Let’s begin our discussion of developing your sales offerings’ brand identity. For a sale offering to be successful in the marketplace, it must be recognized as a preferred choice over the competition. Otherwise, what would motivate people to choose it over the competition?

To ensure your sales offering becomes a preferred choice, it needs to embrace a profound idea that is (a) extremely meaningful to a targeted audience, (b) uniquely different from the competition, and (c) distinct enough for you to “own” and become recognized as representing. This idea should be so powerful that people buy into your offering on its merit alone. Let's call this “Ownerable and Relevant Differentiated Offering” (ORDO for short).

Well-branded offerings, by definition, are based on clearly defined ORDOs. You can often find it in a company’s mission statement, tag line, slogan or advertising. Fedex’s promise, “Absolutely, positively overnight” or Lands’ End’s “Guaranteed Period,” are examples of obvious ORDOs.
To arrive at your offering’s ORDO, you must research the following three categories, cross-reference them, and then combine their results. The three categories are: You (and your product), Your Competition and Potential Audiences.

Here are some things we need to consider in each category to establish your ORDO:

You: What are your (or your product’s) strengths and weaknesses? How are you unique? Specifically, what strengths do you have over the competition? We'll consider the feasibility of ridding you of your weaknesses and acquiring strengths. It might mean, for example, moving to a better location, hiring certain experts or agents, or investing in better equipment.
The Competition: Your power lies in differentiating from the competition in a meaningful way. We'll Analyze their strengths and weaknesses to determine if there’s a marketplace void you can fill. A good way to differentiate from them is to be their opposite. For example, if their ORDO emphasizes comfort, we'll consider focusing on style; if theirs stresses professionalism, we'll consider touting friendliness.
Potential Audiences: An idea or benefit can rarely be meaningful to everyone. We need to ask: Which type of audience...
would benefit most from your offering (before it’s branded)?
would provide the most profit?
requires the least convincing?
has a natural affinity to your offering?
do you naturally work with best?
is willing to overlook your weaknesses?
have competitors not yet targeted with a similar type offering?
Most importantly, we consider which audience desires your natural strengths most and is most unhappy with your competition’s weaknesses. We boil them down into definitive stereotypes and decide which one is best to target. The more specific your target audience is, the stronger your brand will be. Don’t worry about us being too focused. If properly branded, you should notice equal or more business from peripheral customers and “wanna bes", as from the targeted audience.

Just like diamonds polish each other; rubbing these three components against each other will make your ORDO emerge. The ORDO is the soul of the brand. Your brand’s identity will be built to support it. Discovering your ORDO, therefore, is the very important first step to building a brand’s identity.
P.S. this post was published 11:30 pm. computer clock had wrong time.

Marketing for Success: Brand it before you Market it

By: Yaacov Weiss

SEQ CHAPTER

Welcome! Please allow me to lead you into the fascinating and somewhat mysterious world of marketing and branding. This column is intended for anyone wishing to sell something to the public. The techniques I will convey to you here are based on extensive research by some of the world’s leading marketing firms and have been proven to work. You’ll learn why consumers buy certain brands though they are not necessarily cheaper or of better quality, and avoid others even though they are not necessarily inferior or more expensive.

Let us start our discussion with a simple, yet profound truth: What makes consumers gravitate to any particular product or offering? It is a result of their minds envisioning it fulfilling some unmet need or desire in the best possible manner available. Branding and marketing therefore, are the processes of creating signals that communicate to a targeted audience that the product or offering will fulfill their needs or desires in a manner most appealing to them. Traditional marketing has been categorized into Product, Price, Place and Promotion (The Four “P”s). In general, these four categories are the main ingredients that make up almost any offering. They combine to form a “marketing mix.” While each category is broad and deep, we’ll try to keep it simple:

Product – This refers to what you are actually selling (can be services as well). This includes the whole package, including warranties, accessories, etc.

Price – This refers to the price you set for the “product.” The perception of a product changes according to the price it commands.

Place – This refers to placement in a retail environment. (Example: The same product can be sold in discount stores or upscale stores, in pharmacies or in grocery stores.) It also refers to the method of distribution. (Example: Some clothing companies sell through third party retail stores, whereas others sell through their company websites.)

Promotion – This refers to how you communicate with your targets, letting them know you exist and what you are offering. It includes advertising, public relations, internet marketing, signage, visibility, etc.

When properly developed, the Four “P”s cover a vast array of issues that affect/create buyers’ perceptions and form the basis for a working marketing plan. Now, let us turn to branding. If marketing were a ship, branding would be its rudder; if marketing were a project, branding would be its direction manual.

Branding is the art of discovering and formulating an identity that makes your offering most appealing to the target audience. Just as we are attracted to some people over others, we are similarly drawn to specific brands and products over others. In the branding phase, you’ll need to decide, amongst other things, the tone of you offering. For example, should your presentation be classy or rugged, cheerful or muted, animated or relaxed, sophisticated or simple, serious or humorous, trendy or classic, masculine or feminine, etc.? The 4 Ps of marketing are channels through which the brand identity is generated and proliferated. Consequently, before you try to develop your marketing strategy, you must first choose a brand identity. Our next article will give you an overview as to how to locate the starting point for your brand identity.

Yaacov Weiss is a brand strategist and founder of TUG, a branding and marketing firm based in Lakewood, NJ. If you’d like Yaacov to position your business, call 732-276-6432. You may also email Yaacov at yaacov@tugbranding.com or www.tugbranding.com