There are many trending topics happening this week.  I could discuss this year’s best Super Bowl ad.  The return of Ferris Bueller – hands down, am I right?  Seriously... I think I’ll just watch FBDO for the 1,000^th time on Sunday instead of the Super Bowl.  Why aren’t my days off half as glamorous as that one?  Must be the car…

Anyways, today I’ll be talking about Infographics.  Infographics are everywhere.  Just go on Mashable and every other entry contains an Infographic.  There are Infographics about what people look up on Facebook, how we use Twitter, the economy, the election…there are even infographics about infographics...lots of them

Wouldn’t all this information be better presented in a list?  I know you’d love that Dave….

Some people just love Infographics.... here's what Blue Wheel Media says about them:

"Infographics have the ability to transform a boring collection of statistics, facts and figures, into a stunning masterpiece that you won't be able to keep to yourself.  Upon finding a great infographic, the reader is overcome with a thrill of discovery - almost like an adrenaline rush, triggering desire to share."

So if this is true, how can you apply this latest trend to your business and have the biggest impact with your documents?  If I had any design talent, I would create my own infographic with pie charts, symbols, squiggly lines and shiny colours, but I’ll just have to do a list

People respond to visuals – so don’t be too texty.

Keep it short

People are busy, we have lots of things to do and we get distracted easily.  So if you want us to read your quarterly sales report, keep it short…because after page 1, I’ll be bouncing over to YouTube or checking out Perez Hilton.

And it the same vein:

Keep it simple

Avoid jargon, fancy abbreviations or acronyms.  Don’t use 4 words when 1 would suffice.  Forget complicated – use simple, direct, easy-to-understand words that every single one of your audience will get.  No one wants to feel condescended to when reading that ubiquitous sales pitch. Indubitably!

Don’t just dress it up, back it up

Today as I was doing my morning blog roll, I came across an interesting line written by Alan Cross (a popular music historian and guru) in a recent post on his Explore Music blog. The post was in regards to the latest reviews of the new Broadway Musical written and scored by Bono & The Edge of U2 fame, entitled "Spiderman: Turn Off The Dark". So far the musical, now dubbed The Most Expensive Broadway Production Ever*, has not been a favourite of the critics. With constant criticism, a poor story line and dangerous stunts that sent several actors to the emergency room, the new Spiderman musical couldn't catch a break. 

Despite all the setbacks, the musical opened again to favorable reviews. Much work still needs to be done, but at least it is no longer a complete disaster. Alas I digress, the line which stuck out to me was Cross' final comment in regards to the future of the production "And there is still much work to be done on the PR front. It [Spiderman Musical] needs many weeks of big crowds just to break even".

Regardless of the many technical improvements, the poor PR the production has been plagued by thus far has left some deep scars the public will remember when buying tickets. This is just one of the many illustrations that helps put the weight of brand/image/public reception at level with basics concerns such as quality/product/expense. Without the proper framing, branding and marketing that PR professionals provide, even the greatest product can suffer. All the hard work and investment that goes into production, development and distribution can be time/money wasted if members of the public (future customers & clients) are not properly engaged.

What will happen to the Spiderman Musical in the coming months will either serve as an excellent case study of how much PR can accomplish if implemented properly or an example of how all the re-vamping and TLC’ing in the world can’t help resurrect a show if the PR misses the mark.

 Is your PR working for you?

Does every company have a brand? Does every company need a brand? What do you think of when you hear the name of a company? Does it conjure up positive feelings or negative ones? What is a brand? What makes a good brand? How do I get a good brand name when I don’t have the resources of a Tim Hortons or Bell? Let us explore a few of these areas to demystify the world of branding.

Firstly, let’s define a brand. Brand is what people think about when they hear your name – it is the perception of your company in the market. Brand is more than a logo, it is more than a tag line, it is more than a well crafted advertising campaign. A brand is what you stand for and it is how you are perceived in the marketplace. You do not really own your brand. You own the logos, the copyright etc... Your brand is what the market thinks of you based on your brand and related activities. It is ultimately how you are perceived.

Does every company need a brand? Every company is a brand whether you are an auto body shop or a Twenty-Million dollar enterprise. You may never have focused on your brand; you may have spent your time on building a solid reliable business with excellent service and great clients. But now you have to grow. What do you do to get to the world outside your immediate customer base? How do you differentiate your offering? Of course you need great strategies and solid tactical approach to executing on those objectives, but how do you facilitate that effort? This is where your brand becomes extremely valuable. Still not convinced? Think about these three questions:

1. Did you ever lose an account where you had the better value proposition?

Maybe you were beaten by a better brand?

2. Do your sales executives tell you “no one knows who we are”?

Maybe they spend a lot of time on ineffective prospecting.

3. You rarely get leads “because the prospect has heard of you”.

The brand can sell for you when you have an integrated approach to building your brand.

Brand can shorten the sales cycle because your credibility is established early which saves time during the prospecting phase. Your sales people can actually increase their productivity with an investment in your brand. In our view “the Brand” or your brand is affected positively or negatively at every “touch point” you have with your prospects, suppliers, customers, potential recruits – every point you reach outside of your organization. In other words, everything you communicate with the marketplace impacts on your brand. 

We believe that in order to “Live your Brand” you need to have an Integrated Thinking approach to your brand strategy. It does not start and stop with Marketing. It involves every employee, supplier, partner (and so on…) with whom your business comes into contact. It can be as simple as ensuring your receptionist 

communicates your core messages accurately and passionately.

So what are some of the branding items you should consider?

1. Make sure your Key Messages are simple and accurately describe what you do.

2. These messages need to be embedded in all your marketing collateral, advertising copy, web site etc..

3. The messages need to be communicated internally so that all staff has a comfort level with what makes you unique. If you don’t know what that is look harder, your clients buy from you for a reason, find out what that is.

4. If you plan to get some media exposure you need to have your spokespeople trained on the basics of Media Relations and interview strategies.

5. Your spokespeople also need to be trained in effective speaking to ensure that they enhance your company brand when public speaking in front of your prospects and clients.

6. Your sales team needs to internalize these messages without improvisation. Your feet on the street communicate with hundreds if not thousands of prospects in a given year; they need to be on message. 

These are just a few simple steps every company can do to begin to build their brand. There are of course many others that would likely require the use of PR agencies, but in fact that investment can have a great long term ROI. Generally, the cost of PR can be close to the salary of one mid level employee annually. Clearly, branding is tough to measure as PR is tough to measure, but we always know when we get good PR because our clients and prospects tell us so.

Branding makes the company relevant. When you are known, it facilitates all other sales and related activities.

Everyone that “touches” your organization in any way must come away with a good positive feeling. This enhances the essence of your brand. 

“Live your Brand every day, after all – it is who you are…”