| Every great brand has a mythology. A mythology is not a work of fiction; it is a way to access a deep truth. The truth is not how the corporate culture perceives itself – it is the embodiment of how the world perceives the brand. |
| In this issue: |
AbuLLard: The CattLeLink Business Calendar Audhumbla: Getting Noticed on the Net, What's Old is New Again Brand Element: Brand Extension |
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AbuLLard introduces CattLeLink
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The CattLeLink Business CaLender This month we are introducing the CattLeLink Business CaLender, www.cattlelink.com, a consolidated calendar of business networking and educational events. When we started our business, we knew we needed to get out there and "network." In trying to do that effectively we found that we were spending a lot of time visiting web sites and sorting through mail (electronic and paper) to figure out what was happening, where and when. Some events happened on a regular basis but new events -- such as seminars, conferences, and networking activities -- kept coming across our desks. It became a weekly task for our admin to spend the time collecting the information and creating a consolidated calendar for us. After she had been doing that for a while, we thought, "Wow! This is really useful. Maybe other people would like to have access to this information in a single place!" And so the seeds for the CattLeLink Business CaLender were planted. Developed as a joint venture with Total1 Internet Solutions, CattLeLink is a single source web site with information about business events in the Greater Philadelphia and Central New Jersey regions. You can search for events by day, by week, by month, by organization, to name a few. We will be expanding both our search fields and our geographic coverage as the site grows. The CattLeLink Business CaLender lists events sponsored by a large number of organizations located in the Greater Philadelphia, New Jersey and Delaware area -- Chambers of Commerce, Professional Organizations, Local and Federal Government Agencies, Non-Profit Organizations, and Educational Institutions. Also listed are events sponsored in the Mid-Atlantic area by national organizations and at local trade show venues. Not just for business networkers, the CattLeLink site is useful for organizations and event planners as well. Planners can use the CattLeLink Business CaLendar to schedule networking events avoiding conflicts with other organizations and boost attendance. Small organizations, training groups, and educational institutions that don't have resources for a major campaign to advertise an event can submit their events to CattLeLink for publication. CattLeLink Members will have the ability to enter their own events through a web interface. We will expand the benefits to members as the site grows with a goal of enhancing members ability to find, list, and comment on a wide variety of networking, seminars, and business events. Banner ads are available on the site. For our early sponsors we are offering 9 months advertising for the price of only 6 months. Contact us for information. |
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Audhumbla's Eye on the Internet
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Getting Noticed on the Net – What’s Old is New Again Many businesses find it's hard being noticed on the net. How do you get customers to visit your website? There are the notable exceptions - an Amazon here, an Ebay there - but most small businesses can’t duplicate that success. What they can do, however, is follow the lead in understanding how the Internet works and how e-business differs from a brick and mortar world. Websites started by mimicking brick and mortar behavior. Like changing a storefront's window display, website home pages were redesigned frequently in the hopes of attracting visitors. This doesn’t work as a means of getting noticed on-line. Storefront displays work because customers must physically pass them by to enter the store. Attractive displays entice customers to enter. In contrast, website home pages can be leapfrogged by bookmarks and links from other websites. With all the possible ways into your website, attractiveness isn’t the guarantee your website needs. Advertising - placing an ad, putting up a billboard, or listing in your local yellow pages - was copied next. On-line versions of traditional advertising took hold and evolved. Each now has its own unique science for optimizing results - and each could be the source of several columns on how to be successful. Here's a secret - Internet marketing is evolving again. And it’s no accident – this new approach copies the oldest behavior there is, “word of mouth”. Web-based implementations of “word of mouth” are numerous and powerful – and they can be very inexpensive. The most common forms of these are newsgroups and blogs. Every time your company is mentioned in a newsgroup or on a blog, that’s a potential touch point between your customers and you. And when those touch points include a url, that’s an additional door to your website. Yet, none of these cost you an additional cent in direct expense. Again we ask, what does this mean for you and your business? Firstly, not every business benefits to the same degree from word of mouth. Businesses that are the topic of discussion most often obviously benefit the most – and businesses with a specific focus generate the lion’s share of discussion. But businesses that CAN BECOME the topic of discussion can benefit nearly as much. And the Internet is today’s breeding ground for discussion. |
Speak Up -
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Brand Element of the Month:
Notice the |
Brand extension refers to the use of a successful brand name to launch a new or modified product in a same broad market. It leverages the recognition of an existing brand, making it easier for a company to enter a new product category. You know us as CattLeLogos. In our new products and services there are three things that will be familiar to you: the cow graphic in the logo, the name being a combination of the word "CattLe" combined with another word that creates a concept related to the new product, and the use of the capital "L's" in the name. That way it's clear who developed these new products, and you will associate what you know about us with them. Brands extensions work best when there is a strong link between the types of products or services offered under the same brand umbrella. They can be build on similar product characteristics; an area of expertise; a companion product; extensions to a targeted customer base; or extension of a status brand.Brand extension is certainly a way in which the brand can be made much stronger but it also has the potential to dilute the brand equity or confuse sales of the parent brand. Brand extension needs to enhance the existing brand, not detract from it. Clearly brand extension is an area that has to be approached with a degree of caution. The maintenance of long-term brand health is of paramount importance and should never be sacrificed for short-term advantage when there is pressure to deliver. |
What's next?...perhaps the
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HayLoise's Books of the Month
Are there any books that have given you important insights into
branding? Send HayLoise |
Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant By W. Chan Kim, Renee Mauborgne Kim and Mauborgne present a novel approach to business strategy in their recent book Blue Ocean Strategy. They argue that traditional market analysis techniques result in defining business models that engage in direct head to head competition, with somewhat ‘bloody’ results. This traditional marketplace is called the ‘red ocean’. They suggest creating ‘blue oceans’ which are uncontested marketplaces, by seeking out different customers and offering different products/services. Cirque du Soleil for example charted new territory by combining "circus" with "theater" to create a new artform. By reducing the circus aspect to one ring and adding a story line they provided a form of entertainment that appealed to an adult audience. Their thesis is supported by their study of over thirty industries, most of them in traditional areas such as entertainment and transportation. Also such unexpected places as the New York Police Department. They also offer a number of simple tools for analyzing your own business, marketplace, and strategy. Definitely, a good read. |
Click on the book cover image to go to its page on Amazon.com
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Brand Tip of the Month
Often the first step in a branding process is to challenge conventional boundaries and reinvent the rules.
The hardest part is throwing out old assumptions to make room for new truths.
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Branding Is a Competitive Sport.
Branding is a competitive sport. The goal is to develop a "sticky"
connection between your brand and the mind of your potential customers
that's stronger than their connection with your competition. How do you do
this? As management consultant Tom Peters says, "Be distinct or become
extinct." Unless you have all the customers you want, don’t rely on what
you’ve been doing for the past ten years. Try new things. Try something
different. Make it personal. Appeal to emotion. Unearthing your difference demands out of the box thinking. It requires
you to let go of your particular perspective on your company and its
products and try to put yourself in the mind of a consumer. What exclusive
piece of mental real estate can you honestly lay claim to that is really
different from your competitors? Why do your existing customers come back?
Do they? What can you say or do that your competitors can't? Can you back
it up? Most of all, in this complex new world of lightening
fast communication and information overload, you must be proactive. You
have to do something to get noticed ... and remembered! When everyone else
is shouting, perhaps it’s best to whisper. To get seen amid the clutter,
keep it simple. Most of all, make it memorable. Make it interesting. Make
an emotional connection that will keep your customers coming
back. |
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Do you like our newsletter? We would love to work with you on developing a newsletter for your business. Give us a call: 215.732.1553 or contact us by e-mail. | ||||||||||||
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Copyright 2005 CattLeLogos Brand Management Systems, LLC. All rights reserved. CattLeLogos is a Registered Trademark of CattLeLogos Brand
Management Systems, LLC. |
Published July 19, 2005 Contact us: | |||||||||||
