Consider these deliverables...
STRATEGY

INFLUENTIALS / VIRAL MARKETING

According to Ed Kelly, author of The Influentials and CEO of RoperASW, the giant market research firm, influentials are an elite group. They are the 10 percent of Americans who have the power to influence the habits of the other 90 percent. They do not respond to mass marketing but must be identified one by one and put in a database for the ongoing contact that inspires word of mouth marketing. Influentials marketing is becoming the powerful first cousin of viral marketing.

Viral marketing has been defined as word of mouth on steroids (the steroids being the Internet). We have a viral marketing process called ViralSell for launching your viral marketing program. Because traditional advertising is costly, and seriously lacking in credibility, viral marketing (“word-of-mouth” or “buzz” or “relationship marketing”) is becoming the best way to launch a brand. If you can achieve focus on your product’s virusworthiness viral marketing will deliver 10X the market impact at 1/10th the cost according to a study by ad giant RSCG. VM turns your ideas into epidemics by helping your customers do the marketing for you. For an in-depth look at viral marketing visit our weblog at www.keithbates.blogspot.com or request the PowerPoint below.

Whether you chose Influentials marketing or Viral marketing will depend largely on your products virusworthiness and your marketing strategy.

BRANDING

We will analyze your present branding efforts and offer suggestions for improvements, which we can do, or you can do. Or we can develop a comprehensive branding program. To paraphrase IDG’s PowerBranding Seminar material of a few years ago we offer the following thoughts on branding.

I. What Is branding? Few things endure. Today’s breakthrough product is quickly eclipsed by the next innovation or lost in a sea of clones. That’s why companies that succeed over time build relationships with customers that transcend products. This is branding.

For a simpler definition:

• Companies make products but customers buy brands.
• A brand is the tangible product plus intangible values, associations and expectations attached to the product by the customer.
• Intangibles are shaped by customer experiences, messages (both controlled and uncontrolled), perceptions, beliefs, technical knowledge, features, attributes, and price.

II. Brand Image vs. Brand Identity. There's a simple way to sum up and understand the essence of the two terms… image is how the marketplace perceives you; identity is who you really are. Companies should focus on building brand identity as the driving brand strategy component. How do strong brands gain market power? Two key drivers to building brand strength are creating a distinct brand identity and developing a unique brand personality. Unfortunately, semantics often get in the way of understanding how these two factors can influence brand power.

Email your request for the PowerPoint to
keithbates@kbates.com