In this interview with Larry Gulko, branding and marketing strategist, we discuss what it takes to build effective brand equity and how you can measure it.
Keeping your vision of your brand intact is not a simple task, but a very important one. Gulko believes that “Once you lose your focus, you lose your brand,” and the key to that is being very specific in who you are and what you do. Brand equity encompasses every aspect of your company: your people, your processes, your products, and your presentation.
Here at The Pulse Network we are big on telling stories, and helping other people tell their stories. Gulko deeply believes in believing your story whether you are in the storytelling business or not. Every CEO has a story to tell.
We also are big fans of metrics. We always say, if you can’t measure it – don’t do it. However, Gulko explains how you can measure your brand strategy without using metrics. To see if your marketing strategy is effective you can ask yourself: Will that customer come back? Will the customer tell their friends? Is there a way to shorten the window by which that customer will come back? Thinking about those questions can bring up some important aspects of your brand strategy.
To create an effective brand strategy there are three important things you want to figure out:
- What do you want to emulate, and what you want your brand vision to be?
- What are the metrics you will measure it by?
- What are the things you need to do to implement the metrics?
You need to wrap the culture and the process inside of everything you do and everything you are part of. After you figure out how to create an effective brand strategy, you should do a brand audit.
First make sure you have the right team of people. If you do, challenge them to understand that they have the right people around them. Second, gain feedback from consumers about your brand and take that into account. Third, look at, refine, and reinforce your messaging with your brand to build brand equity. Lastly, find any situation that can harm your brand, and get rid of it right away.
Key Takeaways:
- Figure out the story you want to share.
- Create an effective way to share it.
- Make sure you have the right team of people.
- Look at, refine, and reinforce your message often.
Be sure to watch the full CEO Corner with Larry Gulko and feel free to tweet or e-mail me ssaber at ThePulseNetwork DOT com. Interested in being a guest on CEO Corner? Contact Bruce Karten, bkarten at ThePulseNetwork DOT com.
