Rapidly Branding

Before I start referencing Brand Management software in future posts, I thought it’d be good to define it first. This is more of an informational post and might read as a definition, so if your just cruising around, this might not be what your looking for. On the other hand, this might be exactly what you’re looking for.
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Companies that are looking to cut marketing costs, manage the quality of the brand, expedite the sales process and to integrate sales with marketing they are turning to EBM software.

EBM software is delivered via the internet in a Rich Internet Application (RIA). It’s a repository for a company’s marketing assets. These assets include marketing documents (traditional and new media), photography, and video.

EBM software can automate the development of templated marketing documents.
Example: Product content is stored in a database. A user requests a product. The EBM software combines a pre-selected marketing template with the database content, then a marketing document is generated within a matter of seconds. This can be extremely efficient for companies that have hundreds or even thousands of product lines or marketing documents. The result is thousands of documents being created automatically without processing work orders or involving a multitude of departmental resources to fullfill each task.

The software may also be used to store custom marketing documents that already include defined text and imagery. These documents are made available to marketing and or sales resources, which can then be edited and published on-demand. again without involving departmental resources to fullfill each task.

Based on a users profile, access to assets, functionality and content is determined by an adminstrator of the software. Typically this is managed by a brand manager for the purpose of maintaing consistancy of the brand. A sales manager may also be involved to maintain pricing and sales strategies.

Delivery of the assets is via download, print to desktop, professional print ordering and or direct to e-publish.

EBM allows marketing departments to have brand compliance across the enterprise by controling the look and feel of the brand while allowing users to access and modify marketing documents. additional benefits include cutting costs, and freeing up resources to focus on creative rather than production.

EBM lets sales departments quicly access and modify sales materials that are brand compliant. Delivering one-to-one marketing sales materials. One-to-one is when the materials include information personalized to the client and or to the sales person. Another benefit is the ability to modify information based on market trends and fluctuations, i.e. pricing.

For EBM to be implemented successfully, it must be easy to use, scalable and extremely robust. Plus it should not limit designers and creatives on the types of templates they need to create.
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The software I’m most familiar with is BrandDoozie Enterprise which I’m currently working on. In future posts I will discuss BrandDoozie and other EBM softwares.

Rapid Branding EBM, enterprise brand management

The following is a list of projects that fit well into the Rapid Branding process. When the goal is to save time and money, and receive high-end design that delivers good results, Rapid Branding is worth looking at. Here’s my top 10 projects to consider:

• STARTING A BUSINESS
Getting to market quick while keeping costs low is essential for any new business. A newer brand must also compete at the highest level to be taken seriously in any market. Experience is worth a lot here.

• REPOSITIONING BUSINESS STRATEGIES
There’s no time like the present economic climate for businesses to re-think their company’s marketing and sales strategies. Rapidly re-positioning a company to compete more effectively or even to capitalize on the situation requires a quick and accurate process.

• INTERIM BRANDS
Companies who are going through a massive brand repositioning, but require an interim brand to smooth procedural changes in marketing and sales across the enterprise and to transition customers seamlessly.

• MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS
Following a merger/acquisition, companies go through a re-branding process that blend the two into one. An interim marketing platform is created to re-enforce the transition, to retain brand equities and to maximize customer retention.

• FUNDING A CONCEPT
Presenting a product or idea is much more persuasive when the business model, and/or marketing platform is fully developed. Rapid prototyping of software, or comprehensive packaging and/or campaign concepts can speed up the vetting process.

• MARKET RESEARCH
Beta testing a product/concept with a comprehensive campaign in a focus group, local and/or regional market. This allows additional analytics and refinement of the model and/or the message prior to launching a national and/or global effort.

• PRODUCT PROMOTIONS
Product promotions often have their own identity while living within the parent brand. These are short term (monthly/quarterly) efforts to drive sales of the product and require complete campaigns for a variety of media.

• SELLING AN IDEA
Often part of  a high profile, product development project. Presenting a concept to executives is more persuasive with a fully developed marketing platform or prototype. As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words.

• NAME CHANGES
Companies going through name changes generally have more in mind than just changing a name. The use of an interim brand that incorporates the old and new names maintain brand equity and strengthen the new positioning.

• PREPARING FOR ACQUISITION
Companies planning to sell, can increase value by rapidly gaining market share using an updated marketing platform and brand. It can be one of the its final strategic efforts, but can also prove to be very lucrative for the shareholders.

Rapid Branding interim brand, marketing transition, rapid branding, rapid prototype, repositioning your business

Let’s assume you’ve already got a product or service, your customer base is defined, and you’re ready to go to market. good. Now what? It’s time to quickly generate a set of marketing tools that will announce your new business to potential new customers. Previously this was a huge stumbling block for most entrepreneurs due to high costs, long turn-around times and, or, just creative fear. Although with new online tools that deliver marketing materials in a matter of minutes, or studios specializing in Rapid Branding, this is now the easy part. Start with the basics–business cards, stationary, a micro website or Blog and some sales materials to fit your needs. Ok, your now ready to get the word out. good luck!

Rapid Branding atomic curve, branddoozie, low cost marketing, marketing tools, quick turn around marketing, starting a business