Brenda Bence

Q: The terms and phrases used in branding confuse me. Help – what do they all mean?

In my 25 years as a brander and a marketer, I have seen a lot of confusion around what the various elements of branding and marketing mean. So, don’t worry – you’re far from alone!

As we kick off this new column on branding, it’s my hope to clear up a lot of confusion as we talk about many different aspects of brands. I want to help you unleash the power of branding and to learn how to use that power to advance both your business and your career. But first, to answer your question, here’s my take on the most common branding terms.

What is a “brand”? You may think a brand is a “product” or a “trademark.” But it isn’t that easy! A brand goes beyond the mere physical attributes of a product or trademark. In fact, a brand is actually intangible – you can smell the aroma of a Starbucks cup of coffee, you can taste the flavor of a chewy Mentos, you can see the golden arches of McDonalds – but you cannot touch a “brand.” A brand has both rational and emotional appeal, so it provides a total experience enjoyed by customers. That, in turn, helps the brand create a perception of added value, leading to customer loyalty.

What is “brand positioning”? Brand positioning is the way you want your customers to perceive, think, and feel about your brand versus competition. The best managers take time to carefully define the six fundamental elements that make up a positioning: Target, Need, Competitive Framework, Benefits, Reasons Why, and Brand Character. Put those six into a one-page statement that then serves as a foundation – a compass – for everything that brand does, and that’s how to reach a specific, desired position in the marketplace. Every brand – whether B2C or B2B, and no matter what industry it is in – should have a clearly-defined positioning statement in order to achieve success faster.

So then, is “branding” different? Yes! “Branding” most often refers to the design elements that a brand uses to identify itself, like logos, icons, colors, and layout schemes that are used consistently wherever the brand name or product appears. Those elements may even be legally protected to make sure they are only associated with that one brand and no other.

Got it… so, then, what is “marketing?” Once the branding has been defined, it’s time to market the brand. Marketing includes all the activities aimed at uncovering, then satisfying, that brand’s customers better than competition. After the target market has been determined, marketing is all about communicating consistently to that target market how and why the brand will fill their wants and needs.

Ok, so how are “marketing” and “sales” different? Sales refers to the actual transaction that takes place when a customer chooses to purchase one brand over another. Brand positioning, branding, and marketing are activities that all lead up to that sale.

So while brand positioning, branding, and marketing all have the same goal of creating sales – and revenue – each one plays a different role in the process.

Different Types of Brands

As this column continues, we’ll uncover different types of brands and how each one can play an important role in your success, both personally and professionally.

Intrigued? I hope so! I look forward to sharing with you in future columns how mastering your business and personal brands can bring you greater success and workplace satisfaction.

Recently, I had the opportunity to share insights and tips for Personal Branding with television show host Adrienne Soresi from NBC 40 – Atlantic City. On her “Better Living with Adrienne” show, Adrienne and I talked about six different topics around Personal Branding – including:

- How to use Personal Branding to get a great job faster
- What is a Personal Brand, and why is it important?
- Key Personal Brand Busters™ to avoid
- Entrepreneurs: Making the company brand / personal brand connection
- Your Reputation: Is It the One You Want?
- Successful personal branding outside the workplace

To watch these television shorts (each video is less than 3 minutes long), click here www.BrendaBence.com/nbc

All you have to do is look around you to know that brands are powerful. In fact, most people are so loyal to certain brands that they stick with them for life. If brand-name products can evoke that kind of loyalty, why can’t people? Well, they can!

The truth is that we all have a personal brand whether we like it or not. Simply by being ourselves in the work place, others perceive, think, and feel about us in a certain way. The question is whether we have created the personal brand we want.

This is especially important for those who hold leadership positions. If you lead others, the way they perceive, think, and feel about you as a leader, in relation to other leaders, can make or break your short-term and long-term success. These “others” might consist of your subordinates, colleagues, superiors, or even entire divisions or corporations.

Your leadership personal brand impacts your image, your reputation, your relationships, and your performance. As a result, it will also impact your overall career and your finances. So, unless you create your desired leadership personal brand consciously, negative perceptions can undermine your best efforts.

There are many mistakes that leaders commonly make which can damage their personal brands. Let’s take a look at five of the most potentially damaging:

1. Not taking risks or accepting tough challenges. When you reach a leadership position in any organization, it can be much too easy to rest on your laurels. If you have a lot of experience, you might become inclined to stick with what you know has worked in the past rather than try something new. This keeps you in a static place, however, without the opportunity for you – or the company – to grow. We all need challenges. As a leader, it’s your job to find them and lead your team through them.

2. Not speaking up when you disagree with top management. Even leaders have a difficult time speaking up to superiors. It’s natural to worry about the reactions of top management when you disagree with their decisions, but it also hurts your leadership personal brand to hold back and keep your opinions to yourself. Most of the time, if you’re diplomatic about it, your input will be appreciated – even if management’s decision stays the same. Most leaders are expected to offer ideas about how to solve problems or improve operations. You will be respected for making your views known.

3. Worrying about being “liked,” not respected. A good leader is both liked and respected. It’s a difficult balance, but it’s an important one. If you worry too much about being liked, you probably aren’t making enough tough decisions to lead others effectively. If, on the other hand, you worry too much about being respected and don’t care about being liked, chances are you won’t be able to garner the support you need from your team to succeed. They may even begin to feel victimized by your leadership style, making it hard to retain employees. The best leadership personal brand is one that straddles these two poles in – being liked and being respected – in as balanced a way as possible.

4. Fearing feedback, both giving and receiving. A lot of leaders come to a place where they stop moving up the ladder either because they aren’t good at coaching others or they’ve stopped being coachable themselves. The best leaders are both good at coaching their teams and also at accepting regular feedback, no matter how high up in the organization they are. Keeping an open mind and recognizing there is always room to improve yourself is key, and giving your team feedback is the best way to make sure your people – and the company – are growing, too. So, strengthen your leadership personal brand by getting comfortable with both giving and receiving feedback, and everybody wins.

5. Using destructive language on the job. Too many leaders fail to pay attention to the way they speak. Destructive language – even if it’s intended as ‘funny’ – has an impact on everyone, including yourself. It’s a bit of an epidemic in modern society to speak negatively and to complain, but it presents a very poor personal brand, particular for leaders. It can lower morale in the work environment and undermine the success of your team. If you don’t believe in yourself or your people, how can they believe in themselves? If they are derided for past failures, they may become so afraid of making mistakes that they stop moving forward at all. So, begin to notice how you speak, and if talking negatively is a habit you’ve developed, start to break it. Figure out how to turn negatives into positives – it will make a world of difference.

Leaders are in a position to inspire and motivate others, and one of the best ways you can become a truly extraordinary leader is to create a successful leadership personal brand.

So much has been said, discussed, and argued about the “economic situation” in the past year. Is it possible that there is a stone unturned on this topic? Well, yes there is … because the way you communicate your personal brand in this economy can have a big impact on how well you weather the challenges that could come your way.

In particular, your reactions to the economy, your thoughts about the economy, and your actions related to the economy can impact the ultimate outcome for your personal brand – the trademarked you. In fact, your reactions, thoughts, and actions are three of five total activities that communicate your personal brand each and every day (along with your look and your sound.)

REACTIONS. If you want to see someone’s true personal brand, watch them react to adverse events. How you react in crisis situations says a lot about who you really are. The key to mastering your personal brand is to remain consistent over time. Remember that you can’t always control what happens to you, but you can control how you react to what happens to you. That’s how strong personal brands are built.

So, think about the personal brand you’re presenting through your reactions to the economy. Are you hiding in a corner with your head buried in the sand? Are you talking ‘doom and gloom’ with your friends every chance you get? Are worries about the economy keeping you awake at night?

Take a deep breath, and keep a calm, clear head. You will make better decisions when you stop yourself from shifting into a fear-driven state that may cause knee-jerk reactions you regret later.

THOUGHTS. Thoughts are things. That may sound like a radical idea to you, but scientists are proving more and more that thoughts exist in the world in a very real way, and they have a strong influence on what happens to you. So, become aware of what your thoughts are telling you about the economic situation. Sit back and take inventory of how you feel about the financial climate right now. What emotions come to mind? Fear? Anxiety? Anger? You will act – and also build your personal brand – based on those feelings. So, if you’re full of angst, consider the possible actions that will stem from that.

Here’s how psychiatrists put it: Your thoughts drive your emotions, and – in turn – your emotions drive your behavior. And those behaviors are responsible for creating the results – the ultimate outcomes – of your life. It’s good old cause-and-effect in action, with the ultimate “cause” being your thoughts. So, even if you can’t quite get on board with believing that thoughts are things, at a minimum, your thoughts have the power to undermine your personal brand if you’re not careful.

So, make your thoughts productive. Take proactive steps to manage your money well. Focus on what you do have that is positive, and focus on what you are grateful for. Chances are you have it a lot better than many people in the world. Don’t keep your Thoughts pinned on what isn’t perfect or what could go wrong. Think about how things can go right.

Watch your words! What you say stems from your thoughts, too, so be mindful of how you “talk” about today’s economy. Just calling the situation a “crisis” (which is the key word you see spread all over magazines, newspapers, and television) creates anxiety. Think about it: The U.S. government called its economic package a “bailout.” Doesn’t that sound like Congress is trying to save a sinking ship? They couldn’t have chosen a worse word. And remember that the media thrives on creating drama in order to sell their publications or get you to tune in to their newscasts. That doesn’t mean that the drama is always as cataclysmic as it sounds. Sit back and objectively analyze your own situation before deciding if it truly is a “crisis.”

You probably know people who are talking about all of this as though the world is coming to an end. What personal brand are those people communicating? What good will a brand like that do to make their economic prospects brighter? No one wants to be around someone with a negative or a defeatist personal brand. So, don’t fall victim to branding yourself in that way. It will do nothing to help you build a better financial future for yourself.

If someone you know tries to suck you into their big black hole of doom, politely excuse yourself, or focus on something more constructive. Stay positive in your conversations, and it will make a world of difference. Be an example of how to respond, and remind others of what is truly important. Just like in the market crashes of 1929 and 1987, this, too, shall pass.

ACTIONS. If you still find that the economic situation is keeping you up at night, objectively assess your situation, and make a plan. Are you anxious because you’re too far in debt? If that’s the case, take decisive action by seeing a financial counselor. (And if your financial advisor talks negatively about the markets, find another one!) Sit back, and calmly consider: What feels “right” to do? Set some goals, and take at least one action each day to move closer to that goal.

There are always ebbs and flows in our finances – whether personal or global. The trick is to find productive ways to make things better. If you purposefully work at remaining consistent with your desired personal brand, you’ll be one step closer to moving out of the storm.

How will we look back on this economic event in the future? Reports about both the 1929 and 1987 market crashes have shown that people who kept a calm demeanor and stayed the course ended up doing better in the long run from both a financial and an emotional standpoint. And you can be sure they built strong personal brands in the meantime, too.