How to start defining your brand?

I get this question often - "how do I define my company's brand?"  Building and defining your brand can be daunting for any size organization.  My advice is to start with the customer (this is usually my advice for just about anything marketing related!).

You will need to 1) define your target audience and 2) understand the one thing you have their permission to own.  This will help you get a clear idea of how you are different from the competition in the eyes of your audience so that you know what space you can own based on the value you create. 

Define Your Audience
Being choiceful and zeroing in on your target audience is critical, even if it means excluding other audiences. You build your brand around your core audience and the differentiation you own, and let other audiences either be drawn in or be left out. The reason you are okay with exclusion is that the customers you attract ultimately define the kind of brand you are and the way you operate. Think about the way your customers ask you to respond to them today (cut prices? deliver faster? etc.)......you build everything around their needs, so be careful to get the customers you want.  Need more help segmenting your audience?  Read this.

Understand Your Competitive Advantage from Your Audience POV
Start by talking to your existing customers to understand why they choose you over the competition. Ask potential customers how they perceive your brand.  If you can, engage market research professionals to help you. Based on the insights ideate around what space you can own - what do you want your brand to represent in their hearts and minds above and beyond product and functional features? What emotional territory do you want and have permission to own based on your competitive differentiation?  Also, what about their current perception do you want to strengthen, shift, or change?    

Clearly defining target audience and your brand’s “ownable” competitive advantage among that audience is the key to occupying a unique, defensible position in a customers mind and building long-lasting brand affinity.

Got questions? Email me.

Telling Your Brand Story.....Without Saying a Thing

Your brand story is not actually about you.

Your brand story is about your customers.

And in fact your brand story is not about words or about what you "say"; it is about action your brand takes on behalf of your customers and the benefits they receive from interacting with your brand.

A prime example is Zappos.  Instead of just saying "We have great customer service", they offer free shipping both ways and allow returns for up to one year.  If you have ever interacted with a Zappos customer service agent you know how friendly, responsive and earnest they are.  In fact, they can usually get you what you want, or do better than what you want (exceeding expectations).  The Zappos brand story of great customer service is told through these actions & interactions.

How is your brand story told?

Need help bringing your brand story to life?  Email me.

How & Why to Segment Your Customers

Segmentation is the process of defining who, along the spectrum of potential groups, should be your customer (who is most likely to value your offer, product or service).  Segmentation shapes every piece of the marketing strategy since the reason you exist is because you create value for a customer group.  Read why it is critical that your marketing strategy start with the customer here.

The segmentation process deserves time and thought. Below I've outlined the steps to start the segmentation process. You should seriously consider if you need to hire a marketing professional to help you complete your segmentation study if you do not have the expertise yourself. 

Segmentation Steps:

Brainstorm: Who are the Buyers?

Who are all the potential buyers or consumers of your product or service?  Make a list.  Get creative.  Think about different ways to describe them.

Brainstorm:  Consider Different Ways to Segment the Consumers

Think:  what are all the different ways you could divide the list of buyers & consumers you made?

Some common differentiators include geographic (city, nation, rural vs urban, etc.), demographic (age, income, gender, etc.) and lifestyle (luxury, modest, etc.). 

Push beyond these generalities and consider how consumers use or engage with your product or service (at a category level). For example, are there heavy users & light users?  Do they value different benefits - price vs performance?

Define the Segments

Give your segments names & descriptions.

For each segment, describe:

1) use of product or service, 

2) benefits they seek from the product, 

3) attitude and level of loyalty toward product, and

4) pain points or satisfaction level with existing options.

Create Scenarios & Evaluate

For each segment, consider what it would mean for you & your organization if you pick them.  

Take time to explore each segment fully to understand the implications to channel selection or distribution, pricing & brand positioning.

Pick a Segment

Deciding which segment to select depends on several factors.  You need to assess:

1) your "own-able" competitive advantage,

2) your business goals, 

3) available resources and 

4) the expected return or profitability of the different segments.  

Develop Your Positioning Statement

This is one of the hardest steps, but it is very important.  The goal is to "define the specific position you want to occupy in the mind of the target audience you chose." 

This is based on 3 critical elements: 

1) your point of difference or competitive advantage over the other choices your target audience has (your claim), 

2) the reason to believe your point of difference (your proof), 

3) the end benefit your target audience receives (emotional benefit, not functional).

Read more about the concept of positioning from the people who originated the idea in the short book Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind. 

Got a question about segmentation?  Need help?  Email me.

Why You Need To Segment Your Customers

A worthy re-post. I originally posted this in July 2010, if you missed it, now's your chance!

Often businesses and organizations skip a critical step in formation of their marketing strategy - target audience segmentation, or essentially defining who, along the spectrum of potential customers, to attempt to serve.  Segmentation shapes every piece of the marketing strategy since the customer, not the product or service, determine the game plan and rules by which the game is played.

So why do smart people (like you perhaps) skip it?  Common response:

In reality, many people just don't understand the power of segmentation or how to do it well. 

As I mentioned, segmentation drives key decisions related to your marketing strategy.  To do it well does take time, but it is absolutely, one-hundred percent worth it.   And even if your product is designed for the mass market, you still need segmentation to define who the most likely early adopters are and how to engage them.

For example, a chocolate brand segmenting the market based on use habits may choose to target those who primarily use chocolate for cooking & baking, while another might target those using it for daily snacking.  The choice has important implications for what kind of chocolates to make & in what shapes, how to package & price their chocolates, and where to sell it. 

Segmentation involves deciding on what basis to divide the variety of consumers that might benefit from your product or service.

Thought-starters:  How does your organization segment the market?  How should they segment it?  Are you using the right marketing tools to reach the segment you've chosen?

Need help answering these questions?  Email me.