EM’s brand marketing manager, Isha Edwards weighs in on the use of social media as a platform for brands to build awareness, harvest brand concepts or engage their audience. Amidst mixed reviews on the topic, Edwards calls purpose the “litmus test for all things social media.”  Instead of keeping up with the brand Jones’s, Edwards strongly recommends that marketers weigh efforts by a company’s vision, mission, and short and long term objectives.

“How to do a thing is less important than why,” says Edwards. “Anyone can learn how to use Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etc., being able to filter data collected to create value or to align with a brand’s purpose remains a work in progress for most.”

References:

How Twitter Affects Brands
Do You Need a Social Media Marketer?

According to self-taught computer engineer and founder of Lotus, Mitch Kapor, “If a product meets an unmet need, it doesn’t matter if the economy is bad.” Simply put, we agree.

The real estate bubble was based completely on want. When priorities changed, consumers got back to basics. The current downturn does not mean that all is lost. It just means that there are new ways for needs to be met or opportunities to be found.

Do your research!

Reference: Startups in a Downturn

EPiC Measures simplifies the academic definition of marketing as follows: methods used to exchange value, i.e., a good and/or service, with a target audience.  While advertising, branding, sales and public relations are valid marketing methods, they only account for 25 percent of the marketing mix (promotion) and therefore, 25 percent of marketing strategy.

The Marketing Mix is product, price, place and promotion. With this in mind, it’s easy to see that a company’s marketing efforts tend to weigh heavily on promotions (see examples above).  In order to create a marketing strategy, which yields best results, research must also be conducted on product, price and placement.

Marketing Science Institute, Mintel and Direct Marketing Association are reputable research organizations. References below include tips that address online marketing, sales and customer service needs. The latter article speaks to boutique outfits as well as independent artists in entertainment.

References:
Marketing is a Science
10 Tips for Building Successful Online Customer Communities
Understand and Meet Customer Expectations
To Win the Sale, Engage 3 Key Decision Makers
Support Me, Support Me

Traditional valuation of a company is based primarily on tangible assets. In recent years, the trend to include a larger percent of intangible assets in valuation shifted especially as consumer and sponsorship interests in brands began to flourish. The entertainment industry, the media and business’ need for revenue had a lot to do with the increase of brand awareness and brand popularity and, therefore, heightened brand valuation. Unfortunately for many, none of the brand hype equated to customer loyalty. When economic storms hit, customers abandoned the market place in mass.

Prior to the Wall Street debacle everything financial (including the housing supply, loans, and employment) was based on future return on investment and/or future cash flows. The problem with valuating a large portion of any company by intangible assets is that executives tend to pad current value as well as overestimate future cash flows.

Like the housing market, brand valuations, stock portfolios and other investments were overrated in line with hype. Unable to foresee that customers would give out under the weight of higher prices coupled with unexpected circumstances, businesses that failed to prepare for economic drought fell hard and fast as did business whose brand value was greater than brand loyalty.

Now that reality has set in, companies are back to doing business as usual: scrupulously. Unfortunately, over padding has led to what appears to be a tremendous loss. In actuality, brand values have simply normalized in the sense that companies now have to back numbers with hard facts.

Lessons to live by? What motivates a customer to act is one of two things: need or want. Instead of attempting to time consumers as one would the market or to bait customers based on hype, business owners should follow proven advise:

1. Be both genuine and relevant in your marketing approaches
2. Put all eggs in several baskets
3. Investment in safe vehicles that will help hedge against loss while guaranteeing gain
4. Save (have large cash reserves)
5. Keep liabilities to a minimum to include eliminating unnecessary debt
6. Plan for the short haul but live for the long term

References:
Marketing Strategies that Build Value
Get Back to Basics. Win Back the Trust.
Hidden ‘Brand Bubble’ Threatens to Burst, Warn Analysts
When Marketers Put the Cart Before the Horse

Business blogger, Brad Huisken shares his insight to what business should be doing during tough times.

Reference: Adversity Doesn’t Build Character – It Reveals Character

Says McKee, “If you believe your brand is in need of additional equity, instead of borrowing it from a celebrity, develop it yourself… Take the money you would otherwise hand over to an already well-paid celebrity and invest it in developing original creative ideas that will make your brand stand out. That way, the equity you create will be nothing but your own.”

Reference: The Trouble with Celebrity Endorsements

Post a video, and it may be online forever — no matter how stupid it makes you look. The same goes for blog posts, forum discussions, photo albums and even emails you send to friends. (You never know what will spread from the private sphere to the public realm.) The point is painfully obvious: You need to be thoughtful and deliberate when conducting your life online.

But what happens when it’s too late? Here’s how you can attempt to undo the damage.

First, determine what damaging information exists. Enter your name at Google, MSN and Yahoo and see what turns up in the first four or five pages of results. Anything troubling? Mark it for action. Then sign up for the alerts available at spots like Google Alerts; when information about you is added or updated, you’ll find out via email.

References:
How to Clean Up Your Online Reputation
Brand Yourself to Fight the Bad Economy

BusinessWeek expert addresses the impending shift in corporate America to bid farewell to the “Imperial CEO” and recognize that a company’s most important asset is its employees.

The success or failure of a company does not weigh on its CEO as much as it is sustained by the intellectual capital to include skills and experience, of employees. Saying so, it’s high time for employers to recognize that employees are brand ambassadors.  As brand ambassadors, employees should be immediate stakeholders in a company’s success, wealth and grandeur; meaning that rewards should trickle down—not up.

Reference: No More Imperial CEOs

Designer, Ralph Lauren comes to mind in terms of a brand that is outliving the competition while being able to introduce itself to a younger, hip generation. Jeweler, Tiffany & Co. came full circle by introducting an affordable, trendy brand extension for a younger yet sophisticated following. The recording industry is perhaps the best example of brands that come and go and then return. More than ever, recording artists struggle to obtain the classic or timelss distinction artists of the 80′s and earlier have come to relish.

The key to establishing a successful brand is to determine purpose. Is your product generational in the sense that it is something your customers’ children will aspire to obtain or is your product just a sign of the times? Either way, planning and budgeting according to your purpose will minimize losses while creating substainal brand value.

Reference: Brand Darwinism: When & Why Brands Falter & Die

Monster contributing writer, Ellen Alcorn shares four ways to Network Your Way to Success. Then, author, Richard Romano of Expert Business Source, gives practical insight about making business and social networking a part of your marketing arsenal.

1. Networking really works best when [a] group’s common interest isn’t just race or gender [for example], but the success of each member in the group
2. Establishing a broad network enables you to turn to different groups, depending on your professional challenges
3. Without a broad-based network, there’s no one to turn to in a time of crisis
4. The broader you cast your net, the broader your catch will be

Following these networking tips may be applied personally (for career reasons) as well as professionally (business prospecting).

References:
10 Ways To Know If You’ve Got A Healthy Professional Network
Make Your Marketing Resolutions for the New Year