A Blog for Entrepreneurs Looking to Create and Develop their Corporate Identity
Author: Bob Thomas
During a four-decade career in communications, Bob was responsible for developing the brand of a company that began as a small, one-state de novo operation (GUARD Insurance Group) with a dozen employees and sales of $500,000. During his tenure, that start-up grew to be active in all 50 states with 900 employees and sales in excess of $1.5 BILLION. Bob created the communications function within that organization and oversaw all aspects of the discipline across a 36-year period. During that time, the organization underwent several name changes and strategic rebrandings. That period included two sales to new parent corporations – the most recent to Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway family in 2012. Historically, the company’s communications activities (from advertising, web development, and public relations to more technical tasks) were all handled by an in-house staff of less than 10 people who created and maintained GUARD’s brand. Bob has often said that he has worked for a number of employers (from small to quite large) without ever having to change jobs. While he has enjoyed experiencing the size and scope of the current variation (Berkshire Hathaway GUARD Insurance Companies), he has always had a particular fondness for the smaller versions.
In addition to insurance, Bob has experience with branding- and communications-related activities for the following industries: commercial real estate, banking, technology, and retail operations. He is a graduate of Bucknell University.
Bob and his wife Molly have two adult children (Caitlin and Dylan) and split time between Dallas and Harvey's Lake in Pennsylvania.
The statistics supporting the importance of small businesses are always compelling. For instance, smallbizgenius.net (using a variety of recognized sources) notes:
There are 32.5 million small businesses in the US.
48.9% of small businesses survive five years or more.
77% of small business owners say they feel optimistic about the future of their companies.
50% of all small businesses are operated from home.
82% of businesses that fail do so because of cash flow problems.
Small businesses account for 44% of US economic activity.
With small businesses forming such an integral part of the economy in the United States, we should all take time to celebrate the importance of our local business community.
What Local Business Owners Can Still Do Now
While National Small Business Week will be underway shortly, a small business owner still has a number of ways to participate.
Use your social media to call attention to National Small Business Week and share some of the many resources available.
Participate in and support other National Small Business activities in your region. To help you identify relevant events, go to the SBA web site, which provides an easy-to-use tool. All you need to do is provide a zip code, and you will get a list of functions in an area up to a 200 mile radius. [See National Small Business Week (sba.gov).] You just may find a quick and easy way to support this cause.
And . . . while you are at this site, check out all of the many very useful tools the Small Business Administration (SBA) makes available, including a virtual summit May 2 – 5.
With the week’s observance about to get underway for 2022, you have no time to waste. However, you can also consider any time spent now a great long-term investment in your early planning for National Small Business Week 2023!
Recently, my local newspaper conducted an annual “Best of” campaign/competition among area businesses. The idea is to have subscribers vote for the best examples of local businesses across numerous categories. The process spans several months and ends with an award ceremony at an area restaurant during which the winning platinum, gold, and silver winners receive their plaques and 15 minutes of fame. The winners are announced and/or spotlighted in a special edition of the newspaper (which, coincidentally, seems to be a popular venue for winning businesses to take out ads congratulating their employees and constituents).
While some cynics might pay the greatest amount of attention to the potential for ad revenue generated by this process for the paper, I happen to believe a great service is being offered to local businesses – providing an opportunity to earn publicity and bragging rights by being identified as a customer favorite by the customers themselves.
Awards can be a great way of calling attention to your brand. Very often, these local contests have so many very specific categories, your chance of finding the right one (and ultimately winning!) are good.
If you are wondering just how common these contests are, I suggest you do an Internet search of the term “best of” business awards or some other similar variation, and I believe you will be surprised by the large number of specialized local, regional, and national activities of this kind that exist. If you do not find one that seems likely to be suitable for your business, I would very frankly be quite surprised.
Also, I suggest you talk to the many candidates who wage extensive campaigns to encourage voters to nominate and vote for their operations.
Speaking from Experience . . .
You see, I also have some personal experience with “Best of” successes of this kind and found lots of value in linking the building of our brand to recognition. Any label that identifies you as one of the best of pretty much anything is helpful.
The specific example I’m remembering dates back many years. My employer was a fairly small local firm in the process of becoming a regional operation with national aspirations. As you are no doubt aware, getting an audience that knows you one way to begin seeing you a bit differently can be very challenging (which is also the reason rebranding takes time and effort). Although we probably had no right to believe we stood a chance of winning, we entered a contest that was naming the Best Large Place to Work in Pennsylvania. (Best “small” company was a separate category . . . and the one we’d have preferred to use as our niche because we thought we’d compete more successfully; however, we had just a few too many employees.)
Needless to say, a considerable amount of time, energy, and resources were devoted to this process and assembling the extensive materials used to make our case. This particular contest also involved a survey of all our existing employees, a task that required some fairly extensive coordination and choreography to collect sufficient data and to do so in a timely manner.
Much to our surprise at the time, we were named the 2nd Best Large Place to Work in Pennsylvania. Having your brand recognized in this new way by a credible, independent, third-party source provided some immediate momentum to our efforts to convince our audience and constituents that we had, indeed, become a regional player . . . while also giving them grounds to believe us when we said we’d someday perform on a national stage!
Upon winning, we immediately prepared a press release (in addition to that of the contest sponsor) to promote our victory. We then disseminated this information as widely as possible and encouraged our readers to check the contest background material provided by the contest organizers. Needless to say, we immediately adopted the recognition as part of our brand and brand iconography . . . and we began including the information on all sales literature, as part of our company boilerplate description, in various locations across our web site, and in all appropriate corporate correspondence. Furthermore, we were able to use this designation as part of our self-promotion for many years because recognition of this “Best of” kind tends to have a pretty good shelf life – all of which made our original investment in time and resources very worthwhile and a bargain for the return we received.
That said, we did not win every contest we ever entered . . .but had enough success to consider activities of this kind to be part of our overall branding strategy!
The Lesson to Be Learned
My above example is just one of many ways in which “Best of” successes can be used to shape your brand. For instance, a small privately owned area drug store has used our local newspaper competition to build a reputation for having the “Best Sandwiches” in town. Word has spread, so the sandwich shop was able to start experimenting with take-out dinner entrees as well. While the paper’s publicity was essential to this expanded rebranding of the pharmacy, the fact that the subs they made really are terrific certainly helped!
Similarly, several companies have found sufficient value in these contests to buy paid advertising that asks people to vote for their businesses. While I don’t necessarily advocate this later approach as necessary, I offer the information as further evidence of the need to seriously consider identifying and participating in “Best of” activities suitable to your needs.
However, the local pharmacy’s experience is instructive in yet another way because:
In the end, you can’t ever talk the talk without being able to walk the walk!!
Your participation in such contests is just a means of calling attention to qualities that might otherwise have gone unnoticed. Then again, isn’t that part of the basic mission of branding.
In getting started, remember that the rule of the 5 W’s still applies, so we encourage you to review our earlier articles. We also want to remind you that voice matters – you must write as though you were a totally objective journalist preparing the story. Similarly, the content must be of interest to the audience of the intended publications.
As previously noted, announcements of new employee hires and/or promotions are among the most common press releases and the easiest to place – assuming the publication has a section for including such pieces. (Many do – particularly trade magazines and papers.) However, be aware that some outlets might be willing to include all or most of the information you provide . . . but many will reduce your words to a skeletal, bare-minimum sentence or two. If that is the standard practice, a quick glance at past issues will let you know whether new hires and promotions are featured and the kind of space devoted to each one.
Secondary Benefit
When preparing a press release on a promotion, be aware that you are also realizing a secondary benefit – by sending your current employees a message that you are an employer dedicated to giving existing staff a chance for advancement and that you have a track record for filling attractive positions from within the organization. By making this quality part of your brand, you help yourself become an “employer of choice,” and you encourage your existing staff to be happy, contented employees, which in turn shows up in the quality of your company’s service and the satisfaction of your customers.
Once again, you need to make sure your same press release works for most circumstances. To do so, confirm that the essence of your PR article is in the opening sentences with all other less critical information following (realizing that much could be cut by certain targets). Also, plan to include a head-and-shoulder photo of the featured employee.
[CITY, STATE, MONTH DATE] — [COMPANY] has announced the promotion of [EMPLOYEE FULL NAME] to the position of [TITLE]. In this new capacity, [EMPLOYEE LAST NAME ONLY] will be responsible for [BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES].
Note: Body paragraphs then follow this opening (i.e., background information, quotes, company description, etc.)
Since first joining [COMPANY] in [YEAR OF HIRE], [EMPLOYEE LAST NAME ONLY] has served as the [TITLE OF OLD JOB]. Specifically, [he/she] handled [MENTION DUTIES]. During that time, [EMPLOYEE LAST NAME ONLY] was credited with a variety of important accomplishments, including [BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS/CONTRIBUTIONS].
Note: Add the next paragraph when the past history of employee with the company includes multiple jobs worth highlighting. Repeat as needed to encompass complete work history, incorporating the most relevant and recent positions. You can also choose to insert any new education and/or licensing credentials that might have played a part in earning the promotion.
Prior to that position, [EMPLOYEE LAST NAME ONLY] served in other roles of increasing responsibility and authority. [He/She] was [TITLE] from [DATE] to [DATE] and also accumulated several years of related experience with other companies.
According to [NAME OF NEW SUPERVISOR OR OTHER HIGHLY PLACED OFFICIAL WILLING TO BE QUOTED], “[COMPANY] is very pleased to be giving [EMPLOYEE FULL NAME] a chance to use [his/her] years of experience with our organization to better serve our customers. We fully expect [EMPLOYEE LAST NAME ONLY] will be an asset in the years to come that allows us to provide our customers with the high-quality products and services they deserve while enabling us to achieve our goals for growth as a company. As you may know, [COMPANY] has a long-standing policy of promoting from within whenever possible. That way, both our staff and customers benefit from the knowledge and skills acquired over time while ensuring the continued high quality of our brand.”
Note: Optionally add contact information on the person being promoted.
“While [EMPLOYEE LAST NAME ONLY] will be reaching out to constituents soon, [he/she] can be contacted before then at [PHONE AND EXTENTION] or [E-MAIL].”
Note: Your “boilerplate” company description that outlines the products, services, history, location, hours, etc. then gets added. See our Style Guide for further information.
While the boilerplate language of different companies will be quite individual to reflect the specific history and characteristics of that particular business, a simple example might be:
“Established in [YEAR], [COMPANY NAME] specializes in providing [PRODUCT/SERVICES] to customers located in [GEOGRAPHICAL OPERATING AREA]. Open [LIST HOURS/DAYS] or available 24/7 online by visiting [WEB SITE ADDRESS], [COMPANY NAME][IS ENDORSED BY/IS KNOWN FOR] and encourages customers to learn more. In recent years, [COMPANY NAME] has grown substantially and is looking to achieve similar increases during the upcoming months.”
As you can see, your boilerplate text provides you with a chance to briefly tell your story while giving potential customers a means of acting on their interest. The above is just one very basic example. Be sure to tailor yours to tell your story in the most effective possible way.
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As always, we welcome any thoughts or feedback, and we encourage you to comment by using the space provided below. We would be happy to receive special requests to provide other sample press releases in the future.
The cancel culture is defined as: the phenomenon or practice of publicly rejecting, boycotting, or ending support for particular people or groups because of their socially or morally unacceptable views or actions
On February 2nd, 2022, we saw an instance of an increasingly common trend as the professional football team from Washington – previously known as the Redskins – was rebranded as the Commanders. Why after decades of a successful and highly recognizable brand was this action necessary?
Political sensitivity?
If so, perhaps the rebranding process was undertaken to correct a past mistake.
Others might suggest that the action was a byproduct of the so-called cancel culture – an instance in which the threat of a boycott or at least public backlash was used to precipitate a change that some people found necessary . . . . while others did not.
Regardless, a revisit of the name has occurred . . . with this instance being one among several recent ones prompted by similar circumstances. For example . . .
In February of 2021, Aunt Jemima (a branding icon believed to suggest an unflattering racial stereo type) became the Pearl Milling Company.
In July of 2021, the Cleveland Indians baseball team officially became the “Guardians” – revisiting a century-old brand that had used the same name since 1915.
In May of 2021, Uncle Ben’s became Ben’s Original.
As of June 2020, a complete review of Mrs. Butterworth’s branding and packaging commenced. (While the company suggested that the intent was to project a grandmotherly image, others felt the iconography could be perceived as unflattering racial stereotyping.)
So, what’s the branding lesson to be learned from these cases?
Your brand should be constantly reviewed and re-evaluated to both measure effectiveness AND spot potential sensitivities that could then be addressed BEFORE a public outcry began.
When a possible need to rebrand an historically successful brand is viewed as necessary due to potential adverse customer/audience reaction, try to make the most of the need for change and take advantage of the marketing opportunity.
In the case of the Washington Redskins, the review of the team’s nickname and iconography began back in July of 2020. While the new name was not selected till almost two years later, the questionable “Redskins” nickname was dropped and the team became known as the “Washington Football Team” during that interim period. (Real creative placeholder name, eh?)
The team’s audience – the fans – were solicited for suggestions . . . but unfortunately one fan favorite (the wolves) could not be used because of potential intellectual property issues. (Search “Washington Red Wolves Possible Logos” to see the early groundwork.)
The process of rebranding was not rushed and considerable effort was spent trying to get the process done right. Nevertheless, only time will tell whether or not the Commanders succeeds in replacing the Redskins in the minds of long-term fans. Meanwhile, the club will seize this moment to promote new merchandise sales that incorporate the logo as well as grabbing this unique chance to be very much on people’s minds and the source of much conversation. (Check out the new logo.)
As always, we welcome any thoughts or feedback, and we encourage you to comment by using the space provided below.
In an earlier article, we discussed Press Releases as Another Opportunity for Branding. Specifically, we addressed some of the basic criteria needed to produce a successful PR piece, including discussions about: Topics, Voice, Audience, Outlets, Format, Quotes and Photos, and Post-Submission Follow-up. In a second article, we wrote a Press Release to Introduce Ourselves as Part of National Small Business Week (in 2020). In yet another article, we provided a general Press Release Generator – Identifying Your Content. At that time, we promised to begin providing examples of the specific kinds of press releases we have mentioned just in case anyone happens to still be sitting staring at a blank page after having crumpled up a dozen failed efforts.
In getting started, the rule of the 5 W’s still applies, so we encourage you to review our earlier articles. We also want to remind you that voice matters – you must write as though you were a totally objective journalist preparing the story. Similarly, the content must be of interest to the audience of the intended publications.
That said, the announcement of new employee hires and/or promotions are among the most common press releases and the easiest to place – assuming the publication has a section for including such pieces. (Many do – particularly trade magazines and papers.) However, be aware that some outlets might be willing to include all or most of the information you provide . . . but many will reduce your words to a skeletal, bare-minimum sentence or two. If that is the standard practice, a quick glance at past issues will let you know whether new hires and promotions are featured and the kind of space devoted to each one.
To make sure the same press release works for most circumstances, you just need to be sure the essence of your PR article is in the opening sentences with all other less critical information following (realizing that much could be cut by certain targets). Also, plan to include a head-and-shoulder photo of the featured employee.
Below is a fill-in-the-blanks-template:
_________________
PRESS RELEASE – For Immediate Release
CONTACT INFORMATION:
[Company Name]
[Contact Name]
[Phone Number]
[E-mail Address]
[Date]
[HEADLINE ex. NAME (of the New Hire) JOINS COMPANY NAME]
[CITY, STATE, MONTH DATE] — [COMPANY] has announced the addition of [EMPLOYEE FULL NAME] as the new [TITLE]. In this new capacity, [EMPLOYEE LAST NAME ONLY] will be responsible for [BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES].
Note: Body paragraphs then follow this opening (i.e., background information, quotes, company description, etc.)
Before joining [COMPANY], [EMPLOYEE LAST NAME ONLY] served as the [TITLE OF OLD JOB] for [NAME OF OLD COMPANY] from [START DATE OF MOST RECENT OLD JOB] to [END DATE OF MOST RECENT OLD JOB]. Specifically, [he/she] handled [MENTION DUTIES].
Note: Add the next paragraph when the past history of employee includes multiple jobs. Repeat as needed to encompass complete work history, incorporating the most relevant and recent positions. (Typically, no need to go back to part-time jobs while in school!!) You can also choose to insert any education and/or licensing credentials that might be useful once past jobs are addressed.
Prior to that position, [EMPLOYEE LAST NAME ONLY] was also employed by [SECOND OLD COMPANY] as a [TITLE] from [DATE] to [DATE].
According to [NAME OF NEW SUPERVISOR OR OTHER HIGHLY PLACED OFFICIAL WILLING TO BE QUOTED], “[COMPANY] is very pleased to be adding an individual with the skill and experience needed to successfully enhance our operations and meet our goals for growth and customer satisfaction. We fully expect [EMPLOYEE FULL NAME] will be an asset in the years to come that allows us to provide our customers with the high-quality products and services they deserve.”
Note: Optionally add contact information.
“While[EMPLOYEE LAST NAME ONLY] will be reaching out to constituents soon, [he/she] can be contacted before then at [PHONE AND EXTENTION] or [E-MAIL].”
Note: Your “boiler plate” company description that outlines the products, services, history, location, hours, etc. then gets added. See our Style Guide for further information.
Also, please be aware that this “new employee” template can be easily adapted to address employee promotions. We plan to provide an example of that kind of press release soon.
_________________
As always, we welcome any thoughts or feedback, and we encourage you to comment by using the space provided below. While we intend to provide other sample press releases in the coming weeks, we would be happy to receive special requests.
Every company, large or small, should have a single individual who holds the role of Brand Manager. The ideal candidate will be part security guard and part prophet/visionary, historian, designer, and statistician.
Furthermore, this person must be ready, willing, and able to get involved in operations and well as marketing/advertising and high-level strategic planning. According to salary.com, this job commands a national six-figure average total cash compensation. That said, I’m guessing that you, like most small business owners, serve as your own Brand Manager – just one of the many roles you must perform (and perform well!) to make your small business successful.
Why a Security Guard?
As a Brand Manager, you are ultimately responsible for compliance with all of the visual branding elements you have put into place. You make sure the correct logo is used as well as the right by-line, color, font, type of images, etc. You must constantly and vigilantly be on the lookout for improper style elements and usage . . . and you must intervene when infractions are found. Furthermore, you must proactively put brand safeguards into place to keep misuses to a minimum.
Why a Prophet/Visionary?
Successful branding does not happen by accident. Someone must be sitting back and looking at a company’s performance, future goals, current inventory of products, customer services, expectations, and growth objectives to make sure the operations and graphic branding elements are in place and in sync to link all aspects of your brand. Both short-term activities that implement annual business plans and long-term initiatives designed to fulfill three- and five-year objectives must be defined, implemented, and evaluated to encompass brand.
Why an Historian?
Successful brands build upon the foundation that has been laid in the past. When making brand plans and strategies, you must align your efforts to the work and past investments done before . . . or risk losing those time- and effort-saving resources.
With branding, smaller incremental adjustments to the work done in the past are typically more effective than complete overhauls in producing successful changes embraced by the public. Keeping ties to past branding and a connection to your history is smart business.
Why a Designer?
While the Brand Manager will not necessarily be the person who created the original visual branding elements in use by a company, that individual will supervise or at least be a very active participant in all marketing/sales/advertising activities. As a result, the ability to conceptualize and/or execute campaigns that reflect the style, content, and goals of the brand will be crucial.
Why a Statistician?
While branding decisions will always be somewhat built upon intuition, research data has begun to play an increasingly critical role in branding. Therefore, the Manager must be familiar with and able to initiate and/or evaluate research activities such as surveys, focus groups, and other vehicles for the collection of information that determines which elements of a brand have been successful . . . as well as those that have not. Data mining of this kind also suggests future sales initiatives . . . and must be incorporated into the daily operations of the company and evaluated on an ongoing basis.
The Good News
Obviously, the role of Brand Manager is not a simple one. This multi-faceted job requires a diverse skill set as well as a tenacious, slightly obsessive-compulsive personality that is part creative, part analytical, part technical, and more. The good news is – you’ve probably been filling this position for a very long time (and probably quite well!!) without the title or extra pay. While some aspects of this job will come quite automatically and are already in place, the goal of this article is to share the full extent of the duties to help identify any omissions that can be addressed on your way to building a better brand.
Another Tip:
Since the current year is rapidly winding to a close, now is the perfect time to pause for some self-reflection and introduce new strategies aimed at change for the better. Perhaps even enclose a short survey in that Holiday/Thank You card you send to wish your customers a safe and wonderful holiday season as well as a Happy New Year!!
As always, we welcome any thoughts or feedback, and we encourage you to comment by using the space provided below.
Brand Building for Small Business 