Aaron Gerdes: Tag branding

Excellent branding presentation

aarongerdes@gmail.com (Aaron Gerdes) — Wed, 30 May 2007 12:09:00 -0700

Does branding work in B2B?

aarongerdes@gmail.com (Aaron Gerdes) — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 16:27:00 -0700

Copywriter extraordinaire Bob Bly questions if branding really works in B2B (a common question from the direct marketing side of the coin).

He quotes Gordon Graham, a B2B copywriter:

Certainly ‘branding’ has SOME value in terms of positioning and making any company look like a together, prosperous firm. But real, solid branding has to be earned, not just claimed.

Real branding has to be earned. That’s an excellent way to put it. Gordon goes on to give examples of misdirected branding efforts masquerading as real branding, but his second sentence really nails where branding is valuable.

In the comments, Derrick Daye offers some insight on what leading organizations have achieved when they earn their brand status:

Increased revenues and market share
Decreased price sensitivity
Increased customer loyalty
Additional leverage with vendors and retailers (for manufacturers)
Increased profitability
Increased stock price, shareholder value and sale value
Increased clarity of vision
Increased ability to mobilize an organization’s people and focus its activities
Increased ability to expand into new product and service categories
Increased ability to attract and retain high quality employees

I think the answer is a resounding yes. I’ve seen all sizes and types of businesses leverage their existing brand (not just redesign!) for improvement in the areas listed above. The question shouldn’t be if branding works or not — “you cannot not brand”. The question is are you branding on purpose?

Spread Firefox: Mozilla leverages passionate users to grow market share

aarongerdes@gmail.com (Aaron Gerdes) — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 23:05:00 -0700

This article in BusinessWeek reports on the spread of Firefox, a browser which has grabbed to 10% of the market from Internet Explorer in two years (I switched a while back from Safari).

Several colleagues have happily switched to Firefox from Internet Explorer at the behest of a tech-savvy friend, vendor, or relative. None have looked back.

Don’t miss the Firefox crop circle created on the OSU campus.

That’s a passionate group of users.

Ze Frank on Branding

aarongerdes@gmail.com (Aaron Gerdes) — Tue, 29 Aug 2006 20:55:00 -0700

Ze Frank reviews the news everyday on The Show. It’s excellent comedy with a very edgy and intelligent approach. Today’s episode delivers an interesting look at branding and what mental twist it takes to desire to be associated with a tragedy.