BRANDING VS. ADVERTISING

I couldn't be more humbled by how the Island Business News brand name has progressed in the past two and a half years.

In this series of upcoming blogs I'm planning to share with you just how we built our brand to the current stage and how we plan to do so going forward (along with several others who have done the same) so that perhaps you can use some of the same strategies in promoting your business.

First of all, let me just say that I get a lot of inquiries from potential advertisers who tell me they'd like to run one ad and see if they get any new customers from that ad or to test just how many calls they get the day the ad comes out.

If they do get immediate business, they continue, then they will continue advertising, if not, they will go in another direction.

I'm assuming this process (of switching ad mediums) will continue month to month throughout the year because the odds of them getting a measurable return from just one ad is very slim.

Ironically, most of the advertisers that expect immediate return are getting less for each ad dollar by only advertising once and then moving on to another advertising option if they don't see immediate return.

Why?

Because they are ignoring or dismissing the benefits that consistent advertising (similar message / similar medium) does for their overall brand. To prove this point, I am still getting bookings from Speaking ads I ran almost two years ago despite not getting a booking for the first two months the ads were out - the customers that saw these ads didn't have a need at the time but I was still building awareness while they were developing a need.

I just interviewed someone today who used to sell advertising for a major publication and he told me that he used to tell his customers that wanted to run a full page ad once that he'd prefer they go with ten smaller ads spread over ten issues (or even with a different advertiser) than one full page ad as he knew the odds of them getting business by just putting their name out there one time was slim.

I realize you may think I'm simply saying this because I want you to advertise on a regular basis in our Island Business News publication, but if you look at our history you will see that we are more than happy to have clients on for a month - I just question whether or not this is the best strategy for those businesses.

In fact, I recently heard (and this could be an urban legend but could be true) that Coca Cola did a study a while back to see if there ongoing advertising was worth the continuous expenditure - they stopped advertising for one month and immediately after they stopped they lost the market lead for the first time in history for Pepsi. They started advertising again and apparently it took them close to 6 months to get their lead back. I believe this story because I know how powerful brand building can be (and the best part is you can build the brand while also advertising time sensitive offerings and specials)

I realize you may not be a Coke or Pepsi but this (branding vs. advertising approach) applies to small and larger businesses just the same.

Tune in next time (and to future blogs) when I continue this discussion, talk about having a marketing calendar, disclose what I see as the greatest (no cost) opportunity most small businesses miss when determining their market goals and strategies for a new year and share stories of businesses who have built a brand with a small marketing budget by simply focusing on the most effective marketing options for them.

Until then be sure to watch for the upcoming Mid-Feb. Edition of Island Business News which is scheduled to feature articles on Discount Car Rentals, PEI Mutual, Jimmy Flynn, CJ Graphics and more.

CP for IBN