A discussion on branding on BlogTalk Radio
March 1st, 2007Yesterday I participated in a round table discussion with some great people talking about brands and branding. It took place on BlogTalkRadio; the people involved were:
Wayne Hulbert, from blogbusinessworld who hosted the show, Mike Wagner - ownyourbrand, Valeria Maltoni - conversationagent, Derrick Daye - brandingstrategyinsider, John Moore - brandautopsy, Drew McLellan - drewsmarketingminute and Mike Sansone - converstations
I’ve never personally met any of the contributors, but I know them from their blogs. Here we are, having a round table discussion with people from the US, Canada and Australia, people who have never met (well, some may have) broadcasting a radio show globally. I’m still amazed how we do things now that you wouldn’t have imagined possible ten years ago.
To spice things up, we probably needed a little more controversy, but there was a lot of agreement on some of the key aspects of building brands in todays environment. In particular:
Don’t confuse your brand with the brand image - a logo is not a brand, nor is a name. I think it was Drew who said (loosely) a brand name is an empy vessel; you give it meaning by what you do for your customers. Same goes for a logo.
Be brave and make choices about who it is you develop the brand around - choose a niche and really understand what makes that niche tick; the greatest mistake is to be all things to all people. The world is simply too competitive for “me-too” brands.
Take the time to understand your competition - you can’t differentiate without looking at competitors
Words matter - What you say and how you say it have a great impact on the perception that people have of your brand, so it’s worth taking the time to articulate it carefully.
If you like to listen to it,here it is: BlogTalkRadio
March 2nd, 2007 at 3:00 pm
[…] For a download of the show, take a trip down under by visiting Australian, David Koopmans blog. While you’re there, give David a read! If you’d like it streamed to your computer go directly the BlogTalk Radio page. […]
March 4th, 2007 at 2:45 am
David:
It was a real treat to be on the same call with you. I have one good friend who lives in Melbourne. Peter is a lawyer at thoughtpost [http://www.thoughtpost.com.au/index.html ] and have worked with some practitioners from Victoria. One day I might be able to visit your beautiful country.
March 4th, 2007 at 12:25 pm
Thanks Valeria; likewise. If you did come “down under” make sure you drop me a line so we can catch up. In the meantime, everyone seemed to have enjoyed the radio show. I’ll have a look at Peter’s website.