Developing a Formal Brand Messaging Document

Ensure everyone in your company sings from the same sheet of music when it comes to communicating a consistent brand message.

Imagine one of your customers calling six different people in your company. The customer asks why they should consider purchasing your product. What do you think these six people would say? Would their explanation be consistent?

That's where brand messaging comes into play. In the audio book, "Sound Advice on Brand Marketing," author Tom Miller says brands need to speak with a single unified voice in every communication with customers and prospects.

"Brand messaging is a formalized document that captures the most important points about your brand," says Miller. "It is then used to create all of the various brand communications, such as ads, press releases, web sites, literature, and so forth."

The best place to begin the brand messaging process is with the elevator pitch. "Think about getting on an elevator with a senior executive from a great prospect company. He asks you to tell him why your product or service is so special and better than all the others are. You've got 30-seconds. Go!"

Distilling your brand message into a short, memorable description or value proposition sets the stage for the rest of the brand messaging to flow in a logical, informative fashion. "It may take a little hard work now, but it pays big dividends in the future," says Miller. "Not only is your message consistent, you should also realize major time savings in developing communications pieces. The heavy lifting from a messaging perspective has already been done."

Tom Miller offers brand marketing advice each week in the free audio newsletter from What's Working in Biz - http://www.whatsworking.biz/full_story.asp?ArtID=92 - and is president of the branding firm, Miller Brooks.

About The Author

Richard Cunningham is a principal of What's Working in Biz, http://www.whatsworking.biz, a publisher of business audiobooks and online audio programs on marketing, sales, and small business strategies.

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