Got Image?
How to make your facility stand out in a
crowded marketplace?
A NEPA LTC Workshop
June 4, 2008
www.themerzgroup.com/NEPA.PDF
Understand that brand and branding
are different concepts.
The “ing” makes a big difference.
A brand exists in your mind.
It’s a collection of associations or feelings
people have about your community –
whether it’s true or not! Branding is the
tangible process of creating the signals
that generate these associations.
Establish a differentiated meaning
for your brand that the consumers
you want to reach care about – find relevant –
before you try to begin branding.
Differentiation and relevance – not
awareness – make a brand strong and
keep it strong. You can’t build awareness
without having something to build it on.
The most successful brands know this.
Brand building is a marathon event.
Success is not a one-time thing.
Make sure you have the verve
for the long haul. Good brands last
and there’s a reason they do.
3 keys to branding success
1. Every intelligent brand represents something
different in the minds of consumers.
2. This difference is meaningful to the consumers
you want to reach.
3. This “relevant differentiation” is made simple by
you for people to understand.
Your Brand Report Card
40 points: How do you rank
Differentiation – your brand’s point of difference
Relevance – how appropriate your brand is to
consumer needs
Esteem – how your brand is regarded
Knowledge – how intimately your brand is
understood
You’re thinking of rebranding
New logo. New brochures.
New tagline. New website.
DON’T DO IT…
…Until you determine what brand problem
you are trying to solve:
Being different from your competition?
Appealing to new audiences?
What can you offer that’s unique?
What does the market want?
The central problem of brand
building is getting a complex
organization to execute a simple idea.
Your community’s Brand Signals
Your name
Your logo and brand color
Your sign
The way you answer the phone
Your bricks and mortar (environment)
Word of mouth
Brand extensions
The best way to do this is to bring
your own staff together for what we call
“Brandstorming” sessions. And we don’t
just mean marketing people or your
executive staff. Open up these sessions to
staff at every level.
So what is Brandstorming you ask?
Brandstorming is a “discovery process”
used to find your point of distinction and
how to position yourself for the future.
It is done most effectively
by bringing together small groups
for two-hour idea sessions.
At the Brandstorming sessions,
comments will flow about your organization
- your people, values, innovations, strengths
and weaknesses
to help discover what you have
that is truly unique and
what branding paths to pursue.
Simplicity = Memorability
______ the San Francisco treat.
Aren’t you glad you use ______ ?
Bring out the ______ and bring out the best.
I wish I was an ______.
I’d like to buy the world a ______.
Like a good neighbor, ______ is there.
Where does your brand fall?
1. Good but not different
(some brand potential)
2. Good and different (strong)
3. Not good and not different (little)
4. Different but not good (no)
Advertising is not Branding
ADVERTISING
“NEPA LTC is the best”
“NEPA LTC is the best”
“NEPA LTC is the best”
BRANDING
“I understand NEPA LTC is the best.”
And now… let’s go get a drink…
Branding 101 Worksheet
(give to your CEO)
Our ______________________
Is the ONLY _______________
THAT ____________________
Branding Cliff Notes
A brand is a prospect or customer’s
understanding about your facility.
It’s not what you say it is,
but what THEY say it is.
Clairol introduced the “Mist Stick,”
a curling iron, into German only to find
out that “mist” is slang for manure.
Not too many people in Germany had
use for the “manure stick”.
In Italy, a campaign for
Schweppes Tonic Water translated
the name into
“Schweppes Toilet Water.”
When Parker Pen marketed a ball-point pen
in Mexico, its ads were supposed to read:
“It won’t leak in your pocket and embarrass you”.
Instead, the company thought the word
“embarazar” (to impregnate) meant
to embarrass. The result:
“A Parker Pen won’t leak in your pocket
and make you pregnant”.
Strive to be a proper noun
in an improper world.
So what is a brand? In reality it’s a proper noun
that can used in place of a common word:
Instead of an imported beer you ask for a Heineken.
Instead of an expensive watch, you ask for a Rolex
(or at least a knock-off)
Instead of a safe car, you ask for a Volvo.
Instead of a Long Term Care Facility
you ask for YOUR BRAND