When we talk about Branding Arlington, are we talking about
the sound of enraged mooing and the smell of burnt leather? Well, yes and no.
That is where the term originates from: In a world of cows
how does one tell from herd to herd? From town to town? Product to service?
David A. Aaker, in his book Managing Brand Equity states, “A brand is a distinguishing name
and/or symbol (such as logo, trademark, or package design) intended to identify
… goods or services … and to differentiate those goods or services from those
of competitors.”
It’s a good place to start, breaking that down, a brand is
Arlington’s unique story that quickly sets it apart from the many other rural
communities in eastern South Dakota.
It may, or may not, seem obvious to you why Arlington is a
great place but we need a way to communicate that message to the target
audiences that we discussed last week.
The average person interacts with 500-1000 brand or
marketing messages each day. From billboards to TV commercials to the print ads
on this page you are going to encounter hundreds of messages vying for your
attention in the next hours.
How much do you retain? Each marketing messages get between
3-7 seconds of your attention! That’s it, enough time to say, “Hi, my name
is….”
How do we develop a brand that communicates how great
Arlington is – and how much greater the Arlington area is than other areas
around us?
Greg Stine of Polaris,
Inc. Branding Solutions offers us nine straight-forward principles:
1. Keep It Simple: one
big idea is best. A good example of this is Bookings’ brand, “Bring Your
Dreams.”
2. Mass-produced word
of mouth (PR) builds brands. Arlington’s commercial culture needs to breed
customer loyalty – in other words the fish stories told after a day at the lake
should involve Arlington.
3. Focused brands are
more powerful than diffused brands. Have one theme; tell the story well and
often.
4. Somehow, some way,
you have to be different. This one is the toughest…what makes Arlington
different?
5. The first brand in
a category has a huge advantage. Nothing we can do about this, but all the
other small towns are in the same boat.
6. Avoid sub-brands at
all cost. This means the City Council, The Development Corp., The School ,
The Chamber, The People, everyone buys into and sells the theme. Another way to
say this is we speak with one voice.
7. Quality is
important, but not as important as the perception of quality. We may not be
lakefront, but we have twenty lakes within twenty minutes.
8. Be consistent and
patient. Building a strong brand takes time.
9. Put your brand
definition in writing, otherwise you'll get off course. This last part I
need your help with.
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