1.4 What Marketers Do

You can't tell your story without a solid plan, and you can't get somewhere new without knowing where to go. Strategy is like a map for marketing—without it, you'll most likely end up lost (or even worse, losing out on business). Marketers take the time to understand their company and business objectives and identify clear marketing goals. They align those goals with a strategic plan that takes their business exactly where they want it to go without getting lost along the way.

Your brand isn't your packaging or a tagline.  It's more than just delivering a message from company to consumer; your brand is a story told by one human being to another. An enduring, consistent story can build an on-going relationship and pull people to you like nothing else can. These people become advocates for your brand, and as they share your story with others, they also become your most powerful marketing tool.

Now that you have a story, how will you get people to listen to it?  Your story needs to follow people wherever they go—from train stations to Twitter, from cell phones to Facebook, from billboards to blogs. In today's world, technology is the force around which all marketing orbits. Marketers use all these tools to talk with people (never at them) on every possible level. They use metrics to measure those conversations, so that we can discover exactly what kind of impact they are having.

Can creative thinking really boost a company's bottom line? Can captivating storytelling actually move products off shelves? Absolutely. In fact, it can create a lifelong relationship with your brand. With formulaic marketing, you might boost short-term revenue. But with creative thinking and a truly relevant product, you build long-term profitability. That's why top marketers know that every dollar spent must tie to the strategy, story and technology that grows their brand and helps their company thrive.

Simply put, a brand is a story. It places images, thoughts and emotions within the mind and heart of employees, partners, current and potential customers.

Inspiring and memorable stories are comprised of words and images placed in a profound and sometimes complex order, yet still conveying a simple message.

The words, images and elements of a compelling brand story attach themselves to an individual's psyche and a culture's mores. Two contemporary branding campaigns that have effectively done this are Corona Beer's "Find Your Beach", and Dos-Equios ‘The World's Most Interesting Man". They have effectively created "hall-talk" about their campaigns, while crafting a sustainable competitive advantage through storytelling that defines their brands as different, better, and special in the minds of consumers, carving out niches completely unique from other beers.

A brand transcends the product or service that it offers. A brand is not what you make—it's what you make possible.

Brands are developed through careful planning and strategy. A successful brand requires years to develop and must be managed with consistent execution. This text uses the blueprints of the proven brand management process developed and perfected by the Procter & Gamble Company brands over the past fifty years, which has set the standard in the industry for branding and marketing excellence.

A brand story is a platform from which recognition, loyalty and revenue is driven. A brand is comprised of two core components: message structure and visual attributes. These two components must have a symbiotic and consistent relationship to maximize marketing expenditures. Great marketers will translate their brand into an integrated communications program by utilizing this approach.

Brand strategies are not created overnight. In fact, it usually takes months of research and strategy discussion in order to define the foundational brand strategy. The process starts with research among consumers and the marketplace, which leads to developing a differentiated brand positioning strategy. This leads to developing the brand voice, visual identity, marketing strategies and plans, and ultimately, the execution of your marketing plans.