BARQ & A

Posted By: JLL

We are considering adding an icon to our logo. What are your thoughts on this? If you choose to include an icon, do you have to use it all the time or can it be added only on certain things?

BARQ’s response:

There are lots of successful brands that use an icon with the logotype, and have variations of logotype without it. But first you need to answer why you’d want to add an icon.

If you have built a strong, recognizable image/brand with your logotype/name, for what reason would you need to add an icon? There are good reasons, but fashion and fad are NOT good ones. A logo icon usually communicates or reinforces to the market something about your company that is not readily communicated with the logotype alone.

Don’t mess with success when it comes to logos and logotype. And, if a change is necessary, you may want to start over with a brand assessment — big change is sometimes required when big change needs to be communicated.

BARQ
SELMARQ Brands’ Best Friend

Posted By: JDY

My company has a registered trademark for our product, let’s say it is “Zmere®”. I put the ® on the lower right of the logo and have subscripted it whenever it appears in text. Our president has made corrections to “fix the placement” on our literature in the text portion. I haven’t told him my reasoning, but is there a hard and fast rule that it must be superscripted?

BARQ’s response:

JDY:

When designing logos, we usually only subscript the TM or ® when the last character (or icon object) extends farther at the top, like the letters r, T, P, etc. — particularly because the symbol’s purpose is not to be noticed, but to protect the brand. Superscripting in those instances hangs the ® out far away from the word or symbol, and makes it more obvious (pronounced “distracting”).

Whether you write Zmere or ZMERE, there is no advantage to subscripting vs. superscripting — if anything the ® will tuck more tightly when superscripted next to a lower case e (since the word has no descending characters). To subscript the symbol in your case is unconventional, so you draw attention to it (especially by the president). That, in turn, draws some attention away from the brand name.

I’d choose to fight with the president on an issue with more marketing benefit than designer’s taste.

BARQ
SELMARQ Brands’ Best Friend®

Posted By: AFA

I read an article that says a blog can help my company’s page ranking on search engines, so I was considering starting one. Is this good for my brand?

BARQ’s response:

Certainly a blog can help your site’s ranking on search engines. However, it’s a double-edged sword. You may get the benefit of the search engine page rank increase, but you also commit yourself to the VERY regular (daily is best) assignment of writing something, plus you must write something both relative and insightful. Whoever writes the blog writes for both your company AND your industry. Your text will be subject to the scrutiny of all experts in your company’s market, so whatever is written in the blog must be well researched. And it lasts FOREVER. Somewhere, somehow, someone is collecting what has been written, and can retrieve those words anytime, for any purpose.

I am not trying to discourage you from starting a blog, just be sure before you start that you are committed to maintaining very high standards of research, accuracy and regularity. Should you start a blog and drop it after awhile, it can only have a negative affect on the brand. Be sure you are gaining more positives by starting it first.

BARQ
SELMARQ Brands’ Best Friend

Posted By: JES

We are considering applying for a trademark for our tagline. I was doing some research on this and the question was raised about whether to register our logo as well. Do you have any experience with this? How do companies determine whether to register their name/logo/tagline?

BARQ’s response:

Protection of intellectual property is an important part of marketing and a key component of your brand’s value. The purpose for registering your name, brand, tagline or logo is not just to protect your brand in the future, but also to prevent you from inadvertently investing in something that may already be registered. That could be costly if another brand challenges your use of it on collateral, signage, website, etc.

Your company can register a logo/symbol/avatar or a name as long as it is unique for the category. Taglines as well can be registered, as long as they are not common phrases. For instance, we have registered SELMARQ® (the name), the SELMARQ logo (a Labrador Retriever in a circle), and “SELMARQ Brands’ Best Friend®” (our name with our tagline). We could not register “Brands’ Best Friend” alone due to the generic nature of that combination of words. But adding SELMARQ made it unique.

These are all registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (www.uspto.gov) for specific categories (marketing, web design, etc.) according to how we wish to defend against others who might try to appropriate them.

Typically you’d use TM (for products, SM for services) to indicate it is something you intend the consumer to identify with your company or brand. That will change to the ® once your registration has been approved.

BARQ
SELMARQ Brands’ Best Friend

Posted By: MAS

Is no brand in fact a brand? Why?

BARQ’s response:

MAS:

In the strict sense of the question, “no brand” is, by definition, not a brand. this is mostly exemplified by those companies who do not understand branding, or don’t think that branding is of any great importance to their company’s success.

In a real sense, “no brand” means “no promise.” Your brand, in my opinion, is a your company’s promise to perform in a particular manner. This means your brand is your reputation. If the quality of your products and services varies based on market fluctuations (demand, resources, taste, style, price, etc.) the market can expect that you cannot be counted on to deliver consistently.

Compared to FedEx, how many times has UPS delivered damaged goods, or delivered late, or lost your package? They seem to be working on becoming an extension to their customers’ business rather than the most reliable 3PL provider. Are you looking for a business partner, or a reliable delivery service?

In the B2B world, where our firm focuses, most companies have a very limited understanding of branding. To many of these companies, branding means consistent logo placement. Most of the SMBs in America today were built by engineers, accountants or salespeople. Very few companies were started by marketers. These “hammers” see every business challenge as their particular “nail” and they attempt to find solutions from within their realm of expertise; salespeople look for new sales tactics, engineers look for new products, accountants look for ways to cut expenses. To all of them, branding is something big companies do with extra profits, not a means to increase long term profits and company value.

Back to the question, “no brand” is the definition of a commodity. Whatever a company produces is either a commodity that competes on price, or a branded item that competes on the company’s ability to create value in the minds, hearts and behaviors of their customers and prospects.

BARQ
SELMARQ Brands’ Best Friend

Posted By: PPO

BARQ:

My Presbyterian church has been around for 50 years with a bi-monthly newsletter entitled “The Vision”. This names stems from a Bible quote in Proverbs, “Where there is no vision, the people will perish,” which was most often written within the newsletter’s masthead.

The pastors are thinking of changing it, and here is why:

Two smaller Presbyterian congregations have divested themselves of costly buildings and combined with ours at our facility, which is in the middle of a capital campaign for expansion. For now, the pastors have all become co-pastors under one roof, and their separate congregations will continue to maintain their own committees, deacons, bank accounts, membership, etc. Meanwhile, all pastors have been promoting cross-participation at various events.

The two newcomer congregations are rolling their own newsletter contents into “The Vision.” The pastors have blithely been discussing a name change for it, perhaps, “The New Vision.” Mind you, it’s even been suggested that my church change its own name to reflect this new chapter in shared history. It seems the pastors are leery of acknowledging that the biggest church could be the primary/surviving entity; perhaps newcomers don’t want to feel they’ve been absorbed. But RE: newsletter name change: Seems to me that one of these congregations needs to maintain its history and culture AND BRAND IDENTITY. And, metaphorically speaking, the church’s vision (intrinsically linked to its newsletter title via Proverbs) really isn’t “new” merely because of a sudden influx of participants.

So, I’m thinking a name change is the wrong thing to do here. I welcome your thoughts or suggestions regarding any aspect of this scenario–maybe some recommendations for how the church “should” be going about considering such far-reaching changes.

BARQ’s response:

From my perspective — having been involved in church ministries (and politics) at my present parish and diocese for over 25 years — the vision is really the key. What needs to be emphasized here is the TRUE vision of your church. I would assume that your congregation’s ultimate vision or purpose is to love, serve and follow Jesus Christ.

Jesus is the master brand; Presbyterianism is the sub-brand. If you are competing against other Presbyterian congregations for membership, then further differentiation is warranted. If not, whatever actions are taken must first align with the master and sub brand “guides” — starting with the Bible.

“Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.” Rom. 16:17-18 — King James Version

Or, since the Presbyterian sect leans more than many others toward state politics, a quote from Lincoln might help bring clarity: “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”

I believe as long as three church congregations are acting independently in the same “house” there will be conflict, and as such will tend to divert attention from “The Vision.” This can be especially damaging during a capital campaign!

As for the newsletter, I would advocate a totally new nameplate, derived by a consensus of those responsible for publishing it. A bi-monthly paper is not the brand. This naming issue will probably be the least of the churches worries. It is likely only the tip of the iceberg. How it is handled may be a foreshadowing of other things to come as they grow together — or apart.

BARQ
SELMARQ Brands’ Best Friend

Posted By: ADM

We have been building our brand in B2B for some 5 years. I would not say it has a prominent position in the market, but quite a lot of our customers have come to know and recognize it. The name is pretty generic and in no way implies what the company itself offers.

Lately an idea was raised to refresh the logo. It does in fact needs some redesign as being too off-handedly and amateurishly designed, does not reflect the changes the company is going through.

The changes include new, sophisticated technology being implemented, better customer service and effective sales force.

Now a new idea was conceived; not only to change the logo design, but the brand name too. Why? In order to make the brand name depict what the company does.

My opinion is not to change the brand name. Quite a lot of time and money was invested in building it and impressing it onto customers’ minds. The company has changed for the better and to me the new experience customers are having with the brand and new look and feel of the old logo is enough. Am I right?

ADM

BARQ’s response:

ADM,

International Business Machines no longer makes Business Machines. That’s why their decision to be identified as IBM was such a good idea decades ago. The value of the brand recognition outweighs the benefit of a name that depicts their actual business. Business plans and products inevitably change over time. A trusted name, as long as you act in a trustworthy manner, will remain valuable no matter what you do. Just be sure the name does not imply something different from your current/future product or service.

Take a lesson from Exxon, Google, Verizon, Geico, (or SELMARQ!)… most of today’s company names LIMIT their potential (either by region, ownership, product or function). If your name does not specify any of those, what can it hurt to keep it?

BARQ
SELMARQ Brands’ Best Friend

Posted By: DSR

I’m working on container terminal with 750 employees, and I’m planning to change the strategy for choosing employee of the month which is based on a random selection per dept. and then senior managers vote for the winner, and of course the selection is always based on the manages friends and who they best like. So I think its a de-motivation tool and should be changed but the problem is to apply a fair criteria since we have operators working in fields, (Blue Collar and white Collar) so what will be the best way to select and evaluate operation and admin. performance?

BARQ’s response:

DSR:

What are your reasons for naming an employee of the month? Motivate better performance? Raise morale? Appear magnanimous?

EOM programs should be part of a planned “internal branding” strategy. Often the most overlooked audience of a company’s branding efforts is the staff. Your entire payroll should be fully informed as to what your company represents — your core values and character. That should be reflected in all company communications, including job descriptions, performance reviews and employee manuals. Even bulletin board notices and emails.

If you have set the standards by which each employee is to best represent the values of the company, then a simple point system of how well an employee meets those standards day-to-day could be used to elect the EOM. Be sure to include ALL aspects of the brand character. If you value loyalty, then part of the point system should include years of service. Just make sure it is broad, balanced and flexible enough so that no particular sector, division, job title, race, gender, nationality or age group has an edge.

And be sure to celebrate the reasons why each employee each month has won. Make sure everyone knows what went into the decision. But don’t forget, you first need to plan and implement your internal branding strategy, and thoroughly communicate the parameters of the EOM program. Otherwise it will just look like another popularity contest.

Good Luck,

BARQ
SELMARQ Brands’ Best Friend

Posted By: ILM

We are a manufacturer with a well-known brand. Our competition has lower prices that we are unable to meet for similar features. Sales have dropped dramatically over the last few years.

We think we have a quality advantage but the consumer is unaware of the difference. Because the consumer ranges from basic/beginner to advanced/expert knowledge, that quality difference is lost to the
basic/beginner category. The basic/beginner line has become commoditized and our competitor’s products meet the needs of the consumer at this level.

Management does not want to advertise a product that is not producing the returns it once was. They’e very hesitant to innovate new features, fearing failure. And they will not sacrifice quality on
this line, for fear of hurting the higher quality line. They know the situation and how dire it looks, but they are just too afraid to move in any direction.

Am I missing something other than innovation and advertising? Is there another solution that I have completely forgot about? I am sorry to be very general, but I would prefer not disclosing too much information.

BARQ’s response:

Dear ILM:

It happens to every company. You either compete on innovation (and on brand) or on price. If you compete on price, everyone loses (usually to Wal-Mart).

Advertising is just a subset of marketing. I offer these 2 insights from the late Peter Drucker:

• “Because its purpose is to create a customer, the business has two basic functions: marketing and innovation. Marketing and innovation produce results, all the rest are costs.”

• “The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well the product or service fits him and sells itself.”

It sounds like you don’t know your potential customer well enough to be able to attract his/her attention to YOUR BRAND over your competitors’.

Having a well-known brand does you no good if there is not a corresponding value to that brand. Brand is what allows you to charge MORE than commodity prices. If you can’t get that, then your brand must be known for other than value. Is that the brand you are afraid of hurting by lowering quality?

There are six basic methods for influencing your market’s buying habits:

• Reciprocation (you gave them something of perceived value, they feel obliged to buy something from you)

• Commitment and Consistency (they buy what is consistent with their beliefs or behavior)

• Social Proof (everyone else is buying it, so it must be OK);

• Liking (they like the seller — good ol’ boys and neighborhood sales “parties,” like scrap booking “crops”)

• Authority (it is what is recommended by someone in a position of perceived authority — government agencies or celebrities); or

• Scarcity (get it now before it’s gone forever).

All of these are methods for marketing your product. If you are not going to market it, sell the line — otherwise your share will shrink to nothing and the line will be worthless. Someone with marketing savvy will buy it and do what it takes to make money on it (if the market still exists).

Cris Ashworth of United Record Pressing in Nashville has turned around an antiquated vinyl record manufacturing company by taking advantage of the old vinyl pressing people who either couldn’t market this classic recording media, or didn’t know when to get out of the biz. He’s not using innovation or high tech equipment, but thriving on the niche global market of vinyl recording aficionados. He’s making a fine profit — and growing!

Without marketing or innovation, I am afraid your situation is not solvable from within. If you don’t get outside help (a consultant or hired gun) this could be a downhill slide.

Try to find case studies of turnarounds in similar markets or industries that identify how a brand was lifted above commodity status. Your product doesn’t need to BE better than your competitor’s; it just needs to SEEM better in the minds of your markets.

Good luck!

BARQ
SELMARQ Brands’ Best Friend

Posted By: STV

We are a 25 year old manufacturer of automotive aftermarket parts. We have been very successful in what we do with little or no marketing effort. Our distribution channels are widespread and our history with our customers is positive and strong. However, we are perceived as an engine dress up company and not one of high performance. In other words our current line of products, (over 1,000 sku’s) will make your engine look good (lots of chrome) but will not improve your car’s performance.

We want to elevate the perception of a brand as one of racing and performance. We are developing and rolling product to back that up. A new product brand name has been secured and is currently being integrated into packaging, catalog, etc. This is where I came in. All analysis is underway…

Based on wanting to elevate the perception of a brand as one of racing and performance, my questions are:

Brand the new product line separately or co-mingle it with our company brand?
Will the perception of our current company brand hold back the new product brand or will the years and strengths of it help the new brand reach our goals?
Also, Will the new product line actually help elevate the current perception of our company?

BARQ’s response:

I think that more information and research is needed (Voice of the Customer) to make a better-informed call, but it is possible that your “dressed up engine” image might be viewed by high-performance buffs as just that… window dressing. This could diminish the credibility of the new “performance” line as being authentic.

In the case of Echlin ignition systems, they chose to market their high performance line under the Accel brand to separate the line from their (still respectable) standard quality line. While Aanco is a well-regarded wiper blade, I’d be skeptical of buying a wiper motor manufactured by Aanco. On the other hand, I buy Bosch blades on the strength of the brand, knowing the quality of their other (high performance) products. Marketing a new, less technical product under a brand with a high tech or high performance image is much more successful that the other way around (which is what you are considering). No matter what performance descriptors or voltage they add to a Black & Decker power tool, they cannot match the perception that DeWalt has in the market.

Of course, the way you market the new line can determine how it affects the existing brand. If you say “PRODUCT B, from the makers of Product A” you magnify the affect — for better or for worse. (That’s where the testing and surveys will help).

I would strongly advise spending a little up front on third-party research and testing before spending a bundle rolling out a line based on the opinions of those who developed the products and the idea. Voice of the Customer trumps Voice of the Engineers every time.

BARQ
SELMARQ Brands’ Best Friend