Presented on 18 February 2009 to Harvard Extension School course "Social Media Marketing," led by MaryLou Roberts. An overview of the challenges nonprofits face, how building a social brand can help, and of an approach to implementing social media in nonprofit organizations.
Is not about your logo, it never was… Brand is the carrier of what you stand for, your: promises, expectations, experiences; capabilities, strengths, attributes; position in the competitive environment. Helps attract and retain, staff, board, donors, partners, artists, and more. Creates value that extends beyond one-off campaigns. Builds resonance and connection that helps keep diverse revenue streams healthy. Is critical to cutting through the din… And ultimately influencing thinking and behavior.
Is not about your logo, it never was… Brand is the carrier of what you stand for, your: promises, expectations, experiences; capabilities, strengths, attributes; position in the competitive environment. Helps attract and retain, staff, board, donors, partners, artists, and more. Creates value that extends beyond one-off campaigns. Builds resonance and connection that helps keep diverse revenue streams healthy. Is critical to cutting through the din… And ultimately influencing thinking and behavior.
Is not about your logo, it never was… Brand is the carrier of what you stand for, your: promises, expectations, experiences; capabilities, strengths, attributes; position in the competitive environment. Helps attract and retain, staff, board, donors, partners, artists, and more. Creates value that extends beyond one-off campaigns. Builds resonance and connection that helps keep diverse revenue streams healthy. Is critical to cutting through the din… And ultimately influencing thinking and behavior.
At the end of the day, it’s a mosaic… Every communication… Every interaction… Is either building brand, or not.. Everyone is involved – not just marketing and development… The question is, are your pieces adding up to a recognizable and meaningful whole? One greater than the sum of the parts?
When thinking about brand-focused research, consider: Quant : great for measuring actions, and is often more historical Qual : great for uncovering motivations BEHIND actions, important for getting to the essence of brand-related decisions, preferences, etc,,, Inside --from vols to staff to board chair --your people KNOW a lot! --and gets them involved…. A great bi-product!!!! External --audiences, donors, prospects all the way to competitive and relevant environment. --about positing and differentiation and context – finding the piece of pie you can own – and where you can win!
G was looking up.. YOU need to look up, down, inside and out… To find out WHO you are, and why people should care… DECONSTRUCTION!
DIFFERENT WAYS TO CUT THE CAKE DEPENDING ON YOUR SITUATION… AND SOMETIMES IT”S A COMBO PLATTER! Different drivers, needs, expectations, ways to satisfy…
And most importantly, WHAT do they CARE about???
Communications, offerings, messages, values…need to be relevant to constituent’s lives….make them one notch more complete
Using what you learned in research, craft your brand foundation Informs --visual and verbal communications that come later.. COMMENT Areas of focus --easy handle… 4 things, not 10 Attributes --Category… more than museum!
RECONSTRUCTION!!!! On paper, who you can be. Don’t fake it -- Prepare your open book:
Your brand is a chord– it’s a mosaic made up of different “notes”—it will resonate with some and not others (and that’s okay) And like sound.. It carries.. moving your mission and value outward and pulling people in… Social media means, in many ways, the "death of distance" - Tom Peters most powerful (donor) constituency may not be your local one broadcasting to narrowcast to find the the audiences with whom you resonate most strongly
“ logical interconnection”—not just “understandability” No matter what part of your org people ar etouchin, they know it’s yours..