The document discusses the importance of branding for food bloggers. It explains that a brand is more than just a logo - it is the feeling and experience that customers associate with a company. The document provides a five step process for bloggers to develop their brand: 1) get a taste of branding strategy, 2) add spice with brand identity design, 3) dish up engagement with audiences, 4) digest brand analysis, and 5) cultivate the brand over time with protection and culture. Developing a strong, consistent brand can help bloggers increase awareness, commercial success, loyal readers, and a sense of legacy.
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Essence design branding bites
1. #FBC5 Food Blogger Connect Conference | A Taste of Branding
A Taste of Branding
Brand Bites
11/07/2013 www.essence-design.co.uk
2. #FBC5 Food Blogger Connect Conference | A Taste of Branding
Introduction | It‟s natural!
3. #FBC5 Food Blogger Connect Conference | A Taste of Branding
Introduction
The word "brand" is derived from the
Old Norse brandr meaning "to burn."
It refers to the practice of producers
burning their mark (or brand) onto
their products.
Wikipedia
A tiny history
4. #FBC5 Food Blogger Connect Conference | A Taste of Branding
Introduction
LOGO BRAND IDENTITY YOUR BRAND
| Your brand is a feeling, not an icon
A brand is NOT a logo
5. #FBC5 Food Blogger Connect Conference | A Taste of Branding
Introduction
What sticks when the label is off?
| Branding is not just about which logo
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Introduction
COMFORT REASSURE CONNECT
What brands do
| Why is Branding Important?
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Introduction | Without competition you don‟t have to try hard
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Introduction | Competition changes the game
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Introduction
So why should you care?
| “Only one brand can be the cheapest”
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Introduction
Little fish in a big sea
• 59.4 million – Number of WordPress
sites around the world
• 87.8 million – Number of Tumblr blogs
• 3.5 billion – Number of webpages run by
WordPress viewed each month
| Why is Branding Important for You?
11. #FBC5 Food Blogger Connect Conference | A Taste of Branding
Introduction
• More brand awareness = more opportunities
Benefits of building a brand
| Why is Branding Important for You?
12. #FBC5 Food Blogger Connect Conference | A Taste of Branding
Introduction
• More brand awareness = more opportunities
• Commercial success through increased exposure
Benefits of building a brand
| Why is Branding Important for You?
13. #FBC5 Food Blogger Connect Conference | A Taste of Branding
Introduction
• More brand awareness = more opportunities
• Commercial success through increased exposure
• Loyal readers that follow your blog
Benefits of building a brand
| Why is Branding Important for You?
14. #FBC5 Food Blogger Connect Conference | A Taste of Branding
Introduction
• More brand awareness = more opportunities
• Commercial success through increased exposure
• Loyal readers that follow your blog
• Sense of achievement/leaving a legacy
Benefits of building a brand
| Why is Branding Important for You?
15. #FBC5 Food Blogger Connect Conference | A Taste of Branding
Introduction
From blog to brand in 5 steps
1. Get a (different) taste – Strategy
2. Add some spice – Design
3. Dish up – Engagement
4. Digest – Evaluation
5. Cultivate – Protection
| Five points to consider
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Get a (different) taste
1. Get a (different) taste
• Who are you?
• What do you do?
| Brand strategy starter questions
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Get a (different) taste
So why should anyone
care?
| How can you be different?
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Get a (different) taste
Understand your market
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Get a (different) taste
Connect with your audience
| Understand your audience and show them you care
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Get a (different) taste
Connect with your audience
| Develop a „big idea‟ to illustrate your key message, your brand essence
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Get a (different) taste
Impart your vision
| Find your competitive advantage
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Get a (different) taste
Build on your expertise
| Find your niche subject as an expert
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Get a (different) taste
Consider your personality
| YOU can be your brand
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Get a (different) taste
Think ahead
| Ensure your brand works if you expand
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Get a (different) taste | Sample of sub brands
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Get a (different) taste
Formulate a mission
| Analyse your competition. Create a mission that sets you apart
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Get a (different) taste
Create a strapline
| Find a strapline that pulls people in
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Get a (different) taste | Quick Summary
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Add some spice
2. Add some spice
• Develop a brand identity
• Find a visual style for your blog
• Create a memorable design
| Brand identity design – be original
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Add some spice
Name your blog. Name your URL. Name your products.
What‟s your name?
| Think long-term, consider your blog „growing up‟
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Add some spice
What‟s your flavour?
| Logo and colour scheme, logo elements for visual details
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Add some spice
What‟s your image?
| Photography
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Add some spice
Photo by Lariffic
| Photography
34. #FBC5 Food Blogger Connect Conference | A Taste of Branding
Add some spice
What‟s your (type) style?
| Typography and visual elements
35. #FBC5 Food Blogger Connect Conference | A Taste of Branding
Add some spice
What‟s your personality?
| Your writing style
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Add some spice | Innocent example
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Add some spice| Quick Summary
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Dish up
3. Dish up
• Who is interested in your brand?
• How can you engage with them?
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Dish up | Brand stakeholders
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Dish up | Brand touch points
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Dish up| Brand Engagement
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Dish up| Brand Engagement
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Dish up| Brand Engagement
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Dish up| Brand Engagement
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Dish up| Brand Engagement
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Dish up| Brand Engagement
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Dish up| Brand Engagement
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Dish up| Brand Engagement
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Dish up| Brand Engagement
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Dish up| Brand Engagement
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Dish up| Brand Engagement
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Dish up| Brand Engagement
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Dish up | Sample Brand – Jamie Oliver
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Dish up | Quick Summary
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Digest
4. Digest
| Brand analysis to stay current and adapt to changes in technology, economy, health…
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Digest
Out with the old…
| Old communication model
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Digest
… in with the new
| Instant feedback with social media and online
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Digest
No comment?
| Consider legal implications of comment management
www.eff.org/issues/bloggers/legal/liability/defamation
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Digest | Quick Summary
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Cultivate
5. Cultivate
| Brand Protection
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Cultivate
Pass on the recipe
| Check that your brand looks AND behaves like you intended
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Cultivate
Be protective
| Brand Guidelines, Trademarks, Crisis Management
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Cultivate
What the hack?!
| It happens to the best of us – be prepared
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Cultivate
Add (food) culture
“I wouldn’t marry your rhubarb, strawberry and ginger
crumble – but I’d love to take it away for a dirty weekend.”
Greg Wallace
| Become a household brand
65. #FBC5 Food Blogger Connect Conference | A Taste of Branding
Cultivate
Be good... then do better!
| Be responsible
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Cultivate
Nomen est omen
| Giving back can help grow your reputation
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Cultivate | Quick Summary
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| Branding is amazing! And innocent is owned by Coca Cola
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Just do it again…
| Don‟t stop!
70. #FBC5 Food Blogger Connect Conference | A Taste of Branding
Thank you for your time
Regine Wilber
Brand Consultant/Designer
Essence Design Ltd
Blog: ukbrandstrategy.com
E: regine@essence-design.co.uk
M: 07940 564849
essence-design.co.uk
Please get in touch if you would
like detailed notes for this talk.
Editor's Notes
I believe branding is actually quite a natural thing. Farmers mark their life stock and have done for centuries, producers of any kind of good or product put their mark on it if not for identification, then for differentiation. We all do it subconsciously ourselves by the way we dress, talk and interact with others…
The term brandis often used to describe the brand identity of a business or organisation.Worse still, it is interchanged with the term LOGO.A logo is a visual mark or identifier for a product or service.An identity, or brand identity, combines the logo,colours, the photography style, the tone of voice, the sound and anything else sensory that represents the product and brand.A brand however is more intangible, more touchy-feely, it’s the gut feeling a person has about a product or service.So, in cup cake language, a logo may be a decorative identifier of the specific flavour. The colours, packaging and shape are all part of the brand identity. The brand will only come to life once a customer has taken a bite. The flavour and textureare just as important as all the triggers that made someone buy and try this particular cake instead of another.Where branding becomes really powerful is when you also take into consideration the ambience in which the cake was selected and eaten, the interaction with the seller, the buying experience as a whole and of course the ‘was it worth it’ feedback that follows.
Branding is not about which logo, which colour or which font you use, it’s about creating a feeling for your blog, product or service that will make them pick you above the competition. It’s about creating loyalty, a connection and passion for a brand that is stronger than packaging design.“Branding is about everything.” Tom Peters"Products are made in the factory, but brands are created in the mind" Walter Landor
Brands do lots of things, obviously, but there are a few key aspects of what brands achieve, all rooted in our basic instincts and human nature.Comfort – Most people don’t like making choices. Brands add familiarity and a sense of comfort when picking a product.Reassurance – Brands give consumers confidence into their buying choice.Connect – Brands make a statement about the person who buys them. They evoke aspirations and inspire consumers to want to become part of the brand’s ‘tribe’ You could call it a symbiosis of natural instincts and man made products that enables us to express ourselves."A brand that captures your mind gains behavior. A brand that captures your heart gains commitment.”– Kent Huffman
When I was asked to do this talk, I instantly thought about that roundabout near Sutton Coldfield which has always made me smile. It’s a simple mark and whilst you probably don’t expect any high quality food from whichever shack is serving food in that direction, it fulfills a basic need and doesn’t require more words or embellishments. Out in the sticks there is no competition.If you had the same sign amidst a different roundabout with the big fast food chains rising high up into the sky with their logos, you will probably feel drawn to the more recognised mark purely because you know what you are getting and being on the road you don’t have the time to experiment, you just want a simple solution for your need. So whilst it used to be enough to simply name a product without mentioning any of the features, benefits or experience when buying it, today’s supermarket shelves require something else…Marketing has shifted from communicating FEATURES ‘what it has’ (1900) to BENEFITS ‘what it does’ (1925) to EXPERIENCE ‘what you will feel’ (1950) to IDENTIFICATION ‘who you are’ (2000) – Marty Neumeier
With competition, market sharesdecrease and suddenly it is no longer enough to 'bake the bread' in the village, you have to ensure people understand that your bread is better than that of the bakery down the road, and you have to try to sell a product as more than just a price-driven commodity that is worth paying a premium for.
“Only one brand can be the cheapest. The rest have to use branding. The stronger the brand, the greater the profit margin.” (Marty Neumeier)
Stats by royalpingdomhttp://royal.pingdom.com/2013/01/16/internet-2012-in-numbers/With so many blogs out there, it can be daunting to approachhow to make yours stand out.But, there is no reason why you can’t make a name for yourself and branding helps to articulate your potential.
Opportunities could be collaborations with other bloggers, product owners, advertisers, publishers, media > increased exposure
Commercial success – may be leading to selling a product or service associated with the brand, selling targeted advertising on the blog, being called in as an expert etc
Gaining a loyal readership - brands are harder to replace than productsGreat BRAND AWARENESS + great BRAND EXPERIENCE leads to BRAND LOYALTY And that is what brands ultimately want to achieve.
But it’s also about personal development, confidence and self-motivation Should give you a sense of achievement and leaving a legacy
5) Cultivate – live and learn – become part of the culture, protect your brand, care for others
Start building your strategy by thinking about who you are and what you do. That should be quite easy.
It gets harder to answer the third question – why should anyone care? That all depends on how well you understand your reader’s requirements and how you can fulfill them differently to and better than your competition.Our brains are hard wired to spot differences, rather than bother with the same old, same old.What are you writing about? Recipes? Food Photography? Restaurant reviews? CulinaryTravel? Health food and fitness? London Nights out? Take-aways? A specific cuisine, such as Mediterranean, middle eastern, Japanese? Raw & Vegan Food? Music and eating ? Family friendly recipes? Sweet tooth stuff? Budget Friendly Meal Planning? Dressing up and food? Food and toddlers? Cooking with and for boys?If this list makes you think of certain blogs, out of the thousands that are on the web, you know branding is working.You may also realise that the more specific a subject of a blog is, the less competition there is.What makes you different from others?Are you writing about a different subject to most bloggers?Are you a niche writer?Could you be one?Keep working on a strategy that is DIFFERENT and keep evaluating your blog goals, think about what you want to achieveThink about a strategy that answers people’s needsConsistent fresh, good and interesting content makes for a good ‘brand promise’ e.g. what you say you set out to do, your promise to the readersFollowing slides show some examples of what to consider when building a strategy, finding your ‘brand promise’ and key message and what big brands are doing with their strategy
What’s your market? Where do you position yourself?What’s your brand essence and how can you tell your story?What are the cultural implications of your subject?Are you thinking long-term?EXAMPLECoca-Cola targets different audiences– young people with their sugar soft drink ranges, older consumers with zero calorie, all quite low cost. It keeps true to its heritage (125 years) and it has found a brand promise it keeps fulfilling – sharing happiness and refreshment. It is global and it is local, maintaining cultural relevance and staying consistently on message.Share with a friend campaign is currently running with bespoke names as just one sample of an execution of that thought
Associate with people and their feelings – be an engaging brand that cares.Have a unique set of values and a vision that deflects the competition. Develop a ‘big idea’, an underlying concept with key messages and a tone of voice that reflects your brand essence.EXAMPLE Marmite – simple brand strategy - love it or hate it – executed in countless ways such as with this Facebook campaign with changing fan names for love / hate BA did a campaign during the Olympics where participants were shown their street as a landing strip encouraging people to stay at home and support the Olympics – quite counter intuitive for a travel business but very personal and honestDove celebrates Real Beauty with real people for many years now.Brand offers a refreshing distance from unachievable beauty standards set by competitorsLiteral personalisation strategiesNike ID takes bespoke footwear a step furtherM&Ms offer bespoke colours and packaging of their chocolate buttons for special eventsI mentioned coca cola already
Associate with people and their feelings – be an engaging brand that cares.Have a unique set of values and a vision that deflects the competition. Develop a ‘big idea’, an underlying concept with key messages and a tone of voice that reflects your brand essence.EXAMPLE Marmite – simple brand strategy - love it or hate it – executed in countless ways such as with this Facebook campaign with changing fan names for love / hate BA did a campaign during the Olympics where participants were shown their street as a landing strip encouraging people to stay at home and support the Olympics – quite counter intuitive for a travel business but very personal and honestDove celebrates Real Beauty with real people for many years now.Brand offers a refreshing distance from unachievable beauty standards set by competitorsLiteral personalisation strategiesNike ID takes bespoke footwear a step furtherM&Ms offer bespoke colours and packaging of their chocolate buttons for special eventsI mentioned coca cola already
What is your competitive advantage?Can you illustrate that in a sentence or tagline?Brands live on even when those who have defined them are gone. That’s the magic of creating a brand rather than just a service or product. If your blog becomes a brand, you can have guest writers, or ghost writers, people will follow the brand rather than just you. EXAMPLE - AppleApple has inspired a whole industry of related products and services designed to work with the Apple brand. ‘Think different’ slogan has inspired the world.Standeazy smartphone stands are just one example of a product dedicated to an apple product
What’s your niche? What’s your expert subject? Does it apply to today’s worries and needs?What is your UVP (or USP) Unique Value Proposition? What’ is your brand promise?EXAMPLEMumsnet – a forum that has evolved to a trusted brand and is now an institution for parent advice and product reviewsBusy parents no longer have to evaluate hundreds of review sites – they know mumsnet is the one that probably understands them and delivers a solutionCompanies pay to be featured and work with the site to showcase their products
What is your character, your personality?YOU can be an inspiration to stake holders and your team.Your values can become the brand values.You can be a personality brand all built around your own character, how you dress, how you talk, how you mingle, what your interest are and what the fascination is that makes you a personality.EXAMPLE Amanda Hesser – personal brand – 151,000 followers on twitter – top ten food twittereres to follow according to MashableFood columnist at the New York Times and woman behind Food52.comHesser tweets personal anecdotes, food photos and the food writing she finds most appealing across the web.She shares her best tips (how to get through a dinner party with ease) and life lessons (how to brew better coffee) in a very personable wayInteracts with her followers.
Be flexible when working on a strategy.Think about sub brands and future expansion of your blog.Re-visit your strategy with changing trends in the market.EXAMPLELooking at Bethany Kehdy, the woman behind food bloggers connect:Mission: Demystify Middle Eastern food and make it more accessibleMeaning: Bethany (Aramaic: בית עניא, Beth anya, "house of the figs") is recorded in the New Testament as the home of the siblings Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, as well as that of Simon the Leper. Jesus is reported to have lodged there after his entry into Jerusalem, and it could be from Bethany that he parted from his disciples at the Ascension.http://bethanykehdy.com/http://www.tastelebanon.co.uk/http://www.dirtykitchensecrets.com/http://www.foodbloggerconnect.com/
Brand architecture – one master brand, many sub brandsThoughts: Recognisable icon for sub brandsMaintains playfulness and flexibility with ‘master brand’ tree – expandableFeeling it projects very much in line with the mission of the brand
What’s your competition?What are your weaknesses, risks and opportunities?There are thousands of food blogs out there.Differentiate your blog from others – create a buzz – create passion, loyalty and followership for your brandWrite your mission statement explaining what you are out there to do.Sample mission statements: Our mission is to spread the word about quality chocolate and the amazing chocolatiers, chocolate makers and cacao farmers who help create it.A food & travel blog with lots of stuff on London, tooThe Foodshed is a nonprofit organization that supports producers of local food and educates the individuals, organizations, and businesses within the Mid-Atlantic foodshed about the region’s alternative food system.
Do you have a tagline that pulls people in?Taglines are a great way to remind people what you stand for.Make them memorable, engaging, powerful, expressive, relevant, short – 7-9 words101 cookbooks – a recipe journalLucid food – clearly natural cookingEverybody likes sandwiches - An uncomplicated journal about food…not just sandwiches
Once you know where you are going, you can plan the way.
Let’s take a look at the visual aspects of a brand, the exciting creative stuff.I won’t tell you how to design a logo because unless you are super talented, you are probably better at what you do and wise to let a designer create your visual identity.I hope some of the points will help to write a good briefing for a designer to make the design process as fluid as possible. There are lots of other things you can keep doing yourself with photography and type to keep the style of your blog consistent and unique to yourself
Naming your brand / blogIt’s a bit like having a baby.Think about the name for your blog – and how it will sound in a few years when you have hopefully reached your targets.Make it as future proof as you can… and above all, make it unforgettable.
Logo and colour schemeThink about the whole site as a reflection of your vision and values. What does your logo say about you? Does it sum up your brand message?What do the colours mean? (Blue might be cool and powerful, depending on the shade, red sexy and vibrant, pink girly or innocent, black intriguing and cool, luxurious and dramatic…)Can your logo stand alone? Can you work with logo elements to re-enforce your message elsewhere?
Photography styleCombine photography, colours, layout and typeFind a photography style that suits your subject and represents your characterYour blog is your shopping window, make sure it is dressed suitably for your message and goalsBlogs are individual – and they can celebrate individualism, they are perfect to discover niches and to grow your own personal appeal
TypographyTypography can really set your blog apart from others.Be different! Research your market, find a gap – or be better than the rest!Think about adding type and graphical elements to your photographyThink about its typography, which font expresses best what you are trying to say?Think about the layout of your blog from a reading point of view, how is the user experience? Are you taking readers on a journey or leave them stranded at your home page with not much of a clue where to go next?
Tone of voice, writing styleCool and restrained? Designer chic?Fun and home-made? Comic or caricature?Witty and personal? Be consistent throughout the blog in your style and it will help your brand come to live.Let your language tell yourstory.Keep looking back at your goals and brand strategy to see that the visual representation gels the two together.Be consistent with your style when engaging with other media, too – no point working hard on differentiating yourself when you then lose that touch when doing an interview or a guest blog somewhere.
Writing style sampleInnocent smoothies branding includes great care for the language and copy writing style.It is simple, honest sounding and fun with a bit of cheeky banter – engaging and feel good.“sign up for love, friendship, a weekly newsletter but no pocket money”“Vietnamese curryUdon noodles with edamame beans in a gently spiced coconut sauceYou’re in Vietnam. You’ve whizzed around Hanoi in a rickshaw. You’ve walked around admiring the rice fields and the meandering waterways of the Mekong Delta. You’ve smiled and nodded enthusiastically at some happy locals. And right now you’re settling down for a delicious, flavoursome meal of udon noodles, veg, tasty sauce and spices. Enjoy (chopsticks optional).”
Quick summary
BRAND IS NOT WHAT YOU SAY IT IS – ITS WHAT THEY SAY IT IS (Marty Neumeier)How can you engage with others?
Your brand should be far-reaching, and that means there are many interested parties - ‘stakeholders’ to consider in your strategy development process.Each can help to increase your reputation, though some will be more important for your goals than others.
A brand touch point is a place, artefact or interface where a person experiences a brand.Don’t forget that your brand is expressed by the entire experience, from entering your site, to navigating it, reading your articles, seeing your photography, colours, typography.Beyond that it is about how you talk to people on the street about your blog, how you answer the phone, deal with media requests, deal with complaints or praise, how you are featured in other media, respond on twitter and other social media, basically at every brand touch point.Be sure you are consistent in your message and look & feel. Revisiting Amanda Hesser, the food columnist with the Food52 blog, I am trying to show an example of brand touch points just for her blog.
Amanda Hesser – personal brand columnist at the New York Times, co-founder of Food 52 website, blog and shopBuilding the Food52 brand around the blog, website and shop with PR, affiliates, social media and promotions/competitionshttp://shop.food52.com/national
Amanda Hesser – personal brand columnist at the New York Times, co-founder of Food 52 website, blog and shopBuilding the Food52 brand around the blog, website and shop with PR, affiliates, social media and promotions/competitionshttp://shop.food52.com/national
Amanda Hesser – personal brand columnist at the New York Times, co-founder of Food 52 website, blog and shopBuilding the Food52 brand around the blog, website and shop with PR, affiliates, social media and promotions/competitionshttp://shop.food52.com/national
Amanda Hesser – personal brand columnist at the New York Times, co-founder of Food 52 website, blog and shopBuilding the Food52 brand around the blog, website and shop with PR, affiliates, social media and promotions/competitionshttp://shop.food52.com/national
Amanda Hesser – personal brand columnist at the New York Times, co-founder of Food 52 website, blog and shopBuilding the Food52 brand around the blog, website and shop with PR, affiliates, social media and promotions/competitionshttp://shop.food52.com/national
Amanda Hesser – personal brand columnist at the New York Times, co-founder of Food 52 website, blog and shopBuilding the Food52 brand around the blog, website and shop with PR, affiliates, social media and promotions/competitionshttp://shop.food52.com/national
Amanda Hesser – personal brand columnist at the New York Times, co-founder of Food 52 website, blog and shopBuilding the Food52 brand around the blog, website and shop with PR, affiliates, social media and promotions/competitionshttp://shop.food52.com/national
Amanda Hesser – personal brand columnist at the New York Times, co-founder of Food 52 website, blog and shopBuilding the Food52 brand around the blog, website and shop with PR, affiliates, social media and promotions/competitionshttp://shop.food52.com/national
Amanda Hesser – personal brand columnist at the New York Times, co-founder of Food 52 website, blog and shopBuilding the Food52 brand around the blog, website and shop with PR, affiliates, social media and promotions/competitionshttp://shop.food52.com/national
Amanda Hesser – personal brand columnist at the New York Times, co-founder of Food 52 website, blog and shopBuilding the Food52 brand around the blog, website and shop with PR, affiliates, social media and promotions/competitionshttp://shop.food52.com/national
Amanda Hesser – personal brand columnist at the New York Times, co-founder of Food 52 website, blog and shopBuilding the Food52 brand around the blog, website and shop with PR, affiliates, social media and promotions/competitionshttp://shop.food52.com/national
Amanda Hesser – personal brand columnist at the New York Times, co-founder of Food 52 website, blog and shopBuilding the Food52 brand around the blog, website and shop with PR, affiliates, social media and promotions/competitionshttp://shop.food52.com/national
Jamie Oliver has it all – a reputation as a chef, a brand promoting products and merchandise he associates himself with and he is great when it comes to educating youngsters and parents about food.He has his own brand guidelines manual with hundreds of pages on how his brand is to be represented in different mediaIt’s an honest, but very slick and styled consistent representation of his brand values that is so strong because everything seems to have been consideredWhat we can learn from Jamie• Be yourself, but more so• Extend the brand • Build on what you’re good at• Remember the social dimension• Become the face of a supermarket• Deal with adversity• Go international • Protect the brand• Be controversial• Be bold
Quick summary
Gather feedback for your brand engagement and (re)engage with your target audience.Remember that as your brand evolves so will your readers / customers and vice versa you have to be able to adapt to changing behaviour due to new technology, politics, the economy, social trends, medicine, etc.React to responses, feedback and comments, learn and adapt communication models)Try to identify what makes your readers tick – are they ‘creative’ or ‘analytical’ – and what does that mean for your style of writing? You could say they will pick your blog if they like your style but perhaps it is an opportunity to capture a larger audience if you consider their preferences as well.
Brands used to broadcast messages without much feedback.The target was unrefined and it was a matter of hitting a mass audience for a percentage impact.This untargeted shouting match couldn’t survive in today’s media rich world, people grew deaf and blind to endless irrelevant messages.
With social media and online marketing, there is now a dialogue between brands and concumers – and consumers expect that dialogue to be part of their everyday life. Instant gratification has taken on a whole new dimension. Customer service is ever more important.You can use tools like ‘Mention’ to see what customers say about you and use social media to engage.Always consider that feedback online stays there for a long time, and bad feedback can be far more damaging.Keep true to yourself. Validate comments to see if they are constructive and worth taking into consideration.
How do you deal with comments? How do you comment yourself?What are the legal implications of managing or not managing responses (defamation and libel…)There is a website with some good information about the subject:https://www.eff.org/issues/bloggers/legal/liability/defamation
Don’t try to be perfect, live and learn on the way!
Your brand will live through you and all the people associated with it. Make sure they all understand what you want your brand to aim for, what the most important values are and how you want to engage with your readers and hopefully customers.Check that your brand doesn’t just look like you intended, but also ‘behaves’ like you intended.Quoting Marty Neumeier on the subject“If a brand looks like a duck, walks like a duck and swims like a duck, it must be a duck. If it swims like a dog, however, people start to wonder.”
No matter how light hearted your brand may be, it is vulnerable and delicate and needs protecting.Brand guidelines help when dealing with media outlets that will represent you. Make sure your brand identity is documented and consistent. Think about trademarking your brand name. Think about crisis management for the ‘worst case scenario’ and put a plan in place before something happens
Be prepared for internet security issues, hackers, site down, spam comments, etc. When the Burger King twitter account got hacked not long ago, it quickly became a big embarrassment with the background picture on the account showing Fish McBites and some posts containing racial slurs, obscenities and references to drugs (as well as one post saying "We just got sold to McDonald's! Look for McDonald's in a hood near you”…)Word press is notoriously ‘easy’ to hack with certain plugins so beware.
Speak your brand language at every occasion. Create a culture for your brand that reflects the brand values whatever you do.Some brands have changed our language – Google it, Ebay it, Twitter something, Masterchef has made it into the conscience of most the BBC audience in the country. The logo has become a symbol for exciting new talent. The apron has become merchandise. The program went international and exists around the globe.People collect the phrases of the presenters and celebrate the brand in their own personal way.http://meethink.wordpress.com/2010/10/07/if-oscar-wilde-did-cooking-programs/
Example M&S – started in 2007 to be a sustainable brand with five year plan. Launched initiatives with WWF, Marine Conservation Society, Fairtrade etc.It still positions itself as a premium brand: “We sell high quality, great value clothing and home products as well as outstanding quality food.”
Going back to Innocent, their sustainability programme (after that incident with the charity taxes) has been thought-through and includes all areas of the product developments, all adding to the ‘feeling’ of innocent.
Quick Summary
I have mentioned Innocent a number of times in this presentation.We talked about how the brand gives out a feeling of healthy ingredients, social responsibility and generally doing something good for your family and yourself. It certainly does not project the feeling of fast food.But, innocent is actually owned by coca cola.It’s a simple example on the power of branding and how branding can create an image of a product or service that is far removed from its parent company – it is amazing what branding can achieve!
If you stop building your brand, your brand will stop.