Back in May of 2018, I wrote a post entitled "Identifying Riding Lawn Mower Brands by Color." It has become one of this blog's most popular posts. Today, I am following up on that post with a short post on power tool branding. Even more so than riding lawn mowers, power tool brands can be easily identified by color. Anyone who works in the construction industry can immediately tell which brand of power tool someone is using by the color alone.  Below are pictures I took of power tool brands as they are displayed in a Home Depot store.  In some product categories, color pla ..read more

Give the gift of marketing expertise this Christmas!  Based on thirty years of experience crafting strategy for more than 200 brands, these are links to seven online marketing courses that I am offering through learnformula's The Marketplace. They are extremely reasonably priced from $10 to $15 each (US). They include videos, exercises, templates, worksheets, links to relevant online blog posts and articles and quizzes to test your knowledge. These courses are guaranteed to increase anyone's understanding of brand management and marketing. Give the gift of marketing expertise this Chris ..read more

  One of the drivers of customer brand insistence is convenience. I recently encountered a local bookstore with these hours. It is a new store and I love books so I wanted to explore it. Despite driving by the store a few days each week, I have not yet gone by at a time when it was open. I have now given up on the store. Unless the brand offers a highly demanded item or items not available anywhere else, inconvenient store hours will completely take it out of the consideration set. People do not have a high tolerance for inaccessibility, especial in the era of Amazon.com and a myriad of ..read more

If you are trying to get a sense of what price to set for a product or service, there are three questions that will help you make a more informed decision: How much do you think this product or service costs? What would you being willing to pay for this product or service? What is the most you would be willing to pay for this product or service? Different customers will answer this differently. In fact, there may be customer segments that value the product or service differently or who have the ability to pay more or less for the product or service than other customers. In pricing a produc ..read more

When hiring someone or some organization to help you with your branding, be sure to know what you are seeking first. Some people think of a brand as a name or a visual identity. Some think of it as a set of messages and communications. Some think of it as an exercise in finding the optimal positioning. Some see it as synonymous with competitive strategy. And some see it as a holistic approach to business that includes all of these things plus IT, HR, customer service and technical support alignment. What are you looking for? What will solve your problem? Are you trying to increase sales, inc ..read more

Over the years I have learned some simple, common sense tips to improve marketing outcomes. These are not 'rocket science.' They are just simple things you can do to improve your marketing outcomes. Whenever you conduct customer research, ask this simple set of questions at the end of your research: "Where do you go to get information about products in this category?" "To whose advice do you listen?" "To what websites do you go?" "What publications do you read?" "What conferences do you attend?" Whenever possible, but especially when interacting with the public, make sure you capture each pe ..read more

I have created two new online brand management courses: (1) Positioning Your Brand to Win! and (2) Brand Research. If you have a couple hours to spare and want to dive deeply into these two topics, click on the links to begin your education ..read more

I have been a marketing practitioner for 38 years. And I am happy to report that my skill set has kept up with the latest marketing concepts and technologies. So, how do I stay abreast of the latest developments? Here is my list of the things that one can do to stay current: Hold a variety of marketing positions over time - I held positions in product management, new product development, trade marketing, brand management, brand licensing, advertising, promotion, media planning, marketing research, CRM, corporate communications and marketing management As a consultant, help other companies ..read more

When people think about brands and brand management, they usually think about one of these things: brand positioning, brand strategy, brand identity and brand marketing. But they should also think about customer touch point design and execution. This is often driven by processes, systems (human and computer), organization design, front line employees (including customer service and tech support), hiring criteria, training, metrics, reward systems and other HR, operations and IT functions. Consider the impact of each of the following scenarios on how you might perceive the brand: Someone in ..read more

I recently helped a not-for-profit organization hire a new marketing director. That position's responsibilities span many marketing sub-disciplines. The skill sets we were seeking were extensive - corporate communications, PR, crisis management, blog and newsletter content creation, graphic design, videography, marketing plan development and execution, marketing research, brand management, collateral material development, social media marketing, CRM, marketing automation, guerrilla marketing, etc. That person would become a marketing department of one person, with the ability to craft winnin ..read more