123 eGuides

1 Minute Advice: How to Develop a Brand Slogan

Brand slogans (sometimes called tag lines) are increasingly important because they set the tone for a branded product, and sometimes for an entire company.

A brand slogan is only a few words, typically a phrase or a short sentence. It may look easy to write a brand slogan but it is more challenging than you think. Essentially, the brand slogan must encapsulate a key brand benefit or major marketing message in a statement that really grabs the target audience.

Some brand slogans last for a long time (an ideal scenario), and others last only as long as a single advertising campaign (not always the smartest marketing strategy). There have been some remarkably long-lasting and well-known slogans over the years. If you want to see some of these classics, check out the “Advertising Slogan Hall of Fame,” where you’ll find many famous slogans listed along with the advertiser, product, ad agency, and year of creation.

A brand slogan should be, just like a brand name and brand logo, memorable, meaningful, and unique. The slogan should be derived from your brand positioning statement.

Look at a slogan as one essential component in a much bigger picture, which includes:

- your brand name

- your brand logo

- your brand slogan

- your brand packaging

- your brand identity materials and

- your brand marketing.

All of these things should be combined in a cohesive, coordinated manner. The slogan becomes one very important item to help make those things work well together.

1 Minute Advice: Develop a Product Prototype

A prototype is essential because it is a working model of your product or service. Basically, a working prototype proves your product or service works. The prototype is important for three major reasons:

1. The prototype forms the basis for a product or service that can be introduced to the market with maximum confidence.

Because you have built a prototype, you know that your product can be produced and manufactured. A good hard product pre-production prototype can be used to source out materials and get manufacturing estimates on the time and cost for producing the product in various quantities. A good soft product prototype represents the core elements of the final product, and the beta version makes it possible to improve the prototype and turn it into a final release. A good service prototype demonstrates how your service functions in the real world and allows you to make modifications before you expose it to a larger audience.

2. The prototype becomes a real, tangible thing that investors can get excited about.

Armed with the data from your market research, in combination with a prototype, you can create a winning business plan that demonstrates the potential of your product in your market. You can also use the prototype to get input from others you trust -- experts in your industry, for example -- who might make good suggestions for improving the product or even end up endorsing the product or connecting you with potential investors. A working prototype is essential to attracting investors and getting business loans.

3. With a prototype in hand, you are now ready to conduct in-market tests.

The prototype can be used as a basis for the tests. You will be able to conduct primary research again, this time with a real working model, so you can hone your approach to the market. You will also be able to conduct small tests of the product, which minimizes your risk, and conduct a “stealth rollout” if it is necessary to keep your product below the radar screen of competitors.

1 Minute Advice: Why Offers Generate More Sales Leads

The word “offer” has a number of meanings that are important in lead generation. The product or service you offer is one aspect of the “offer.” The integrity and reputation of both the product/service and the company behind it play an important role in determining whether a prospect will be aware of you and show an interest in your product or service. That’s why your product and your company are, legitimately, the fundamental or underlying offer.

In lead generation, however, the “offer” generally has an additional meaning: what you are willing to give to the prospect in order to get him/her to respond. Typically, the offer in lead generation is something of high-perceived value that elicits a response from a prospect and encourages the prospect to provide qualifying information to get that offer.

Whatever you decide to offer, it should be “audience-appropriate.” If you have researched and analyzed your audience, you should have some idea of the kinds of offers that would be appealing to them.

Whether you are targeting consumers or business users, one of the most common universally applicable offers is, simply, information. The secret behind a successful informational offer is to make it less about you and your product and more about the prospect and his or her needs. Basically, if the information you provide can answer the prospect’s question, “What’s in it for me?” then it has the makings of a successful offer. While it is acceptable to convey sales points about a product or service, it is usually best in lead generation to offer something objective that could be useful whether or not the prospect decides to purchase your product or service.

These are some typical offers proven to generate more sales leads from consumer audiences:

- Free, valuable information about (subject area) provided via blog, website, e-newsletter, podcast, video, eBook, Facebook, Twitter, etc. This may include an offer to deliver this information instantly or periodically by signing up/joining/subscribing.

- Free, valuable information about (subject area) delivered via an event of some kind: in-person demonstration, consumer show, concert, special event, meeting, seminar; online meeting, webinar.

- Premiums -- items that are given away free, such as gifts and trinkets to encourage a response; could also include items of significant value and free trials in the case of order generation.

- Involvement techniques -- surveys, sweepstakes, contests, games, and other involvement techniques designed to encourage a response; these techniques are also common for order generation.

1 Minute Advice: Develop a Brand Positioning Statement

Developing a brand positioning statement establishes a strategy for how you will launch and market your brand.

On the surface, a brand positioning statement looks pretty easy to write, because it is very short. But often short copy is much harder to write than long copy, because you have to distill key concepts into a few very well-chosen words.

Here’s what to include in a brand positioning statement:

1. Likely Brand Buyer – This is the person who is most likely to be interested in buying your brand. Often this person is described as being part of your “target audience.” The likely brand buyer should be described as specifically as possible: gender, race, age, income, geographic area, employment, interests, etc. Ideally, you will build a descriptive profile of one or more target audiences for your brand.

2. Competition – The statement should position your brand against existing competition so the target audience can distinguish between your brand and someone else’s.

3. Product Benefit – The single most compelling benefit of the brand.

4. Unique Brand Promise – The unique selling proposition of your brand.

The brand positioning statement is really the culmination of understanding your audience, competition, product benefit, and brand promise. The brand positioning statement can be phrased in different ways -- the way you say it isn’t nearly as important as what the statement includes.