Mary Schmidt Marketing Troubleshooter

This headline caught my eye - William Safire’s recent column.

Sounds painful, doesn’t it? It often is, as companies spend millions with little to show for it. I’ve watched “brand” and “branding” become the catchall - and ultimately meaningless - buzz words for everything from re-packaged strategic planning methods to graphic design. Here’s the scoop - a brand is NOT consultant happy talk or a cool logo. It is everything you do to tell a story/create an impression with your prospects and customers. That means things like answering the phones, the condition of your delivery trucks, and the attitude of all your employees. It’s both internal and external. If your receptionist isn’t jazzed by what you do, he or she won’t go the extra mile in helping callers.

I was recently talking with a national non-profit that was all excited about the results of their big, expensive “branding project.” Oh? And what were the results? Wow, their logo is now green versus blue! And that’s not all! They renewed the trademark on their slogan! Well, whooo-hooo. I’m sure that will get existing and prospective members beating down the door to get more involved and give more money.

Now, really, when was the last time you bought something (or stayed a customer) because you liked the company’s logo? C’mon fess up - can anybody accurately describe the Fed Ex logo? The Starbucks logo (I can get as far as something with a mermaid)? Keep that in mind - before you spend a gazillion dollars on “branding” just to end up with a cool logo, a coffee mug and some marketing speak.