Promoting the company's brand: all available methods and tools. Brand and trademark promotion. Cost (price) of services for promoting the company’s brand on the market

If you want to promote your brand withPR, you can't just replace advertisingPR You will have to change the very method of bringing your brand to market. However, keep in mind that moving away from the basics of advertising is not so easy.

Promoting a new brand with the help of advertising and with the help of PR are not the same thing. If you want to grow a brand through PR, you can't just replace advertising with PR. You will have to change the very method of bringing your brand to market. However, moving away from the learned basics of advertising is not so easy.

Advertising and marketing are so closely intertwined in the minds of managers that many of them will not even consider the possibility of launching a new brand without the help of advertising. Nevertheless, we strongly recommend that all new brands be introduced to the market only with the help of PR.

Launching a new brand through PR invariably involves eight steps.

Step 1. Enemy

To create a successful brand, you need to identify your “enemy”. It could be a competing brand, company, or product category that will hinder your brand's success. So, if you sell Pepsi, then your enemy is Coca-Cola. If you sell Burger King, then the enemy is McDonald's. And so on.

Once you identify the enemy, you can develop a targeted strategy that is the opposite of his strategy. When Procter & Gamble introduced a new mouthwash to the market, they identified Listerine as their enemy.

Since this company produced mouthwash with bad taste, then Procter & Gamble positioned its Scope as the same product, but only with a pleasant taste. And it is thanks to this that Scope has become the second most important brand in the market.

The confrontation provides food for news. Having an enemy significantly increases a brand's PR potential. Our latest book was originally called The Age of PR. But where is the enemy? We changed the title to "The Rise of PR and the Decline of Advertising," thereby creating both an enemy and significant potential for press coverage of the book.

Step 2. Information leak

A PR campaign usually begins with a leak of information. Information is passed on to influential reporters and editors. The main targets are newsletters and Internet sites.

The media loves behind-the-scenes stories about events that have yet to happen. Especially if it's exclusive. In other words, any reporter strives to cover an event before his competitor.

This is exactly how Microsoft brought its Xbox gaming console to market. Dissemination of information began 18 months before the product was officially introduced. Literally hundreds of articles have been written about the Xbox and its upcoming battle with the market leader, Sony's PlayStation.

By not letting the media know about the qualities of your new product or service, you are wasting a very valuable resource. What do people like to talk about? About rumors, gossip, behind-the-scenes stories. The media loves the same thing.

Step 3. Increasing momentum

PR programs unfold as slowly as flowers bloom. For the campaign to gain required speed, you need to allocate enough time for it. This is why PR is often launched several months before all the details of a new product or service are finalized.

When you rely on PR, there is no other option. Unless you are going to introduce something out of the ordinary to the market, you will have to start small and hope that the media will gradually give the campaign the desired scope. (If you are really going to bring the “invention of the century” to the market, it is very possible that you will not need PR at all. The information will spread without your participation).

Fortunately, incremental branding is consistent with how most consumers learn about new products or services. Today there is a small note in the news, tomorrow a friend will mention something - and soon you are convinced that you have always known about this product.

And since consumers tend to ignore advertising messages, the new campaign must be powerful and memorable enough to rise above the noise level. The easiest thing to hide is a million dollar advertisement. If you divide this amount into small parts and then spend them on advertising in all kinds of media, then your messages will simply disappear into the “black hole” of advertising.

Step 4. Attracting allies

Why do everything alone when others can also help you spread the word?

The gradual deployment of a PR program gives enough time to win over allies. Moreover, mentions of you in the press will help attract volunteers.

Who are your natural allies? "The enemy of my enemy is my friend." When we wrote The Rise of PR and the Decline of Advertising, we asked ourselves: “Who could be the enemy of such a book?” The obvious enemy is the advertising industry, that is, those who control the bulk of advertising spending in the United States. Who could be the enemy of this industry? Independent PR agencies whose bread is taken away by the PR divisions of advertising corporations.

And we sent advance copies of our book to 124 of the largest independent PR agencies in the United States. And they continued to send them copies of articles about our book that appeared in the press.

In response, we received a lot of responses like: “We will purchase additional copies to send to our clients and potential customers,” “We will invite you to speak at our conference,” “We will write to the editors of industry publications,” etc.

The clash of interests that the book created and the momentum of our mailing list resulted in enormous media interest. The Wall Street Journal and many other trade publications reviewed the book, and it soon made it onto most bestseller lists.

In advertising it's the opposite. It is difficult to attract allies through an advertising campaign. And there are two reasons for this - time and money. If you launch a brand with a big bang, you typically don't have time to find support. In addition, advertising unions often fall apart due to monetary disagreements.

Step 5. Promotion from small to large

Before a person begins to walk, he crawls. And before he starts running, he walks. The media works the same way. You start small - for example, with a small note in a newsletter, and then the information ends up in a trade publication. Then you can go even higher - to the level of the business press. Eventually you may see your product or service on TV.

With each new rung on this ladder, your brand's reputation grows. Going directly to a TV agent can get you out of the gate. But if TV people find out that magazines have written about your product, they might call you themselves.

As you climb the media ladder, your brand “accelerates” and continues to grow by inertia.

Step 6: Product Improvement

Feedback - important element brand promotion through PR. If you start a campaign long before the product actually goes to market, you have time to perfect the product before it goes on sale. This can be a big advantage.

In advertising it's the opposite. If an advertising campaign has already been launched, the company is tied to the product and its characteristics. There is very little feedback and there is no time to change the product or service before it is offered to consumers.

So, to introduce the world's first pocket PC, the Newton MessagePad, Apple held a large press conference during the Consumer Electronics Show in Chicago. After making a press announcement, Apple launched its traditional advertising campaign with a "big bang" including TV advertising. A breathy voice announced: “Newton is digital.” "Newton" is personal. "Newton" is magical. "Newton" is as simple as a piece of paper. "Newton" is intelligent. "Newton" studies and understands you. "Newton" is news." But due to flaws in the handwriting recognition system, Newton received a lot of scathing reviews. The most damning was a popular comic strip that made fun of Newton. From "I am writing a test sentence " ("I am writing a test sentence") it turned out "Siam fighting atomic sentry" ("Siam is fighting an atomic sentry").

A potential buyer, wanting to test the Newton, wrote: “My name is Curtis.” A reputable business publication reported this under the headline "My Norse 15 Critics" - which is how Newton recognized the written sentence.

Too much bragging is no good. You are asking for the media to debunk your products. It's better to launch a new brand in a humble way - ask friends and allies for suggestions, and then refine the product to meet the needs of the market.

Palm Computing took the Newton idea and simplified it, replacing the telecommunications function and complex OCR system with a simplified handwriting system called Graffiti. As a result, the Palm Pilot Pocket PC was a huge success.

In relations with the media, modesty always trumps boasting. If you ask for advice or opinions, you'll likely get a ton of ideas that you can use.

Step 7. Improve your message to the consumer

When launching a new brand, you usually have a number of characteristics that describe the product that you can make part of the brand.

But which one should you focus on?

This is one of those issues that can lead to endless debate within the board of directors. Too often this issue is not addressed and a brand comes to market with a long list of features (as was the case with Newton). Either it is accepted at its root wrong decision. There is definitely a lack of objectivity on the board of directors.

The media can be an indispensable assistant in this. What product feature does the reporter or editor think is most important? After all, the media looks at new products from the consumer's point of view. Their opinion is not only useful: it is quite possible that it is the one that potential buyers will listen to first. The media controls consumer opinion. You can, of course, go against it if you want to see how it ends.

For years, Volvo has touted the strength and durability of its cars. At the same time, the media praised the safety of cars of this brand and talked about the invention of three-point seat belts, a deformable steering column, front and rear crumple zones, etc.

Volvo eventually gave in and switched its advertising from durability to safety. Sales soared.

Forget focus groups. Why pay consumers for advice when the media gives it for free? What's more, they'll back up their advice with stories that will help potential buyers internalize your ideas.

Does this mean that we should always follow the advice of the media? Of course not. Only if you have serious reasons for this.

Step 8. "Smooth" start

How long can the PR phase of a program to launch a new brand last? It depends on many factors. Therefore, we recommend a "soft" start.

Withdraw New Product or the service is put on the market only after the PR campaign is over. The product will be presented when it is ready. That is, when the media do their job. Not earlier and not later.

Yes, soft start introduces confusion into budgeting and corporate planning. It could even disrupt production and distribution plans. Let it be so. In marketing, as in life, the key is timing. The right product V right time with the right PR support, it’s an invincible combination.

A military metaphor may make a speech in a sales meeting, but it lacks flexibility when confronted with the real world. No one can predict the course of a PR campaign: how long it will take, what new ideas and moves will be born.

But better late than bad.

Al Ries - Chairman marketing company Ries & Ries (Atlanta, Georgia, USA), which he runs with his daughter Laura Ries. He is the author or co-author of 11 books on marketing, including Positioning, Marketing Wars, and Practical Marketing. Laura contributed to the writing of “The 22 Laws of Brand Creation,” “The Rise of PR and the Decline of Advertising,” as well as their latest book, “The Origin of a Brand.”

A term, a design, or a combination of all these elements. They are intended to identify and recognize the goods and services of an enterprise or company, as well as to distinguish them from competitors. The most important component of a brand is the person.

It is in his head that a certain symbol, design, etc. should be created. The concept of “Brand” should include emotional, historical, as well as thoughts. Thanks to this, a person must distinguish this or that product or service from the rest. His thoughts create a certain image, the consumer’s idea of the product, causing him to thus have admirers of a certain “symbol” wholly trust the company and give preference to its product rather than to a competing one. In addition, branded products allow you to stand out among other competing companies and are sold in certain quantities and at a decent price.

Therefore, for any enterprise, the key to future success and prosperity is the professional, reasonable and competent creation, promotion and promotion of a brand. The purpose of product distribution is to create a monopoly in a certain area of the market.

It is necessary to distinguish between the concepts of “promotion” and “brand promotion”, since they have different definitions. The first requires a one-time effort. This requires extensive knowledge of specialists and professionals: PR managers and others.

The brand should be promoted on the market in full accordance with the concept of its development. The first step is to create a strategy. An important aspect here is the identification of potential consumers or as well as application in various ways and tools. Successful brand promotion will depend on the competent choice of these components.

Today there is a large number of various methods, methods, activities and tools to increase the popularity of a trademark on the global market: this is, first of all, advertising via the Internet, as well as its other types and various means, holding various promotions and presentations, creating and further forming a dealer network, BTL/PR- events, sampling, merchandising.

Promoting a new brand requires a slightly different approach compared to an existing brand that is well-known in its category. When promoting a symbol that has just appeared, it is important not only to make yourself known on the market, but also to form a positive impression and attitude among potential consumers. Promoting an existing one consists of maintaining an established position, searching for new consumers, i.e. expansion target audience, increasing customer loyalty.

It represents a long-term significant financial investment that helps to significantly increase the company’s profits. A brand is exactly what is needed for decent competition in modern world economic ties.

Brand– a well-known trademark representing a product in demand on the market.

High competition in many areas of trade and production creates significant difficulties for beginning entrepreneurs in promoting goods and services. How to make your products recognizable, and promote your newly created brand to the level popular brand– this is a question many businessmen ask.

Fame and recognition of the brand generates high level sales - when entering a store, buyers, first of all, pay attention to products that they have already heard about from various sources, rightly believing that fame guarantees quality. This is confirmed by the history of the creation of many famous world brands operating in various market segments, such as BMW cars, Bobcat special equipment, beloved by many Pepsi and Coca-Cola, where maximum attention is paid to product quality. At the same time, it is difficult to imagine how much money these companies spend on advertising, with the help of which they maintain constant demand for the product they produce.

Create a memorable image

First, you need to create a memorable image with which the buyer could distinguish your products from the crowd of similar products.

Coca-Cola calls to “Quench your thirst!” or Snickers “Don’t slow down, snickers!” broadcast daily from TV screens. These brands have chosen a youth audience. In commercials, these products are always presented in groups of thirsty and hungry youth.

BMW cars amaze with elegance, speed and ease of driving - the motto chosen by the company fully corresponds to these criteria: “Sheer Driving Pleasure” - “Driving with pleasure.”

Thus, it becomes clear that a brand promotion campaign is built on an idea and an image.

Determine consumer desires

When starting a brand promotion campaign, you should determine what customers expect from your products, what their desires can be played out in order to hit the mark and attract close attention to the product, to get consumers talking about it.

Social surveys and interviews with people who are yours will help potential buyers. Studying their habits and behavioral qualities will help to build a certain concept, which will later be used when building an advertising campaign. Use your imagination, analyze the products and actions of your competitors, determine what product qualities have not yet been emphasized in their advertising.

Here you are given a wide field for creativity - in the process of “brainstorming”, great ideas and proposals are often born that can “hook” the consumer. Find out how your competitors attract customers, try to make your slogan short and precise, and boldly implement your best deals. Develop company symbols - this will help visually remember your brand.

Brand promotion strategy in the market

Assess the situation in your market segment and in the region, analyze the capabilities of competitors, the quality of their products, identify their problem areas - on this you can create an advertising campaign, emphasizing that your products are free of such shortcomings. Next in order:

Work with the press, especially with the most influential and widely read publications. Publish a quality article about your company and the product you produce. This article will come to the attention of online publications and smaller media. Once the process is up and running, you can create a “buzz” that information about your newest product has been leaked.
Launch your slogan– it should be catchy and precise. The latest advertising recommendations today allow, in order to create maximum effect, the use of expressions “on the verge of censorship.”
Use classical methods marketing– mailings, booklets, promotions, discounts and gifts, souvenirs, branded t-shirts etc. - all this contributes to the recognition of your products. Try to keep it in moderation - obsessiveness may not work in your favor.
Participate in thematic conferences and online forums. All this helps spread information about your product and form a target audience.

When starting to promote your own brand, be creative and purposeful. The temabiz.com project team is confident that persistence in achieving goals and a creative approach to business will definitely lead you to success!

As you know, fish rots from the head. This proverb also applies to branding. If something went wrong with brand promotion, the reason must be sought in the company’s activities. In this article we will touch on those aspects of the business that directly affect the profitability of the brand, and which need to be paid attention to both by people creating a new brand and by those who are restoring a good old name. So, the topic of our article is: How to promote a brand.

One of the large Western companies involved in promotion and rebranding conducted a small study in May of this year, which pointed to three pillars of a successful launch (primary or repeated) of a brand on the market.

Three factors for brand promotion success

The existence of a strong brand is based on three factors: a positive reputation, competent management and the investment attractiveness of the company. We will look at them now, but first let’s focus.

To create a brand that can work and earn money, you need to:

a) improve (or earn from scratch) reputation;

b) choose the right management strategy;

c) increase investment potential.

Let's start with reputation. Let's first figure out what kind of animal this is. Using the dictionary data comparison method we get the following:

“Reputation is a public assessment formed on the basis of certain criteria and includes the opinion of a group of subjects about the qualities of an object, its positive and negative properties.”

We can also talk about business reputation. This, in simple words speaking, - the difference between the purchase price of the organization and its value on the balance sheet.

A company's reputation is a set of ideas of the target audience about the company's activities. It is also formed due to the objective (mostly) parameters of the organization, or, as they are also called, reputation factors that matter to this target audience. The reputation of the brand promoted by the company largely depends on it.

Criteria for forming a company's reputation

origins - company history, type of activity, age;
individuality - style, image*, internal infrastructure;
strategy - the company's mission, guidelines, goals (for investors and partners);
stability - profitability and financial stability;
openness - “transparency” for the target audience through the use of IT technologies;
human resources - highly qualified employees of the company;
quality of management - strong leaders;
corporate culture - internal values of the company;
corporate communication culture - internal and external communications of the company, manner of cooperation;
image of the industry within which the company operates.

*Image should never be confused with reputation. The word “image” itself is a distorted English “image”, that is, a “picture” that can be created, drawn, invented. Reputation must literally be earned.

Thus, in order to assess the current reputation of a brand, it is necessary to first conduct some research that can show the level of trust in the company that created the brand. One of the ways of such a “check,” as some experts believe, is simple monitoring of the Internet. In their opinion, there can be no more than 10% negative reviews about the company on the Internet and no less than 20% highly positive ones, while the rest can be neutral.

Your main goal is to make your product or service come out on top in the industry.

How can working with a brand help this?

American PR managers argue that it is necessary, first of all, to understand what makes a brand unique, because without awareness of individuality and irreplaceability it is impossible to stand out among others. They recommend conducting an analysis of strengths and weaknesses brand in order to strengthen its position and eliminate shortcomings. Such analysis also provides insight into the relevance of the brand and highlights factors that can either maximize the promotion of the brand or ruin it.

Secondly, especially if we are talking about restoration management, it would be useful to consider those main areas of the company’s activities in which maintaining order is required in the first place. So this is:

development of new management, financial and marketing strategies;
cost reduction: both fixed and variable;
increasing labor productivity and enhancing employee motivation;
continuous monitoring of the current financial and economic situation in the company and on the market.

What we get as a result: in order to make the brand work effectively, one way or another it is necessary to improve the management strategy. In some cases, by the way, such a desire for excellence leads to the transfer of the business to the management of a hired highly professional top manager. However, this is a completely different story.

The investment attractiveness of a company is the basis of its positive business reputation, the basis of its reputation as a reliable partner.

Investments are an integral part of the full development of a brand, because the attractiveness of a business for investors is, of course, interconnected with its attractiveness for potential customers.

What is investment attractiveness? This is a capacious concept, which, among others, includes the following points:

financial and economic stability;
innovative activity;
competitiveness, stable position in the market;
production potential;
highly qualified personnel;
transparency of activities
positive reputation.

By monitoring the dynamics of these points, it is necessary to adjust the management strategy so that the indicators become better and better.

So, we looked at the “three elephants” of promoting a brand from scratch or restoring it on the market. And, incorrectly, have you noticed that they are closely related and influence each other?

But! Even if you instantly began to work through all possible areas of activity, which, of course, is very commendable, you are guaranteed to achieve desired result, you will need:

continuous development of up-to-date criteria for evaluating brand promotion activities;
continuous monitoring of the results obtained;
comparison of actual results with planned ones.

This way you can successfully promote your brand and raise it to new level and make it truly competitive even in today’s brutal market, where everyone fights for their client.