The Marketing Guru. All about branding.

[ScorpioPower]

A successful enterprise is any company with one or more essential employees and one or more profitable and loyal customers.

If you run any type of enterprise and need to gain and retain more customers and accurately measure the money that you invest in doing so, this thread is for you.

Follow the thought pieces and insights that I plan to post.

Ask questions, give opinions, share ideas.

Me
I held senior management positions with leading marketing agencies in London for over 10 years.

I came to Asia as the General Manager of Cambodia and Lao’s foremost marketing services provider and was the co-founder of Vietnam’s first direct marketing agency.

We
To benefit from this thread, it is of the utmost importance that ‘we’ are facing in the same direction.

To understand what ‘branding’ is, first take two steps back.

What is a brand?
A brand is no more a logo or a slogan than it is a sign over a door or a website.

A brand is the sum total of the product/service being offered and how an enterprise presents itself and communicates with existing and potential customers using marketing communications. This is called ‘the brand experience’ and it’s how existing and potential customers think and feel about what they are buying and who they are buying it from.

What are marketing communications?
Marketing communications, or marcoms, are any form of sales/marketing that a company uses to bring itself to market and maintain a presence there. Marcoms can be customer-facing employees or a retail environment just as much as they can be an advertisement, billboard, leaflet, business card, website, sales promotion or public relations activity.

Successfully bringing together a market-aligned brand with carefully planned marcoms, is called ‘branding’, and everything has to be consistent for it to work properly.

I created this thread title specifically so that it can’t be copied or bettered. And you’ll see just how important such a move is when I come around to talking more about branding.

Before branding, however, take a further four steps back to company goals, objectives, mission and vision.

Much has been written about these four steps by management consultants over the last 20 years or so. Far too much, in fact. And because of the number of books and websites available on the subject and the number of complicated and conflicting views presented by them, most companies either poorly implement the four steps or completely ignore them.
Without the four steps in place, a company is directionless and branding a waste of time and money.

Here are two examples of the four steps at their simplest [as they should always be]:


Example #1: a football team

Goals: to score more goals

Objectives: to win more games

Mission: to compete in domestic competitions

Vision: to compete in international competitions


Example #2: a student

Goals: to pass tests and exams

Objectives: to earn a qualification

Mission: to enter a profession of choice

Vision: to succeed at the chosen profession and provide a desirable lifestyle for themselves


Do
You may already have the four steps loosely defined in your head. Make them explicit by writing them down on paper. Nothing is ever set in stone and each of the four steps can be modified over time.

Make each step realistic and achievable. Keep it simple and avoid terms like ‘To be the number one…’ or to be ‘The biggest…’ because they aren’t realistic or achievable. And turn negative and passive statements into positive and active ones, i.e. ‘The cheapest…’ should be ‘The most cost effective…’ or ‘The best value…’

The four steps are internal to your business and are a bedrock for you and your employees.

Don’t
The four steps are not for external consumption and prospects and customers do not need or want to see them.

Agree? Disagree? Unsure? Make a post!

The four steps are my opening article in this thread and the point at which I’m starting.

Stay on topic. Get free advice.

[ScorpioPower]

C'mon business owners, this is FREE marketing advice available during a recession on offer here!

[old-timer]

OT's one step plan to Marketing:

Step one. Find someone interested.

OT...

[Adhoc]

How much is this "free" advice?

[Seahawk]

OT's one step plan to Marketing:

Step one. Find someone interested.

OT...

Agree with OT 100%

[ScorpioPower]

Yes, my advice is free but it's aimed at business owners. Which seem in rather short supply on here!

Begone, ye vampires!

[Dokya]

I'm a business owner, albeit a relatively small venture compared to many in Udon, however it is profitable, and long may this continue - "touch wood".

I specialised in this field, (marketing/sales), in my previous 13 years of employment in the UK the latter 5 at director level. I also have a doctorate in International Business and Marketing Management, and although the information given in the opening thread is a useful tool and a firm basis for a business plan, (as stated by many achademics studying in this field and which can be gleened from a multitude of literature focussing on the subject), in my experience adapting Western marketing values in Thailand is very difficult as they, (Thais), are very set in their ways. You have to throw the rule book out of the window and adapt to the Thai way of conducting business and their ethics, after all there are a lot more of them here than us 'farang' and they seem to not look too favourably on drastic change....

Please note: this is only my opinion based on my experiences here setting up and running a business and is a cause for discussion not argument.

[ScorpioPower]

You're entitled to your opinions, Dokya! And they are most welcome in here!

As stated in the OP, I have both Western AND SE Asian experience. I know what does and doesn't work here.

I even co-commissioned a 15 month study of more than 200 brand owners and 200,000 consumers across Thailand and Indochina about 5 years ago. And I'm still receiving fees for it from Western brand & marcoms agencies here!

[maikauzai]

There's got to be difference in marketing, due to government regulations and deep rooted cultural differnce. I'd like to know where and how to find agents and retailers to get products to sell in Thailand, how the profits and commissions are shared in all parties participated in the sale, how big the market is in a particular area, say Udon.

[ScorpioPower]

^ What market/s are you operating in?

What are you buying and selling? From where and to whom?

[ScorpioPower]

[thanuhak]

I'd be very keen to know what the marketing experts around here think about this organization's approach:

http://www.smiletrain.org/site/PageServer

Particularly their use of imagery especially prevalent on pages like this: http://www.smiletrain.org/site/PageServ ... ame=smiles

Non-expert opinions welcome also. How do you react to this type of marketing?

[trubrit]

I'd be very keen to know what the marketing experts around here think about this organization's approach:

http://www.smiletrain.org/site/PageServer

Particularly their use of imagery especially prevalent on pages like this: http://www.smiletrain.org/site/PageServ ... ame=smiles

Non-expert opinions welcome also. How do you react to this type of marketing?

In the marketing world this is known as " The shock approach" It is used whenever you need to make an impact. Normally on safety or, as this case, appealing to ones better nature .To my knowledge it is never used to market a product. I would think it would not be a sensible thing to do . :-"

[bamakmak]

Scorpio - I own an existing business in the states which involves seasonal advertising (Jan - Apr). I do newspaper, direct mail, radio and tv ads. I'm always thrilled to get feedback from people who understand marketing. Would it be okay to forward these ads to you for feedback/suggestions?

[ScorpioPower]

How do you react to this type of marketing?

I don't.

It's dreadful!

[ScorpioPower]

Scorpio - I own an existing business in the states which involves seasonal advertising (Jan - Apr). I do newspaper, direct mail, radio and tv ads. I'm always thrilled to get feedback from people who understand marketing. Would it be okay to forward these ads to you for feedback/suggestions?

It would be great if you could post them in this thread, then I can take you and every other subscriber through some very important steps.

If you need to keep it confidential, please PM me your email address, and I'll do likewise.

[trubrit]

How do you react to this type of marketing?

I don't.

It's dreadful!

Well I think we must understand this is not marketing. ie; they are not trying to sell a product. They are trying to raise money to help unfortunate children and in my book if they can just help one kid it's worthwhile . I feel sorry for anyone whose senses have been disturbed by the pictures. I agree they are not at all nice, neither can it be nice to have an infliction like that .It reminds me of an incident back in the UK a while ago . A council displayed wrecked cars at a known danger spot and people complained they weren't nice. Well I am sorry, life isn't always nice. In my book if they saved one life , they were worth while. The same with those fund raising sites . If they help just one kid to live a better life, then all those sensitive souls that are offended by seeing life in the raw. Tough luck.

[bamakmak]

Thanks! That's great news. I'll forward them your way as I receive the initial work-ups.

[thanuhak]

Thanks TB - I appreciate your thoughtful responses.

[ScorpioPower]

Thanks! That's great news. I'll forward them your way as I receive the initial work-ups.

That's great!

Please also let me know what makes your brand/proposition unique and who your target markets are!

I'm looking forward to this!