Take a step back and really look at your brand, overall. Is it everything you hoped it would be? Are your employees living and breathing your brand’s essence daily? Are your customers telling their friends about your brand? What are they saying? What is extraordinary and memorable in their experience with  you?

What can you do, during this gift of time to begin working ON your business brand rather than in it? What can you do to define who you are, build your employee culture to reflect it, and create processes that affirm it in every behavior, every touchpoint.

Now, for the first time ever, a comprehensive online brand building webinar course is available and designed specifically for entrepreneurs. This course takes you and your teams through a step by step process to define, create and build your unique Brand DNA — your sustainable competitive advantage. Now is the time. What are you waiting for? In an economy such as this, only the strong brands will survive.

BRAND ASCENSION LAUNCHES FIRST EVER ONLINE BRAND TRAINING COURSE;
SECURES NINE COLORADO SPRINGS’ ENTREPRENEURS and SBTV.com TO PARTICIPATE

COLORADO SPRINGS, CO, December 2008: The Brand Ascension Group is launching the first ever pilot brand training program in January 2009 through Webex®, a virtual online meeting platform. Nine Colorado Springs’ business entrepreneurs have been secured to participate in this small business brand-building training as well as one featured guest from the national organization SBTV.com (Small Business Television).

The online training; “IGNITE YOUR BUSINESS BRAND DNA,” is a step-by-step program designed to help the small business define, create, and build their brand from the inside out through their leadership, employees, and processes. “Our proprietary methodology is a proven technique in helping companies create true distinction and much needed focused consistency when delivering their products and services,” said Suzanne Tulien, Co-founder and Principal of the Brand Ascension Group. “For small business owners, it’s an important time in our economy for them to focus on defining and building their brand’s perception to help their businesses walk their talk more powerfully,” she continues.

The brand-building program consists of 4, 1.5 hour training modules once a week along with specific ‘homework’ assignments for the entrepreneur and their employee teams to complete and submit. The live, online delivery is highly experiential and collaborative so as to share the insights and wisdom of all the participants and learn as a team. “This program is unique in that we focus on engaging our participants to learn through exercises, questions, polls and online collaboration,” says Carol Chapman, Co-Founder and Principal, The Brand Ascension Group. “Our training program fills an industry gap in that it educates the entrepreneur and their team to build a solid brand infrastructure, prior to expending any time and effort on external marketing, this approach helps make their marketing dollars work smarter” she continues.

http://www.BrandAscension.com/dna_webinar_weblanding.html.

The Brand Ascension Group is a multi-faceted, consulting and training firm who works with visionary organizations to define, create, and build powerful brand experiences from the inside out. They are the pioneers of the Brand DNA methodology. They regularly write articles, blogs, newsletters, speak, and train on small business internal branding. The Brand Ascension Group, has two published two ebooks; “The 6 Myths of Small Business Branding” and “Getting Your Employees On the Brand Wagon available on their website. Headquartered in Colorado Springs, CO, USA.

#1  Great Brands dedicate a large majority of their ‘marketing dollars’ on increasing customer loyalty versus on acquiring (advertising/marketing) new customers.
Why is this? Well, we all know that it takes 5 to 7 times more time, money and effort to acquire a new client than it does to keep one. So in using this leading practice, your marketing dollars go farther to keep your current customers loyal, AND to provide more opportunities for your raving customers to refer others (free advertising!) What are your existing customer touchpoints and how can you enhance them to create a ‘wow’ brand experience? So the question becomes, “What is our Brand DNA?” When you define this with key players on your team, it can then come alive within your business through behaviors, systems, and your leadership.

BRAND ACTION CHALLENGE: Take a look at your yearly spending on marketing and advertising. Then inventory what you spend toward customer retention efforts. You may be surprised. Begin thinking about ways (we encourage you to involve your employees) you can create more customer ‘touch-points’ and/or ways to enhance how your current touch points are reflective of your unique Brand DNA. Incorporate one or two newly enhanced behaviors that positively affect your customers and are congruent with your brand.

Let us know what you decide to implement and what outcomes you experience. Remember to put some metrics in place and measure!

By Suzanne Tulien, Principal & Co-Founder, The Brand Ascension Group

I am writing this with sad news. Another one of my newly experienced, ‘fav’ brands I was so excited about has fallen from grace. Oh, and it sooooooo didn’t have to be this way!!!

A few articles ago I wrote about a new up and coming brand in the airline industry, and how excited I was about their model, the overall experience, and it’s savvy potential in a decaying airline service business. They were definitely creating their own ‘Blue Ocean’ (re: Blue Ocean Strategy, by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne) in the marketplace.

And then,…we flew them again (optimal word; AGAIN).

With a fairly limited flight schedule, I was so excited that this regional airline flew to the destination we were planning for my husband’s birthday week. A reasonably priced, non-stop, fun, easy flight with XM Radio, a meal AND snacks, $3 wine and $1 dollar beers, not to mention a farewell mint candy and a smile delivered by the flight crew as you step off the plane.

I told all my friends. I touted the brand in my workshops while covering the importance of creating powerful differentiators, and I wrote about my experience flying them. It’s not so much the embarrassment for ‘jumping the gun’ and actually believing they were different and telling ‘the world’, but the pain of realizing it was only a or a ‘one-off’ experience and then KNOWING that it didn’t have to go there!

In brief, here’s what happened.

There were three in our travel party. As we were getting settled in our seats (two on the right, one on the left with an aisle in between), our stewardess interrupted the hum of passengers settling in by announcing on the overly loud intercom that we will not be receiving a meal as this city was not a ‘catering destination,’ in her short, sassy, memorized shtick. I was confused as we were served a meal and snacks the last time we flew from this same city just a few months ago. Disappointment #1.  

Our travel buddy neglected to grab a set of individually packaged headphones from a wicker basket at the ticket counter (for listening to the onboard XM Radio) and politely asked the stewardess for an extra pair. She abruptly replied, ‘you were supposed to get yours before you boarded the plane, I doubt I have any onboard for you,’ as she whizzed by slamming the overhead bins closed. We started to feel like elementary school children being scolded by the bus driver. Disappointment #2.

Once airborne and beyond 10,000 feet, our stewardess began her beverage service. We were close to the front of the plane and one of the first to be served. As she pushed the cart down the isle and asked us our beverage preference, we noticed that her short, sassy comments were not few and far between. When she approached our buddy and asked for his order, this is what our friend recounted, ‘I was dozing lightly and had my ear phones in and the ‘flight attendant’ asked if I wanted something to drink. I had a little trouble pulling out the head phones (3 seconds) and when I did she said ‘I’m not your wife, I can’t read your mind.’ She didn’t yell at me but delivered a tone to show cue me that she was frustrated with my delay in responding…Yikes! Did that really happen? Thank goodness our friend was mildly tempered and held back his reaction to the comment. Disappointment #3.

Disappointment #4 -  A ‘no go’ on the candy mint farewell treat. A big deal? In the scheme of things, no, but when it comes to creating a memorable brand experience that caters to small but meaningful emotional connections, then I would argue that YES, it is a big deal. As Americans, we are lucky to have the array of choices that we do in everything we seek to purchase. It is the brand’s job to carve out a unique position in our minds and emotions to the point of basing our buying decisions on these emotional connections.

In a the most recent annual survey (2007 Brand Marketers Report by Interbrand)  on brands and branding by experts from top global brands, what was cited as the most critical aspect of successful branding? CONSISTENCY! Hands down! At 36%! Marketing and Advertising rated at less than 1% (.8%),
and Innovation rated only 18.2%.

This article is really about missed opportunity, inconsistency, and cognitive dissonance of the brand. This airline has a great concept, super differentiating behaviors, and much appreciated amenities that no longer permeate the airline industry; all lost in a single experience – a moment in time forever embedded in the minds of the customers. The customer question becomes, ‘How do I trust my experience with this brand? What will I receive next time? When prices and schedules are the same (commodity), which brand do I choose?”

Questions for the brand are:

1)      What are the true costs of inconsistencies in the brand’s behaviors?

2)      Do our employees understand, live and embody the brand values?

3)      What investment do we make in our people to assure the brand is articulated correctly and consistently to our market?

4)      What systems and processes can we put in place to assure proper cognitive resonance of the brand with our customers?

Brands with consciousness become mega-brands. Brand consciousness consists of being fully aware of who and what the brand stands for; not just today, or the first 6 months of business, but everyday, in every behavior, through every process. It starts internally with defining the brand’s DNA, integrating it into the culture, systems and processes, and leadership. It’s not rocket science, just tenacity, due diligence, and a passion for the brand.

So, will I fly this brand again? Probably. But I won’t be seeking it out, ranting and raving about it or using it as an example of what powerful brands can do to differentiate themselves. No, as of this moment, they have unfortunately transpired into a commodity, lumped into a blur with every other airline in my mind. Another promising idea that didn’t consistently fly…sadly, another one bites the dust.

Don’t let your brand go there!

Suzanne Tulien is Principal and Co-Founder of the Brand Ascension Group, LLC. She is brand consultant, award-winning graphic designer, a certified trainer and certified in Accelerated Learning Methodologies. She is author of The 6 Myths of Branding, and co-author of Megapreneur. She regularly writes article on branding for entrepreneurs and is published in a variety of publications. www.BrandAscension.com, info@brandascension.com, 719.265.1707.

Learn how conscious branding practices can capture and sustain valuable market share in any economic situation …By Suzanne Tulien, Co-founder of the Brand Ascension Group  

How many of you are conscious of the state of our current economy? How many of you have started tightening the purse strings to prepare for rising prices, slow sales, and a tough ride ahead? 

Business owners are already searching for ways to reduce the impact of the impending “R” word (RECESSION, there, I said it!). But there are many companies who have done the “due diligence” within their brand building strategies to ensure and support withstanding almost any kind of economic condition (barring national disasters!). 

But before you start feeling like you need to invest in a family-sized bottle of Tums® finish reading this article and look for ways you can take on board the ideas. 

Consider the following scenario with one of our clients – a premiere tanning salon who embarked on a branding initiative about 2.5 years ago. They were a dual store location of about 12 employees, and feeling the crunch of high gas prices, finding it to harder to retain young employees (“Y” generation), and implementing marketing campaigns with minimal return on their investments. Finally a big whammy, they were plagued with a profound “commodity mindset” from their targeted audience.  Enter: The Brand Ascension Group. Hearing their dilemma we immediately quiz them on their current brand. With questions like: (among others)

1. Do you and your employees truly understand what your brand stands for?
2. Do you have a set of core values for the brand that everyone in your company is aware of and understands?
3. Do you have a unique culture that fosters positive, memorable behaviors that differentiate you from your competitors?
4. Do you regularly ask your customers for feedback on your standards of performance?
5. Do your employees have the authority to “break the rules” to make a situation “right” for the customer?
6. Do you benchmark your employees’ behaviors against leading practices of highly successful brands?
7. Do you have a specific and unique ‘brand vocabulary’ that creates distinction with your brand?
8. Do you have a Brand Promise that your employees commit to and continually deliver on?
9. Do you understand and leverage all your key differentiators to your competitive advantage?

 …..among other questions.  

After lots of ‘deer in headlights’ and ‘no’ responses throughout this revealing interrogation (we had fun with it, really!), we recommended the immediate huddle of their core team into a highly intensive, interactive invention process to define, create, and build their Brand’s DNA from scratch. They were game, and after two full days of ideation, collaboration and precise selection, the team emerged from the process proud parents of a brand new brand! They built it, now they own it! 

To make a long story shorter, we continued to consult with them throughout the year and guide them on how they would go about ‘operationalizing’ the new brand DNA into every facet of their operation so they could begin living and embodying it (across a ‘brand scorecard’; employees, customers, financial, and through their systems and processes). 

From the Brand DNA process their team flushed out a very compelling and distinctive ‘Brand Platform’: SIMPLY MIND-BLOWING EXPERIENCE, which became the essence of their brand’s ‘way of being’ from that point on. 

I remember this phone call from one of the owners: “Hey, Suzanne, I had to call you and let you know what I’ve noticed since we developed our Brand Platform from the DNA session. The first thing we did was make a critical decision to let go of two of our employees who just weren’t willing to ‘step up’ the brand’s experience and what a relief to all the other employees who are taking on the new brand like wildfire!  And, I noticed something yesterday that was so interesting! As I was walking through our retail portion of the store I overheard one of our employees challenging another to create a ‘mind-blowing experience’ for the next customer who walks in the door! They are really having a blast inventing ways to impress and take care of our customers, it’s incredible to watch!” 

Fast forward 1 ½  years. Just a few weeks ago we connected with this client once again to check in on how the brand development was going. And as if the flood gates had opened, she burst out with a list of things they have been implementing with their employees, their processes, and customers. All of which have positively impacted their bottom line! And each of these changes was highly relevant to the attributes of their Brand DNA (core values, style, differentiators and standards). 

The industry overall has been in a virtual “slump” the last few years and with the “recession” mindset eroding any hope of new client enrollment into their services. However; our client has reportedly increased their per customer transaction 35%-50%, adding much needed cash flow to their bottom line. How’d they do it?  They achieved this increase by being much more conscious of their behaviors, how they interact and communicate with each other, as a team culture, and with their customers. All this redesign was possible because of the work they did to define, create, and build their brand’s core DNA…from the inside out. 

Here’s my point. When an entrepreneur makes the decision to build their brand, it has to mean more than developing a logo, business cards or develop a marketing campaign. The process of branding has to start INTERNALLY with your core purpose in mind of how you want your employees and customers to perceive you. If you don’t actively define and manage that perception, your customers will! 

And when you take the time to develop your authentic brand, put a ‘stake in the ground’ and COMMIT to behaving consistently that way, then you will build trusting relationships with your team and your customers. So when your customers need/want your product or service, and when they have a choice of who to do business with….the choice will be obvious for them…YOU of course! Gain and retain market share now by building your brand’s DNA! 

(For more information on how you and your team can experience improved business performance just like our tanning salon client go to: www.BrandDNAProducts.com. We’re now offering this same brand-building methodology in a highly interactive and accelerated on-line course environment utilizing the latest web-based technology You too can experience phenomenal results through our progressive methodology. 

© All Rights Reserved. Suzanne Tulien and Carol Chapman are Principals in The Brand Ascension Group LLC a leading-edge, multi-faceted, experiential consulting and training firm that partners with organizations in elevating their brands.  Through their innovative Brand Elevation™ methodology, they help clients capitalize on the power of human perception and engage them in conscious internal and external branding practices to propel and sustain the growth of their businesses.  They can be reached at www.BrandAscension.com. 719.265.1707; 719.748.2290.