Expand Your Brand: How to Make Your Brand Speak to Media and Analysts. - Issue: 2002 Qtr 2
by Mara Conklin, Clarus Communications
Companies spend a hefty amount of their marketing budget every year creating, maintaining, policing and defending their brands. And for good reason: brand equity can determine the success or failure of a product or company. It could be (and has been) argued that many of the world's most successful brands — Coke, Nike, Microsoft, for example — don't necessarily produce a better product. They have created the "mystique" of a better product through the brand and stick with it.
The term "brand" is usually associated with advertising. But every outward-facing communication the company has should be viewed as an opportunity to convey the corporate or product brand. This includes media and industry analyst relations.
The most progressive PR practitioners always take a brand approach to communications. The foundation for this is a messaging platform that supports the brand and is used consistently in all communications to the media and industry analysts. The messaging platform is supported by infusing a graphical tie-in to the brand whenever possible.
There are many reasons to consider media interviews and industry analyst briefings to be branding opportunities:
- Companies come and go…especially these days. A solid brand that is reinforced in PR and industry analyst relations efforts helps convey stability to wary reporters and analysts.
- As markets are weeding out sickly competitors, a brand approach to communications results in a consistent image.
- Despite fewer competitors, messages still sound quite a bit alike. Making your unique brand speak to the media and analysts helps keep their attention in a crowded market place.
Where to Begin
The first step to implementing a brand-driven PR and industry analyst relations program is to make room for PR on the branding team. This move will give PR the understanding of the branding strategy needed to create a successful program.
Once the brand-driven messaging platform is in place, here are some other ideas for making your brand speak:
- Stick to the messaging verbiage in all written and spoken communication.
- Offer product/service demos that convey the brand message and look to reporters and analysts whenever possible.
- Utilize wire distribution services that enable posting of logos.
- For large announcements, create a separate web page with logos, fact sheets, demos and testimonials.
- Make a reporter-friendly "News" section on your web site that includes downloads of corporate and product logos, screen shots, etc.
- Ensure that all electronic and paper communications adhere to corporate "look" standards, including news releases, faxes, emails, presentations, etc.
- Prepare tradeshow booth workers with messages and ensure that only those spokespeople who have been trained conduct media and analyst interviews.