It is time to revisit once again the value of brands as illustrated by the Tiger Woods brand.  While brand values have taken a hit this year as in General Motors,  Chrysler, Lehman Brothers and all the other brands hit by the recession, the Tiger Woods brand and endorsed brands gives us a view of how brand value is effected having  nothing to do with the economy.

According to Victor Stango and Christopher Knittel, economics professors at University of California Davis, shareholders of Woods major sponsors, such as Nike, Gatorade and AT&T have lost somewhere between $5-billion and $12-billion in market capitalization as a result of Tiger’s fallen image.  If we add this to the loss of revenue for the upcoming 2010 PGA golf tournaments that will certainly lose money because of Tiger Woods absence, how many more billions of dollars will be lost? We already learned from Woods absence from the 2008 tournaments from his knee surgery that viewership of these tournaments was down drastically.  How about the game of golf itself?  Golf courses and country clubs have already suffered due to the economy.  Will there be fewer aspiring Tiger Woods heading for the links this spring and summer?

The Tiger Woods brand issue should make CEO’s and CMO’s reevaluate their brand strengths and brand management and give high priority to brand strategy as part of their overall business strategy. We can now see how much brand can have a major impact on a company’s bottom line.

Earlier this year I wrote that the Tiger Woods brand is so strong that when he was out with knee surgery, major PGA golf tournaments had a significant drop in viewers. For example the Buick International was down 57%.  (see  http://tinyurl.com/y9857s2   ) What effect will the accident in Orlando and Tiger’s actions surrounding the accident have on the Tiger Woods brand?

I am sure that in the long term American Express and GM will be just as thrilled to have endorsement contracts in place as Tiger destines to be the greatest golfer if not greatest athlete of all time. However, in the short term, there will be some fallout and consequences. The first being the recent decision not to participate in the Chevron World Challenge. What an opportunity lost for Chevron and other sponsors of this event and the game of golf. The incident in Orlando would have spilled over to this week’s tournament, and imagine how many viewers would have tuned in to see and hear from America’s favorite brand icon. Would he have answered questions from the press? Would he be able to play at his best? Would the other players support him? Would his wife be at his side? The tournament would be great drama and the television ratings would be off the chart.

I am sure Tiger is getting sage advice from his lawyers and agents, but I would have loved to have seen him play and make a record number of birdies and eagles, hold up the trophy, give thanks to the tournament, players, and love to Elin. End of story.

There is an old advertising saying attributed to John Wanamaker that goes “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted, the trouble is I don’t know which half”. Today you may still think that half of your advertising may be wasted, but shame on you if you don’t know which half.

With company websites as the cornerstone of today’s marketing, and with the addition of analytic tools to measure traffic, conversions, and sales that flow through your website, not only can you determine which half of your advertising and marketing is working, but you can make informed marketing decisions that prevent you from wasting money on advertising and marketing that does not work.

There is almost no marketing effort that can’t be tracked through analytics. Online advertising such as links from PPC, or purchased links from third party websites like Thomasnet and GlobalSpec, e-mail campaigns, direct mail campaigns, trade show events, and trade publication advertising can all be measured through your company website.

What do we measure?

Consider metrics for quantity, quality, cost, time and satisfaction. The most important metric in our space is Key Performance Indicators (KPI). If you don’t know what that is, call us. For demand generation, focus on cost per inquiry, cost per opportunity and cost per sale. For branding, focus on recognition and recall through surveys.

• How many unique visitors your site receives daily
• Which keywords are responsible for driving sales and leads to the site
• What are the most effective referring sources to drive revenue
• Which marketing campaign generates the most sales at the lowest cost
• Which pages within your site result in the most profit

Understanding which analytics to focus on (KPI) and understanding how to interpret those KPI can help you make improvements in your web design, improvements in your marketing/advertising campaigns, and ultimately increase the quality of your leads.For an example of an analytics report, customized specifically for your company go to:                  FREE ANALYSIS

“Made in America” may be making a strong comeback. Straight from the headlines of the New York Times (Dollar Falls to New Low Against the Euro - 9/21/07) and the Wall Street Journal (Dollar Lifts Exporters, Blunting Housing Bust - 10/1/07), we see that the dollar is getting weaker against the Euro and other currencies around the world, including Canada. This gives an edge to American manufacturers and has already helped lift exports by more than 11 percent in the first eight months of this year.

In addition to the help the value of the dollar is giving to help bridge the trade deficit, American manufacturers are still known for quality and innovation. American consumers are made aware by news reports of imported products with lead paint in Mattel toys, food that is contaminated, pharmaceutical drugs that are contaminated, labor abuses, and unregulated pollution in China and other countries. Not only will these factors help drive businesses globally for American made products, but American consumers will demand and be willing to pay a premium for higher quality domestically made products.

How do you take advantage of these recent developments?

If you make it in America, be sure to advertise “Made in America” in your advertisements, websites, direct mail, and collateral materials. Consider advertising in trade publications that are read in Canada, Europe, and other countries.

List your company on websites that promote US manufacturers such as:

• www.stillmadeinamerica.com
• www.madeinusa.com
• www.thomasnet.com (formerly Thomas Register of American Manufacturers)

Sample of international publications:

• ATA Journal (textile)
• Telecom Asia
• Lightwave Europe
• FibreSystems Europe
• European Power News
• Asian Plastic News
• Jane’s Navy International
• Industria Avicola (commercial poultry - Latin America)
• What’s New in Food Technology and Manufacturing
• Euro Photonics
• Electronic Products - China
• Network News - Italy
• Automotive News Europe

If you need help in developing your “Made in America” and export efforts, drop me an email at bob.grant@grantmarketing.com.

The most important asset of your company’s brand to your customers and prospects is your employees. The number one reason a person will change vendors is the interaction he/she has with the personnel of your company. If your employees are not strong advocates for what your company stands for, your company is in jeopardy of losing business.

Every company needs to strive to build a brand-based culture. The reasons to build a brand-based culture are the following:

• It provides a tangible reason for employees to believe in your company, which keeps them motivated and energized.
• It allows each employee to see how he or she fits into the grand scheme of delivering the brand vision and promise to its customers and the effect of these efforts on the business goals.
• It develops a level of pride tied to fulfilling the brand promise.
• It provides a great recruiting tactic as well as a powerful retention tool.
• It confirms that the customer and the brand are the things to focus on.

Whether your business sells to consumers or whether it is a B2B model, getting your employees to understand the company’s brand promise is an essential part of building a brand driven business that delivers sustainable, profitable growth.

Southwest Airlines is an excellent example of carrying its brand of friendly affordable air carrier service through its employees to its customers, which is clearly stated on the Southwest website:

“Our Culture is unique because of the SOUTHWEST SPIRIT of our Employees. Defining SOUTHWEST SPIRIT is difficult, but one of the important components is an altruistic nature that places others before self. Our Employees are famous for their warm hearts and giving nature, which is what makes Southwest a Company with a conscience. The Employees of Southwest are committed to ‘doing the right thing,’ which is why giving back to the communities we serve and contributing positively to our environment is simply the way we do business.”

How do C-level managers keep employees informed and engaged in the brand’s evolving story and what it means to them? Does there exist inside the company an internal marketing effort to increase employees understanding of the brand while eliminating any perceived barriers to embracing it?

We propose that a company needs to look inside itself and perform an internal assessment of how employees, including management and channel partners perceive the corporate brand and how it delivers its brand message to its customers. A coordinated internal understanding of the brand is just as important as a good external marketing initiative.

Business Week published its annual “Best Global Brands” list last week. The usual top brands are still on top, Coca Cola, IBM, and Microsoft. Some like Google have jumped from #20 to #10, and retailer H&M is on the list for the first time at #22.

“The 100 Best Global Brands are a reflection of the global economy - the current credit crisis in the U.S., the growth of emerging markets and the increased emphasis on sustainability are all key trends that resulted in brands rising or failing on the list,” said Jez Frampton, CEO of Interbrand. “The increasing complexities of the global economy reinforce the importance of protecting and growing a brand. It is a company’s most valuable asset - and a far less volatile asset than others during a time of economic uncertainty.”

With the economy heading for an official recession it raises the discussion about marketing in a down economy. Do you cut budgets? Do you keep them the same? Do you increase marketing budgets? Many companies have taken advantage of down economies in the past to increase their brand positions when there is less advertising/marketing noise. Take BMW for example, who in 1974 reintroduced itself as the “Ultimate Driving Machine,” a slogan that is still being used today. BMW not only rebranded itself from a manufacturer of sports sedans to a maker of SUV’s and luxury sedans, but even surpassed Mercedes in the luxury brand auto market.

With tight credit and diminishing sales, companies need to evaluate where to cut costs and increase cash flow, but they also need to re-evaluate their brands. According to Business Week, “When times get tough, people reexamine old habits and brand loyalties. Their tastes shift dramatically as they cut back.”

Maybe it’s time to reevaluate your company’s brand by:

• Internal research to see how employees, management, and channel partners understand your brand and how well it is communicated to customers.
• External brand research with customers to understand how well your brand is resonating with them.
• An internal review among company management and stake holders to refocus on unique selling points and unique positioning statements facilitated by a non-partisan third party.
• Touch Point analysis – Reevaluate where your brand comes in contact with your potential buyers. Has that changed? Are you spending too much money on one medium, when it would be more cost effective to market through another medium?
• Web analysis – On your website, is your core message to your clients and prospects clear.

Studies have shown that companies that strengthen their brands during a recession are 7 times more likely to come out of the recession stronger. This is because companies that rebrand successfully are positioned to reap the rewards of better consumer confidence during expansions. The lesson is simple — no matter what type of business you run, don’t put branding on the back burner during these hard times.

Seems like marketers are all a-twitter about social media these days. Is social media a threat to companies, a place where customers and employees can voice their dissatisfaction of poor quality, poor customer service, and corporate arrogance? Or is it an opportunity for companies to spread the news about new products, new services, and a forum to respond to consumers perceptions of how well they are being serviced by these companies?

It is probably all of the above. Take customer feedback. Large corporations used to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on research to discover what consumers thought of as a product or service. The explosion of Consumer Generated Media (CGM) has allowed consumers a constant dialog on how well they are being served by companies. This has prompted companies like Domino Pizza, who was damaged by the release of disgusting video on You Tube by a couple of employees, to take notice of the importance of social media and proactively to take action to satisfy consumer demands. See social-media-baptism-for-dominos-pizza/
Companies like Southwest Airlines, Volvo, and Intuit have established their own Twitter and Facebook accounts to not only monitor the daily buzz from their consumers, but to also use this media as a part of a larger marketing campaign. Volvo is promoting its new XC60 through snail mail, email, web site, and YouTube, but also directing visitors to the Volvo Twitter page where consumers can comment and follow the activities of Volvo.

While large B2C companies will no doubt take the lead on using social media to monitor consumer response, amass fans to its brand, and use as an extension of traditional marketing efforts, smaller companies, and B2B companies will, I believe, find relevance in this social media space and use it to maintain customer loyalty and enhance their corporate brands.

Before you Tweet, do a little research:
1.    Search your own company on Google Search to see if there are any unsolicited comments about your company.
2.    Search www.twitter.com for your products, your services, your competition, and your market keywords.
3.    Do the same on www.facebook.com and www.linkedin.com
4.    Register on some of these social media networks. Post information that you would only want the public to see and keep it professional.
5.    User names on social networks are very much like domain names, so grab your company name and main keywords now, before it is too late.

Need further help? contact us at info@grantmarketing.com

We will be facilitating our Brand Strategy and Online Marketing Workshop on Thursday, May 28th and June 25th. With the increased usage of online media, especially consumer generated media, your company’s brand lies naked for all to see, to comment, to recommend, or not recommend. It is essential to create a brand strategy and online marketing strategy to survive in today’s economy. If you are located in the greater Boston area, join us at our two scheduled workshops. Check it out at www.GrantMarketing.com/workshop

When I sold advertising space for the Thomas Register, the world’s leading industrial directory, I relied on marketing studies that demonstrated B2B products were bought, not sold. 92% of purchases were initiated by the buyer, not the seller.

According to Philip Kotler in his book, B2B Brand Management, “The Internet furthermore brings the full array of choices to every purchaser or decision maker anywhere with just one mouse click. Without trusted brands as touchstones, buyers would be overwhelmed by an overload of information no matter what they are looking for.” What better way to surface above the searches for products on the web than to develop a recognizable brand for your company and its products? When you look for a book online, do you search for books or do you go to Amazon.com? When you look for a computer online do you search for PC’s or do you go to Dell, or IBM?

For more information on the importance of branding, please download our white paper, “The Argument for Branding.” »

The newspapers are awash with news on a slowing economy. Maybe once the financial institutions write off their sub-prime mortgage losses, the economy can get back on its feet. In 2003 Interbrand published a white paper on how strong brand companies not only survived better than their competitors in a recession, but they were the first to come out of the recession in good shape.

Click here to read Interbrand’s white paper “Branding in a Recession” »