Brand Position: Promises, Promises

by richardrabil on April 14, 2010

“Promises are like babies: Easy to make, hard to deliver”—unknown

“It’s not about pop culture, it’s not about fooling people, and it’s not about convincing people that they want something they don’t.  We figure out what we want.  And I think we’re pretty good at having the right discipline to think through whether a lot of other people are going to want it, too.  We just want to make great products.” Steve Jobs

That’s quite a positioning statement from Apple.  And it is intrinsically tied to the personality of CEO, Steve Jobs. Apple’s tagline has been “Think different.” This position statement appeals to the changing trends in technology and consumer tastes. Once the iPod and iPhone took off, that tagline took on a life of its own. The Apple brand makes a strong promise about its products.  Their customers are extremely loyal because Apple backs up their brand promise with great products. It’s the promise that is the key to a good positioning statement.

Your promise: The Foundation of Your Position.

What is your organization’s promise? Most associations and nonprofits offer a service for a specific purpose. If you’re in travel, you’ve got a niche. If you want to build a strong brand, then you should focus your communications on a promise that sticks in your member’s mind. That promise should be relevant to your values and ideals and is member driven. That promise creates a position that separates you from your niche competitors and gives vision to your offering.

Positioning breaks through obstacles and creates new opportunities. It defines who you are and the perception you want members to have. Apple’s iPhone became a home run because it created a way for people multitask right from their phone. The app extensions make that function easily customized. There’s an app for just about anything that of interest to the user, including dieting, exercising, buying groceries, checking bank accounts and finding a place to eat.

If you’re a health-oriented association, you can have a lot of competition. You must clearly announce what benefits you’re offering and your audience must find them believable. Colleges and universities often sound alike with their offerings of small classes, beautiful campuses and student testimonials. One school, the University of Dayton boldly announced they were not for everyone, and suddenly their admissions shot up over 33%.

Here are some important questions to ask when examining  your positioning:
  1. Messaging: Are your core values clearly understood across your communications platforms? In our social media world, things change at the twit of an eye. If you’re not clear, then someone’s going to challenge it, dilute it, twist it or ignore you all together. You don’t want the wrong message sent across the universe.
  2. Design: Is the look and feel and consistent with the values you state? Design can differentiate your position. Notice that Target and Walmart fight for the same retail category space. However, Target’s focus is on good design while Walmart focuses on price.
  3. Uniqueness: Is your content based on what you know about your members and what’s important to them?
  4. Trust: Do your constituents really trust what you’re saying about your mission? Do you thank your members? Do you ask for feedback and really listen to their needs?  Social media is a great tool to enhance this capability.
  5. Relevance: Are your services relevant to the needs of your community?  The last 18 months have seen tremendous changes in communications. Make sure you’re reaching your members where they’re at. Perhaps you’re only doing email blasts and never considered setting web communities that segment your audiences based on specific interests.
  6. Inspiration: Are your stakeholders enthused by your promises? Are they led down the right path with a believable story?

Your stakeholders’ buy-in could be practical or it could be emotional.   What might that look like?  We’ll talk about that next as we look at things through your member’s eyes.

Dick Rabil is President and Creative Director at Slice.  Dick leads the SLICE team’s collaborative efforts to find solutions to your interactive and digital needs. For more information, visit our website at: http://www.slice-works.com

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Video Production: The Four Ps

by richardrabil on March 9, 2010

Videos are fast becoming a key platform in the communications marketplace. US Internet users watched 14.8 billion online videos in January 2010, making YouTube the second largest search engine. Your marketing strategy should include innovative forms of communication and adding informative video is one way to keep your messages timely and fresh.

Video production has never been easier. Flip video cameras have HD capacity and cost around $150. There is a variety of software editing suites available. We like to use imovie and soundbooth on the mac. So you want to make a video to include in your marketing strategy? Let’s get started.

Plan, Plan, Plan and Plan

Well maybe not so fast. Just like the early days of desktop publishing, video best practices are a critical foundation to any project. It’s easy to think that the software and camera do it all. However, planning is the key if you want to avoid some serious mis-steps. Nancy Schwartz of gettingattention.org has an excellent example of video mistakes you want to avoid.

First P: Plan with Specific Goals

Communicating your story in the form of video takes time and thought. You should begin with a summary of what you want the overall message to be. Ask yourself these questions:

• What’s the goal of this video?
• What do I want my stakeholders to get from this video?
• What action(s) do I want the stakeholders to take?
• How long should the video be in order to inspire response or action?
• How do we distribute this video to make the above items happen?
• What resources in money, time and people can I allocate to this project?

Second P: Plan with a Storyboard (Pre-production)

Once you’re clear about your goals and overall message, you need to create a storyboard. Show the plan to your associates and stakeholders to see if the message is clear, concise and in keeping with your organization’s mission and goals.

Production styles vary. Do you use an interview/TV commentary style, documentary (Ken Burns) approach, an edgy, humorous or entertainment magazine flavor? Perhaps a musical style suits. Decide which is appropriate for your audience. Once you decide, make sure you can achieve that style with the resources and formats available to you.

How much time do you need to prepare? Do you need actors to rehearse the script? How long can you set aside to shoot so that you’re not making up shots in editing? All of these parts add up to the emotional feel you’re trying convey. Is the emotional draw to inspire, convince, motivate or produce a call to action?

Finally, what will you use for sound/audio? Will there be background music (watch for copyright issues here) or simply dialogue?

Third P: Plan for Technology (Production)

It’s vital to be concerned with technical issues. How will you light the video? How will you record or mix the audio? How will you edit the video? Do you need a voiceover or subtitles or titling? What transitions do you feel will work with your style?

The most common mistake is to make the video too long. You should have a clear goal of how much time you believe it will take to get you message across in conjunction with how long you believe the viewer will watch. Anything over two minutes and you begin to lose your audience. People are used to 5, 10 and 15 second spots where there message is concise yet clear. One minute is a great goal for an association. We did this video/TV spot in 30 seconds for SMECO to announce their new logo.

Plan for contingencies. With the SMECO spot, we planned the final shot to be sunrise at Felds Point, Maryland. The video guys set up their camera and equipment starting at 3:30am. It was a perfect weather day. The sun was rising over the sea just as envisioned. The camera was rolling. Suddenly a white van drives up into camera view and unloads 3 workers in white in full view. Fortunately, we had shot just enough material to make it work. With some creative editing we were able to remove the distracting workers. Planning for contingencies is a necessity.

Fourth P: Plan for Editing and Launch (Post Production)

If you have a Mac with Keynote, you can produce a short using your video and stills. Keynote allows you to see it play out in sequence. With Keynote transitions and sound you can export to a Quicktime file. Even with software this process takes time.

A week’s total production time for a minute long video is not unreasonable. You will want to test the rough cuts with your staff and stakeholders. What you think you are conveying may come across quite differently to other viewers. What is humorous to one person, could be offensive to another. Get good feedback, review and revise as necessary.

Almost done! Once you’ve posted your video on YouTube, make sure you let everyone know. Tweet about it through your Twitter account. Send an email and Invite your community to view, share and comment. Link to it from your organization’s Facebook and LinkedIn pages. Embed the video in your blog and website.

Yes, it’s possible to shoot, click, edit and launch in a day. However, a quality production process is your best insurance that your message hits the mark.

Dick Rabil is President and Creative Director at Slice. With more than 30 years of communications experience, Dick leads the SLICE team’s collaborative efforts to find solutions to your interactive and digital needs.

UPDATE:
further reading from Search Engine Watch–http://bit.ly/cMk93A

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Apple iPad: Life at the Speed of Touch

by richardrabil on February 23, 2010

Before its release, many were wondering what it would take to save publications. Now unveiled, iPad’s taken criticism for not being the publishing breakthrough that some expected. I’d like to challenge that by saying that the habits, tastes and expectations of audiences are changing much more quickly than the current publishing industry’s ability to adapt. The Apple iPad fills that gap.

My staff and I live in a world where we communicate using the latest creative tools available. As designers trained in print, we always talk about the touch, feel and smell of ink and paper. Touch and feel (and more) has now arrived with the soon-to-be-released iPad, and it’s a wonderful addition to the communication technology space.  As a publishing tool and a publication aggregator, it’s functionality and visual engagement promises to be unparalleled.

Touch: the Missing Dimension

Having had no firsthand exposure to the iPad, I’m only able to compare it to my mobile phone experience. Once I made the switch to Apple, the difference between using my old mobile phone and my iPhone was significant. The interface is so elegant that it became all about the touch and feel. Now that I’m using my iPhone exclusively, there’s an instinctive creative process going on, making it second nature to use. It’s changing my wants and expectations. I’m developing an emotional preference for the experience of touch and go vs click-n-drag. I anticipate the same transformation for users of the iPad, making it the ultimate interactive experience.

Many argue that they are unwilling to let go of the sensation of holding a printed book or magazine in their hands and turning the pages.  The innovative touch and feel navigation of the iPad answers that need.   It’s the dimension that has been missing in e-publishing.

The Emotional Response

How does this connect with your prospects desires? Users will love the color, convenience, customization, portability, storage/archive features for articles, topics and professional development learning. The American Bar Association embarked on a year-long project to improve their multimedia skills for their magazine, “Legal Rebels”.  I can’t suggest a better tool that the iPad to further enhance their readers’ online experience. What do you think?

The next generation of users will expect a high touch experience and versatility. I believe that the iPad has the potential to become the single platform of choice. The result will be information available anytime, anywhere, any way.

We shouldn’t discount the potential of the iPad and what it’s going to do for publishing and communications. The only thing missing is the smell of the ink and paper!

UPDATES: Related articles found since post date–
Chris Anderson, Editor-in-Chief of WIRED: http://bit.ly/bxi7kZ
LA Times: http://bit.ly/cW3clK
And others: http://bit.ly/bwlmRT

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