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You are here: Home / Archives for Brand

Questions to Help You Define Your Brand

Brand building isn’t just having a great name.

Great brands are more than just great names. They mean something.

Think of Nike; it isn’t just a globally-known athletic brand, but it means something to casual, or even non-athletes. Or think Apple. It isn’t just a leading high tech brand, but there’s more, especially to Apple devotees.

How did they do this? They asked themselves certain questions that helped them define who they were and who their target audience is. These questions helped them showcase their value (something I recently wrote about).

When sitting down to define your brand, many questions will come into your head, but the following questions are vital to answer:

1. Why is my brand in existence? Your brand is your company. It is who you are. Sports teams exist to win trophies and to bring their supporters joy. What does your company bring to to its target audience?

2. What value does my brand offer? Before a potential consumer becomes a consumer, he or she will want to know what value your product will have for them. Value can be monetary or a positive emotional or health benefit. But before a consumer decides on the economic value of your brand, an emotional consideration will occur first. Define what value you are offering to your target audience. Like a sports team or a pop performer, your brand should offer a specific valuable experience for your consumer.

3. Is this what your audience needs? After you’ve answered the first question about why your brand exists, you must also know if what you are delivering is what your audience needs. You must be able to deliver an experience, and a product/service that your consumer needs. It isn’t just enough to be another computer company, but you must differentiate yourself from your competition.

Need help defining your brand? Contact SPARKS! and we’ll help you.

Great Brands Showcase Their Value

Promote your brand’s value to the consumer.

“A brand is an honest promise” is a maxim that every marketer knows. If a brand fails to deliver on its promise – better service, better experience, etc. – that failure to meet the consumer’s expectations will result in the loss of a customer, and in this connected world, will be made public. In the end, any brand with this problem will face a very difficult challenge in winning back the consumer.

Each brand also has a story. As I mentioned in a previous post, the best brands tell great stories. By telling stories, they connect with us emotionally, and consumers’ emotions influence whether or not they will make a purchase.

The other aspect a brand should emphasize is its value to the consumer. A brand needs to show why any consumer should purchase its products. But you shouldn’t just focus on your products and/or service; you need to promote your brand’s value. This bleeds into the question of why any consumer should choose your brand over another.

Volvo did a successful job of showcasing their value. The car manufacturer waded into the issue of bicycle safety and came up with something called Life Paint, which cyclists can spray on to their clothing and bicycles. Long known for bring a brand that focuses on consumer safety, Volvo further underlines their commitment to safety, whether those traveling are in their cars or outside and riding alongside of them. What does this do? It makes people look at Volvo in a wholly new way as a car manufacturer that really cares about safety, as the video shows.

Not sure how to promote your brand’s value? Contact SPARKS! to see how we can help you.

The Best Brands Tell Great Stories

What some of the best brands like Nike can teach us.

The Best Brands Tell Great StoriesSuccessful branding seeks to create a unique image in the customer’s mind and that stands out from competitors. More than that, though, a brand is an honest promise. When we buy something, we’re expecting it to fulfill our expectations. However, brands must first catch our attention.

Some of the best brands like Nike and Disney do this effectively. By telling stories, they connect with us emotionally.

Nike tells exciting stories about professional and aspiring athletes, stories which inspire the athlete in each of us. We are able to connect with the same desire in each athlete on the screen. We know the same hunger for improvement and to achieve a specific goal. One example is the following video called “The Chance,” in which shows the story of Abdoulaye Coumbassa, whose desire is to play soccer.

Combining wonderful imagery and Spike Lee speaking about how inner drive makes goal achievement possible, Nike’s story inspires us.

Disney, a completely different company, has built upon storytelling. Its brand, when one thinks of it, brings to mind, stories. Disney’s tagline “The Happiest Place on Earth” connects with everyone’s yearning for a place that offers unlimited enchantment. It’s the place where dreams come true. Each movie that Disney releases is accompanied by products related to that specific movie. Its movies are its content. In his column in Forbes, Will Burns sums it up best, “They create a brand story – a movie – and then build products around that story.”

Think of your brand’s unique storyline. When you know what it is, and when your employees have internalized it, it will be easy to deliver on its promise, delivering experiences that customers will want to be a part of.

Does Your Brand Stand Out?

Customer Loyalty ConceptCompanies are competing not just against their competitors, they are competing against non-competitors their target audience’s attention, and money. The biggest challenge facing advertisers is getting in front of their audience. With so many ads on so many platforms – television, radio, print, online and mobile – how can your brand stand out?

Today, your consumers want the information instantly; if you cannot tell them why your product or service is right for them in under 30 seconds, sometimes even less, failing to get their attention, you have failed.

[Read more…]

Internal Marketing Must Be Done

The words Own It on a branding iron to illustrate the concept ofWhen speaking of marketing, many of us tend to think of external marketing, trying to find ways to keep existing consumers and to gain new ones.

These are important obstacles that must be overcome. However, we tend to miss out on the first group of people companies need to reach – their employees.

Any employer or marketer must ask himself the following question, “Do I have a team that embodies the company’s brand?”
[Read more…]

Internal Branding: You Can’t Ignore It

One person holds a sign or banner with the word Identity to spreMarketing plan created. Check. Brand essence. Check. Brand personality. Check. Strategy. Check.

Something, though, is missing. And the question hits you: “Ok, my external branding is fine, but what about my internal branding? Do my employees know what the brand stands for? Is it internalized?”

[Read more…]

Why Internal Branding Must Be Done

Corporate IdentitySo, you’ve created your marketing plan. You’ve decided on your brand essence and personality. You’ve decided on your strategy to get the attention of your target audience and how to turn them into loyal consumers.

But something is missing. You look around your company and you say, “Ok, my external branding is fine, but what about my internal branding? Do my employees internalize the company’s brand? Do I have a team that embodies the company’s brand?”
[Read more…]

Music, Marketing & Millennials

The following post was written by Stephen Fischel

Crowds Enjoying Themselves At Outdoor Music FestivalFinding a way to connect with Millennials is one of the hottest topics in marketing today.  Many brands have used music to connect on an emotional level with this generation.  Brands have found that music has the power to connect people. [Read more…]

How To Destroy Your Brand

BARCELONA - JAN 14: FIFA World Cup trophy exhibed at the OlympicAs more allegations of corruption regarding FIFA’s awarding the 2022 World Cup to Qatar refuse to disappear, soccer’s international governing body remains adamant that nothing unethical has occurred, with the president, Sepp Blatter, even going so far as to accuse the British media and others of having “a racist and discriminatory agenda”, while continuing to deny any corruption ever took place.

If you’re looking for a sure lesson of how to destroy your brand, you need not look any further than FIFA and its president.

[Read more…]

The Potato – the Greatest Image Makeover

The word ImageThe potato, that simple vegetable that has become such a staple of our diet and which has many nutritional benefits, was a part in one of the greatest image makeover ever. After it was introduced to the European continent via Spain in the 16th century, it was looked upon with utter distaste. [Read more…]

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Many organizations have invested in designing a beautiful website only to have it lost in the forest, er, Interwebs. So what is Search Engine Optimization and why is SEO important?

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What is Search Engine Optimization? - SPARKS! is an award-winning marketing communications agency based in Baltimore, MD. We offer web development and design, SEO, social media and digital marketing s...
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Where is your business showing up in your customers’ search results? Are you in the top results? Greg Pierce has the answers to get your business to break into the top positions.

Through the Better Business Bureau Greater Maryland webinar series, Greg will discuss:
- Fundamentals of SEO
- Tips to improve your website's ranking on search engines
- Using analytics to monitor performance

Search Engine Optimization: Simple Strategies to Improve Web Performance
Thursday, April 20th | 8:30 - 9:30am

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See ‘behind the curtain’ and learn ways to have your website rank higher in search-engine results
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Seven years ago today - it seems like only yesterday! Happy SPARKS! Anniversary to our own Lauren Pierce! ... See MoreSee Less

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Wonderful anniversary! Keep up the great job!!!!

Happy Sparks anniversary to my very talented granddaughter!💕

Congratulations Lauren

Congratulations Lauren!

Happy anniversary!

Congratulations!

The best 7 years!

Congratulations 🎉

Perfect VIBE!!!

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