Brand is your company identity. Remember, its not your logo or your graphics--those are elements of your Package that reinforce your Brand. Brand is your company identity in the mind of the customer--and the employee. More than anyone else in a small business, the Chief Marketer is the guardian of the company brand. If your company doesnt have a Chief Marketer, its vital that you appoint one. Name one this week. Dont let it slide--the position is too important to go unfilled. The role of the Chief Marketer in a small business gets lonely. Youre not part of a big corporate marketing team. Usually, you are the marketing team. Some of you are sole proprietors or juggle various roles in the small company you work for. None of you have the title Chief Marketer printed on your business card. If you are the owner, yet dont already consider yourself the Chief Marketer for your company, then start. It is a crucial role in any company, regardless of size. An integral aspect of your job is to develop and guard your brand. As Brand guardian you must wear multiple hats: brand cheerleader, brand visionary and brand cop. You can use your Achievers to help with all of these, but at the end of the day the final weight of the companys brand rests on your shoulders. And it can be lonely. Many in your position simply give up on marketing. Or they surrender their companys marketing to the sales reps from the yellow pages, the newspaper, and TV or radio. It may seem easier to spend your way than thank your way to marketing success, but you know it is very easy to waste a ton of precious marketing budget on ad spends that only make some salesguy rich and dont generate profits for your company. You need to market smarter than that. But championing your companys brand can also be very rewarding. It can supply you with a deep-down sense of self-satisfaction. Earlier we discussed the fifth and highest stage of Maslows Hierarchy of Needs: self-actualization. If you can enjoy the marketing tasks and feel like you are doing a good job, you can also feel better about yourself as a person from your contributions. But it doesnt stop there. Bringing out your own creativity as Chief Marketer is good for you and the company, but its also beneficial for your customers and employees. Solid marketing can help the whole company focus around the core brand values the company already possesses. Afraid youre not creative enough for the job? Nonsense. Our next article explores ways to help you tap into the creativity that waits inside you. Remember: Brand (who you are) + Package (your Face to the Customer) + People (customers and employees) = Marketing Success. 2006 Marketing Hawks |
