THE 16TH APLESA
CONFERENCE
20TH – 25TH APRIL, 2015
STANLEY SAROVA HOTEL, NAIROBI
Scaling New Heights in Information Management…
THEME:
“REDEFINING THE ROLE OF
PARLIAMENTARY LIBRARIES IN
THE ADVENT OF GLOBAL
INFORMATION TRENDS AND
EMERGING OPPORTUNITIES IN
THE INFORMATION WORLD”
Scaling New Heights in Information Management…
BRANDING THE LIBRARY
PROFESSION: SUGGESTIONS
FOR CREATING VISIBILITY OF
THE LIBRARY
BY
CHRISPINE OLOO, LIS CONSULTANT WITH
INFOMAN CONSULTANTS LIMITED
21/04/2015
www.infomankenya.co.ke
Scaling New Heights in Information Management…
OBJECTIVE OF THE PRESENTATION

This presentation aims to propose some
branding strategies or approaches that
modern-day librarians and librarians can
employ to help leverage their services and
thus reposition themselves and keep abreast
with the changes to remain relevant, especially
in light of the challenges and opportunities
presented by the emergent global information
trends in tune with this conference’s theme.
Scaling New Heights in Information Management…
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INTRODUCTION

There is no doubt that the prevailing global
information trends has presented modern
day librarians and their libraries with a
number of both challenges and opportunities
that has direct implications on the design and
delivery of library and information services
(LIS) and products.
Scaling New Heights in Information Management…
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INTRODUCTION

Continued expansion of the digital platform
has for instance opened up new frontiers of
information sources and access other than
the library that has been the undisputed
player of this role over the years.

This has indeed challenged the long hallowed
role and place of the library and the librarian
in ways that require some paradigm shift to
guarantee the survival of both.
Scaling New Heights in Information Management…
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INTRODUCTION

Other challenges and trends that influence
today’s LIS practice include:
 Proliferation
of automation tools – both
commercial and open source
 Less visits , More visits…
 Budgetary constraints
 Highly trained LIS professionals of diverse
backgrounds and ever changing user habits
 Performance management culture
Scaling New Heights in Information Management…
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INTRODUCTION

These factors have either cumulatively or
singularly led to the now worrying trend where
most library users seem to have discovered
some perceived better and more appealing
alternative sources of information - Internet.

Today, so many non-library institutions are
actually giving libraries “real competition” by
providing information services that has long
been the preserve of the library institution.
Scaling New Heights in Information Management…
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INTRODUCTION

But the situation is such that even libraries
that have embraced e-resources don’t seem
to attract the kind of anticipated patronage as
most users seem to have realized that they
can actually get the same information or even
better right from the comfort of their offices,
hostels, or homes using search engines like
Google through: PCs, laptops and other
powerful hand-held computing devices.
Scaling New Heights in Information Management…
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INTRODUCTION

Therefore, librarians can no longer rest easy
and must begin taking self-stock by asking
“where the rain started beating us.”

This self-introspection process should involve
asking some hard questions, including the
following:
Scaling New Heights in Information Management…
21/04/2015
INTRODUCTION

What is our fate or future as LIS professionals
in the face of these emerging technological
innovations?

Are there any tried and tested strategies,
approaches, and innovative tools that we can
employ to re-engineer ourselves and our
services in order to guarantee our continued
survival and relevance?
Scaling New Heights in Information Management…
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INTRODUCTION

The solution partly lies in both librarians and
libraries embracing the so called “branding”
practices.

But what does branding as a concept really
entail, both from a general and LIS
perspective?
Scaling New Heights in Information Management…
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UNDERSTANDING BRANDING AS A CONCEPT

Generally speaking, the concept of branding
has a long history and is usually associated
with marketing practice.

The AMA defines branding as a “name, term,
symbol or design, or a combination of both
intended to identify the goods and services of
one seller or group of sellers and to
differentiate them from those of other sellers.
Scaling New Heights in Information Management…
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UNDERSTANDING BRANDING AS A CONCEPT

A brand is therefore simply an identity of
something – a service, product, organization,
equipment, machinery, etc that makes it standout or unique hence enable buyers or users to
want to identity with it and is usually in the
mind.

In library marketing toolkit, Potter (2012)
defines a library brand as “the sum-total of
everyone else’s perception of the library” –
which we can only influence but not control.
21/04/2015
Scaling New Heights in Information Management…
UNDERSTANDING BRANDING AS A CONCEPT

Potter’s definition appear to be derived from the
definition of marketing by Doucette (2008) who
defined marketing as a three-step process
involving: identifying the potential audience that
you want to hear your library’s story;
developing the story so that the intended
audience can understand what makes your
library unique and why they'll find it interesting,
and finally, developing ways of telling the story to
intrigue those users and attract their attention.
Scaling New Heights in Information Management…
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UNDERSTANDING BRANDING AS A CONCEPT

It is the last process in Doucette’s definition
of marketing, focusing on developing ways
of telling the story to intrigue those users
and attract their attention that has been
dubbed branding.
Scaling New Heights in Information Management…
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UNDERSTANDING BRANDING AS A CONCEPT

Doucette then goes ahead to describe
branding as a component of marketing
strategy (plan of action) which involves the
process of defining a library’s story, distilling
it into one short and appealing sentence that
sums-up the whole story, and then visually
conveying the story via the library’s logo and
other branding elements.
Scaling New Heights in Information Management…
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UNDERSTANDING BRANDING AS A CONCEPT

A library brand therefore may comprise of a
mark, or logo combined with specific colours
and fonts that uniquely identifies a particular
product or service to potential clientele.

It is a summary of the library’s story that it
hopes to share with both actual and potential
patrons regarding it can best meet their
needs.
Scaling New Heights in Information Management…
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LIBRARY BRANDING

As a best practice therefore, today’s librarians
must strive to avoid the temptation of looking
at branding simply as a way of getting their
target clientele to choose their services or
products (library) over their competitors but
rather to focus on getting them to see you as
the only one with worthy solutions
(resources) to best address their problems
(information needs).
Scaling New Heights in Information Management…
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LIBRARY BRANDING

This is because, a brand is usually brought to
life and the attention (mind) of its consumers
by the personality of the company behind its
existence through the company’s commitment
to appeal to the clients’ emotions.

And this can only be realised when we
integrate our branding strategies at every key
point of our company’s contact with its publics,
e.g. circulation desk, reference & research
assistance desk, cloak-room counter, etc. 21/04/2015
Scaling New Heights in Information Management…
LIBRARY BRANDING

The success of any library branding exercise
must therefore begin with librarians asking
themselves such pertinent questions like:

How can we best integrate branding practices
into our library services and products to make
them become the preferred choice of our
patrons over those of our competitors? (N/B:
competitors here include the Internet)
Scaling New Heights in Information Management…
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LIBRARY BRANDING

How can we use branding skills in the running
of our libraries to help project a lasting and
attractive image of quality, loyalty, recognition,
reliability, etc in the minds of our patrons, both
actual and potential?

Answers to the above questions lies in the
librarians embracing branding strategies that
has been tested and proven to work for
libraries and related establishments.
Scaling New Heights in Information Management…
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LIBRARY BRANDING APPROACHES

To begin with, I wish to observe here that
there is no hard list of specific activities that
constitute a successful branding exercise.

Therefore, any specific step or action that
you opt for to brand your library’s offerings
will largely depend on the product/service in
question and the unique circumstances
(environment) under which the library
operates.
Scaling New Heights in Information Management…
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LIBRARY BRANDING APPROACHES

It is worth noting however, that most of the
challenges and trends highlighted in this
presentation can be mitigated through
innovative marketing strategies, including but
not limited to branding.

Some specific practical branding strategies or
approaches that can be employed by libraries
and librarians to re-engineer themselves in
the face of the challenges and trends include:
Scaling New Heights in Information Management…
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LIBRARY BRANDING APPROACHES
Outreach and Promotion




Is an innovative way of reaching out to
users hence a good branding tool
Communicate or publicize your offerings
and who can and how to access them
Stress on the benefits to be gained
Find an attractive and compelling way to
package and pass the message - talk to
management, social media & other ICT
Scaling New Heights in Information Management…
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LIBRARY BRANDING APPROACHES
Aggregation
 Learn from others what they offer that
attracts the most interest from users and
ensure the collection is well balanced to
serve widest user interests
 However, don’t loose sight of your
library’s mission hence only select and
acquire what supports this mission
Scaling New Heights in Information Management…
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LIBRARY BRANDING APPROACHES
Social Learning
 Tap into the potential of social media or
networks, which tend to resonate well
with most users, especially the tech-savvy
and the young – facebook, twitter,
LinkedIn, Google groups, etc to share
information with your users
 Create online discussion / social forums
as opposed to physical rooms
Scaling New Heights in Information Management…
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LIBRARY BRANDING APPROACHES
Encouraging use of user-generated content

Provide platforms that can harness user
generated content for sharing, e.g. IRs as a
way of promoting a culture of online
exchange in the library – they'll promote the
library to colleagues & others

Involve users in the identification of what to
collect as opposed to being the sole decider
of what is stocked – they’ll feel more valued
and want to use the library more.
21/04/2015
Scaling New Heights in Information Management…
LIBRARY BRANDING APPROACHES
Create info-shops (Information cafés)
 Go beyond providing simply books and
journals to being a full-fledged one-stop
information shop providing all information
services demanded by users – cyber
services, social networking services,
research assistance, information advisory,
tele and video-conferencing, etc.
Scaling New Heights in Information Management…
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LIBRARY BRANDING APPROACHES
Community social responsibility
• Take part in CSR activities just as other
corporates for positive image building and
showing that you care, e.g. donating books,
visiting orphanages, hospitals (and reading
for/with children/sick, where necessary),
motivational talks to schools
Drive performance culture
• Demonstrate value to users and sponsors
Scaling New Heights in Information Management…
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BASIC GUIDE TO LIBRARY BRANDING

This includes a 5 steps criteria highlighting
specific branding activities to be executed.
Carry out a strategic brand analysis exercise,
focusing on brand as – a product, service, an
organization, symbol or a person, i.e. what
you stand for or would wish to be known for
or identified with.
2) Analyse (know) your customers / patrons –
trends, interests, unmet needs, segments, etc
1)
Scaling New Heights in Information Management…
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BASIC GUIDE TO LIBRARY BRANDING
Analyse your competitors by looking at: their
brand image/identity, strengths, weaknesses,
and strategies
4) Analyse yourself (library) by identifying your
current brand identity, heritage (background)
your strengths, weaknesses and values held.
5) Define your value proposition, i.e. review
your functional, emotional, self-expressive
benefits, and your brand-patron relationship.
3)
Scaling New Heights in Information Management…
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AVENUES FOR DELIVERING BRAND MESSAGE





Library newsletter, if available
Library / organizational website
Brochures and other promotional avenues
like branded vehicles, branded book marks,
branded pens, branded-shirts for use by staff
on dress-down days, etc
Social media platforms – facebook, twitter,
etc
Clear signage within and outside the library.
21/04/2015
Scaling New Heights in Information Management…
BENEFITS OF BRANDING LIBRARIES
•
•
•
•
•
•
Affords the library competitive advantage hence
creating healthy barriers-to-entry
Helps clearly distinguish the library’s services from
those of its competitors
Carries & relays consistent brand message about
the library hence raising awareness and its value
Wins repeat-patronage from satisfied patrons
Good patron-brand relationship hence loyalty
Commands good organizational support, hence
more funding and administrative support, etc.
Scaling New Heights in Information Management…
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CONCLUSION

I wish to conclude buy observing that just as
the modern-day business customer has
undergone tremendous empowerment and
enlightenment, so has the library patron.

Remember, today’s customers no longer pay
for a dress, but fashion; a house, but comfort, a
car, but efficiency. Similarly, even library
patrons too no longer demand for
information, but relevance and quality.
Scaling New Heights in Information Management…
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CONCLUSION

The big questions for us as librarians remains:
1)
Are we prepared for the challenge as
modern-day librarians?
1)
Are we willing and ready to re-orient
ourselves and reposition our offerings to
reflect our patron’s demands?
Scaling New Heights in Information Management…
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CONCLUSION

There is no doubt that the practice of
branding is increasingly gaining popularity in
all sectors including libraries as a key driver
for customer (patron) experience .

As modern-day librarians, we must therefore
keep exploring alternative ways of re-defining,
re-orienting and re-positioning, re-branding
and re-engineering our services and practices
to reflect our patrons’ aspirations.
Scaling New Heights in Information Management…
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CONCLUSION

After all is said and done, branding remains one
of the surest ways (tool) for LIS professionals
to effectively and efficiently harness the full
potential of opportunities presented to them
by the emerging global information trends and
remain relevant in the face of stiff competition
from non-libraries that has literally brought
competition right inside the library’s traditional
comfort zone hence threatening the very
future of libraries & librarians.
Scaling New Heights in Information Management…
21/04/2015
Questions
and
Answer Session!
Thank you!
E-mail:
chrispine@infomankenya.co.ke
chrisoloo74@gmail.com
Mobile:+254722553341
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