A few weeks ago, we explored the two sides of Brand Death. In the first, Sudden Brand Death, media exposure fans the flames and a company’s only recourse is swift, corrective action and strong public relations, which is what save the Tylenol brand back in 1982. Enron, Firestone, the cases of Sudden Brand Death aren’t numerous, but they are extremely memorable.Unfortunately, the second side of Brand Death is much less visible and hard to identify. Slow Brand Death could be caused by management inattention, lack of focus, overall neglect, misunderstanding or incompetence, but the signs are there if you look.1. Decreased customer loyalty: If your brands are showing signs of losing loyal customers, you may be suffering from the early onset of Slow Brand Death.2. Lack of differentiation/distinction: If you are noticing that your competitors are looking more and more like you and that you are hearing the dreaded “c-word” (“commodity”) in management meetings and discussion, commoditization may be attacking your category and your brand.3. Increased price sensitivity or declining price: If you find that you are not able to command a price premium with your target customers and that you are experiencing more price sensitivity, you may be seeing the first sign of Slow Brand Death.4. Lack of internal alignment with the brand promise: If your employees aren’t clear about the promise your brand is making in the marketplace, how do you expect the customer to be clear about it? If your company is not set up to deliver on the brand promise, your brand-customer encounters may vary to the point of eroding your brand strength – or Slow Brand Death.Overall market confusion will lead to Slow Brand Death. The very culture of your company may be leading your brands to continually erode and weaken by a lack of commitment to maintaining strong values – and over-emphasizing short-term results over long-term success. However, while the rapid virulence of Sudden Brand Death may limit your options, thankfully, that is not the case with Slow Brand Death.Here you have time. Perhaps not as much time as you would like, but at least the media isn’t breathing down your neck publicizing every step and miss-step you take. Clear, decisive management action can stop and correct Slow Brand Death. Here is the process you should undertake:1. Get the buy-in of executives: The easiest way to get top management to buy into branding as an important strategic business function is to make sure that they understand the brand’s connection to the bottom line, and the impact of the Slow Brand Death symptoms on that bottom line.. Now, everybody in business “knows” that strong brands deliver profits. But I would venture that very few business people could explain exactly how that happens in financial terms. Marketers must build the case for branding investment by educating management about the links of a well-defined brand, consistently delivered, to:• customer loyalty and its volume benefits and even willingness to pay a premium
• lowered cost of sales and improved operational efficiency
• higher revenue and more predictable cash flow
• enhanced shareholder valueOnce top management understands that improving brand performance will end up making money for the company, you will have their buy-in.2. Understand the current situation: Once you have the support of top management, you need to complete a thorough brand assessment. Your goal is to understand where your brand is now and where your competitors’ brands are, in the hearts and minds of the market. Additionally, you need to assess trends and emerging markets to predict how your brand – and your competitors’ brands – will be impacted in the future. Finally, you need to understand how your brand is perceived internally as well as externally, and what gaps there might be between those two perceptions. Leaving out any of these views could give you a misleading picture of your brand in the marketplace.3. Define the desired brand: Based on the brand assessment, you should have a good idea of market gaps your brand can credibly fill, based on what the market is willing to let your brand do and where the market is going. From this, develop a complete definition of your brand of the future – say five years out. This future or desired brand becomes your goal set. All of your brand actions should be evaluated on their ability to move your brand into the desired space.4. Identify the brand drivers: The brand assessment will help you understand which brand contact-points or functions are having the most impact in creating customers’ brand perceptions. Each brand will have different drivers. For an automobile, it may be the actual test drive and driving experience. For a bank it may be the ATM or the voice response unit that directs you to different functions within the organization. Be sure that you look to identify the brand drivers for each of the important brand audiences. One target market’s drivers may differ from another’s or your strategic partners may have a different set of brand drivers than your customers.5. Align internally to deliver the brand promise: When the desired brand position is determined and defined, many companies move to communicate to the marketplace. This is premature, as it is not yet certain whether your organization can consistently deliver on the brand promise you want to make. Take the time to evaluate your organization’s readiness and ability to deliver the brand promise. You may find that you will need to take some action to bring your company into alignment with the brand. At a minimum, you will need to communicate the new brand promise when your company is ready and able to understand it and use it in their day-to-day jobs. Organizational development, training, and internal communications among others are important elements in achieving this capability.6. Communicate the brand externally: With all of the other steps in place, you can now begin communicating the new brand externally. But before doing this, take the time to evaluate your key audiences for brand communications. What are the most compelling messages that you need to send each audience? Document these messages and make sure you use them consistently in your communications.7. Measure and monitor: No time to rest on your laurels – the key to avoiding Brand Death is to know what’s going on in the marketplace. There are three factors working on your brand: you, your competitors, and your target audiences. Put in place a measurement system (internal and external) to monitor the critical brand contact points and brand perceptions to make sure that you are not straying from your plan and that you are progressing as anticipated toward your future brand.Once you have set up a comprehensive brand process throughout the company, you should continually revisit all of the steps to make sure that you are meeting your brand goals and objectives.Brand Death is costly and avoidable. The decision to kill a brand is the decision to throw away a corporate asset, similar to jettisoning real estate or other capital assets. Management can and should manage their brands as the valuable corporate assets they are. If the brand has any remaining equity at all, the cost of brand improvement is far less than the cost of creating a new brand. On-going monitoring and measuring of brand vitality is critical to successfully manage the brand and ensure that the brand remains viable in the marketplace.
Key Steps to Saving Your Brand From Brand Death
Importance of product photo editing
When it comes to product photos, editing is key in order to ensure that the final image is polished and professional. There are a number of reasons why product photos should be edited, including:
Firstly,Guest Posting editing can help to ensure that the colors in the photo are accurate and true to life. This is important because potential customers need to be able to see what the product they are interested in looks like in real life. If the colors are not accurate, it can give a false impression of the product.
Secondly, editing can help to improve the overall composition of the photo. This includes things like making sure that all elements of the photo are properly aligned and that there is a good balance of light and dark areas. A well-composed photo will be more visually appealing and will therefore be more likely to grab attention.
Importance of product photo editing for eCommerce
Product photos are one of the most important elements of a successful eCommerce website. A high-quality product photo can make the difference between a customer clicking “add to cart” or moving on to another site.
There are many factors to consider when editing product photos for an eCommerce site. The first is resolution; the photos must be clear and sharp, without any pixelation. The second is color correction; the colors in the photo should be true-to-life and accurate. The third is sizing; the photos should be sized so that they fit perfectly into the allotted space on the website, without being too small or too large.
Assuming that you have taken care of these three basics, there are still many other ways to improve your product photos through editing. You can crop the photo to focus on the most important element, or add text or graphics to highlight key features.
Poor-quality photos can turn customers away
poor quality photos can turn customers away for a number of reasons. First, poor-quality photos can make products look cheap and unappealing. Second, if a customer is unable to get a clear idea of what a product looks like from the photo, they may be less likely to purchase it. Finally, if a customer feels that they cannot trust the quality of the photos on a website, they may be less likely to purchase anything from that site.
To avoid turning customers away with poor-quality photos, it is important to invest in good photo editing software and take the time to edit your photos carefully. If you are not confident in your own photo editing skills, there are many affordable online services that can help you achieve professional-looking results.
The right photo editing can make products look more appealing
Product photo editing is an important part of online marketing. The right photo editing can make products look more appealing to customers and increase sales.
There are a few things to keep in mind when editing product photos. First, make sure the photos are clear and well-lit. Customers should be able to see the details of the product in the photo. Second, use editing software to enhance the colors and contrast of the photo. This will make the product stand out and look more attractive to customers.
Finally, don’t overdo it with the editing. Too much Photoshop can make a product look fake and unappealing. Keep the edits subtle so that customers can see that the product is real and of high quality.
Product photos need to be consistent
When customers are looking at your product photos, they should be able to easily tell that they are all of the same product. This means that the product photos need to be consistent with each other. All of the photos should be the same size, and they should all be taken from the same angle. The lighting should also be consistent between all of the photos. If there is more than one person in the photo, they should all be doing the same thing.
If your product photos are not consistent, it will be difficult for customers to tell that they are looking at the same product in each photo. This can make it difficult for them to compare different products, and it can also make your products look less professional. Product photos need to be consistent in order to give your customers the best possible experience.
Editing can make a big difference in how a product is perceived
Editing can make a big difference in how a product is perceived. A good editor can help to make a product look its best, and this can have a positive impact on how customers view the product. In addition, editing can help to ensure that the product meets customer expectations.
A good editor will know how to crop and resize photos, as well as how to retouch them so that they look their best. They will also be able to adjust colors and contrast levels to make the product look more appealing. In addition, they will be able to remove any imperfections or blemishes that may be present in the photo.
Customers often base their decision on whether or not to purchase a product based on its photos. Therefore, it is important to make sure that these photos are of the highest quality possible.
Conclusion:
An article about the importance of product photo editing might discuss how even the best photographers can benefit from editing their photos. It might also talk about how important it is to have high-quality product photos if you want to sell your products online or in a brick-and-mortar store. Editing can make a big difference in the quality of your photos, and it’s important to choose an editing program that meets your needs and budget.
Strategic Customer Attraction Marketing Blueprint
With the ever changing face of the economy based on varying factors [such as government protectionism, automation of industries, downsizing of companies] the trend to more and more people choosing to start their own business for various reasons continue to rise. With that said – along with this trend there is an increasing need for structured marketing process and client acquisition processes and methodologies to be utilised within these businesses in order to transform a startup into a fully functional revenue generating entity.
It is often the case that many smaller businesses are product rather than market focussed. In many cases we find that there is no actual marketing department so to speak of and as a consequence the function of marketing within the company ends up being fulfilled ‘as and when’.
We can contrast this to what we find in any larger organisation or corporate; we find an actual marketing department, with qualified marketing professionals who are analysing the market, target customers and competition, they continually look for trends and movements in their chosen space in order to refine the marketing message and continually push the communication through the channels. This is to include the distribution channel [where appropriate], print media, radio, catalogues etc, etc and of course the use of digital marketing channels [social media, email marketing, video marketing, micro blogging and more].
The above is what leads to the typical ongoing market penetration that we see within these organisations leading to new products and services development a steady stream of new clients and the nurturing of existing clientele.
It is with the smaller organisation in mind, the solopreneur or work from home business owner that any strategic business attraction marketing blueprint is targeted towards. This is one or two steps down from making use of an in person consultant that will look to understand the business operations and put specific structures in place that when followed; will first provide a deeper understanding of the market place and target market clients but will also provide the foundation for providing the products and services that the intelligence directs the company towards producing.
It is recommended that organisations looking to add structure and processes to the marketing and client acquisition aspect of their businesses direct their energies to these main fundamentals.
Client Strategy & Preparation
Setting Up Key Business Processes & Systems
Getting Clients While You Sleep
Follow Up & Retention
1) Gaining a deeper understanding of the needs, desires and behaviour of the clients no matter what the industry will drive the decisions that are made in relation to the products and services that are developed and presented to the market space.
2) Key systems and processes such as continuous market intelligence related to pricing and customer behaviour can help to take the organisation to the next level and gain a significant competitive advantage over other companies supplying related or similar products and services.
3) The marketing process for bringing new prospects into the marketing funnel must be an ongoing activity; whilst focusing on servicing existing clients it is imperative that someone is taking care of make new clients aware of the needs that your organisation can fill.
4) Too often it is the failure to followup and keeping in touch that leads to the loss of valuable customers; depending on the business tools such as email marketing, videos, membership sites and print media may be used in order to stay at the top of the mind of the target customer.
Once the process has been developed it will then be a matter of refining it [say once a quarter] whilst some is taking care of the execution which will lead to new customers, sales and products and services leading to increased revenue generation.