Melissa recently wrote on the importance of brand in busy markets such as the security market, but the lack of commitment to spending against it. Investing in branding always seems to be the source of much controversy, but one thing that I feel is less debatable is the positive impact that a strong brand can have in elevating all efforts. Budget is not always allocated for straight branding efforts, but time spent developing your brand and incorporating it consistently into all your efforts is always time well spent.

I recently came across a piece in AdWeek which details the results of a recent survey conducted by the American Association of Advertisers. The survey found that while many marketers are developing integrated marketing programs across brands, only 33% are happy with the efforts. According to respondents, the largest obstacle to the success of these programs is the “siloed corporate environment” - i.e. being able to unite multiple brands under one consistent umbrella.

In my opinion, these results provide a great case study on the impact that brand identity and brand platform have in determining marketing success and ROI. This impact is especially important when it comes to marketing to an IT audience. As I have outlined in a previous blog entry, IT purchasing is typically a group decision-making process. Establishing strong brand identity and a consistent brand platform can be a key unifying factor in moving a group of decision-makers towards a purchase - the ultimate return on investment.

However, avoid the mistake that many marketers make - consistency does not mean “the same.” Depending on their level, the individuals that comprise this process gravitate towards different message benefits and consume different media, so it is imperative to keep the central theme of your marketing platform top of mind while maintaining relevancy with each different segment. This central theme must not just be present in outbound efforts, but must also be fully integrated with all internal sales materials/follow-up efforts. This is no easy task, but will go a long way towards increasing your return on your IT marketing investment.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 20th, 2006 at 8:42 am and is filed under Integrated Media, Best practices, ROI, Branding. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can post a comment, or trackback from your own site.