Are you taking a holistic view of integrated marketing planning? Whether you are a chief marketing officer for a major corporation or own a small business, you should periodically step back and look at the big picture. You may be missing opportunities to design integration, efficiency, leverage, and ultimately, power, into your marketing effort.

Think of your marketing effort like a spider’s web. The more points of intersection that exists, the more connected elements there are, the more brand surface area you create, the more effective you will be at connecting and engaging the target. Just as the spider’s web has a beautifully organized and unique master design that is efficient and strong, so should your plan. Read the rest of this entry »

Integrated Marketing has tremendous power. It can cause the fortune of brands and companies to rise or fall dramatically.

Most agencies and corporate professionals practice integrated marketing to some degree. The majority of  them misunderstand and underutilize the more refined and powerful aspects it offers. This is likely because True Integrated Marketing Communications (True IMC) – performed at the highest levels – is not something that can be delegated. It takes broad knowledge sets, vision and the ability to control many specialized aspects of marketing, and there are very few people in these positions in the traditional agency environment.

A fallacy held by many professionals in our industry is that integrated marketing is simply about the generation of consistency of message and presentation of brand. Business Week defines it in basic terms as “communicating a consistent identity from message to message, and medium to medium, and (more importantly) delivering consistently on that identity.”

BusinessDictionary.com offers a definition that encompasses complimentary elements reinforcing marketing impact and states that integrated marketing is a “strategy aimed at unifying different marketing methods such as mass marketing, one-to-one marketing, and direct marketing. Its objective is to complement and reinforce the market impact of each method…”

But each of these definitions fail to provide the full scope of what integrated marketing truly entails.

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I counsel many companies, big and small, in a variety of industries, becoming intricately involved in their strategic planning, and marketing. I have found that those who consistently find success share some common attributes that I’ve outlined below. Tough economic times and rapidly evolving markets reward visionaries – and punish the ill prepared. In an environment where many are withering, great opportunity exists.

Read the rest of Brian Bennett’s article at BizTimes Media.

The explosion of digital media, digital marketing tools and the opportunities they represent is amazing. From social and paid online media to CRM to email marketing and a thousand other web and mobile apps, the possibilities for customized campaign development are endless. But as George Harrison wrote, “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there.” Most companies are on that road – simply participating in a tactical environment, not certain where this is taking them, and without a long-term roadmap.

With so much emphasis on technical tools and individual applications, and a rapidly changing array of digital products and solutions, many marketers struggle with the big picture. They understand they should be creating the right mix of programs and tools but don’t have the resources to do so. What we see at even some of the most sophisticated companies is a fragmented collection of tactical tools and marketing initiatives that burn time and money while delivering marginal results.

This problem can’t be solved simply by evaluating technology. Digital strategy cannot be isolated from brand strategy. The medium is a part of the message and brand experience. And while there is no shortage of people with an incredible aptitude for computer science and sincere passion for one application or another, there are far fewer brilliant brand strategists who can think globally and help you navigate this morass with a brand vision.

Successful CMOs must invest their company’s time and money in compatible and complimentary technologies that will ultimately further brand experience, engagement and profitability. How is this done? Here is some insight:

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STIR Advertising and Integrated Messaging just launched the 2013 ad campaign for the United Performing Arts Fund. The campaign visually demonstrates the important role donors play in not only supporting performances and education, but also in strengthening the community. Print ads, posters, collateral, and outdoor boards were all part of the marketing mix.

When writing your marketing plan, if you enthusiastically pursue the following lines of questioning and record insights that stray off the traditional company line, you will see some exciting and productive patterns and opportunities emerge.

1. Follow the money.

How does your company make money? Is it supporting the most profitable business in the biggest way? Note that there is a big difference between the high volume business and the high profit business. Investment and growth must be directed toward profitability.

2. Find momentum.

What is working? What aspect of your business gives you an edge? Is this area getting priority?  Concentrate on the business that your company knows well, and where you have a competitive advantage. Note that at this stage, what is really working might be a small line of business that doesn’t appear to be substantial.

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Many marketing managers are at a loss as to how to incorporate new messaging methods.

They know the tried and true methods of marketing their brand and/or company may now be obsolete. They hear about many new methods of marketing but are rightfully suspicious of fads and trends in web and social marketing. They know certain elements are credible, yet have no track record with the techniques which represent incremental cost and risk. They want to build their brand, but aren’t sure where to start when incorporating new marketing strategies.

DEVELOP A PLAN

It starts with a brilliant plan.  A solid plan will identify new business-building opportunities. It will revitalize the brand story. It will increase engagement with your consumer and relevance of your creative message.

Whether you are the CMO at a major corporation or you are an entrepreneur, you are responsible for the commitment of critical resources – cash, people and time – and you will be held accountable to the results. You need to craft a smart marketing plan before you spend. That marketing plan is, in many ways, the future of your company.  It must be brilliant.

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Listen in to the official call where we let Child Injury Prevention Alliance (CIPA) know they were the winners, and began discussing the benefits their organization provides to the community.

How to tell your brand story is a topic that many people seem to want to learn more about.

Our article on how to tell your brand story was featured in Bulldog Reporter’s Daily Dog, the industry’s best-read, widest distributed trade journal. Bulldog Reporter’s mission is to  supply news, analysis and high-level training content to PR and corporate communications professionals, helping them achieve superior competitive performance.

If you have any branding concerns, let us know. We’d love to talk to you.

Every brand has a lifecycle – complete with growth spurts, lagging periods, ebbs and flows. Good brand managers pay close attention to the health and effectiveness of their brands in the marketplace, and take steps to strengthen, correct, grow and realign their brands over many years.

But at some point, every brand needs a makeover. Is your brand at that point? We were asked that question, this was our reply. This being a universal observation, we thought we’d share this with you.

WHAT IS A BRAND?

A brand is an identity, a differentiator, a persona. A brand encompasses the name, logo, image, and perceptions that identify a product, service, or provider in the minds of customers. It takes shape in advertising and other marketing communications, and becomes a focus of the relationship with consumers. A brand embodies a promise about the goods it identifies—a promise about quality, performance, or other dimensions of value, which can influence consumers’ choices among competing products.

A brand is the most valuable fixed asset of a corporation. Brand equity is the accumulated goodwill that a brand stands for. The best measure of brand equity is in the preference it engenders among customers, which is often measured in loyalty, trial and/or willingness to purchase at premium pricing.

THE TASK AT HAND:

The proposal is to build brand equity by revising the name, logo, and messaging, and therefore driving new and better perceptions, revitalizing advertising and related marketing disciplines including public relations, social media, and other owned and promotional media.

WHEN SHOULD YOU REBRAND?
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