A brand book, Achieve Brand Integrity, began, “A brand strategy is the ultimate business strategy and often the least understood.” How many corporate and non-profit leaders understand the essence of both marketing and branding? Strong brands take time to build, and their messaging, positioning, and core values must be consistent. I have a list of helpful brand equity books, but to set the stage, here are some great quotes about brands:
Products are made in the factory, but brands are created in the mind. ~Walter Landor
A brand is a living entity – and it is enriched or undermined cumulatively over time, the product of a thousand small gestures. ~Michael Eisner, former CEO of Disney
If this business were split up, I would give you the land and bricks and mortar, and I would take the brands and trademarks, and I would fare better than you. ~John Stuart, former CEO of Quaker Oats
Here is the list of my top 10 brand equity books. Enjoy!
Achieve Brand Integrity: Ten Truths You Must Know to Enhance Employee Performance and Increase Company Profits
c. 2007
By Gregg Lederman
Managing Brand Equity
c. 1991
By David A. Aaker
Brand Leadership: Building Assets in an Information Economy
c. 2009
By David A. Aaker and Erich Joachimsthaler
The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding
c. 2002
By Al Ries and Laura Ries
The Origin of Brands: How Product Evolution Creates Endless Possibilities for New Brands
c. 2005
By Al Ries and Laura Ries
Secret Formula: How Brilliant Marketing and Relentless Salesmanship Made Coca-Cola the Best-Known Product in the World
c. 1995
by Frederick Allen
ESPN the Company: The Story and Lessons behind the Most Fanatical Brand in Sports (c. 2009)
By Anthony Smith and Keith Hollihan
Driven: Inside BMW, the Most Admired Car Company in the World
c. 2004
By David Kiley
Creating Magic: 10 Common Sense Leadership Strategies from a Life at Disney
c. 2008
By Lee Cockerell
The Power of Retail Branding: Reinvention Strategies for Empowering the Brand
c. 2006
By Arthur Winters, Peggy Fincher Winters, Carole Paul
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Update to Pharmacy Policy in U.S. and Canada
We understand how important it is for users to be able to purchase pharmaceuticals online for themselves or for loved ones, and we've decided to update our Google AdWords online pharmacy policy. The change will go into effect towards the end of this month.
There are two main aspects to this change:
Only VIPPS and CIPA certified pharmacies will be allowed to advertise
We've made the decision to further restrict the ads we accept for online pharmacy sites in the U.S. and Canada. Starting at the end of this month, Google AdWords will only accept ads from online pharmacies in the U.S. that are accredited by the National Association Boards of Pharmacy VIPPS program, and from online pharmacies in Canada that are accredited by the Canadian International Pharmacy Association (CIPA.)
Pharmacies can only target ads within their country
These pharmacies may only target ads to users in the country in which they are accredited. This policy change does not affect our online pharmacy policy for countries outside the U.S. and Canada.
Accordingly, we'll no longer be using any 3rd party verifier of online pharmacies other than VIPPS and CIPA. AdWords advertisers who aren't accredited by VIPPS or CIPA will no longer see their online pharmacy ads displayed once this policy change comes into effect
We'll post to this blog again once the changes go into effect towards the end of this month. For more information on our current pharmacy policy, please see this link: http://adwords.google.com/support/aw/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=7463.
There are two main aspects to this change:
Only VIPPS and CIPA certified pharmacies will be allowed to advertise
We've made the decision to further restrict the ads we accept for online pharmacy sites in the U.S. and Canada. Starting at the end of this month, Google AdWords will only accept ads from online pharmacies in the U.S. that are accredited by the National Association Boards of Pharmacy VIPPS program, and from online pharmacies in Canada that are accredited by the Canadian International Pharmacy Association (CIPA.)
Pharmacies can only target ads within their country
These pharmacies may only target ads to users in the country in which they are accredited. This policy change does not affect our online pharmacy policy for countries outside the U.S. and Canada.
Accordingly, we'll no longer be using any 3rd party verifier of online pharmacies other than VIPPS and CIPA. AdWords advertisers who aren't accredited by VIPPS or CIPA will no longer see their online pharmacy ads displayed once this policy change comes into effect
We'll post to this blog again once the changes go into effect towards the end of this month. For more information on our current pharmacy policy, please see this link: http://adwords.google.com/support/aw/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=7463.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Upcoming Google Analytics Workshop
Feras Alhlou, president and principal consultant of E-Nor, a Google Analytics Authorized Consultant, will be conducting a Google Analytics workshop at SMX West on March 5, called "Using Google Analytics to Improve Your Online Marketing & Business." Register here and get 10% off with this discount code: GA@SMX
Many organizations, large and small, struggle to go beyond basic web metrics of visitor counts and pageview volumes. In this workshop, senior consultant Feras Alhlou will walk you through what you need in order to drive your online marketing strategy ahead of your competition. I've had the pleasure of sitting in on Feras' workshops in the past, and it was the one of the main reasons we were so proud when E-Nor in the Bay Area joined our Google Analytics Authorized Consultant network. His clear, engaging and energetic teaching style will make the day fly by as you learn. It's time well spent.
Many organizations, large and small, struggle to go beyond basic web metrics of visitor counts and pageview volumes. In this workshop, senior consultant Feras Alhlou will walk you through what you need in order to drive your online marketing strategy ahead of your competition. I've had the pleasure of sitting in on Feras' workshops in the past, and it was the one of the main reasons we were so proud when E-Nor in the Bay Area joined our Google Analytics Authorized Consultant network. His clear, engaging and energetic teaching style will make the day fly by as you learn. It's time well spent.
Workshop Agenda
Morning Session – Marketer/Business Focus – Strategy & Planning
Morning Session – Marketer/Business Focus – Strategy & Planning
- Web Analytics Strategy – approach, opportunities and limitations
- How It Works – overview, accuracy and privacy implications, integrating with other data
- Practical – understanding the user interface
- Advanced Features Overview – clever stuff you can do with Google Analytics
- Accounts & Profiles, Filters & Goals – structure your data properly
- External Campaign Tracking – measure performance of search, email, banner campaigns
- Reporting – dashboards & insights
- Advanced Segmentation & Custom Reports – powerful ways to find insights
The Google Analytics team will also be at SMX West, and we'll blog about that in the near future. Hope to see you there.
Watch free online courses in the AdWords Online Classroom
We're excited to announce our latest and most interactive online training for advertisers: the AdWords Online Classroom.
You can get free, hands-on online training on key AdWords topics, delivered by our own AdWords & Industry specialists.
We're offering a great selection of live and recorded courses, including:
* Improving your AdWords performance with key tips
* Reaching more potential customers
* Getting the most from your website with Website Optimizer
* Using Google Analytics reports to improve your AdWords return-on-investment
To view all upcoming live and recorded courses for North America, please visit our North America Online Classroom site.
To view upcoming live and recorded courses for the UK and Ireland, please visit our UK & Ireland Online Classroom site.
We look forward to seeing you in class!
Betty White Still Golden
"OK, we need to appeal to Gen X and Gen Y men ... Quick, someone get Betty White's agent on the line!!!"
Seriously? Who'da thunk it?!?!
Once again, USA Today ranked the top Super Bowl ads with their magic "Ad Meter" (don't we all wish we had one of these bad boys?). And the Snickers ad featuring Betty White in a pick-up game of football took top honors. Personally, I think that the Google "Search On" ad was one of the most effective (see # 43).
The fatal flaw of the Ad Meter is that is ranks entertainment value and not real results. What I want to see is a report in 1-2 weeks that ranks the increased sales of these companies! When someone says, "I loved the ad with the house made of beer bottles," but can't name the beer, then that was 30 seconds and millions of dollars wasted.
The bottom line for those of us with "real" budgets ... you don't have to be funny or have super special effects or even hire Betty White (though she is comic gold!) ... you just need one simple message and find a way to communicate it in a manner that will speak to the way people live life.
Be real, be sincere, be different, solve a problem, be relevant -- that's the way to win in the "Ad Meter" of real life.
Take care,
Eric
Friday, February 5, 2010
Do you have one of these banks in your market?
Forrester Research just issued a new report where they asked 4,500 customers at 50 banks if they agreed with the statement "My financial provider does what's best for me, not just its own bottom line."
Here are the 7 Least Trusted Banks:
7. Bank of America - 1 in 3 people agreed that B of A looked out for their best interest
6. Chase - 31% felt that Chase did what's best for the customer
5. Capital One - 29%
4. TD/Commerce - 28% trusted this Toronto-based bank
3. 5/3 (or 1 and 2/3 if you understand basic math) - 27%
2. Citi Bank - 26%
1. HSBC - 16% (10% lower than last year's score)
It should be no surprise that credit unions and community banks ranked significantly higher in this study.
If you have one of these mega banks in your market, you may be able to use this information to your advantage. If you don't know how, call me!
Take care,
Eric
Social media and banking
Are you wondering what the role of social media should be in your bank marketing plan? It can be confusing.... and time consuming. You may even be resisting starting down this path... just one more thing marketing has to manage.
Yesterday, I saw a headline that Pepsi has dropped the SuperBowl to focus their money on a major Facebook campaign. Here's the link: : http://www.brandchannel.com/home/post/2010/02/01/Pepsi-Drops-Super-Bowl-To-Focus-On-Facebook.aspx.
Wow. This is a huge commentary that "Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore". The old marketing plan just isn't going to cover all the bases anymore. As you read about their in-depth, green marketing plans for Facebook, you will see that today's more interactive, advertising-by-invitation opportunities are just that... major opportunities. As bankers, we need to study what's being done by others, analyze how this new medium might help us reach new people in new ways and provide us a true channel of loyalty that we have not been able to create in the past. We think we have loyal customers and, while we do have some, the opportunity is there for us to really create points of differentiation in how we relate to some newly identified target groups. We may have wanted to reach single mothers in the past... how can a social media strategy help you do that and create a new kind of loyalty at the same time?
Just some food for thought. If you were thinking you would wait another year before delving into this new channel, you might want to look at it more as the opportunity it really is and start a small group to explore the top 3-5 ways you could do something exciting and meaningful through one of these channels. Then decide which one has the most potential and give it a try.
You will be a pioneer but you will be learning and growing at the same time.
Enjoy the process and lead your bank into the future.
Cheers!
Sharon
Yesterday, I saw a headline that Pepsi has dropped the SuperBowl to focus their money on a major Facebook campaign. Here's the link: : http://www.brandchannel.com/home/post/2010/02/01/Pepsi-Drops-Super-Bowl-To-Focus-On-Facebook.aspx.
Wow. This is a huge commentary that "Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore". The old marketing plan just isn't going to cover all the bases anymore. As you read about their in-depth, green marketing plans for Facebook, you will see that today's more interactive, advertising-by-invitation opportunities are just that... major opportunities. As bankers, we need to study what's being done by others, analyze how this new medium might help us reach new people in new ways and provide us a true channel of loyalty that we have not been able to create in the past. We think we have loyal customers and, while we do have some, the opportunity is there for us to really create points of differentiation in how we relate to some newly identified target groups. We may have wanted to reach single mothers in the past... how can a social media strategy help you do that and create a new kind of loyalty at the same time?
Just some food for thought. If you were thinking you would wait another year before delving into this new channel, you might want to look at it more as the opportunity it really is and start a small group to explore the top 3-5 ways you could do something exciting and meaningful through one of these channels. Then decide which one has the most potential and give it a try.
You will be a pioneer but you will be learning and growing at the same time.
Enjoy the process and lead your bank into the future.
Cheers!
Sharon
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