Aaah, technology

So, I have been trying to post for two days and kept getting questions marks and Hindi!! Gotta love it!! None-the-less...

Today I want to address a common question. "What is a brand?" Many a website, a blog, etc. have addressed this question and have given a variety of definitions. However, none of them matter, because they weren't W.W.V.D? Only joking! Here's my slant on it and how brands, marketing, and pr marry together beautifully....

Wikipedia defines brand as such:
"A brand is a collection of experiences and associations attached to a company, organisation, product or service; more specifically, brand refers to the concrete symbols such as a name, logo, slogan, and design scheme. A brand is a symbolic embodiment of all the information connected to a company, organisation, product or service."

What does that mean in Dominique terms? I always tell everyone that a brand is your walk, your talk, your dress, and the way you do business and treat people.

If your business is based on calm, good feelings, and treating others with respect, then you can not talk to people dogs, have poor customer service, or over promise and under deliver. If you run a health food store, you can not sell big, greasy hamburgers. If you are an image consultant, you can not wear torn pants and stained t-shirts everywhere. Finally, if you're business is fitness, you must be fit. Long story short...everything you do, say and present to the public must match your business ideals and presentation. Otherwise, it's a waste.

A Practical Application:

Because I was an educator for nine years, with Memphis City Schools, I have a teacher still fighting inside of me to get out, on a daily basis. I am going to spend the next few blogs building a fictitious brand, to give you a practical application of what a brand is and how to build it in the public, online, in the media, and with special events.

Let's call the business owner Roscoe, and call his business Roscoe's Fine Food Emporium. Roscoe's ultimate goal is to be the "it" restaurant for well-to-do diners, with dispensable income (basically these days, those people who can fill up their Hummer H1-the BIG one- weekly, without batting a lash!), who choose fine dining 2-3 times per week for dinner, numerous business and networking lunches, and late afternoon/early evening drinks.

Ok...that's a start to wet your whistle. Stay tuned as we build a monster brand for Roscoe! Who said Roscoe's can't be classy?!

Be sure to e-mail me your pr and marketing questions and I'll post them and answer them here.

Dominique