BARQ & A

Posted By: AFA

I read an article that says a blog can help my company’s page ranking on search engines, so I was considering starting one. Is this good for my brand?

BARQ’s response:

Certainly a blog can help your site’s ranking on search engines. However, it’s a double-edged sword. You may get the benefit of the search engine page rank increase, but you also commit yourself to the VERY regular (daily is best) assignment of writing something, plus you must write something both relative and insightful. Whoever writes the blog writes for both your company AND your industry. Your text will be subject to the scrutiny of all experts in your company’s market, so whatever is written in the blog must be well researched. And it lasts FOREVER. Somewhere, somehow, someone is collecting what has been written, and can retrieve those words anytime, for any purpose.

I am not trying to discourage you from starting a blog, just be sure before you start that you are committed to maintaining very high standards of research, accuracy and regularity. Should you start a blog and drop it after awhile, it can only have a negative affect on the brand. Be sure you are gaining more positives by starting it first.

BARQ
SELMARQ Brands’ Best Friend

Posted By: JES

We are considering applying for a trademark for our tagline. I was doing some research on this and the question was raised about whether to register our logo as well. Do you have any experience with this? How do companies determine whether to register their name/logo/tagline?

BARQ’s response:

Protection of intellectual property is an important part of marketing and a key component of your brand’s value. The purpose for registering your name, brand, tagline or logo is not just to protect your brand in the future, but also to prevent you from inadvertently investing in something that may already be registered. That could be costly if another brand challenges your use of it on collateral, signage, website, etc.

Your company can register a logo/symbol/avatar or a name as long as it is unique for the category. Taglines as well can be registered, as long as they are not common phrases. For instance, we have registered SELMARQ® (the name), the SELMARQ logo (a Labrador Retriever in a circle), and “SELMARQ Brands’ Best Friend®” (our name with our tagline). We could not register “Brands’ Best Friend” alone due to the generic nature of that combination of words. But adding SELMARQ made it unique.

These are all registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (www.uspto.gov) for specific categories (marketing, web design, etc.) according to how we wish to defend against others who might try to appropriate them.

Typically you’d use TM (for products, SM for services) to indicate it is something you intend the consumer to identify with your company or brand. That will change to the ® once your registration has been approved.

BARQ
SELMARQ Brands’ Best Friend

Posted By: DRK

I know that scripts are not exactly the method of choice for cold calling, but my associate and I are new at this and have put together a script we can loosely follow. Please leave some feedback as to how I can make it more effective.

I’m using the following script to set appointments with prospects. My goal of the phone call is not to make a sale, but to make the appointment to meet with employees of large businesses to demonstrate our services in person. I like to keep it brief, but I’m having a hard time ending the conversation without sounding abrupt.

Here is the scrip so far:

“Hi, this is Jane Doe, and I was wondering if you could help me. I’m calling from XYZ. We treat a few of your employees for “—” that are common in your field, and we’d like to share that relief with everyone at Widgets Inc.

“Would it be possible to set up some time for a free computerized ‘—’ analysis and an introductory ‘—’ by a licensed ‘—”‘?”

I would really like this to be more personal and not sound like a lifeless script–and I’d like it to be punchy. Please help!!!

Thanks,
DRK

BARQ’s response:
Right now you are doing all the talking. I’d try to engage the listener earlier, i.e.:

“We have treated a few of your employees for XXX, which is pretty common in your industry. Is this something you are aware of? (A soft challenge to the listener’s knowledge of the company’s people and / or industry issues, which he/she will likely acknowledge.)

“Does this concern you?” (a stronger query as to weather he/she cares, to which the answer is likely to be positive.)

“We offer a free YYY. Would you like us to set one up…etc?”

One of the psychological influences in everyday behavior is the desire to be consistent. By getting the listener to commit to a position, the subsequent questions are designed to take advantage of that tendency. They would break consistency by refusing an opportunity to at least talk about your services.

You could also work in some language about the brand building and morale benefits of being proactive in diagnosing workplace maladies.

Good Luck,
BARQ
SELMARQ Brands’ Best Friend

Posted By: HEM

Can you tell me who actually should own the Corporate website?

There is discussion where I work that the Customers Service Department should own the website, which is contrary to anything I have ever experienced or heard of. Many are working to educate our boss, who has no experience or background in marketing/communications that it should reside with us and not just the “look and feel” of the site.

Your assistance is greatly appreciated.

BARQ’s response:

In today’s commerce, nearly everything drives the customer to the Corporate website — ads, commercials, literature, banners, direct mail, billboards, specialties, search engines — you name it. The only department that should fully understand what to do with all that traffic — how to direct it and respond to it, and how to handle leads — is marketing.

Sales people want to close — they will respond first to hot leads, and are reluctant to nurture long-term prospects.

Customer Service people will respond first to problems. They might direct the site traffic properly, but will they analyze it or adjust the layouts and various segment messages being sent to maximize return?

IT Dept. will concentrate on making sure the site works properly, but will be reluctant to change what works just for the purpose of testing messages and maximizing opportunities. And very few are design oriented or think in terms of changing consumer behavior and attitudes.

Ultimately, Marketing is responsible for short- and long-term commercial results… short- and long-term revenue and cash flow. They study design and psychology. Where else should a CEO place website ownership?

BARQ
SELMARQ Brands’ Best Friend

Posted By: MAS

Is no brand in fact a brand? Why?

BARQ’s response:

MAS:

In the strict sense of the question, “no brand” is, by definition, not a brand. this is mostly exemplified by those companies who do not understand branding, or don’t think that branding is of any great importance to their company’s success.

In a real sense, “no brand” means “no promise.” Your brand, in my opinion, is a your company’s promise to perform in a particular manner. This means your brand is your reputation. If the quality of your products and services varies based on market fluctuations (demand, resources, taste, style, price, etc.) the market can expect that you cannot be counted on to deliver consistently.

Compared to FedEx, how many times has UPS delivered damaged goods, or delivered late, or lost your package? They seem to be working on becoming an extension to their customers’ business rather than the most reliable 3PL provider. Are you looking for a business partner, or a reliable delivery service?

In the B2B world, where our firm focuses, most companies have a very limited understanding of branding. To many of these companies, branding means consistent logo placement. Most of the SMBs in America today were built by engineers, accountants or salespeople. Very few companies were started by marketers. These “hammers” see every business challenge as their particular “nail” and they attempt to find solutions from within their realm of expertise; salespeople look for new sales tactics, engineers look for new products, accountants look for ways to cut expenses. To all of them, branding is something big companies do with extra profits, not a means to increase long term profits and company value.

Back to the question, “no brand” is the definition of a commodity. Whatever a company produces is either a commodity that competes on price, or a branded item that competes on the company’s ability to create value in the minds, hearts and behaviors of their customers and prospects.

BARQ
SELMARQ Brands’ Best Friend

Posted By: PPO

BARQ:

My Presbyterian church has been around for 50 years with a bi-monthly newsletter entitled “The Vision”. This names stems from a Bible quote in Proverbs, “Where there is no vision, the people will perish,” which was most often written within the newsletter’s masthead.

The pastors are thinking of changing it, and here is why:

Two smaller Presbyterian congregations have divested themselves of costly buildings and combined with ours at our facility, which is in the middle of a capital campaign for expansion. For now, the pastors have all become co-pastors under one roof, and their separate congregations will continue to maintain their own committees, deacons, bank accounts, membership, etc. Meanwhile, all pastors have been promoting cross-participation at various events.

The two newcomer congregations are rolling their own newsletter contents into “The Vision.” The pastors have blithely been discussing a name change for it, perhaps, “The New Vision.” Mind you, it’s even been suggested that my church change its own name to reflect this new chapter in shared history. It seems the pastors are leery of acknowledging that the biggest church could be the primary/surviving entity; perhaps newcomers don’t want to feel they’ve been absorbed. But RE: newsletter name change: Seems to me that one of these congregations needs to maintain its history and culture AND BRAND IDENTITY. And, metaphorically speaking, the church’s vision (intrinsically linked to its newsletter title via Proverbs) really isn’t “new” merely because of a sudden influx of participants.

So, I’m thinking a name change is the wrong thing to do here. I welcome your thoughts or suggestions regarding any aspect of this scenario–maybe some recommendations for how the church “should” be going about considering such far-reaching changes.

BARQ’s response:

From my perspective — having been involved in church ministries (and politics) at my present parish and diocese for over 25 years — the vision is really the key. What needs to be emphasized here is the TRUE vision of your church. I would assume that your congregation’s ultimate vision or purpose is to love, serve and follow Jesus Christ.

Jesus is the master brand; Presbyterianism is the sub-brand. If you are competing against other Presbyterian congregations for membership, then further differentiation is warranted. If not, whatever actions are taken must first align with the master and sub brand “guides” — starting with the Bible.

“Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.” Rom. 16:17-18 — King James Version

Or, since the Presbyterian sect leans more than many others toward state politics, a quote from Lincoln might help bring clarity: “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”

I believe as long as three church congregations are acting independently in the same “house” there will be conflict, and as such will tend to divert attention from “The Vision.” This can be especially damaging during a capital campaign!

As for the newsletter, I would advocate a totally new nameplate, derived by a consensus of those responsible for publishing it. A bi-monthly paper is not the brand. This naming issue will probably be the least of the churches worries. It is likely only the tip of the iceberg. How it is handled may be a foreshadowing of other things to come as they grow together — or apart.

BARQ
SELMARQ Brands’ Best Friend

Posted By: BNY

Does anyone use subliminal marketing tactics any more? I understand political advertising campaigns do - one case was the opposition to Arnold Schwarzenegger. Also, using music in retail environment to enhance buying mood.

BARQ’s response:

BNY,

The famous examples of Coke and popcorn photos being flashed imperceptibly on movie screens to cause viewers to buy more concessions were never proven to be effective, because they could not be replicated.

In the broader sense of subliminal advertising, most good advertising has a subliminal element to it, because it is designed to appeal to an emotion — the baby in the Michelin tire (protect your family), glamorous dates in a Lexus (pride, status), and Viagra’s famous “quarterback” throwing a football through a tire swing… you don’t have to be Fellini to get that one.

The spoken or written word is the conscious message — the setting, timing, colors, music, etc. are designed for subconscious, or subliminal effect.

When an advertiser says “limited quantity” it doesn’t just mean “hurry, there are only 5 to sell,” they’re appealing to the potential buyer’s emotional desire to obtain something that is rare and exclusive.

When the Moonies gave you a flower at the airport, they were not just offering a gift and asking for a donation, They knew that subliminally, most cultures feel obligated to reciprocate, and this influences your actions by handing them cash with which you would not otherwise part. Same thing with the charities that send you free greeting cards in the mail.

When a charity calls you and asks “how are you?” they don’t particularly care, but they do want you to say “good” or “fine” so that when they hit you up for a donation, your subliminal desire to be consistent causes you to demonstrate how good your feel by making that donation.

These subliminal methods have been used for decades, and have been documented to work consistently and effectively.

BARQ
SELMARQ Brands’ Best Friend

Posted By: ADM

We have been building our brand in B2B for some 5 years. I would not say it has a prominent position in the market, but quite a lot of our customers have come to know and recognize it. The name is pretty generic and in no way implies what the company itself offers.

Lately an idea was raised to refresh the logo. It does in fact needs some redesign as being too off-handedly and amateurishly designed, does not reflect the changes the company is going through.

The changes include new, sophisticated technology being implemented, better customer service and effective sales force.

Now a new idea was conceived; not only to change the logo design, but the brand name too. Why? In order to make the brand name depict what the company does.

My opinion is not to change the brand name. Quite a lot of time and money was invested in building it and impressing it onto customers’ minds. The company has changed for the better and to me the new experience customers are having with the brand and new look and feel of the old logo is enough. Am I right?

ADM

BARQ’s response:

ADM,

International Business Machines no longer makes Business Machines. That’s why their decision to be identified as IBM was such a good idea decades ago. The value of the brand recognition outweighs the benefit of a name that depicts their actual business. Business plans and products inevitably change over time. A trusted name, as long as you act in a trustworthy manner, will remain valuable no matter what you do. Just be sure the name does not imply something different from your current/future product or service.

Take a lesson from Exxon, Google, Verizon, Geico, (or SELMARQ!)… most of today’s company names LIMIT their potential (either by region, ownership, product or function). If your name does not specify any of those, what can it hurt to keep it?

BARQ
SELMARQ Brands’ Best Friend

Posted By: TRI

My boss and I have identified articles that are very close to our industry and written by journalists in the past month or so. Would it be a good icebreaker to contact them with positive feedback and comments on the article (my boss wants me to)? Is that common practice? How can I use one such e-mail to initiate a positive relationship with the writer? Can I routinely send feedback to these writers as a means of fostering our relationship with them?

P.S. The journalists in question are people I’d like to establish positive relationships with and pitch article ideas to.

Thanks

BARQ’s response:

TRI,

It is not uncommon for good, reliable sources of information to contact writers. HOWEVER, you and your company should be committed to maintaining that flow of information. Unless your company is a leader in the industry, building credibility is a long, tedious process. This is where a managed PR program helps.

Writers and editors are always looking for regular, accurate and reliable sources for particular disciplines of interest to their readers. But as the Godfather said, one day you may be called upon to do them a favor — you should be as ready and willing to assist them as you are in asking their help getting press for your company. If you let them down, you will lose the trust that you spent so much effort building. (You may even wake up staring at a horse’s head!)

BARQ
SELMARQ Brands’ Best Friend

Posted By: DSR

I’m working on container terminal with 750 employees, and I’m planning to change the strategy for choosing employee of the month which is based on a random selection per dept. and then senior managers vote for the winner, and of course the selection is always based on the manages friends and who they best like. So I think its a de-motivation tool and should be changed but the problem is to apply a fair criteria since we have operators working in fields, (Blue Collar and white Collar) so what will be the best way to select and evaluate operation and admin. performance?

BARQ’s response:

DSR:

What are your reasons for naming an employee of the month? Motivate better performance? Raise morale? Appear magnanimous?

EOM programs should be part of a planned “internal branding” strategy. Often the most overlooked audience of a company’s branding efforts is the staff. Your entire payroll should be fully informed as to what your company represents — your core values and character. That should be reflected in all company communications, including job descriptions, performance reviews and employee manuals. Even bulletin board notices and emails.

If you have set the standards by which each employee is to best represent the values of the company, then a simple point system of how well an employee meets those standards day-to-day could be used to elect the EOM. Be sure to include ALL aspects of the brand character. If you value loyalty, then part of the point system should include years of service. Just make sure it is broad, balanced and flexible enough so that no particular sector, division, job title, race, gender, nationality or age group has an edge.

And be sure to celebrate the reasons why each employee each month has won. Make sure everyone knows what went into the decision. But don’t forget, you first need to plan and implement your internal branding strategy, and thoroughly communicate the parameters of the EOM program. Otherwise it will just look like another popularity contest.

Good Luck,

BARQ
SELMARQ Brands’ Best Friend