Tuesday, January 18, 2011

8 exercise templates for branding in action

As I was writing my new N-of-8 book, I wanted to expand on some ideas people liked in my first book, ForwardFast.

One main feature is its style of a “workshop-in-print.”   Here are 8 of the exercise templates presented in ForwardFast that illustrate branding in action.  Click here to download these free worksheets for your own team meetings.
  1. Corporate Brand - Corporate branding is different from product branding and is an important aspect to the overall branding effort. The corporate brand creates interest that leads to preference for product offerings from the company. The corporate brand also serves as an umbrella of ownership for products and establishes a level of customer service at a central level.
  2. R & D Process - For R & D, we are interested in specific and proprietary methods that science and technology companies use to develop their products. The goal is to leverage these processes by branding them. By showing you are on the cutting edge of creativity in your field, you are connecting yourself to value and quality.
  3. Manufacturing Process - Picking up where R&D leaves off, the way a product is made has true branding potential. This relates to specificity, clarity, and purity of manufacturing. For example, with one of our clients, the manufacturing process of their products includes a preservative and nano-filtration system that led to unique branding opportunities.
  4. New Product Information - One of the hallmarks of a new product brand is that you have only one chance to launch right. You’ve heard the one about first impressions, right? For branding, you want to stick to the classic definitions: make the name easy to pronounce and write; make it easy to remember; and make it something positive. Also, you only have 6 months to claim something is new. You should say it while you can.
  5. Product Line Extension - Line extensions are capitalizations on brand identity and equity. The goal is to invest some of your capital to extend your brand’s value.
  6. Interactive and Digital Branding - Before the ink is dry on this page, new ideas will emerge in digital branding. This area is constantly evolving. But we are still a long way from accessing the full value of this venue. The problem is that too many ads use cheap tricks or gimmicks, or worse, intrusive pop-ups that disrupt rather than fit into the audience’s world. Your goal for digital branding should be to move more toward experience and associations.
  7. Services - Services are all about quality offering. Branding a service is a worthwhile undertaking. For example, we have a client that is a professional medical association – its entire line of “products” are actually services.
  8. Clinical Trial and Scientific Nomenclature - The current trend for clinical-trial branding is to make the name connote the benefits or method of the trial itself.
Click here to download your free copies.

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