Can I Find Your Product In Anytown, USA?

Have you noticed how certain shoe brands are sold exclusively in limited retail outlets? How about clothes, ever notice some brands can be found all over the place, and yet others are only found in major cities? Notice how you can’t just go into your local office supply store and purchase a $2,000 gold-cased Montblanc writing instrument? Ok, then you recognize that where you distribute your products/services is an important component of a branding strategy!

Did you know your branding strategy should help define your distribution channels? It should be a guiding principle when determining exactly how you want to position your product or service in the marketplace. This applies to both products and services alike. Here’s a few examples:

If the Price Point for your product or service is →	Low	Medium	Premium
Distribution channel options	mass outlets, big box retailers/events, general business events	a little harder to find, more niche networking events	selective locations, not too accessible for the masses, maybe exclusive
Features to market	Quantity is most important – highlight accessibility	Mixed – highlight easy accessibility with quality	Highlight quality features, “you get what you pay for” also works here
Advertising	Blanket the market with local/regional/national ads, you have a ton of competitors	Find industry specific promo outlets, publications, websites to advertise on	Selective, targeted ads in niche publications/ websites to reach your target market

In order to choose the best distribution channels for your business, you need to identify the heart of your business offering, your true core competency. So many people think their products and services are special/unique/rare and there’s nobody out there offering the same things. This is simply not the case! The key is to know your competition, know who’s offering similar products and services, and position your brand to compete. Where you distribute your products and services should be a factor in the development of your brand strategy.

Ciao,
Miss Kemya 

Can You Define Your Brand?

So you’ve been in business for a while. Can you give me a definition of your brand?

For example, I’m a small biz marketing powerhouse who comes in, peels the surface layers back to reveal the true core of your biz, evaluates and, if necessary, overhauls your entire marketing strategy, immerses your biz across the appropriate social media platforms, syncs your day-to-day operations with your firm’s long term objectives, and re-energizes your passion and perception of your own business.

I ask clients to describe my brand to me and this is pretty much a summary of what I’ve been told. Do I like the way I am perceived by my clients? Absolutely!

Did I strategically develop my brand into this? Nope. I just do my work, like most of you do. But my energy is infectious and my clients immediately refer to my energy every time they talk about me. Can’t you sense my energy in this brand description? Had you asked me several years ago to describe my brand I would have probably said something with the words ‘dedicated’, ‘small but mighty’, ‘resourceful’ and a bunch of other boring, average characteristics that clearly my clients don’t even give a thought to.

Why ask my clients, and not come up with some fancy-schmancy branding concept? I mean, I’m a writer and a marketer, so I can certainly come up with the most eloquently stated brand concept ever. However, this wouldn’t be a realistic description of my brand, and I would subsequently go about monitoring and building my brand all wrong. Why?

Because your brand is all about PERCEPTION:
It is the PERCEPTION of your buying audience that makes your brand. 

Since my clients perceive me to be energetic (which I am) and comprehensive in my analysis (I try), I work hard to stay true to my brand in all that I do, from my initial handshake to the way I prepare a final deliverable, and every manner of communication in between. The objective is to match your desired brand image with your actual brand image. If these are in alignment, great! If not, work to figure out how to match them. Want to know an easy way to get started? Ask your clients how they perceive your brand!

Ciao,
Miss Kemya 

Brand Communication Is More Than Your Website

Branding is all about the communication of your image to the world, yes I said world! You’re familiar with the whole six-degrees-of-separation concept right? So, in effect, your presence is global, whether or not you realize it.

How Is Branding Communicated?

In a nutshell, your brand is communicated in every single action you take with regards to your business, whether it’s with a prospect, client, employee, partner, vendor, etc. Most business owners know a company’s brand is communicated by a business card, a website, and customer service. But let’s dig a bit deeper shall we? Your company’s brand is also communicated by

• the way you answer the phone
• your voice mail message on the phone
• how you greet a person (smile, handshake, hug, eye contact)
• verbiage used in all communication – emails, tweets, blog posts, newsletters, invoices
• how you pack a giveaway bag at an event
• the speed in which you respond to inquiries
• your store’s physical layout
• venues chosen for your special events
• memberships in organizations
• sponsorship of business-related events

I could go on and on, but I think you get the idea. Be conscious of the brand you are communicating to the world as you go about managing your business, and always put your best brand face forward!

Ciao,
Miss Kemya