On January 11th I was lucky enough to participate in the Greater Watertown North Country Chamber of Commerce and the United Way’s new program called EVOLVE. It was held at Jefferson Community College. Kayla Jamieson, the president of the GWNC Chamber of Commerce describes EVOLVE as, “a quarterly professional development series by the GWNC Chamber of Commerce in partnership with the United Way of Northern New York. The concept is to provide business professionals with an opportunity to spark new ideas as we discuss various topics that reflect the local business community. This series welcomes all small business and non-profit organizations at no cost. A commitment to lifelong learning. An opportunity to evolve. And as always, a chance to expand your network!” It was an event worth discussing.
The first session was focused on marketing and specifically “Branding.” The presenter was Tim Sweeney, vice president of Intrepid Broadcasting, and it was informative. Why talk about branding? Well, it’s an extremely important economic development tool for your small business or non-profit. The idea is simple – when you see a particular image, hear a specific tagline, or hear a specific piece of music, it makes you think of a product. For example, Sweeney asked us what brand we think of when he says “toothpaste.” Immediately, someone said, “Crest” and another said, “Colgate.” He advanced to the next slide, and on it was a photo of Crest and Colgate toothpaste. He predicted our thoughts because of their branding. I bet you can even see the colors of the words on the tube. Think about the significance of this kind of recognition for a business. If I show you a yellow rounded “M,” chances are very good that you’re going to think of McDonalds. If I show you a white apple with a bite out of the side, you’ll probably think of Apple Computers. You get the idea. Ideally, Sweeney says, you want the product to be synonymous with your brand’s name. “Pass me a Kleenex.” “Q-Tip,” “Band-aid.” People don’t have to describe “a facial tissue, short stick with cotton on the end, or small adhesive bandage;” the products have been so well branded that we say the company’s name.
Sweeney started with a quote from Yogi Berra, “If you don’t know where you’re going, how will you know when you get there?” Sweeney talks about the importance Top of the Mind Awareness or TOMA. If you brand your product properly and with enough consistency, your product will be on the top of their mind, when they need it. If my car breaks down and I need a tow, is there a specific company that I think of because I consistently hear or see their ads? Sweeney is a radio guy, so he also focused on the tagline for branding. A tagline is the catch phrase that is usually said just before or after the name of the company. It’s extremely important to make it unique to your company and interesting. For people that have lived in the north country region for a while, if I say, “It’s huge!” You’ll probably think of a car dealership. Sweeney asked us who we thought of when he said mattresses, and I think everyone thought about the same place. “Frequency is the key.” When I used to own the Lake Ontario Playhouse we’d end every commercial and every show with “Keep on laughing!” We were a comedy club and theatre, laughing was what we were about, and we wanted to keep you laughing!
What makes a tagline unique? Sweeney mentioned “Family owned,” and “veteran owned,” are good pieces of information, and should be used, but they are not good taglines for branding. Hundreds of businesses are family owned or veteran owned, and we love them and want to support them, however, the tagline needs to be unique to your business, a way to set your business apart from the rest of the flock. I remember I used to hear the old JRECK Subs commercials and jingle all the time when I was a kid, “A meal for your money, not a snack – JRECK!” After a while, you didn’t have to say the company’s name or even the entire line, I could fill it the blanks, and more importantly, my mind would start thinking of my favorite tasting subs.
Tim Sweeney offered a few free (or almost free) on-line marketing tools: Canva, Pexel.com, Jotform, Wevideo, and we had an interested discussion about GPT Chat (a conversation for another day.) The final messages were a few recommended action steps:
1. Create and establish your unique selling position, your branding
2. Get involved in the community
3. Be connected socially (and yes, that does also mean social media)
4. Ask for reviews and testimonials
5. Create gratitude practices and referral incentives
Don’t forget to thank your customer for their support,;if it wasn’t for your customers, you wouldn’t be in business. Also, don’t forget to thank your employees. They always appreciate a little extra positive reinforcement. And thank you, for reading!
At the Small Business Development Center, we have all sorts of resources that can help you develop your business plan, marketing strategy, financial projections, and so much more, (including our social media handbook.) Reach out to your nearest office either in Watertown, or Canton. Our job is to help your business be a success and we do it for FREE!
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This content was originally published here.
