December 1, 2008
· Filed under Uncategorized
Now that we have fallen back an hour for daylight savings and the holiday season is getting closer, many companies are preparing for the end of their fiscal year and planning the budget for 2009 has begun, many of our clients ask us what is brand management and why is it so important to our future? Well, it is sort of like the football game on Saturday, you may have a strong shot, but if your carry through is inconsistent, even though your the favorite it doesn’t always mean you have the ability to hold on to the ball and beat out the competition. With that said here are a few basics to help up your game in 2009!
First let’s define Brand Management:
Brand management is the application of marketing techniques to a specific product, product line, or brand. It seeks to increase the product’s perceived value to the customer and thereby increase brand franchise and brand equity.
How we apply brand management to your business:
Marketers see a brand as an implied promise that the level of quality people have come to expect from a brand will continue with future purchases of the same product. This may increase sales by making a comparison with competing products more favorable. It may also enable the manufacturer to charge more for the product.
What it can mean for your company:
he value of the brand is determined by the amount of profit it generates for the manufacturer. This can result from a combination of increased sales and increased price, and/or reduced COGS (cost of goods sold), and/or reduced or more efficient marketing investment. All of these enhancements may improve the profitability of a brand. Brand Management is often viewed in organizations as a broader and more strategic role than Marketing alone.
The bottom line:
The annual list of the world’s most valuable brands, indicates that the market value of companies often consists largely of brand equity. Research by a global consulting firm, suggested that strong, well-leveraged brands produce higher returns to shareholders than weaker, narrower brands.
January 26, 2009
· Filed under Uncategorized · Tagged advertising, apparel, design, graphic design, marketing, packaging, publishing, video, web design, writing
I am sure that many of you were as glued to the tv set during the innaguration as my staff and I were. As we were sitting in a clients office watching history unfold together, we were all discussing our future and what 2009 has in store for us and that got us thinking.
How will we find our way and maintain as a young firm in an unstable market? Well the answer came in the form of the Today Show the other morning as they discussed some of the decisions that our First Lady made with regard to her fashion choices for her daughters and herself for the Innaguration and the Innagural Ball. By choosing inexpensive yet stylish outfits for her girls from JCrew, a relatively unknown to the mainstream Cuban-American designer for her Innaguration day dress and coat and a 26 year old designer for her ball gown, she was subtly making a very powerful statement, basically stating that she had chosen the best person for the job, not the most well known or long established.
Being a young design firm that has recently expanded to the North Florida market with a staff that varies so greatly in age and talent, one that I wouldn’t even know how to begin to praise all of their talents properly, except to say that together we form one incredible think tank, design consortium, creative brain, if you will, that I am almost beyond words, almost…
The creative enthusiasm that is emanating from this studio now as I write, I hope will lead us to fun and interesting places this year. Without “giving away the farm” as they say, we are already designing and producing in the world of video, apparel, writing, publishing, advertising, packaging and web design.
As we enter this year full of fear, hope and the unknown I can only relate to you our clients and other small business owners the importance of your presence in your respective fields, now more than ever. As budgets get tighter I would encourage you not to overlook marketing and promotion, look for creative ways to cut spending in other areas so you can focus on keeping appearances up for existing clients as well as those that are out there looking for a business just like yours.
Remember: The pie used to have a lot of slices and it was a big, juicy, delicious one that we were all able to get a piece of and enjoy. The pie hasn’t changed just some of those enjoying it are now gone, so do what it takes to make sure that you are there to get a bigger piece this time around. Market wisely and you will enjoy the pie even more this time around.
