5 Branding Pointers Every Marketer Should Embrace

Power branding is not an intention, nor is it merely an action. It’s a commitment.”

There’s a guy in New Mexico who really understands brand marketing.

Steve McKee is founder and president of McKee Wallwork + Company. He’s also the author of When Growth Stalls and Power Branding.

In Power Branding (2014), McKee provides concise, 2-3 page chapters that each deliver a key thought with examples. It’s an easy read that will challenge your thinking and/or reinforce any brand marketing discipline that may have gotten a bit out-of-shape.

Here are 5 Power Branding Pointers to whet your appetite:

1. Branding is everything a company does, from the logo on its letterhead, to the way it handles customer complaints, to whether its uniformed personnel keep their shirts tucked in.

2. Branding is like baseball: You may throw a bad pitch, but it’s a long season. If you execute steadily and consistently, the statistics will work in your favor.

3. In branding – as with everything else in business – strategy without execution is only theory. And effective execution takes time.

4. One of the most difficult things to do in branding is to step out of your own shoes and into those of your customers and prospects. The trick to creating effective branding is to walk in the shoes of your target customers, to see your message through their eyes and hear it through their ears.

5. Continually strive to make your brand the best it can be. Just never try to make it something other than what it is.

Bonus Selection. This is one of my all-time favorite marketing discipline guide-points, followed by McKee’s video elaboration:

• Beware of any tactic in search of a strategy. Put strategy first, and make sure every tactic you pursue serves the bigger picture.