brand

June 7, 2017 by Marc Hausman

GovExec Research Reveals Top Brands in Government

Marketers love and lament about the corporate brand, yet ultimately come to realize their company doesn’t actually own it.

They can influence brand through marketing and communications activities. However, it’s the community of customers, prospects, partners, employees and investors who actually have ownership.

I was reminded of this earlier today when I attended an event hosted by the Government Executive Media Group entitled “Leading Brands in Government.” Based on a survey of 3,771 government buyers and influencers at both the federal and state/local levels, Government Executive reported the following:

Government workers source information about the market, solutions and vendors from online news articles, Email newsletters and research/white papers.

In government, the seven most important brand attributes are: trust, customer service, expertise, experience, value, innovation and culture. Interestingly, support of military and other related charitable activities scored low in significance.

Three trends that have shaped how industry sells to government include:

a) Positioning convergence: crafting a unique story in high value segments of the market, such as cyber, cloud, mobility, big data, etc.

b) Content marketing: this has become fully entrenched by marketers in government, using either an event-centric model or acting as a quasi-publisher.

c) Account based marketing to support targeted sales and/or contract capture.

So…based on the survey…who do government buyers perceive to be the leading brands in government? Here is Government Executive’s list in alphabetical order:

Adobe

BAE

Boeing

Cisco

Dell

Dun & Bradstreet

Google

IBM

Intel

Lockheed Martin

Management Concepts

Mastercard

Microsoft

Northrop Grumman

Pratt Whitney

Siemens

Verizon

VISA

Xerox

January 23, 2017 by Marc Hausman

Brand Built on Customer Love

Marketers invest significant resources to concept, establish, build and measure the impact of the corporate brand. A competent and credible brand fosters connection and loyalty with customers, ultimately, translating into revenue and profit.

The foundation of brand is (and will always be) a sincere and innate desire to do right by people. This commitment is even more critical today because social media empowers citizen journalism and influence.

I’ve included below a recent post on Facebook from a person who is a customer of a Web vendor. I had a comparable experience with the Red Lobster restaurant chain, which I wrote about in this blog post.

Love your customers. The good ones will love you back.

——————————————————-

Posted by a Chewy.com customer on Facebook

I received 60 pounds of dog food delivered to my door the day before my dog passed away. I emailed the company to let them know I needed to cancel my subscription because my dog passed away and I no longer had any animals in the household.

Later that day they responded to my email with a heart felt response. In that letter they told me they were going to credit the dog food they sent to me, they said they did not want it sent back to them, that I should donate it to a shelter in Jake’s name.

I was very impressed with this company. But it doesn’t end there. A few days later I came home from work and flowers were delivered to my home by the company sent to me again with condolences on the loss of my furry family member.

I cannot say enough fabulous things about this company. I am placing this on Facebook because I want as many people to know this is a company that you should use if you need dog food. It is nice to know companies truly care.

Thank you and a big shout out to CHEWY.COM

January 19, 2017 by Marc Hausman

Marketers Back Side Bitten

Cheers’ lovable character, Norm Peterson.

“It’s a dog eat dog world and I am wearing milk bone underwear.”

The character Norm Peterson on the TV sitcom Cheers was known for his rumpled demeanor and timely quips. His playful underwear jab probably resonates with today’s marketer who may feel like a bite has been taken out of their back side.

Why?

Expectations have changed. Once primarily a creative endeavor, corporate, product and field marketers are now held accountable for measurable outcomes and top line revenue growth. In fact, a recent study by Accenture found the top marketer is the first to be fired when a company fails to hit its projections. Not sales. Not product. Marketing.

Data driven marketing…the buyer’s journey…connecting brand to engagement…ultimately, the nomenclature is irrelevant. What is absolutely apparent is your customers, partners, colleagues and shareholders demand more from you.

Oh yeah, and this accountability arrives in an environment where budgets are constrained. Like Peterson said on Cheers, you are sporting milk bone underwear.

In 2017, Strategic Communications Group (Strategic) has repositioned to help our clients thrive in this landscape. Our new website reflects our approach, which includes:

Buyer Communities: Digital spaces we create for your brand to consistently deliver a thought leadership message and feed the sales funnel.

Digital Insights and Metrics: We help you move from traffic numbers to buyer insights from your digital assets, and understand how your buyer communities stack up against other brands across multiple industries.

Marketing and Sales Training: Our market insight and sales training programs help you motivate sales teams to action, arming them with timely and meaningful customer intelligence.

September 24, 2015 by Marc Hausman

Four Pillars of Microsoft’s Brand Transformation

Microsoft’s Hall at Financial Times’ Future of Marketing Summit.

Successful companies eventually fall into a middle age funk. It’s a certainty.

And like the receding hairline and paunchy waist line that defines many a 40-something male, the corporate mid-life crisis features a host of less than desirable attributes, including bloated bureaucracy, loss of innovation and stagnant growth.

Once the down cycle takes hold it can simply be too problematic and painful to combat inertia. Few companies pull an Apple and experience a renaissance.

Ask Microsoft’s Kathleen Hall if her company is on the path to revival and she’ll confidently answer in the affirmative. As Corporate Vice President of Global Advertising, Hall directs creative development, media and promotion across Microsoft’s consumer and commercial brands.

“When I joined Microsoft we were being defined by the competition,” she told an attentive audience of her peers in New York City last week at Financial Times’ Future of Marketing Summit. “I was confident that through marketing we could help affect how the company viewed itself.”

Apple’s “I am a Mac, I am a PC” ad campaign cast Microsoft as dated and irrelevant.

Hall’s recipe for brand transformation blends four primary ingredients:

1. Establish an emotional point of view. According to Hall, Microsoft represents access to opportunity, rather than the technology elitist vibe embraced by competitors like Apple and Google.

“We are about the everyman,” she said. “Our products are steady and reliable.

2. Come out of our shell. Microsoft has acted like a challenger in emerging markets and taken unexpected approaches with its creative.

About its use of a traditionally un-Microsoft approach to advertising, Hall said, “We might get hit, yet we will at least take some ground.”

3. Connect with people in a meaningful and relevant way. Hall explained the company employs personal stories to showcase the opportunity its customers realize through Microsoft technology.

4. Define the new norm. Microsoft continues to go on the offensive with sustained and aggressive advertising to reinforce its refreshed brand positioning. For instance, the company has appeared on the Super Bowl during the past few years.

Is Microsoft’s brand transformation truly a success story? Has the company shed its middle age funk?

My take is that it is very much a work in progress. There are glimmers of innovation, such as the Microsoft Surface which has now generated more than $1B in revenue.

Regardless, Hall’s advertising has very much contributed in a positive and meaningful way.

July 24, 2014 by Marc Hausman

Why Prioritizing Brand is Flawed and Foolish

I can see them now – Christoph and Jed – sitting with a Chief Marketing Officer to make a passionate pitch for a sweeping, brand-oriented advertising campaign.

Human factors motivate decisions, they’d argue. Business leaders trust their gut, they would assert. Strong reputation and culture wins, they would conclude.

What is the source of such bold claims?

It’s a recently published paper entitled “Only Human: the Emotional Logic of Business Decisions” that summarizes the findings of a survey of more than 700 senior level professionals.

Christoph Becker, Gyro. (Source: Adweek)

Christoph and Jed are the two primary architects of the study. Christoph Becker is the CEO of business-to-business advertising agency Gyro and Jed Hartman is a group publisher at Time Fortune Money.

Of course, in their respective roles it is understandable why Christoph and Jed desire a credible and compelling data set that espouses the value and ROI of brand advertising. Keep this in mind as you review an executive summary of the research, which is available for download at this link.

I’m in-step with Gyro and Time Fortune Money on the importance of brand creation and awareness building. I have two decades invested in the notion that people buy from, partner with and work for companies they know and trust.

However, I also believe in today’s environment prioritizing brand-oriented communications programs (i.e. advertising, public relations, sponsorships, etc.) over more tactical, lead creation and nurturing initiatives is dated, flawed and foolish.

That’s because most companies rarely reach the point of sale, when brand, reputation and culture helps drive the decision. Breakdown any B2B sales pipeline and you will most likely find the rough spots at the top of the funnel and in the nurturing process.

These trouble areas grow more pronounced with each passing quarter due to the continued rise of the enlightened buyer. Corporate executives have grabbed ownership of the sales cycle, engaging with suppliers and vendors on their terms.

The free-wheeling, golf playing, smile and dial sales rep is as dusty as the DVD player buried in your closet. A defined, disciplined and measurable process is the path to success today, which is why CRM platforms from Salesforce, Microsoft and Oracle are a stable in nearly every sales organization.

Smart marketers have mimicked their counterparts in sales and sought a comparable level of accountability for dollars and time spent. This ignited the adoption of marketing automation packages from providers liked Marketo, Eloqua, Pardot, eTrigue and others.

So…yes…heed the counsel of Christoph and Jed, and maintain the brand. As their study reveals, reputation continues to influence the buy decision.

Let’s just recognize the investment is marginalized. It is the more data-driven and tactical sales pipeline development activities that should consume the majority of your time, attention and budget.

GovExec Research Reveals Top Brands in Government

Brand Built on Customer Love

Marketers Back Side Bitten

Four Pillars of Microsoft’s Brand Transformation

Why Prioritizing Brand is Flawed and Foolish

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