If you’re not actively building a unique identity … your business could fail.

Bold words, but hear me out. Each day, consumers are bombarded with countless marketing messages. Having an identity and core marketing message that is unique will help break through the clutter. A unique identity is essential to getting and keeping your customer’s attention and loyalty. And best of all, having a unique identity will help pave the way to a successful and profitable business.

Creating an identity that is both positive and unique is hands-on, active work. Just by virtue of being in business, you’ll have an identity whether you want it or not. By choosing to participate and actively building your identity, you have the opportunity to guide your customers and help them think of you the way you would prefer.

When you work to establish a position in the mind of consumers, the result you want is to have them think of that one thing that you want them to. You have the power to influence your customer’s perception of your business, product or service.

In his book “Selling the Invisible”; Bill Bernbach spoke on the importance of creating an identity that is unique and positive. He told the story of a start-up company that was sold and netted the founders hundreds of thousands of dollars. The sale took place less than ten years into this firms’ existence. This company had no real estate, no tangible assets, no inventory and no repeat customers.

What this remodeling/construction company did have was a strong, positive and unique identity that consistently delivered on its promise to customers. That single element proved extremely profitable to the founders.

Whether you sell to consumers, contractors or big corporations, your customers are hit with messages every day. In this environment, you cannot assume that prospects, or even long-time customers, know all about you. You must find a message that is different from everyone else, while strongly communicating your value proposition. In a world and competitive environment of “look-a-likes”, you also must be able to add value to what you are offering.

Morris Hite (one of the greatest ad men) puts it this way: “There’s no secret formula for advertising success, other than to learn everything you can about the product. Most products and services have some unique characteristic… and the really great advertising comes right out of the product and says something about the product that no one else can say. Or at least no one else is saying.”

Crafting an identity that is unique is serious business. Your identity cannot support itself on attractive logo images and font usage alone. The biggest mistake businesses make is focusing on the visual aspect of their identity without first establishing the framework, which contains: the company’s position, unique selling proposition (USP) and the core marketing message.

Following the herd is a common characteristic for businesses. Since everyone else is doing it, it must be working…right? Consider you attend an event and everyone is wearing black. Who do you notice? Now think of that same event and one person is wearing bright orange. Hard to miss, aren’t they?

With the case made to be unique and different, it’s time for the million dollar question: “How does one accomplish this?”

● First: do some research and find out what it is your customers need or want. You must fill a need or you’ll waste your time and money. Once you determine what it is they want, build your identity and position around that need. This activity will build the foundation for your success. As you work to develop your position, identity and marketing messages, continually ask yourself “will this help differentiate me from my competitors?”

● Constantly research your competitors to find out how they are telling their story. Make sure your story is different.

● Do your competitors use TV to communicate their message? Consider using another medium all together.

● Do you your competitors use professional actors or a spokesperson? Consider using actual staff or even yourself.

● Do your competitors use a hard-sell approach in their ads? Consider having a conversation with consumers.

● And finally, always remember this: Just saying it doesn’t guarantee customers. You must deliver on the promise you make or you’ll witness the migration of your customers to your competitors.

Easy to say? Definitely. Hard to accomplish? Without question.

The following is a 12-step plan that can help your business make 2012 the best year you’ve ever had. By implmenting these ideas, you’ll be on your way to hearing your cash register sing.

1): Be different. The very first thing you should do is take a look at what your competition is doing, and start doing something else. Place your ads on different mediums, create a unique and different message, employ a different style of message delivery, and create a different image.

If you want to stand out from the crowd, you have to be different. Imitation might be the greatest form of flattery, but it will fail to generate sales growth. Huge gains can be felt quickly when you look, act and talk in a manner that is different from your competitors.

2): Be familiar. People buy what they know and are familiar with. They also buy from the people and places they know and trust. You can become familiar and trustworthy by implementing a campaign that makes you familiar. If you’re the owner, President or CEO and actively work in your store, considering hiring yourself as the spokesperson.

3): Be emotional. Every decision is emotional. It’s either need or greed. Your ads need to reach and talk to the heart of the consumer. Speak in their terms. Step inside the shoes of Joe Consumer and find out what moves him.

4): Be the leader. At all times, look and act like a leader. When you present your company as the leader, consumers will think that you are. Always be proactive and don’t react to tactics used by your competitors.

5): Be consistent. Your media sales rep is telling you the truth…success comes with consistency. Next to creating the most compelling message possible, consistency is the strongest force in advertising.

6): Be decisive. Decide in advance what you’re aiming for. You’ll never reach your goal if you don’t know what the target is. Are you expecting your ads to bring customers in tomorrow, or generate calls, or capture names, create goodwill or build an image? What do you want tomorrow, next month or next year?

7): Be focused. You’ll never sell everyone and you can’t reach everybody. Focus your efforts on in-market prospects. Spend some time researching and defining who they really are and target them. Imagine yourself in a room filled with 100 people. 10 have the desire and means to buy what you’re selling. The other 90 don’t. Who do you talk to? Don’t waste your time or money.

8): Be memorable. Lots of water-cooler conversations go like this: “I saw this great ad last night. I can’t remember what it was for, but it was funny/stupid/clever…” Your ads need to draw attention to you, the advertiser, not the advertising. Are your ads advertising or entertainment? Will consumers remember you? If consumers can’t name you, what good was the ad?

9): Be informative. Package your ads as useful, relevant and meaningful information the consumer can actually use and relate to. The most effective advertising doesn’t look like an ad at all. The non-ad contains useful information your prospects are interested in. Tell them what they want to know.

10): Be positive. Why waste time bashing the other guy when you could be convincing potential customers that you are the better choice? Ads that focus on the negative traits of competitors rarely generate the desired response. In fact, when you tell consumers that your competitors are guilty of some poor practice, deep down they’re thinking you might be guilty too.

11): Be Simple. Resist the temptation to load your ads with multiple messages and offers. Complex thoughts, a laundry list of details, lots of product offerings and price points will have the audience tuning out in less time than it took for you to read this line. Each ad should contain one main point. If you find yourself with nine points you want to share, create nine ads. Now you have a campaign.

12): Be ready. Many advertisers sweat and fight over the details of the ad campaign behind closed doors. They’ll then give the OK and those charged with implementing it go to work. The ads hit the airwaves and consumers respond. Only the front line employees don’t have a clue what’s going on. Make sure you keep everyone on your team informed.

- Leo Burnett
With so much talk about new media, social media marketing and the digital revolution, it’s important for advertisers to gain an understanding of each medium prior to jumping on the bandwagon that touts to be the newest and the greatest.  A quick look back will help add sanity to any advertiser developing their marketing plan.

When the FCC allowed TV stations to broadcast commercial advertisements in 1941, operators loudly proclaimed that TV would replace the movies.  The opposite occurred as in time, movies became better.  People had a choice, and the movies responded with blockbusters.  Today, network, cable and satellite TV all co-exist with the movies.

In the early 80’s, Cable TV operators came along singing their song of the eventual death of broadcast TV and the newspapers as well.  They claimed that because people could get up-to-the-minute news all day, they’d abandon their traditional sources.  That didn’t happen either.  Newspapers had to get better, leaner, more efficient, and more responsive.  Many folded, but many “re-invented” themselves and are found on-line only.  And broadcast news outlets still win the ratings war over their cable counterparts.

Enter the Internet.  Radio offers entertainment and the “theater of the mind.”  Newspapers have credibility and tangibility.  TV provides audio and visual stimulation and makes emotional connections.  And the Internet seems to have it all, with the big plus being user-generated content. Everyone can be a publisher, performer, or critic.

The Internet has become the new showroom.  Look at any retail establishment and they will quickly tell you that in-store traffic is down.  But as powerful as the Internet is, it still needs outreach mediums to tell consumers that you exist.  Like your physical location, your web site needs traffic that will convert to leads.

The possibilities of the Internet are exciting and seemingly endless.  Unfortunately, some advertisers have forsaken traditional mediums in favor of all-Internet marketing.  Advertisers still need to drive eyeballs to their website.

The truth is that none of the “old” mediums have disappeared.  People still read books, magazines and newspapers; they still go to the movies, listen to the radio and watch television. Evolution does happen and some mediums have a natural affinity for each
other.  Before television, the newspaper-radio combination sold a lot of automobiles for local car dealers.  With information becoming the product of the day, the Television-Internet combination sells a lot of learning.

Word-of-mouth still ranks as the most powerful advertising.  With all of the customer comments and discussion boards, the Internet can provide that too.  Be advised that customer comments cut both ways.  And unlike face-to-face word-of-mouth that tends to be limited to a few people, negative comments posted on-line can reach hundreds if not thousands of potential customers
instantly.

In the end, people really haven’t changed all that much.  Since time began, they’ve done what pleases them and what they’re comfortable with.  That doesn’t change overnight.  If you make your selling proposition easy, comfortable, and beneficial, your marketing efforts will continue to generate positive results.

This brings us to the conclusion that it all works.  Used properly and consistently, virtually every medium will generate some type of response for you.  Newspaper, radio, TV, bus cards, direct mail, skywriting, and the Internet can deliver potential customers to
your door (real or virtual).

This is provided that you have something of value.  Regardless of the medium used, you must tell your story in a compelling
manner that convinces the consumer you are the superior choice. Your message must be relevant, easy to comprehend, and meaningful.

And that basic tenant will never change.

• Be different.  The very first thing you should do is take a look at what your competition is doing, and start doing something else.  Place your ads on different mediums, create a unique and different message, employ a different style of message delivery, and
create a different image.

If you want to stand out from the crowd, you have to be different.  Huge gains can be felt quickly when you look, act and talk in a manner that is different from your competitors.

• Be familiar. People buy what they know and are familiar with.  They also buy from the places they know and trust.  You can become familiar and trustworthy by implementing a campaign that makes you familiar.

• Be emotional. All decisions are emotional.  It’s either need or greed.  Talk to the heart of the consumer.  Make them want you.  Speak in their terms.  Step inside your prospects shoes and find out what moves them.

• Be the leader.  Look and act like a leader.  When you present your company as the leader, prospects will think that you are.
Always be proactive and don’t react to tactics used by your competitors.

• Be consistent.  Next to creating the most compelling message possible, consistency is the strongest force in advertising.

• Be decisive. Decide in advance what you’re aiming for.  You’ll never reach your goal if you don’t know what the target is.  Are you expecting your ads to bring customers in tomorrow, or generate calls, or capture names, create goodwill, build an image…?  What do you want tomorrow, next month or next year?

• Be focused.  You’ll never sell everyone and you can’t (nor do you need to) reach everybody.  Focus your efforts on in-market prospects.  Spend some time researching and defining who they really are and target them.  Imagine yourself in a room filled
with 100 people.  10 have the desire and means to buy what you’re selling.  The other 90 don’t.  Who do you talk to?  Don’t waste your time and money.

• Be memorable. The goal of advertising is to draw attention to you, the advertiser, not the advertising.  Are your ads advertising or entertainment?  Will consumers remember you?  If you can’t name the advertiser, what good is the ad?

• Be informative.  Package your ads as useful, relevant and meaningful information the consumer can actually use and relate to.  The most effective advertising doesn’t look like an ad at all.  The non-ad contains useful information your prospects are interested in.   Tell them what they want to know, not what you want to say.

• Be positive.   Why waste time bashing the other guy when you could be convincing potential customers that you are the better choice?  Ads that focus on the negative traits of competitors rarely generate the desired response.  In fact, when you tell consumers that your competitors are guilty of some poor practice, deep down they’re thinking you might be guilty too.  When even plant that seed?

Remember the old line that says “people love to buy but don’t like to be sold.”  Make your company the place people love to buy from.

• Be Simple.  Resist the temptation to load your ads with multiple messages and offers.  Complex thoughts, a laundry list of details, lots of product offerings and price points will have the audience tuning out in less time than it took for you to read this line.

• Be ready. Many advertisers sweat and fight over the details of the ad campaign behind closed doors.  They’ll then give the OK and those charged with implementing it go to work.  The ads hit the airwaves and consumers respond.  Only the front line  employees don’t have a clue what’s going on.  Make sure you keep everyone on your team informed.

Bold words, but hear me out. Each day, consumers are bombarded with countless marketing messages. Having a brand and message that is unique will help break through the clutter. A unique brand identity is essential to getting and keeping your customer’s attention and loyalty. A powerful brand helps pave the way to a successful and profitable business.

Make the decision to actively build your brand. By virtue of just being in business, you end up with a brand identity whether you build it or not. The difference is that when you work on building your brand, you have the opportunity to guide your customers in developing an identity that you would have preferred to have.

Brand building and positioning is not something that you do to your business, product or service — it’s what happens in your customer’s mind. You have the power to influence your customer’s perception of your business, product or service. With effective brand marketing, you can position yourself ahead of your competitors.

A Few Brand Building Quotes and Tips from the Godfathers of Branding:

• “Every advertisement should be thought of as a contribution to the complex symbol — the brand image. You now have to decide what ‘image’ you want for your brand. Image means personality. Products, like people, have personalities and they can make or break them in the market place.” — David Ogilvy

• “In advertising… not to be different is virtually suicidal.” — William Bernbach

• “General advertising is Cyrano. He comes under your window and sings; people get used to it and ignore it. But if Roxanne responds, there’s a relationship. We move the brand relationship up a notch. Advertising becomes a dialogue that becomes an invitation to a relationship.” — Lester Wunderman

• “To establish a favorable and well-defined brand personality with the consumer, the advertiser must be consistent. You can’t use a comic approach today and a scientist in a white jacket tomorrow without diffusing and damaging your brand personality.” — Morris Hite

• “If you ever have the good fortune to create a great advertising campaign, you will soon see a competitor steal it. This is irritating, but don’t let it worry you; nobody has ever built a brand by imitating somebody else.” — David Ogilvy

• “There’s no secret formula for advertising success, other than to learn everything you can about the product. Most products have some unique characteristic… and the really great advertising comes right out of the product and says something about the product that no one else can say. Or at least no one else is saying.” — Morris Hite

Branding is serious business. Your brand simply cannot support itself on attractive logo images and font usage alone. The biggest mistake businesses make is focusing on the visual aspect of brand identity without first establishing the brand framework, which contains: the company’s position, unique selling proposition (USP) and marketing message.

Brand is defined as a “name, term, sign, symbol or design, or a combination of them intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of other sellers”. While the brand image must be both powerful and visually distinctive within the mind of the consumer, businesses must first determine the most important component of the brand definition: how to “differentiate from those of other sellers”.

Your company’s position and USP are the frameworks that must be defined first. Once you have established your position, move onto developing your tag line (if applicable) and key marketing messages. Both your tag line and marketing messages are extensions of your position and USP content. The marketing message must articulate the value your company will provide to the customer. Your marketing message must confirm your credibility, connect to your target market, motivate the buyer and set the stage for brand loyalty and evangelism. Once you have completed your content foundation, you are then able to develop the aesthetics of your brand.

Branding allows you to create a visual picture of your company within the customer’s mind. Be sure to strategically think through the visuals and marketing content. Similar to the ongoing strategy associated with positioning, your brand images and content must be clearly defined throughout all corporate communication.

A successful brand position must satisfy three conditions: it must be unique, compelling and credible. Linking your brand with a compelling customer need in a unique way is a good start. However, many companies falter in the implementation phase when credibility is proven or refuted.

Just saying it doesn’t guarantee customers. You must deliver on the promise your brand makes or you’ll witness the migration of your customers to your competitors.

Television: If you need to reach lots of consumers in the shortest period of time, TV is still the big winner.

● 82% of adults (A18+) watch TV every day

● 93% of adults (A18+) watch TV throughout the week

● 61% of adults report they trust television advertising

● On average, American men (18+) spend 10.7 hours weekly watching TV vs. 11.2 hours for women (18 +)

(Source: Scarborough Research; Neilson)

Radio: It’s still portable, informative and entertaining. Here is who is listening now:

● 71% of adults (A18+) listen to the radio each day (109 minutes daily)

● 82% of adults (A18+) listen to the radio each week (678 minutes weekly)

● 55% of radio listeners report they trust radio advertising

● On average, American men (18+) spend 4.9 hours listening to radio each week vs. 4.8 for women (18+)

(Source: Arbitron 2010; Scarborough Research)

Daily Newspapers

● Depending the market you’re in, 50 – 74% of American adults read a newspaper at least once a week, either printed or online.

● 79% of readers are considered white collar

● 82% are adults with household income over $100k

● 84% are university grads

● Between 2005—2009, unique visitors to daily newspaper websites have gone from41,1 million to 71,8 million

● 69% of readers report they trust that newspaper articles are verified and exact.

(Source: Scarborough Research; Newspaper Association of America; North America — Nielsen Online Global Consumer Survey — July 2009 )

Internet

● 64% of Adults (A18+) go on-line daily, with 107 minutes spent on-line per day per user

● 72% of Adults (A18+) go on-line weekly, with 543 minutes spent on-line per week

● American men (18+) spend an average 10.8 hours online each week vs. 11.3 hours for women (18+)

● 43% of Internet users report that they notice ad banners on websites

Numbers can be confusing. And the sellers of ad mediums love to present lots of numbers.

Don’t get caught up in the “which medium is the big winner contest.” The bottom line for any advertisers is this; focus on creating a message that is relevant, meaningful and interesting to the consumer. Without a solid message, no medium will deliver the results you seek.

A sound message, with real benefits for the consumer will have a surprisingly positive impact regardless of where you place your ads.